Selfie obsession forces camera makers to rethink form

FIRST the smartphone smashed the cheap camera market. Now our obsession with shooting selfies has hit the high end.

Cameras evolve under selfie power

FIRST smartphones smashed the cheap camera market. Now our obsession with shooting selfies is changing the form of interchangeable lens cameras at the high end.

Olympus today has unveiled what it is calling “the smartphone lover’s ideal interchangeable lens camera”, with a flip-down screen that drops below the camera to provide the perfect eye line when shooting selfies.

The 16.1 megapixel Olympus PEN E-PL7 compact system camera can shoot eight frames a second, has an 81-point autofocus system and comes with a 14-42mm kit lens (equivalent to 28-84mm in 32mm terms).

Olympus marketing manager Kristie Galea said the idea of designing an interchangeable lens camera for the selfie fanatic came in light of insights from research into what people want in their camera and how they use them.

Drop down to smile ... the flip-down screen on the Olympus Pen E-PL7 is designed to give you the perfect eye line in a selfie.

“People don’t use compact for their everyday photography, they’re using their phones,” she said. “And when people go into the market to buy something, they buy it for a purpose.”

The research found that, when asked to name their favourite subjects for photographs, the most popular responses people gave were friends, selfies and pets.

While smartphone users might have little use for a stand-alone cheap camera they can carry in a pocket, their interest in stepping up their photography skills is still there.

The research also found more than 50 per cent of smartphone users under 40 hope to buy an interchangeable lens camera.

The appeal to the selfie generation in the design of the PEN E-PL7 goes beyond the flip down screen with touch controls.

The camera has a three-axis image stabilisation that helps in removing the wobble as you hold the camera above your head at an angle in typical selfie pose.

Flipping the screen down sets up the E-PL7 to take multiple selfie shots when it detects a face or faces, and the kit lens automatically zooms out to the widest angle to make sure it doesn’t crop you out of your own photo.

The Olympus Pen E-PL7 will be released in Australia in September for $649 for body only or $849 with the 14-42EZ zoom.