Jump to a part
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Introduction
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01.Testing / Performance
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02.Physical Tour
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03.Components
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04.Design / Layout
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05.Modes
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06.Control Options
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07.Image Parameters
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08.Connectivity / Extras
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09.Overall Impressions
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10.Conclusion
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11.Comments
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Olympus FE-200
First Impressions Review
Previous: Page 5
ModesNext: Page 7
Image ParametersManual Control Options
This is an area where the Olympus FE-200 falls drastically short of the competition. The only manual controls that remain accessible by the photographer are the flash settings and the exposure compensation. If considering a move into the realm of manual control, the FE-200 should be avoided. Without these manual controls that can drastically improve image quality and accuracy, users will be forced to rely entirely on the automatic settings of the FE-200 that can be problematic depending on the lighting and composition.
Focus
Auto Focus
The Olympus FE-200 has some distinct restrictions when it comes to manual control in general, and the lack of nuance and subtle control is also limited in the auto focus. The FE-200 relies entirely on a center zone focal system for capturing images and has no other focal zones or areas. Users looking to make gross adjustments to focal depth will find the inclusion of a landscape mode and two macro mode settings. The landscape mode is opened through the mode dial on the back of the Olympus FE-200 while the macro mode settings are opened by pressing the left arrow on the four-way control. The macro mode menu will reveal two options: one for shooting in close range with zoom still controllable and the other for shooting subjects a few inches from the lens of the camera. This second option locks the zoom in place prior to switching into this mode. In regular and macro shooting modes, the shooting range will allow for distances between 7.8 inches to infinity in wide-angle and 1.7 feet to infinity in telephoto. In super macro mode the range narrows to 2 - 7.8 inches in wide-angle.
Manual Focus
There is no manual control over focus when shooting with the Olympus FE-200. If interested in finding a camera with manual focus in this price range, consumers could consider the Canon PowerShot A520 or its replacement, the A530, as a possible alternative to the nearly full-automatic Olympus FE-200.
Metering
The metering system for the Olympus FE-200 is restricted to shoot only in the Digital ESP metering mode that seemed to emphasize the center of the composition over the edges of the image. The lack of metering control will mean that images with more complex lighting or multiple sources of light will be compromised when shooting with this camera. The only ways to compensate for situations like backlit subjects is by using the less than stellar fill-in flash setting or by adjusting the overall exposure compensation. The problem with the second option (suggested by Olympus in the help menus of the camera) is that this will adjust the exposure compensation of the entire image which means that if you adjust for a darkened subject the resulting image will feature a more properly exposed subject and either an overly dark or overly washed out background, neither of which is actually a positive result. The flash option resulted in images that were horrifically washed out and merely added to the already poor image quality shot without the flash turned on. The best bet when caught shooting in backlight or with complicated lighting with this camera is to literally simplify the scene. Move the subject of the image or turn off or re-direct light. This isn’t always possible but is certainly a far better option when compared to the fill flash or exposure compensation adjustment.
Exposure
Exposure can be controlled when shooting with the Olympus FE-200 with an exposure compensation adjustment complete with a live view. The exposure control is accessed by pressing the menu button on the back of the camera next to the lower right corner of the LCD beneath the four-way control. The exposure compensation parameter is located on the first screen to appear once the menu is open. The exposure compensation range on this camera is +/- 2 EV with incremental steps of 1/3 EV and 1/4 EV depending on the position within the exposure compensation scale. The EV scale is displayed as a horizontal overlay on top of a live preview and adjustments are made efficiently through the left and right arrows of the four-way control.
White Balance
Users looking for a manual control over white balance will need to look elsewhere because this setting is controlled automatically by the camera. The auto ESP white balance showed varied success when shooting indoors using incandescent lights; it produced everything from a strong yellow tone to a more accurate white. Scenes lit with fluorescent lighting appeared to fare much better than the incandescent results, especially when lit evenly. Outdoors the camera seemed to produce more consistent results in both cloudy and sun-drenched scenes. If white balance is important this camera probably shouldn’t be on your short list of digital photography options: there aren’t even preset options.
ISO
There is no manual control over ISO when shooting with the Olympus FE-200 and users will find that using the exposure compensation control will help temper and complement this fully automatic image parameter. Olympus states that the ISO range is ISO 64 to ISO 640 and this range should be able to handle most lighting situations. In lower light situations where higher ISO levels were used, the resulting image did display a noticeable increase in noise levels. Manual ISO control is almost always found with point-and-shoot cameras and it comes as a pretty big surprise to not find it included with this $250 model by Olympus. Kodak even includes an ISO control on budget novice-centric cameras like the EasyShare C310 that has a retail price of $94.95.
Shutter Speed
Shutter speed on the Olympus FE-200 is not manually controllable, but if faster or slower shutter speeds are wanted the user should consider the preset shooting mode options like sport (fast), night or fireworks (slow) as options for at least partially dictating the shutter speed of this automatic camera. The shutter speed for this camera is reported to have a range of 1/2000th of a second to 4 seconds, which should provide at least some success in poorly lit scenes. Darker scenes will necessitate the use of the in-camera flash that has a tendency to overwhelm the image with its harsh level of brilliance. A noise reduction feature automatically engages when shooting at shutter speeds slower than a half second, but even with this in place noise was still apparent.
Aperture
The photographer shooting with this digital camera won’t be able to manually adjust the aperture. This shouldn’t come as a surprise when the lack of manual control of the entire camera is taken into consideration. The automatic aperture range for this camera is also a bit truncated when compared to other options out on the market with f/3.3 being the maximum setting available. Considering that the sub-$100 Kodak EasyShare C330 has a maximum aperture of f/2.7, the under-whelming specs of the Olympus FE-200 in addition to a price of $250 MSRP make this camera a hard candidate to campaign for in yet another category.
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