Lens barrel controls

Looking at the lens barrel from the left of the camera we see a variety of controls starting with the focus and zoom rings, buttons to change camera settings (used in combination with the main or sub-dials) and two switches, all detailed below:

Buttons used in combination with main or sub-dial

Hold	And turn main or sub-dial:
	Metering Mode Select metering mode:  • ESP  • Center Weighted Average  • Spot
	Drive Mode Select drive mode:  • Single shot  • Continuous shooting  • Self-Timer  • Remote
	Exposure Compensation Selects an exposure compensation between -3 EV and +3 EV in 0.3 EV steps. Exposure compensation is displayed on the top LCD, viewfinder status bar and rear LCD (if enabled).
	Focus Range (Macro) Select auto focus range:  • Normal  • Macro  • Optional Lens (if enabled)  • Optional x3 Lens (if enabled)
AF MF	Auto / Manual Focus Throwing this lever disenages the auto focus mechanism and enables the focus ring on the front of the camera (focus-by-wire).
OPEN	Open LCD (release) This button releases the rear LCD so that it can be tilted out either down or up.

Switches / Levers

AF MF	Focus Method Select focusing method  • Auto Focus (manual focus ring disabled)  • Manual focus (manual focus ring enabled)
OPEN	Release rear LCD The OPEN lever releases the rear LCD so that it can be tilted out, up or down.

Lens barrel rings

The two rings on the lens barrel of the E-10 work in slightly different ways. The front focus ring (smaller of the two) is a "fly by wire" type, that is it moves freely, the camera detects the amount of movement and changes the focus point. The zoom ring is "mechanical", that is its attached by gears to the mechanism within the lens, this allows for very fast and accurate selection of a focal length by simply twisting the ring (just like a traditional SLR).

Both rings are well made and run smoothly, in particular the zoom ring has a good weighty feel to it yet moves cleanly from full wide to full tele. What may confuse digital "newbies" are the focal lengths printed just below the zoom ring, they are the actual focal lengths but will mean nothing (as they only correspond to the size of the sensor). It would have been more useful to print the 35 mm equivalent focal lengths on the zoom ring, at least this would be more familiar.

Manual White Balance

The E-10 features a "one-touch" manual white balance button, it's located on the front of the camera just next to your fingertips (beside the hand grip), you can press it at any time to take a white balance reading for the manual preset white balance setting (obviously you're supposed to be aimed at a white card / white wall and not overexposed). If the sample is ok to be used for white balance measurement you'll see the display on the right below asking you to confirm the new white balance (press OK).

This won't automatically switch selected white balance to manual preset, you have to / or already have chosen it. This is a VERY WELCOME feature and something I wish other manufacturers would implement, it's quick and easy to use.