Labs

Pick up the new Digital 500 and you'll instantly be captivated by the huge rear LCD. At 2.5in, it leaves no room for an optical viewfinder, but is so bright that it's easily viewable outdoors in bright sunlight. It's a shame that the refresh rate is so slow, but the high resolution means you really can see if your subject is in focus.

Hit the power button and the 3x optical zoom shoots out in 1.2 seconds, allowing you to capture the moment more quickly than other cameras on test. Unlike previous designs, there's now an automatic lens cover, reducing the risk of damaging an extended lens by sliding it shut too quickly.

Controls on the rear are basic, although menus are slightly easier to navigate than before. The four-way direction pad can be customised to provide different functions in record mode, but there aren't many manual controls.

Usefully, the Olympus offers a live histogram and the choice of spot-focusing and metering, although there's no manual white

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balance or flash brightness control. You can alter EV compensation and ISO sensitivity, but not shutter speed or aperture. Twenty scene presets are handy replacements for these controls, though, and there's also panorama assist.

The 5-megapixel CCD leads to fine detail in images, but, frustratingly, you can't force the Digital 500 to retain settings; you have to set SHQ mode every time you power on. If you forget, the default HQ mode uses so much compression that images had noticeable JPEG artefacts - a shame, since image quality was otherwise reasonably good.

Outdoors, shots at SHQ mode were sharp enough and our only real gripe was slightly too much magenta in photos. However, focusing was another nail in the Olympus' coffin, as it consistently had trouble at locking onto the subject. With no focus-assist lamp, the same problem occurred in dim lighting. This is why, if you look at the indoor photo on the cover disc, you'll notice the soft focus, despite us taking at least ten test shots. Thankfully, noise wasn't evident and the auto white balance worked well.

Macro performance was good, capturing just 24 x 18mm, but videos were average, thanks to the maximum resolution of 320 x 240 and an estimated frame rate of about 10-15fps. Burst shooting was average too, at six frames in six seconds at the highest quality.

Ultimately, the Digital 500 is an average offering. The great LCD can't make up for the poor focusing ability, although the great macro mode may sway some. If you've got £180 to spend, the Sony and Nikon are better choices.