Olympus EVOLT E-510

The EVOLT E-510 shares materials and finishes with earlier EVOLT cameras. The E-510 is black, with a textured hard plastic finish a bit like powder-coated metal over most of its body. The E-510 looks much more like the E-500 than the E-330 or E-300, which is good. Olympus seems to be making its way back to the attractive aesthetic of the OM series film cameras of the 1970s and 80s.

Front
The EVOLT E-510's lens looks small, compared to other DSLR systems, in large part because the camera is Four-Thirds format. It can use smaller lenses to create images that cover the smaller sensor. At the 3 o'clock position on the lens mount, the EVOLT E-510 has a large lens release button. The hand grip is coated with a comfortable rubbery material, and it sports an infrared window about midway down its face. The flash pops up from the viewfinder hump. It's a small, narrow rectangle that can be completely covered by a quarter.

Labeling on the EVOLT E-510 includes the attractive Olympus logo on the viewfinder hump, a less-appealing image stabilization logo on the upper right shoulder, as well as an E-510 model designation. There is a Four-Thirds format icon in the lower right and an additional label between the grip and the lens mount indicating that the E-510 is a 10-megapixel camera.

Back
The EVOLT E-510 has a 2.5-inch Hypercrystal LCD and a small optical viewfinder above it. The diopter adjustment wheel is on the right of the viewfinder. The Playback, Delete, Menu and Info buttons are in a column to the left of the LCD. The AE/AF lock button is to the right of the viewfinder, and the Function and AF site selection button are even further right, in the upper corner. Farther down, on the LCD's right side, are buttons for Image Stabilization and Live view. The 4-way controller is a group of five buttons. The OK button is in the middle. Clockwise from the top, the controller buttons bring up interfaces for: white balance, autofocus mode, ISO and metering pattern. The media door snaps open and shut without a latch. As heavy as Olympus's plastic is, such a large door should have a latch – a friction closure is bound to wear out. An activity light above the door signals data recording. The USB/analog video port is at the lower right of the back.

Right Side 
The shoulder strap lug is partially inset into the top of the right side, limiting the extent to which it could interfere with the user's grip. The media door makes up the back half of the side, and it has a hard plastic finish. The front half is covered in a rubbery material that improves grip.

Left Side
The left side's strap lug is also high and partially inset. With most lenses, it would be better to cradle the lens barrel with the left hand, but the left side of the EVOLT E-510 is featureless, so users could grip the camera there.

Top
The chrome-tone shutter release is on top of the grip, surrounded by a narrow ridge of plastic. The ridge improves the feel of the release and may improve its seal. The single control dial is at the back of the camera, about where the thumb falls with a normal grip. The mode dial is next to the viewfinder hump. It's a large, heavily-textured dial. The power switch is a lever that extends from underneath it.

The viewfinder hump encloses a pop-up flash and a dedicated hot shoe. The flash mode button and the burst mode/self-timer button are to the left of the hump. Both are small, domed buttons with a chrome finish.

Bottom
The EVOLT E-510's tripod bushing is metal and is centered in line with the camera's optical axis, which makes the camera more convenient to align on a tripod. There is a textured area around the bushing, which may improve the 510's resistance to torque on a tripod and also preserve the camera's finish around the tripod socket.

The battery compartment is in the right side of the camera, and the battery door is on the underside of the camera. The door has a sliding latch, and it’s reinforced with a metal plate. A spring-loaded prong holds the battery in place when the door is open.