Model Design / Appearance
This camera has the body of a compact camera but takes its design influences from more expensive DSLR camera bodies. The Olympus SP-320 features a pronounced right-hand grip with a scalloped section on the back of the camera for extra grip, an extending lens barrel and a gray-black body tone. The camera has a muted finish when compared to the highly polished veneer of some point-and-shoot models produced by other manufacturers. While it certainly does not have an innovative design, the clean lines and simple external controls do have a relatively subdued charm.

Size / Portability
The Olympus SP-320 comfortably fits into the compact niche of the digital camera market, which means that it isn’t going to comfortably fit into your back pocket when on a daytrip. The camera has a build of 3.9 inches in width, 2.6 inches in height and 1.4 inches in depth. A wrist strap eyelet on the right side of the camera provides the only opportunity to connect a carrying strap. That’s too bad, since the camera weighs 6.4 ounces prior to the insertion of a pair of AA batteries. With the inclusion of batteries and memory card, the user of this camera could be looking at nearly half a pound of total weight, which makes carrying this around your wrist for a day a less than fun prospect. The purchase of an additional carrying case would be advised if the user is planning on shooting for extended periods.

Handling Ability
The SP-320 fits snugly into the right hand thanks to the well sized right-hand grip, which has an overhanging section at its top to enable even more comfortable one-handed shooting. A scalloped section on the back for the thumb of the right hand also increases one-handed control. It would have been nice to see some additional grip or texture on this smooth bodied camera, but the physical design of the aforementioned features will make handling comfortable for users in most situations.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size
The controls on the Olympus SP-320 are well sized and spaced and users shouldn’t find themselves struggling with or confusing controls when shooting. The labeling and positioning of controls like the Power button could be improved upon, however, for faster access. The four-way control has autonomous controls for each cardinal direction, and using this navigation tool was cleanly accomplished without inadvertent mishandling. The mode dial is sized for comfortable mode switching and the dial was neither too resistant nor too loose.

Menu
The menus on the Olympus SP-320 may be entered by pressing the menu/OK button in the center of the four-way controller. When pressed, the menu button prompts a display on the LCD which presents control options that the four-way control accesses: up arrow for the self timer, right arrow for mode menus, down arrow for scene modes and left arrow for opening the image format options.

When the mode option is selected, the resulting menu structure displays camera, picture, memory and setup menus which are navigated by using the four-way control. These menu interfaces are barely transparent and cover nearly all of the 2.5 inches of the LCD screen. And while technically a live view is discernable, using it for any sort of image monitoring is unlikely.

The first submenu entered under the mode menu allows the user to control image and camera settings of the SP-320. The options in this mode suffer from a lack of structural logic; when navigating this and other menus, I had to constantly press the Info/Display button for a full text description. The following settings are provided when shooting: ESP, fast focus, drive, ISO, self-timer, flash compensation, flash sync, flash switch for built-in or slave control, digital zoom, noise reduction, AF Mode, focus mode (i.e. manual, macro, auto, etc.), full time AF (continuous), panorama, audio record and time lapse settings. The menu in the next window tab beneath the camera menu has controls for image size, content and effects.

The pictures menu is another mode menu submenu. The four-way controller provides access to these options: format, white balance, white balance compensation, sharpness, contrast and saturation. It is possible to enter the format submenu instantly by pressing the menu button, and instead of choosing the right arrow, choose the left arrow. From here, the user can control the format and image size of the images captured.

The third submenu setting in the mode submenu is the memory menu, with only one menu option (memory format) available.

The fourth and final menu within the mode menu controls the overall setup of the camera. The setup menu, identical regardless of the mode the camera is in, has the following settings available: reset, language, PW on setup (picture and sound setup), PW off setup, record view, volume, beep, shutter speed, my mode setup, file name, pixel mapping, LCD brightness, date and time, dual time setup, m/ft. unit measurement, video out, short cut menu, histogram, frame assist and custom button. These controls, like some in the first two menu modes, were poorly labeled and hard to discern and navigate without needing to press the Display/Info button for help.

When the SP-320 is in movie mode, all of the menu structures in still shooting modes are accessible through the same controls and the same submenu titles, but with truncated settings. The camera menu provides settings of ISO, full time AF and audio, while the picture menu has settings of white balance, white balance compensation, sharpness, contrast and saturation. The memory and setup modes are identical to those found within the still menus.

The playback modes for the Olympus SP-320 provide some control over images before transferal to PC or Printer, with the following viewing and options provided: protect, rotate, slide show, and audio dubbing. This menu is entered by pressing the menu button, followed by the right arrow on the four-way control. The submenu located beneath the play menu is the edit menu, with setting options for RAW data EDH, resize, crop, red-eye fix, black and white, sepia, frame title, calendar, layout, brightness and saturation. The memory controls are located in the third submenu offered in playback mode with settings of all erase and memory format. The fourth and final menu in the playback mode structure provides access to the setup menu, which is provided in all other modes.

Ease of Use
When it comes to ease of use, the initial verdict on the Olympus SP-320 is a grim one. This menu structure for this camera is overly complicated, with lists of icons and partial terms littering the menu in a haphazard manner that buries features like white balance and ISO and splits them into separate menus. Providing full screen live views for white balance and white balance compensation will help make using these manual controls easier, but it’s hard to imagine that the beginner or casual user will find this structure to be friendly or simple—and the live views aren’t easy to see.

The external controls are well labeled and spaced, with the four-way control split into separate buttons so that accidental initiation is less likely to occur. The direct printing is straightforward and controlling the aperture and shutter speed settings is easy. It’s just unfortunate that the menu design is less than user-friendly. The inclusion of the Info/Display button provides some insight into the controls, but the system would be vastly better if this info button wasn’t necessitated.

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