Olympus E-PL6 Review

Olympus E-PL6 Review -- Initial Impressions

by Mike Tomkins
Posted: 05/29/2013

Originally announced in Asia and Europe only but eventually making it over to the United States, the Olympus PEN E-PL6 is extremely closely related to the Olympus E-PL5, with only one notable hardware difference, and four changes in firmware. Just like its predecessor, it packs the same image sensor and processor combination from the OM-D E-M5 into a much smaller, all-metal body.

Sensor resolution is 16.1 megapixels from a Sony-supplied Live MOS chip, and this paired with the TruePic VI image processor allows burst shooting at a pretty swift eight frames per second, although this plunges to a more sedate 3.5 frames per second if autofocus and exposure metering are active between frames, and image stabilization is active. As you'd expect, the sensor sits behind a standard Micro Four Thirds lens mount, while on the rear is a three-inch, tilting, touch-screen LCD panel with a relatively modest resolution of 460,000 dots. The E-PL6 also accepts an optional electronic viewfinder accessory and flash strobe.

Connectivity includes the Accessory Port 2 beneath the hot shoe, used for the electronic viewfinder and some other accessories, as well as USB 2.0 High Speed data, and both HDMI / composite video outputs. Images are stored on SD cards, and power comes from the same BLS-5 lithium-ion battery pack as before, manufacturer-rated for 360 shots on a charge.

So... what's new? Well in terms of hardware features, almost nothing -- but the one new function added is rather handy. There's now a dual-axis electronic level that will help you ensure your horizons aren't crooked, and vertical lines don't converge. (Well, unless you want them to.)

The remaining new features are all in firmware. There's now a new Short Release Time Lag mode that cuts prefocused shutter lag to just 0.044 seconds, although Olympus doesn't say what the tradeoff of this mode is. (We're guessing more calculations like metering and white balance have been moved to lock at the shutter half-press, although it's hard to be sure.)

There's also a new ISO 100-equivalent "ISO LOW" sensitivity setting, which captures images at half the actual sensor base sensitivity of ISO 200 equivalent. Like any camera with an extended low setting, this is achieved simply by overexposing the image (losing around a stop of highlight information), then adjusting the remaining image data to correct for this. Essentially, you trade off dynamic range against the ability to use a wider aperture (for better background blur) or to use a longer shutter speed.

The two remaining new features are closely related to each other, and were seen previously in the Olympus E-P5. You can now shoot with an interval timer function which will capture up to 99 frames with an interval anywhere between one second and 24 hours. This is also used to provide for in-camera generated time-lapse movies, which simply take images from the interval timer function, and stitch them into a single 720p, AVI Motion JPEG movie file played back at a rate of 10 frames per second.

And that, in a nutshell, is the Olympus E-PL6. If you're interested in this camera, you'll want to read our in-depth Olympus E-PL5 review for a lot more info on both cameras, since they're near-identical.

In the US, the Olympus E-PL6 lists for about $300 bundled with the 14-42mm II R kit lens and FL-LM1 clip-on flash, which is a fantastic value. It comes in black, with white and silver finishes also available depending on the region.

Similar to the E-PL6 but smaller lighter larger sensor cheaper But ...

No cameras match your search criteria(s)

   

Panasonic GX850

$547.99 (45% more)

16 MP

Also lacks viewfinder

17% smaller

E-PL6 vs GX850

YI M1

$199.00 (50% less)

20.16 MP (20% more)

Also lacks viewfinder

10% smaller

E-PL6 vs M1

Olympus E-PL8

$599.00 (50% more)

16.1 MP

Also lacks viewfinder

12% larger

E-PL6 vs E-PL8

Olympus PEN-F

$999.00 (70% more)

20.3 MP (21% more)

Has viewfinder

20% larger

E-PL6 vs PEN-F

Olympus E-M10 II

$349.00 (14% more)

16.1 MP

Has viewfinder

42% larger

E-PL6 vs E-M10 II

Panasonic GX85

$597.99 (50% more)

16 MP

Has viewfinder

29% larger

E-PL6 vs GX85

Sony A5100

$348.00 (14% more)

24.3 MP (34% more)

Also lacks viewfinder

9% smaller

E-PL6 vs A5100

Olympus E-PL9

$699.99 (57% more)

16.1 MP

Also lacks viewfinder

13% larger

E-PL6 vs E-PL9

Olympus E-M5 II

$899.00 (67% more)

16.1 MP

Has viewfinder

43% larger

E-PL6 vs E-M5 II

Olympus E-PL10

$549.00 (46% more)

16.1 MP

Also lacks viewfinder

13% larger

E-PL6 vs E-PL10

Canon EOS M100

$449.00 (33% more)

24.2 MP (33% more)

Also lacks viewfinder

6% smaller

E-PL6 vs EOS M100

Sony A6000

$548.00 (45% more)

24.3 MP (34% more)

Has viewfinder

26% larger

E-PL6 vs A6000

Olympus E-M10 III

$549.00 (46% more)

16.1 MP

Has viewfinder

47% larger

E-PL6 vs E-M10 III

Canon EOS M6

$399.00 (25% more)

24.2 MP (33% more)

Also lacks viewfinder

21% larger

E-PL6 vs EOS M6

Fujifilm X-E3

$699.00 (57% more)

24.3 MP (34% more)

Has viewfinder

30% larger

E-PL6 vs X-E3

Canon EOS M200

$499.00 (40% more)

24.1 MP (33% more)

Also lacks viewfinder

6% smaller

E-PL6 vs EOS M200

Fujifilm X-A3

$549.00 (46% more)

24.2 MP (33% more)

Also lacks viewfinder

15% larger

E-PL6 vs X-A3

Fujifilm X-A5

$499.00 (40% more)

24.2 MP (33% more)

Also lacks viewfinder

16% larger

E-PL6 vs X-A5

Olympus E-M10 IV

$666.33 (55% more)

20.3 MP (21% more)

Has viewfinder

47% larger

E-PL6 vs E-M10 IV

Sony A6300

$846.48 (65% more)

24.2 MP (33% more)

Has viewfinder

31% larger

E-PL6 vs A6300

Suggestion for improvement? Head over here.