Olympus E-520 - Olympus E-520

Olympus cameras are typically small and this is no exception, thought the right hand grip adds to its dimensions compared the 400 series of cameras. However I found it fits the hands well, and the glass reinforced plastic body is evenly balanced, The larger screen leaves slightly less room on the camera back than the E510, but there's still enough thumb room, just, to not accidentally press the buttons on the back.

The layout is good, with a simple approach and all the buttons where they need to be, Other functions can be accessed via the main quick menu on the screen, by pressing the OK button, or in the main menu system, accessed via the Menu button,. Once the camera is set up, there's very little reason to go to the main menu though, so you can concentrate on shooting. Not everyone gets on with this ‘Super Menu', but I found that once you get used to it, it's a really quick and convenient way of working.

The command dial on the top plate is the only way to change aperture and shutter during shooting and in manual mode, the exposure compensation needs to be pressed to change aperture. This isn't unusual, but I personally would like to see a second command dial, so there's individual dials for shutter and aperture, A small point and I understand the reason it isn't there - space and simplicity, but still.