Olympus Pen E-PL7 - First Impressions Review

I would like to start off by saying that I truly know absolutely nothing about cameras. In fact until I  about a week ago, I had only ever used my iPhone 6 and had never even heard of the term DSLR (bad for a blogger I know!).  However, I have dreamt about this camera for the last few months, pining over Lydia Elise Millen and Emma Hill's blog photography for far too long and therefore decided that I needed it. So when my birthday rolled around and I got a lovely bonus pay check from work, I walked into Jessops in Meadowhall Sheffield with a very decided heart but a very undecided head, which all thanks to my lovely encouraging boyfriend I bit the bullet and all my blogging fangirl wishes came true - the Olympus Pen E-PL7 was mine. 

I thought long and hard about how I should write this post and decided on telling you all the little things on why I love this camera was my best option, as I could tell you all the technical stuff but thats what the Olympus website is for - which you can read here, and you would probably know more about what it meant than I do anyway, so this is simply a personal review on my thoughts. 

*This post was not in anyway sponsored by Olympus or Jessops, all words and views are my own and the camera was bought with my own money*

The look - Firstly just look at how pretty it is. In all honesty thats what really sold me as like I said before I know nothing about cameras, and because of that all the features didn't really mean that much to me then! I chose the white body as even though the black was classic, I felt that the white was much more me and also very different to any other camera I had seen before. It is also worth mentioning here that the Pen comes with a detachable flash which I think is an excellent idea as it keeps the camera compact and small for when travelling etc, but is also very easy to attach and use when you need to. It really is so aesthetically pleasing and I just want to wave it about at everyone and show it off - crazy I know. 

Picture Quality - Now anything I'm sure is better than an iPhone, but I really was taken aback with how amazing the picture quality was. The image is so sharp and clear which is easily seen when the photos are uploaded onto my Macbook, which just astounds me. I had read reviews previous to buying the Pen about how the white balance when indoors can be a little on the yellow side, and that may be true but with just a little edit which I would do anyway, the photos always come out perfect for me. My boyfriend, friends and family that I have shown the picture quality to have all been amazed with how clear and brilliant it is.

It is easy to use - I was a little scared at first, especially when the store assistant was going through all its features, but I found that when on Auto it is very straight forward which really helped me when I first started playing with it. It was also easy to put together for the beginners like me who have never used a lens before, and its easy to then turn on a take a snap. I have now started playing around with the aperture and other features which are what makes the camera so amazing, and even those settings are easy to fiddle about with and you can always revert back. 

The screen - Just wow. it flips down, it flips up, it flips out, it basically flips everywhere. No matter what angle you need - the Pen has got your back. With all the ways you can flip the screen, you can always see what is in the frame and get really low when taking pictures to get the great angles. I also love the touch feature which even though most cameras have this now, it was so easy to navigate which after half an hour or so I had easily mastered how to work the menu on screen, and made it super easy to do quick adjustments when taking photos. You can tap on the screen to focus and take the photo with just one touch which I think is amazing, and I later found out you can touch the screen to select focus points which is great for those shots when you want to focus on a specific detail and get that bokeh background we all crave for. The touch can also be turned off completely for those who don't get along with it, but I love it.

Built in wifi - This is probably my most favourite feature. You can download an app called OI Share which when the camera wifi is turned on, acts as a remote meaning you can easily get that photo when no one else is around to help. It shows you on your phone screen what is on view on the camera lens if that makes sense, which makes it brilliant for photos that can be tricky to capture if just out of your reach. The wifi app also means that any photos that you have taken can download straight onto your phone and ready for instagramers like myself within seconds - no annoying wires and laptops needed!

Overall thoughts 

The camera has really got me looking forward to going out and taking pictures and definitely got my blogging inspiration back, so if you are looking for a camera that looks amazing, has amazing features and takes amazing photos - look no further. Olympus stated that this camera was designed in mind of bloggers and I can totally see that.  I can't tell you how much I have fallen for this amazing piece of equipment, and I am so excited to learn more and really get into the photography skills that this camera can teach me.  Now that I have played around with the Auto settings I have started to play around manually and change the features to suit how I want them, which I believe is important if you want to make the most of what the Pen has to offer. Whilst I haven't done any videos yet and I know there are so many other features that I need more practice on, I fully aim to get to know the Pen inside out and have it work to my advantage which I would highly recommend considering the amount that you would have spent on the purchase. On that note I can gladly go as a far to say its probably the best thing that I have ever bought myself to date, and whilst I'm a newbie to all of this and know very little in comparison to many others I see the Pen as worth every penny.

You can buy the Olympus Pen E-PL7 at Jessops for the best price currently - £299, which really is a bargain compared to other stores. You can also get some really lovely accessories from the Olympus website - here, that are definitely now on my wish list. Hope this review helped some of you!

Bargain Buys

This post was so spontaneous but I just knew I had to share this with you, as I was so surprised! Recently it was my birthday and I went to Sheffield to stay with my boyfriend for a few days, and as this is where I went to university I still had a few friends in the area including my best friend Caitlin. We went to Wagamamas and had a little too much food and wine and then headed into the centre to do a little shopping. We decided to nip into Poundland to grab a few of the essentials because who doesn't love a bargain, and I was so surprised to stumble across some actually really good things in their beauty section.

Alongside all the cheap face wipes and make up which are the usual, I found this Beauty Blender dupe - The Blending Sponge. Now I will be the first to admit that I haven't tried the real Beauty Blender, only the Real Techniques version (which is amazing and I couldn't imagine my life without it), but when I saw this for just a £1 I thought hey why not give it ago. In all honesty, it worked. I dampened the sponge and away I went and it did a pretty good job. It wasn't as good as the real techniques so I'm sure it is nothing on the original blender, but for such a cheap price, it did its job very well! Definitely will be using this for daily makeup and saving my more expensive ones for higher end products and evening looks!

