The Olympus PEN E-PL9 is a stylish mirrorless camera for the everyday snapper

So you’ve got a whole album’s worth of award-worthy dog photos sitting on your phone, and you’ve made a big decision: it’s time to graduate from smartphone snapper to a proper camera. Well, you’ve got options. The traditional cam-makers know that smartphones are muscling in on their territory, so they’re making cameras with user-friendly features intended to entice Generation Selfie. The Olympus PEN E-PL9 is one such cam. It’s compact and lightweight enough to sling in any bag, but with looks like this you’ll want it hanging from your neck as often as possible. The tiltable touch screen allows for intuitive controls, easing the transition from Auto to Advanced Photo mode. As you’d expect from Olympus, there’s an array of Art Filters to mess around with, and you can even touch up skin tones in-camera. A 16MP sensor is nothing to get excited about, but the E-PL9’s three-axis in-body stabilisation should allow for buttery-smooth 4K video recording, and its compatibility with over M.Zuiko lenses – including the M.Zuiko Digital 45mm F1.8 for natural bokeh in portraits – makes it more versatile than any smartphone cam. Chuck in both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, and you’ve got a camera for the masses. Pick it up body-only for £579.99.

Matt Tate Contributor

About

I'm fascinated by all things tech, but if you were going to leave me on a desert island, I'd probably ask for my Nintendo Switch, a drone, and a pair of noise-cancelling cans to block out the relentless seagull racket. When I'm not on Stuff duty you'll probably find me subscribing to too many podcasts, playing too many video games, or telling anyone who will listen that Spurs are going to win a trophy this season.

Areas of expertise

Video games, VR, smartwatches, headphones, smart speakers, bizarre Kickstarter campaigns