Olympus FE-200 review

An absolute beginners model with a decent specs list

Like most major manufacturers, Olympus has the digital camera market covered, with a product on the shelves to meet the needs of every consumer.

Its latest release, the FE-200, sits close to the bottom of the market, with a budget price tag and a set of features designed to appeal to digital newcomers. But with a wide-angle lens which boasts a 5x optical zoom, this neat little camera has a few tricks up its compact sleeve.

Targeted squarely at novices with no desire for unwanted bells and whistles, the FE-200 is nonetheless a good-looking camera. The silver metallic casing feels sturdy, and the camera is comfortable to hold and operate. The zoom lever is nicely positioned on the top of the camera around the shutter button, leaving the thumb free to control the Mode dial, also well positioned close to the edge of the back panel. Elsewhere on the back of the camera, Olympus’s determination to keep things simple with a ‘one-button, one-function’ approach is evident. The impressive 2.5-inch LCD display is accompanied by two buttons for switching between Record and Review mode, a metal d-pad with just one shortcut per directional pad, menu button and delete option – and that’s it.

A quick glance at the Mode dial underlines this camera’s status as a beginner-friendly model. Alongside the usual Automatic mode and pre-programmed scene modes is a Guide option. Select this and the camera presents a choice of eleven shooting problems on-screen, along with a possible solution. Shooting into backlight? Use the fill-in flash or increase the value of the EV compensation. Want to blur the background in your shot? Select Portrait mode or zoom in. Choose one of the proposed solutions and the camera automatically adjusts accordingly, leaving the beginner ready to point-and-shoot again – problem solved.

Just how useful this feature will prove to be is debatable, however. Even the biggest technophobe can probably work out for themselves that to shoot a subject in motion they will benefit from using the Sports mode, and that using the red-eye reduction setting on the flash will, well, reduce red eye, funnily enough. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that the average consumer might feel just a little bit patronised by Olympus’s determination to help, but for those who are seriously daunted by digital technology, the FE-200 is very user friendly.

Navigate around the camera’s other settings, and the theme continues. Select the camera’s Macro mode (20cm) or Super Macro mode (5cm), for example, and an on-screen explanation appears outlining how the mode can be used, and each scene mode is presented with an illustrative image and explanatory text. For those looking for a degree of flexibility when shooting, the FE-200 features a nice range of pre-programmed modes for shooting in specific conditions. Portrait, Landscape, Anti-blur and Night Portrait options can be accessed directly via the Mode dial, while selecting the Scene option reveals a further ten modes, covering scenarios including sports, indoors, candlelight, sunsets and fireworks.

A few of the modes commonly found on cameras such as this are missing – there are no preprogrammed options for shooting on the beach or in snow, both challenging scenes to capture effectively without adjustment – but there’s plenty of scope for experimentation. Particularly interesting in the scene modes is the auction option, which is actually a beginner-friendly exposure bracketing function, capturing three pictures sequentially at different exposures Unfortunately, it captures them at the appropriate size for an e-auction (640 x 480), meaning the function cannot be employed for more traditional scenes when bracketing would be of benefit.

The FE-200 feels slow in operation, with the camera taking its time to process shots before they appear on the LCD. Image quality is average for a camera at this price-point. The six-megapixel CCD misses some detail but distortion is kept to a minimum, with only small evidence of fringing in a few of our test shots.

Of note on the FE-200 is the lens, which provides a highly impressive scope for a budget model. The equivalent of 28-140mm on a traditional camera, it offers wide-angle dimensions as well as a good degree of magnification, and at a competitive price point, this camera has plenty to appeal to digital newcomers.