Nikon D600 vs Olympus PEN E-PL7

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon D600 and the Olympus PEN E-PL7, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Nikon D600 was introduced in November 2012 and Olympus PEN E-PL7 was introduced in September 2014. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon D600 over Olympus PEN E-PL7.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus PEN E-PL7 over Nikon D600.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Nikon D600 has a 3.2" Fixed screen with 921k dot resolution and Olympus PEN E-PL7 has a 3.0" Tilting screen with 1,037k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes Olympus PEN E-PL7 very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Olympus PEN E-PL7 also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality (available only on Olympus PEN E-PL7) allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Viewfinder

Nikon D600 has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder. It has a 100% coverage and 0.70x magnification.Olympus PEN E-PL7 does not have a built-in viewfinder but an optional electronic viewfinder can be attached.

Nikon D600 features a 24.3 megapixel Full Frame CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 24.0 mm and a total area of 861.6 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 6,400 and expands to 50 - 25,600 in boosted mode. Olympus PEN E-PL7 features a 16.1 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 169 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 25,600.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Nikon D600 is equipped with EXPEED 3 processor and can take pictures up to 6016 x 4016 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4512 x 3008, 3936 x 2624, 3008 x 2008, 3008 x 1688, 2944 x 1968 with 3:2 aspect ratios. Olympus PEN E-PL7 is equipped with TruePic VII processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3200 x 2400, 1280 x 960 with 1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Nikon D600 has Nikon F lens mount and Olympus PEN E-PL7 has Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Due to Full Frame sensor in Nikon D600 its crop factor is equal to 1x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length. Due to Micro Four Thirds sensor in Olympus PEN E-PL7 its crop factor is equal to 2x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 2.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Olympus PEN E-PL7

Olympus PEN E-PL7 has a built-in Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 3.5 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi on Olympus PEN E-PL7

Olympus PEN E-PL7 has a built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n, 2.4 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Nikon D600 has a Mini Type C HDMI and Olympus PEN E-PL7 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon D600 comes with EN-EL15 battery pack with battery life of 900 shots and Olympus PEN E-PL7 comes with BLS-50 battery pack with battery life of 350 shots.

External Storage Slots

Nikon D600 has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slots. Olympus PEN E-PL7 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

Shutter

Nikon D600 has Electronically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Nikon D600, and up to 1/4000 sec on Olympus PEN E-PL7. Nikon D600 can shoot continuously up to 5.5 fps. Olympus PEN E-PL7 can shoot continuously up to 8.0 fps.

Focusing

Nikon D600 has 39 (9 cross-type) focusing points and Olympus PEN E-PL7 has 81 focusing points. Nikon D600 has detection range from -1 to +19 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Nikon D600 and Olympus PEN E-PL7 range from 0 to +20 EV and -2 to +20 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Nikon D600 and ±5 EV range on Olympus PEN E-PL7. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon D600 and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus PEN E-PL7.

Flash

Nikon D600 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 12.00 m at ISO 100 and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe. Olympus PEN E-PL7 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec on Nikon D600.

Nikon D600 body has dimensions of 141 x 113 x 82 mm (5.55 x 4.45 x 3.23") and Olympus PEN E-PL7 body has dimensions of 115 x 67 x 38 mm (4.53 x 2.64 x 1.5"). Nikon D600 weighs 850 g (1.87 lb / 29.98 oz) and Olympus PEN E-PL7 weighs 357 g (0.79 lb / 12.59 oz).

Nikon D600

Olympus PEN E-PL7

141 mm

113 mm

115 mm

67 mm

113 mm

67 mm

82 mm

38 mm