I have blogged about the power of 'the law of attraction' before – and just have to emphasize again about just how wonderful it really is. Anything you want (like, really want), and think positively about, you will get.

Like last year, I mentioned I managed to achieve the two most important resolutions that I had really poured so much of my time, energy, love and major positivity into. I'm forever amazed by its power, you can never go wrong with positivity, trust me!

Okay, so what happened this time was that I saw this beautiful photo of Cath In The City's white & taupe Olympus E-PL7 camera (of the PenLite series).




Yeah, so I went and Googled everything I can about this camera – and I am so blown away with its functions and capabilities. It is the ultimate blogger's camera! I never wanted a camera so badly since.. ever! And let me tell you, I used to believe that iPhone photos are good enough for a blog (scrapped that thought in 2012), but I know now, how wrong I was about that.

A lesson I learnt as a blogger: A great blog requires a decent camera and good editing skills.

Okay so, back to my story. I posted this image up on my Instagram and Twitter, making this my ultimate 2015 #WISHLIST item. I obsessively read about this camera and told my close friends and family about it. I started to envision myself owning the camera and how it would help my blog and improve my photography skills. I imagined the amazing photos I would take during my trips to Bali and London this year. I even prayed to my grandmother about it, haha, but please don't take this as a surefire way to get what you want.

Three days later, after I first saw and posted Cath's photo – I got my dream camera. Isn't it amazing?! I was actually planning to save up properly for this before I can actually buy it without using my already maxed-out credit card, but as fate had decided, I would get my camera early in the year (it wasn't even mid-January yet)! So yes, the Law of Attraction certainly works. However, although I really wanted the white & taupe like Cath's, I decided to get the black & silver one instead.

Okay so enough gushing about manifesting dreams into reality, let's talk about why this is such an amazing camera and so perfect for bloggers.

*Disclaimer: Before I go on, this is not a sponsored product, not an advert, no relation to Olympus whatsoever and not a professional tech-review. This is strictly my personal opinion.


THE OLYMPUS PENLITE SERIES E-PL7
I know there are also a lot of other great cameras out there, but this particular one has stolen my (photographic) heart. I mentioned that it is the perfect camera for bloggers – so here's a list of what I love about it. Be warned, this is a more superficial version of a proper tech-review.




THE COLOR, BODY DESIGN & PRIME LENSES
Can I just say – what a beautiful design! It looks so retro, especially since it's black and silver! I also really loved the white & taupe color (which I originally wanted at first), but by advice of the salesperson, these get dirty really easily especially if handled by sweaty hands and around food. Not that I have sweaty hands, but food and travel are a constant in my life so there's quite a risk for staining to happen. Also, it's not really all-white as it looks like in their brochure images. The plastic areas are white, but the leatherette part is cream in color, against the taupe. It even comes with a silver flash, which looks off from the color scheme. The color mismatch is quite annoying, to be honest.

I'm glad I chose the black & silver in the end, it looks like those old film cameras and it matches the silver lenses (there's a black color options for lens as well for the all-black model) and the silver flash that comes with it.

As for the body, it has a lovely black leatherette and silver body (looks like metal but actually hard plastic, but still looks nice and feels solid). I love how they have two metal dials at the top – one for mode and one to adjust the shutter speed/aperture. I know many have complained about the other buttons being small to the point of needing fingernail-precision, but they are alright for me as I have small hands.

I also have to talk about how amazing the lens look – sleek silver with clean lines and grooves. And these are M. Zuiko Prime lenses too, which are widely acclaimed as one of the top mid-range lenses to use because of its precision, quality and some consider these professional lens. I was lucky enough to get the 40-150mm M. Zuiko telephoto lens (RRP: RM1,199) for only RM150, together with the 14-42mm M. Zuiko lens that came together with my camera. Happy, yes I am. Prime lenses are the crème de la crème in the photography world.


SELF-PROCLAIMED SELFIE CAMERA + TOUCH SCREEN
Loads of selfie cameras out there – so is this one, except that its screen tilts downwards instead of the regular upwards or sideways. The theory is that: screens that are downwards make you look more natural when taking a selfie, because even if you're looking downwards at the screen, your eyes look like they're looking into the screen. Makes sense to me.

