The Olympus E-P5 has a classic viewfinder camera design but doesn’t have an optical or electronic viewfinder. It does have a swivel monitor which can be folded up- and downward and offers very high resolution (1,037,000 RGB dots).

Like a lot of other cameras Olympus is churning out these days, the E-P5 looks straight out of the ’60s. Of course, that’s all a retro-facade. Despite its nostalgia-tinged design, this Micro Four-Thirds shooter is the newest and fastest addition to Olympus’ PEN lineup of cameras.

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  Super fast autofocus and shooting speeds. Excellent in-body stabilization system. Extensive bracketing modes. Bright, fast kit lens. Compact but still sturdy and comfortable. Good controls for both novices and advanced photographers.

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  Limited Wi-Fi features. Expensive for a mirrorless camera. Some on-screen touch icons are pretty small. Video options aren’t as advanced as similarly priced cameras.

All the staffers who had a chance to try out the E-P5 loved it, and we were sad to see it leave our hands. It’s nicely designed, has a ton of features, and produces really nice images.

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  Attractive retro design, Efficient and intuitive controls, Good performance, (Almost) infinitely customizable

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  Autofocus not as smart as we would have expected, Myriad features and customization options may be too confusing for some users, Noise filter aggressively removes detail from JPEG images

An excellent entry in the Micro Four Thirds universe, the Olympus PEN E-P5 should please a lot of folks, but it's also expensive given that it doesn't deliver best-in-class photo quality.

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  The Olympus PEN E-P5 renders extremely good photos for its class, and has a streamlined shooting design. Plus, it's fast.

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  The navigation button/dial is annoyingly awkward, and I wish the flash tilted.

The E-P5 is the most substantial reworking of the original PEN model, and it's the most impressive yet. It produces the same excellent image quality as the E-M5 and has a proper two-dial control system.

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  Beautifully-styled and built, with lots of external controls, Excellent JPEG output: warm, saturated colours without being excessive, Classic twin-dial user interface, Useful and easy to use Wi-Fi, Reliable metering and white balance, Extremely fast, accurate and near-silent autofocus with MSC...

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  Unusually prone to blurred/shaken images at certain shutter speeds (around 1/160sec), Movie quality rather disappointing, Camera configuration dauntingly complex, Lenses with snap manual focus ring don't engage manual focus assist tools, Multi-screen Live View interface is beginning to look very...

The Olympus E-P5 is an outstanding ILC combining Rangefinder styling, top of the line components, outstanding image quality and amazing performance into a compact package. It also features the largest collection of available lenses for an ILC. Read more in our Full Conclusion .

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  iAuto shooting mode is accurate and easy in all situations, Overall outstanding image quality in all situations, Dedicated Video Capture Button is always ready to record, Full 1080p HD video is excellent quality, Great image quality, 5-axis Image Stabilization is great for both still images and...

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  Classic rangefinder styling is not the most comfortable, Pop-up flash is not near as powerful as external units, One of the higher priced ILCs

With a large sensor, a wide range of manual settings and a full set of features, the Olympus PEN E-P5 is the DCHQ pick for Best Mirrorless Camera for 2013.

The Olympus PEN E-P5 mirrorless camera offers an advanced feature-set in a compact metal body. It has a 16 megapixels CMOS sensor with 2X crop-factor, capable of ISO 100 - 25600, 9 FPS continuous drive and 1080p HD video capture.

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  Very low image noise, Excellent retention of fine details, Good metering system, Reliable Automatic White-Balance, Superb built-in image stabilization, Class-leading shutter-lag and black-out, Fast contrast-detect AF, Very good shot-to-shot and drive speed, Very responsive, Extremely configurable,...

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  Poor color accuracy, Custom white-balance not perfect, Highly modal interface, Not always Exposure-Priority and frequently wrong Live-Histogram, Video recording delay at start and stop, Poorly placed tripod mount, Uncomfortable eyelets, Flimsy compartment door, Short battery life

The Olympus E-P5 takes the best of its predecessor, the E-P3, and many features from the acclaimed OM-D E-M5, and adds a few new wrinkles of its own to make it the company's best PEN-series Micro Four Thirds camera yet.

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  Handsome retro styling; Very good image quality and dynamic range, with competitive high ISO performance; Lightning fast autofocusing; Excellent burst speeds (nearly 10fps at full res); Top shutter speed of 1/8000 second; Sharp, bright 17mm f/1.8 kit lens; 3-inch tilting touchscreen LCD with 1.04M...

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  Heavier than some mirrorless models; Weak flash; Below average battery life; No built-in viewfinder (but EVF available in a kit or for separate purchase); A bit pricey compared to the similar E-M5, which offers a built-in EVF and weather sealing at about the same price.

In five years, I’ve can maneuver the streets with my eyes closed. I speak the language well enough to get by (though all my friends and family back home are convinced I’m fluent). I now think of fennel, artichokes and ham on melon as staple foods.

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  Small, portable, sturdy and physically discreet, Attractive retro-style build, Silent shutter allows for stealth, Excellent image quality (dynamic range, high ISO, colour reproduction), Extremely quick AF, start up time and continuous shooting, Tilting touch LCD screen useful for quick focusing,...

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  Lacking a built-in viewfinder which makes framing images a challenge in broad daylight. External viewfinder protrudes significantly from the body., Makes a whirring sound when internal stabilisation is activated., The flash will pop up even at the slightest touch of the flash button.

I'm not going to argue the differences between a D-SLR and a Micro Four Thirds system. This camera gives nice results and has a lot of lens available in all price ranges. The camera has a nice look and feel. It is light, but you can get functional lenses that are not that heavy or overbearing.

You won't find much advanced compact cameras with swivel screens and no viewfinders. This camera will probably be the last, considering the Pen F seems to be it's successor. I think company's are missing a hole in the enthusiast photographer target audience and this camera came very close to filling...

Having owned the E-PL5 for a while now with the 14-42mm and 40-150mm I felt that it was time to step up a little. I recently bought the VF-4 for my E-PL5 for a very good price (debundled) and I liked that a lot already.

Their best camera.

Well made solid camera. Very stylish, rather old school in looks from the front. Images are crisp vibrant and clear. Compact and lightweight compared to my old DSLR. It does not come with a viewfinder as standard and if you want one they are rather expensive.

This is a beautiful camera and I have to say with the 17mm lens it is highly addictive to shoot. Olympus has hit a grand slam with this easy to carry (without the viewfinder) and easy to program and shoot camera.

As a pro, I was looking to try a mirrorless camera. My history with Pen's go back over 45 years. Loved my film pen and even used one shooting couples in the Poconos one summer. Like this camera, fast focusing and a multitude of controls.

I'm an enthusiast photographer. My usual camera is a Canon 5D II with various L glass, but it's large, and I wanted to get a smaller kit mainly to take pictures of my 1-year-old son, and also for light travel photograph. The PEN E-P5 is an amazing camera for this purpose for a few reasons. 1.

I own several PENS including the EP3, and EPL5. This is a significant step up models. Image quality and Handling are top notch despite the fact that the grip is not interchangeable.

Pros: Well made, with good controls, excellent photos with the in body stablisation or IBIS. Complex if full featured menu system. It is actually good in low light (with a fast lens) and has a fast 1/320 flash sync speed from built in or 1/250 from external.