The μ9000 (Mju 9000) is one of the largest compact cameras produced by Olympus in a long while. Even with the zoom retracted it measures a fairly bulky 96 x 60 x 31mm, meaning you may be hard pushed to slip this into a pocket without it being a burden. It's actually quite a refreshing change, though, to be able to grasp your hands around a compact and keep a good grip without having to dab small controls.

Just like its sister model, the mju 7000, Olympus has settled for large, clear block buttons for the μ9000. Sitting on the right-hand side of the rear body this allows enough room for a bright 2.7-inch LCD screen but it also means it's possible to operate the function buttons with the flat of your thumb. This is perfect for those with slightly larger hands as it means you can work through the camera's menu or adjust exposure settings freely.

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The Mju 9000 is quick to power up, taking just a couple of seconds for the zoom to protrude from the camera body with quite some force. A small dial sits adjacent to a dedicated thumb rest on the rear face and this acts as the main shooting control for the camera. With a quick rotation it's possible to switch between Playback, Video, Auto, Beauty or Scene Mode without having to delve into a complicated menu.

Olympus prides the Mju 9000 on its ability to capture wide-angle shots. With a 10x wide optical zoom range this is the equivalent of being able to shoot between 28-280mm on a 35mm camera. Although full zoom can sometimes lead to a touch of blur, the Dual Image Stabilisation feature on this camera does a good job of keeping everything sharp and it's responsive to the zoom control too.