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Olympus FE-200

First Impressions Review

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Testing / Performance

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Components
November 20, 2006 By James Murray
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Front
The front of the Olympus FE-200 has a rounded top edge and sides that curve in slightly at the top as well.  When facing the front of this digital camera the Olympus lens sits on the right side and is surrounded by a slightly raised and polished silver ring.  The Olympus 5x optical zoom lens extends from the body when the power is activated and when not in use this lens is protected with an automatically closing lens cover.  Above the lens and set slightly to the left is the self-timer/AF illuminator lamp. The in-camera microphone is positioned along the same vertical axis as the self-timer/AF-illuminator lamp although it is positioned beneath the lens ring.  To the left of the self-timer/AF-illuminator is the horizontally oriented flash unit for the FE-200.  The position of this flash is terribly off-center and users should expect to have their subjects cast in light with harsh shadows due to this off-axis position.  Beneath the flash and extending to the edge of the left-edge of the camera’s front face is a horizontal silver bar that provides minimal grip and handling help for shooting one handed.  For this reviewer the polished silver ridge hardly provided any improvement when shooting awkwardly with one hand.

 
Back
The 2.5-inch LCD screen consumes at least two-thirds of the Olympus FE-200’s back face and is framed and raised slightly from the rest of the camera body.  To the right of the LCD screen along the top edge of the camera is the shooting mode button.  Moving horizontally to the right is the review mode button.  Both buttons use symbols instead of textual labels that shouldn’t be confusing once the camera has been used a few times.  Beneath these two buttons is a mode dial that rises up from the camera body slightly.  The right side of this mode dial is exposed to allow for quick scrolling and the textured side should provide enough of a grip to allow for accurate adjustments to be made to shooting modes.  This mode dial allows for the user to move between auto mode, image stabilization, portrait, landscape, night portrait, scene, guide, and movie modes without having to reverse since it can be continuously rotated.  Beneath the mode dial is a four-way control for navigating the menu structure.  These cardinal directions each have an additional control when the camera isn’t in the menu structure.  The up arrow of the four-way control engages direct printing, the right arrow will open the flash menu, the down arrow opens the self-timer display and the left arrow opens the macro mode display.  Each of these short-cut menus is a semi-transparent overlay and is simple to use and engage without confusion.  The simplicity of these control interfaces is great for the novice photographer.  In the center of the four-way control is the OK button for setting changes within the menu structure.  Under the four-way control is the menu button with the delete button located to the right.

 
Left Side
A polished silver bar that extends from the top of the FE-200 wraps down and bisects the left side of the camera.  This bar has no functional purpose and is merely an aesthetic presence.  There are no features or other design points on the left side of the Olympus FE-200 camera body.

 
Right Side
A wrist strap eyelet is located along the top edge of the right side and is set into the camera body so that it won’t snag on clothing or the interior of a carrying case.   Beneath the eyelet is a port cover that is opened by flipping a tab located along the back edge of this feature.  This port cover is definitely well attached to the camera body and isn’t going to be torn off easily.  It’s a bit sticky when closing and it doesn’t have the reassuring click that would make a photographer feel confident that it isn’t going to be opened accidentally when fumbling with the camera.  Beneath this port cover can be found the DC-in port and an AV-out port for connection to television, personal computer, printer or other viewing device.  These are the only two features located on the right side of the camera body.

 
Top
The shutter button is located on the top of the Olympus FE-200 near the right side of the camera body.  This large unlabeled button is surrounded by a zoom ring that is controlled by pushing a frontally positioned tab to the right and left to move through the 5x optical zoom range.  This zoom control doubles as a playback zoom and multi-up view toggle when reviewing images.  To the left of the shutter and zoom control is the small, inset power button.  Engraved into the polished silver that surrounds this button is the word "POWER." A more noticeable label that is more legible at angles or in darker shooting situations would help beginning users and those with poor eyesight.  The in-camera speaker is located to the left of the power button and is only recognizable because of the eight small holes cut into the camera body.

 
Bottom
A port cover is located on the right side of the Olympus FE-200 and can be opened by pressing down lightly and sliding out to the right.  Once open, this cover will reveal an xD-Picture memory card slot and a slot for a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The tripod mount is located directly beside this cover.  If users finds themselves needing to swap out a battery or a memory card during shooting they will have to remove the camera entirely from the tripod plate to access these slots. 

 

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Olympus FE-200
First Impressions Review
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Previous: Page 1

Testing / Performance

Previous: Page 3

Components