Olympus' new E-520 is the logical extension of their flagship SLR, the E-510.

There are no radical changes, but plenty of subtle upgrades: a bigger LCD screen, for instance, and a new 10 Megapixel LiveMOS sensor, both of which help it keep up with the stiffer and stiffer competition in this field.

Handling

Apart from a few small details, the case of the E-520 is almost identical to that of its predecessor.

I've already mentioned the most obvious change--the upgrade of the LCD screen from 2.5'' to 2.7''.

The screen benefits from what Olympus call HyperCrystal II technology, which reflects light falling on the screen back out to increase the brightness, which means you can use the camera even in bright sunlight, even if it is a little less easy than doing so in other conditions.

Compared to most of the other SLRs we've tested, the inclusion of HyperCrystal II means that the E-520 has one of the best screens we've ever seen.

Apart from that, very little has changed on the outside, unless you want to note the fact that the controls are now labeled in blue, rather than green.

Hardware

Holding it in your hands, the case is practical and solid.

It's bigger than its main competitors like the Nikon D60, the handle is just as comfortable with a good grip.

The 14-42 mm lens is noticeable shorter and fatter than its 18-55 mm equivalents found elsewhere. 

Unfortunately, the viewfinder is still quite narrow, and is in fact one of the weaker elements of the E-520's design.

As an alternative, you can focus images on the screen, and in this mode, three different AutoFocus settings are available.

The first uses the main sensor to measure contrast on an eleven-point scale, but only works with 25 mm, 14-42 mm and 40-150 mm lenses, and has optional face detection.

The second uses classic AutoFocus sensors, requiring the mirror to come down to allow the focus to be completed successfully.

The third and final mode is a combination of the first two, but it's difficult to see what the advantage of this is.

Focusing directly on the screen allows you to check the kind of readings we're used to seeing on even compact digital cameras (histogram and white balance for example), but it's painfully slow sometimes, especially when light levels drop.

All in all, the E-520 is a pretty fast camera, but certain functions can take longer than we'd like--AutoFocus and cleaning the lens as the camera is switched on in particular slow it down.

Burst mode shows a modest improvement, reaching a speed of 3.5 frames per second.

Interface

The controls have remained entirely identical, with a rich but accessible interface.

There are plenty of shortcuts to key settings (ISO, white balance, flash, burst mode, AutoFocus and so on …) and most of the settings are controlled using the LCD screen on the back.

Some of the menus are a little convoluted, though, and there is no contextual help for the poor beginner who might easily find themselves a little lost.

Image Quality

The sensor inside the E-520 is new to Olympus' line and is supplied by Panasonic, which promises improvements to ISO ratings and dynamic range.

In practice, the images produced by this SLR are generally better than those produced by its predecessor.

The dynamic range is indeed wider, and is particularly better in brighter conditions, where earlier models tended to flatten out a lot of detail.

As for electronic noise handling, the E-520 is still just a little behind its two big competitors, the Nikon D60 and the Canon EOS 40D.

In the open air, white balancing performs well and colors are captured accurately, but inside, under artificial light, colors are a little too warm.

The lens supplied with the camera is reliable, producing sharp images with little chromatic aberration.

Although the mechanical stabilization works well, the optical stabilization seemed to give better results, meaning it's possible to get good pictures at 1/6 s, though it's often necessary to slide to 1/15 s to be sure of better quality.

One final point to note is that the built-in flash sometimes under-exposes images.