Olympus E-500 digital SLR

A brilliantly versatile digital camera but image quality is underwhelming.

A camera for the serious shutterbug on a shoestring, this packs in a host of features and an excellent 14-45mm lens.

The body is a bit small, which makes for a scramble round the back to squeeze on all the controls and 2.5-inch screen. Few concessions have been made for the novice, with technical info crammed on to the display like commuters on a bus.

The eight-megapixel images are good, rather than stunning, and we found fine detail in landscape pics to be weaker than you'd hope, with colours often dull and flat. Low light focusing is erratic, too.

Olympus supports the FourThirds system of interchangeable lenses. The only problem is that it's the only big player that does, so choice of lenses is not as great as it might be.

Even so, the flexible lens mount, allied to its impressive raft of creative features, makes this worth considering.

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