Front(8.0)
The front of the Olympus C-5500 has a two-tone brushed silver casing. The right hand grip is dark silver with a dark gray vertical strip of rubber on it that acts as a finger grip. On the right side of the camera is the attractive lens, composed of polished silver lines. It protrudes slightly when turned off, but when powered on, two more segments extend out of the camera. Around the circular lens are the words, “Olympus Zoom Lens AF Zoom 7.9-39.5mm 1:2.8-4.8.” The lens has a cover that snaps shut electronically when the camera is turned off. Above the lens to the right is the built-in microphone, which is a triangular series of 10 holes. Above the microphone is the brand name: “Olympus.” Above the lens and a bit to the left is a flash and self-timer indicator LED light. To the right of the hand grip and the left of the indicator light is the small, square optical viewfinder. Below the viewfinder are the words, “Camedia Digital Camera C-5500 Zoom.” Below those words, all the way at the bottom, it says “5.1 Megapixels.” When the flash is manually opened, it protrudes from the top right of the camera, above the microphone and lens.

Back (8.0)
The Olympus C-5500's back control panel has a pleasing look, which is difficult to achieve with so many control buttons. On the left is the 2-inch LCD screen with the word “Olympus” at the bottom. To the right of the LCD are four rectangular buttons, laid out vertically. At the top is the self-labeled Quick View button. The second button is labeled “AEL.” The third button down has the common Flash symbol on it to select flash modes. The bottom button has a picture of a flower on it, the common symbol for Macro mode. This button also doubles as a Delete button in Playback, indicated by the trashcan icon beside it. To the right of these buttons is the four-way navigational dial with an OK / Menu button in the center. Unlike most dials, this one has four separate buttons, one for each direction. This is a nice feature; sometimes the dials get the directions confused if the user’s finger accidentally hits middle ground. With these buttons, there shouldn't be much confusion.

At the far right is a tab to open the battery door. Above the LCD on the top left of the camera is the Flash button; this Flash button manually opens and engages the flash on top of the camera. To the right of the Flash button is the optical viewfinder with two LED indicator lights, vertically oriented. All the way to the right on the back is the Mode Dial, which has the following options: Auto, Program, Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority, Manual, Scene, Movie, Playback and a “My” Mode customized option.

Left Side (7.5)
There is a speaker on the left side of the Olympus C-5500. Below the speaker is a rubber port door that houses USB and A/V out jacks. At the bottom left is another rubber port cover with a DC in jack below. There are tabs on the rubber doors, so users won't have to pry them open with sharpened fingernails.

Right Side (7.5)
There is a plastic door on this side with a hinge on the right. Within the hinge, there is an exposed skinny bar for stringing the wrist strap (stringing this is like threading a needle--tedious). Inside the door is a slot for an xD-Picture Card.

Top (7.5)
On the top of the right-hand grip is the shutter release button with surrounding zoom toggle controls. The power button is located in the center of the top of the C-5500; it is clearly labeled “Power,” but recessed slightly. To the left of this button are the words, “5x Optical Zoom.” All the way to the left of the top is the pop-up flash, which can only be opened manually.

 

Testing / Performance	Page 3 of 12		Components
Olympus Camedia C-5500 Digital Camera Review Navigation
Intro	Testing / Performance	Physical Tour	Components
Design / Layout	Modes	Control Options	Image Parameters
Connectivity / Extras	Overall Impressions	Conclusion	Specs