Likes

- External controls are well designed, spaced and sized - Manual control options are extensive and include white balance compensation and bracketing of exposure settings - RAW shooting mode

Dislikes

- Menu structure is poorly designed and necessitated constant checking of control information - 2.5-inch LCD only composed of 115,000 pixels - Auto focus struggled in low light

Conclusion
The Olympus SP-320 certainly provides a wide variety of controls, such as full manual features, partial auto, full auto and a wealth of preset shooting options sure to appeal to the user on a budget. The only problem is that the menu is unfriendly towards everyone. For more advanced users the menu structure will be a hindrance, though not overwhelming, but beginning point-and-shooters run the risk of becoming turned off to the whole idea of digital photography. This camera would really be a compelling option if only the menu were overhauled. In addition to these concerns, the LCD is a bit underwhelming with a resolution of just 115,000 for 2.5 inches, which produces fairly compromised image quality, even if it is at an affordable price.

The Olympus SP-320 has plenty of impressive features with a 7.1 MP CCD, digital image stabilization, conversion lens options, direct printing, RAW format recording, and shooting modes aplenty, and with all of this for just $299 it would be nice to see the flaws smoothed out to make this camera a really strong contender. Check back for the full review to see how the SP-320 performs in tests of color accuracy, noise, dynamic range, resolution and low level lighting performance when compared to the competition.