As I mentioned before I was with my friend Caitlin who had mentioned that she applies a little contour powder with an angled brush. I use all Ecotools brushes, which you can see the beginning collection in a post here, so I was also skeptical about the brush quality of their Make Up Angled Blush Brush. It was very plastic like, probably a little too much, but for a beginner it is worth trying. Brushes are super expensive I think, so its definitely worth going in to try some of the other ones too! It did do the job, I just didn't 100% love the feel and texture of the brush myself.

Lastly, my all time favourite - False Lashes. I was going out that night with my boyfriend for dinner, and stupidly had left my lashes at home, so when I saw these I thought they're only a £1 and will save me buying even more when really I was fully stocked up already. Also he doesn't particularly like heavy make-up, which doesn't mean I won't do it, but I just go for the more natural colours and looks. These where by far the biggest shock I had ever had. I used my own glue as I always do because my favourite is the MAC due adhesive (buy here), but they looked so lovely because of the extended length and the corner. They weren't too much but also made them look thicker and lengthier than I could have ever made them with mascara. Plus how much a bonus when you get two pairs for that price! I will most definitely be going back to get more of these as they were just simply amazing for those everyday natural looks. The only thing that annoyed me way the plastic with the lashes on was too big for the packet as you can see in the photo, but thats just me nitpicking!

Let me know all your bargain buys as I'm always on the look out. 

How I Stay Organised

One thing that I have definitely learnt this year is that organisation is key to pretty much anything in life. Having a full time job, blogging, visiting my boyfriend across the country and a million other things make it really easy to get myself in a complete muddle! It was because of this that I decided that there was a few simple steps I could make to change my pretty packed life into a more easy stress free (well not completely) style. I have seen these types of posts before and thought that I would share with you guys my life hacks for staying organised.

I bought a diary. As you can see in the pretty picture above I got myself a diary/journal. I actually got bought this for christmas (Similar here) from my mum as I completely fell in love with it on one of our shopping trips. I love the reptile finish and of course the fact that its pink, but mostly it was just really simple layout inside that didn't scare me too much. I now have a list at the back under the notes section of all my blog ideas etc, and just fill the days in as I would a normal diary with all my work, blogging and other commitments. It's a great way to stay on top of things and knowing what your doing in advance.

Plan ahead. Now this kind of ties in with the diary, but I've pretty much planned a month in advance all the things Im going to be doing with friends and family, work, and blog posts. This doesn't mean they always happen but its good to know what is coming up, especially if your like me and like to keep on top of your finances too.

Set schedules. I like to set times to accomplish the things I want to do both daily and weekly. For example my work day is usually around 9-5 so I will make sure that I come home and do a work out consistently at 6pm everyday, that way I don't often miss it except when I'm being really lazy or had a tough day. Then I either sit and watch some netflix (PLL on tuesdays is a must!) and blog for a bit before bed. I find that if I schedule my time throughout the day then it makes it a lot easier to keep on track, this brings me to my next point...

Do one thing at a time. More often than not Im at work panicking about how much I had to do at the weekend and then when it rolls around I'm all over the show trying to get everything done at once. It never works - not for me anyways. Following my schedule and taking it easy has definitely improved my ability to focus on one thing and do it properly.

I thought I would just mention this amazing article I stumbled upon before christmas by Womens Day. The organisation tips here are a lot more precise than my own ones so it is definitely worth a skim read. Some of the ideas are great, especially for mums etc. How do you stay organised? Let me know your links!

High End Wishlist

Chanel Rouge Coco Ultra Hydrating Lip Colour - 'Louise' - Along with the Clinique contour chubby stick this has been on top of my wish list since as long as I can remember. I don't know why I didn't ask for it for christmas, silly me! I was really tied between the colours 'Adrienne' and 'Louise' but after seeing Louise in store its definitely the nude for me. I haven't ever tried a Chanel lipstick so I can't really say much about the product except the swatch made me fall in love. 

Chanel Vitalumiere Compact Douceur - '40 Beige' - I fell in love with this compact back in November when I was in Sheffield for the week. This colour really suited my skin as I do have a slightly yellow undertone that the 50 Beige was a little too much for. I have heard so many good things about this product as its not only a foundation powder but a really good concealer apparently too! It is quite pricey and therefore I didn't pick it up at the time so please let me know in the comments if you have a review as I would love to read it.

Yves Saint Laurent Forever Foundation - I have never owned any YSL make up, and I love to start my collection with foundations. I don't know how I came across this really, probably just browsing feel unique, but my step mum swears by there products. I love the look of the bottle (however ridiculous that sounds!) and have heard its good for youthful looking skin. I always buy high end foundations as I am a strong believer of paying more for anything that is all over my face and has the potential to damage my skin so I would love to give this a go.

Clinique Chubby Stick Sculpting Contour - This is probably going to be my next purchase when payday finally rolls around (seems like its been forever!). A couple of my friends have it and say its a complete game changer which combined with all the  bloggers and you tubers out there promoting it, I just know that it needs to be mine. I don't think its even that badly priced for a high end product although some do argue. Ill be sure to review this once I get my hands on it.

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Blue Perfector - I was sold at the amazingly pretty pink packaging. I mean come on its geo gorgeous! I love that even though its pink which is unusual for a product that can be applied all over it is meant to be a really good at making your complexion even. However, I can't say much about the product as I haven't seen it in person only online through reading reviews but it seems to be a well valued purchase, and like I said before the packaging is enough to get me to buy!

Let me know in the comments if anyone has reviewed these products as I love to know more about them before I purchase, especially with the high end prices!