Olympus E-520
There has been a bit of back and forth about the look of the Olympus E-520, some have called it plasticy and oddly shaped. For me; I am happy to call the look Nostalgic! The design gives me a bit of a 1980’s mixed with modern funk feel. This camera has a rugged, strong plastic body (adding to the light-weightiness of the camera during handling) It has a rubber grip and only the bits that need to be metal are metal (like the card slots for example) and having mentioned the card slots… there are TWO card slots that can be used simultaneously, the photographer has the option to switch between the two cards during shooting. (I found this really helpful when doing a shoot for work and then randomly wanting to take a personal picture in between…I was able to allocate one card to the work shoot and keep the other card for my personal pictures!)
In comparison to earlier models, the rear LCD has been made slightly bigger, 2.7 inches in total and has Hypercrystal II which of course makes viewing really easy in bright sunlight.
The Olympus E-520 boasts an impressive 11 point auto focus system, on a bit of a down side this function only works in Live View. If you are making use of the viewfinder, the camera will automatically switch to its three point focus.
The E-520 has face detection and perfect shot preview, even though this is not something that an SLR user would be looking for, it is a great feature for those who have been spoilt with this option while using compact cameras. I did find that the face detection option struggled a little bit to accurately and quickly recognise a face.
In as little as four zooms, the E-520 covers a stabilized range from 18 to 600mm (in 35mm terms). If you take into consideration the newly released Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm and 70-300mm combination results in massive 33x zoom range. (An obvious boasting point for Olympus)
How does the Olympus E-520 fair in timing?
Press to capture time is around 0.2seconds. The camera manages 9 frames per 2.9 seconds and in terms of battery life, Olympus has claimed that the Olympus E-520 provides 650 shots from a single battery charge. All this puts the E-520 pretty high up the entry-level ladder.
This little camera has a wide range of setting options and the flexibility and speed of functions results in the Olympus E-520 responding more like a more expensive SLR than an entry-level one. This makes the E-520, apart from being a great entry level point and shoot camera, a great camera for more advanced users who are moving over to Olympus.
The body of the Olympus E-520 is covered in little buttons, literally, there seem to be endless options. It might seem a bit daunting when you first pick up the camera but once you get the hang of it the camera is really easy to use. It is definitely worth it to spend some time flicking through the user manual. The camera is so jam packed with features you don’t want to miss out on any of them! In amongst the features are two underwater modes, make sure to note when Olympus mentions not to dive under without the appropriate underwater camera housing! 
The E-520 works as all Four Thirds cameras work and is compatible with lenses from other manufacturers, including Leica and Panasonic . Just keep in mind that not all of the cameras functions mix well with the other manufacturers lenses.
What is my conclusion? I’ll give this camera a 3 star rating for a more advanced photographer and a 4 star rating for a beginner. A comfortable camera with a strong feel to it. Sturdy, solid-clicking buttons and plenty of features to give you many options in your photography projects.
Have a look at this video comparison between the E-420 and E-520:
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