The Olympus PEN E-P1 may look like a throwback to retro photography, but it’s expensive and flawed. However, it's beautiful image quality renders almost impossible to dislike.

Not the pinnacle of image quality, but superbly compact with plenty of neat features

Worth the wait. The E-3 matches pro SLR capabilities with the ease of use of an entry-level cam

A superzoom without stabiliser is like a car without suspension. Prepare for a rocky ride

The E-510 has a barrowful of features and is a joy to use but we miss the size and convenience of the cheaper E-410

Olympus’ Four Thirds imaging system comes of age in a classy compact SLR that makes the rest look ordinary

An older camera, and expensive in its day, but the impressive image quality and choice of optical and LCD viewfinders make it worth a look for DSLR hunters

Due for replacement or some hefty price cuts. The E-300 takes good shots but its rivals take better

The Olympus Mju Mini S makes a unique style statement for the cost of an everyday budget snapper

The Mju has hidden depths with aperture-priority and shutter-priority modes, but alas no fully manual mode

If used properly this rugged camera is well worth the money and makes you feel a little more manly into the bargain

We get our hands on Olympus’s newest additions to the mju range, including one with a 7x optical zoom and one waterproof to 10 metres.

An 18x zoom in a compact, well-built body. General handling and image quality are great too.

An attractive, light and well-built camera, but it has average image quality.

A completely new digital SLR system has arrived in the shape of the Olympus E-1 and is perhaps the most eagerly awaited professional camera this year.

Undoubtedly the key feature of the Olympus C-750 is the huge 10x optical zoom lens. This is ideal for sports photography or getting close to camera-shy subjects. We’d expect a lens of this size to introduce severe chromatic aberrations, but Olympus has used extra-dispersion lenses, which make sure light is evenly distributed across the CCD.

The Olympus Camedia C-740 is a 3.2-megapixel camera offering images at 2,048 x 1,536, with a maximum 10x optical zoom. Offering USB connectivity, miniature xD-Picture card support and video output that allows pictures to be viewed on TV as well

The Camedia C-5050 is a 5.3-megapixel camera offering a good balance of automatic and manual settings, catering for users who like a professional look and feel. It also offers USB connectivity, separate status LCD, optical resolution of 2,560 x 1,920, support for RAW output format and video-out.

Two-megapixel digital camera

It used to be a case of whoever had the largest CCD was going to sell the most cameras.