The technical reason for the downward tilting is because of the hotshoe that is attached at the top to mount the external flash (there isn't any built-in flash), so you get perfect-lighting for every selfie you take.



The touchscreen is useful for flipping through images quickly with swipes, and can even be set for snapping photos. I prefer to turn that feature off because it's really annoying when you accidentally tap the screen and get ugly photos that you have to delete later on. It's easy to turn off and on though, and very useful for taking selfies since it's easier to just tap to snap.


ART EFFECTS & FACE SMOOTHING
This may sound very vain, but I love the face smoothing feature called E-Portrait where skin is detected, and smoothened. So amazing, because the results are flawless skin with a healthy glow. I know, I know.. very superficial, but I love it! The face detection is spot on – I tried to e-portrait my cat, but the camera said 'no face was detected'.



The art effects are also very cool, with quite a few good ones. You can view your art effects applied live, on your camera screen as you shoot. This is very helpful, especially for the Partial Colour effect, where you can exclude a certain color to stand out while the rest remains monochromatic. The other effect I really love is the Dramatic Tone – high contrast and high color shots, which are how I usually edit my photos to look like anyway.







Like all standard cameras, there's also the usual Scenes mode where you can select an auto scene setting for whatever you are shooting. I love the fact that they have a Fireworks, Macro and Night portraits setting. So useful for events, parties and capturing details. Works nicely on pets too, but your scene-modes depend on the lighting.







CAN BE CONSIDERED A SEMI-PRO CAMERA
I love how this camera is smaller and lighter than a DSLR, but gives you the ability to control and adjust the aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings in its Manual mode. I used to learn photography, but my knowledge is quite obscure due to lack of practice. So I'm mentally making another resolution – to relearn the technicalities of photography again. I never liked using the Auto modes anyway, they don't usually give me what I want.



The Image Stabilization on this camera is on point! Even in low light conditions, in burst mode, I manage to capture at least one clear image. The chances of getting blur photos (one of the worst camera pitfalls) is very significantly reduced compared to my older and cheaper Powershot N. It's very technical, but there's a 3-axis stabilization feature that helps you take clearer photos. Thumbs up!


EFFORTLESS WIRELESS CONTROL
This is one of their key selling points, and I was also sold for this. Like any other WiFi enabled camera, you download an app into your phone to transfer images easily. Check. But this camera not only allows you to transfer (and edit) photos on your phone, you can control the shutter as well.

Say you want to take a full-length photo of yourself, and there's no one to assist you. You place your camera on a table/tripod, open the app on your phone – and you see a Live View of what your camera sees on your phone. So you stand in front of the camera, adjust yourself according to how Live View shows on your phone.. and tap to snap. You can also set a timer so that you have time to keep your phone in your pocket before the camera captures your image. Isn't it brilliant?! I never expected this feature when I fell in love with the camera's body design so it is a plus!


OTHER GREAT POINTS

• It is small and light, easy to hold and to stuff into my handbag.
• Shoots crisply at 16MP, an upgrade from its predecessor's 12MP.
• Contains photography tips within camera. Basic, but useful.
• Has other options to control hue, saturation, monochrome and brightness for live shooting.
• Memory flash card fits easily in my Macbook Air for fast photo transfer.
• Battery must be charged externally – a good safety precaution, I might add.
• Photos taken can be edited with Crop or E-Portrait, within camera.
• Battery life seems to last pretty damn well, so far. 
• Full HD videos.

I guess that sums it up. I don't usually rave and review gadgets here (I tend to stick to what I'm familiar with most of the time) so I guess this camera really does what it does very well for me to be 'this' excited. I'm already in the midst of organizing a short road trip with friends, just so I can peruse my new camera. I mean, might as well try it out for a full and proper blog post since it's such an investment for a blogger, no?

You can probably expect more posts with lotsa new and improved (*ahem*) photos soon, so don't be a stranger and follow me everywhere for updates. I'm new on Bloglovin, (just signed up last week!) so please come check me out. ;)