Olympus PEN E-PL9 Detailed Review

In additional PEN E-PL9 was introduced by Olympus in February 2018. It belongs to the Mirrorless Cameras category.

Olympus is well-known and shouldn’t require further introduction, please see our manufacturer’s page for more digital cameras by Olympus.

Also PEN E-PL9 has a Four Thirds CMOS sensor with size of 17 x 13 mm² (0.68″ x 0.51″).

Picture of PEN E-PL9’s sensor compared to popular format.

The 1-Euro coin has a diameter of 23.25mm.

The PEN E-PL9’s image sensor has an effective resolution of around 16 megapixel. That’s roughly average and will be sufficient for most purposes. Photos with this resolution can easily be printed to A3 or A2 size.

The Olympus supports taking images in RAW. RAW images are stored as they come from the sensor, without any in-camera processing or sharpening. Converting to JPEG or other formats takes place on the computer, using software like Adobe Lightroom or Olympus’s RAW converter. This involves one extra processing step but almost always results in superior image quality. Some filters, like converting to monochrome (black and white) will only yield decent results when used with RAW images.

The PEN E-PL9 features a mechanism for automatic sensor cleaning.

The PEN E-PL9 does not come with a built-in viewfinder. The camera’s display is used to compose the photo. That can be cumbersome in broad daylight.

The PEN E-PL9’s shutter speed varies from 1/4000s to 60s.

The PEN E-PL9’s sensitivity goes from 200 ISO und 25600 ISO, a very useful and practical range.

The PEN E-PL9 supports all general exposure modes.

The Olympus allows spot exposure for the difficult occasion.

The PEN E-PL9’s auto focus processor uses 121 AF points (or sensors). A basic rule of thumb says that the more AF points you have, the better. More AF points mean a better chance to have a point at the location of interest in a scene, a big plus in challenging situations (e.g. when panning the camera).

Manual focus is also possible with the Olympus, a plus in tricky situations or for some creative freedom.

The PEN E-PL9 has a built-in flash with a diapason of up to 7m (23 ft.). That range will fit for almost all occasion.

The PEN E-PL9 display has a diagonal of 76.00mm (3.0 inches.) and a resolution 1.04 megapixel.

The camera display is intended for selfies or other occasion.

Display parameters:

PEN E-PL9 video supported the resolution with 3840 x 2160 pixel.

ACamera is not equipped with an external microphone.

Olympus PEN E-PL9 Video parameters:

The PEN E-PL9 has Wi-fi connection. You can transfer photos to a mobile or laptop using wi-fi.

For photo transferring users may use Bluetooth option.

Connect the Olympus to a monitor or TV set over HDMI.

The Olympus supports USB 2.0.

Connection parameters:

The camera supports SD HC and SD XC cards.

Memory cards characteristics:

The Olympus PEN E-PL9 has a BLS-50 LiIon battery. The battery provides a shooting life of 350 shots. It`s enough for one day or more.

The PEN E-PL9’s battery battery parameters:

The Olympus PEN E-PL9’s size is 117.1 x 68 x 39mm³. (4.6″ x 2.7″ x 1.5″). That dimensions are without lens. The weight of camera is 4.6″ x 2.7″ x 1.5″ grams (380 oz.) without lens weight.

Here is front and top view of the PEN E-PL9:

To put the size of the camera in context, here it is next to a typical ID card (c. 86mm x 55mm, about the size of a credit card).

The PEN E-PL9 is not much bigger: