The Olympus FE-230, announced in late January, is one of four slim, pocket-sized cameras that overhauled Olympus' line of entry-level point-and-shoots. This model boasts a 7.1 megapixel 1/2.5-inch CCD, 3x optical zoom lens, 2.5-inch LCD screen, and Bright Capture technology. Other features include 19 preset shooting modes, a built-in help guide, and a simplified and quickly navigated menu structure. The FE-230 is geared specifically and almost exclusively toward the point-and-shoot digital camera market, with extremely limited manual controls. The initial retail price of the Olympus FE-230 was $199.95, but it can be found online for about $50 less.
Physical Tour
Front (7.25)
The front of the Olympus FE-230 features a 3x optical zoom lens on the right side of the camera that telescopes when the power button is pressed. The lens has an automatically engaged cover that opens and closes as the camera power is switched on and off and the lens telescopes or retracts into position. Surrounding the 3x optical zoom lens is a polished silver ring. To the left of the lens is a small, polished silver ridge intended to aid in handling when shooting with one or two hands. Near the top of the camera, above the grip-ridge and to the left of the lens, are the horizontal in-camera flash and self-timer indicator lamp. In the lower right corner directly beside the ring that surrounds the lens are two holes for the microphone. This placement isn't ideal since any handling noise from the left hand and mechanical noise from the lens will be apparent in audio recordings.
Back (7.75)
The 2.5-inch LCD screen consumes much of the Olympus FE-230’s back face, leaving about a quarter of the camera surface for controls. Two buttons above the center of the LCD screen allow for movement between Shooting and Playback modes, represented by a red camera icon and a green play icon, respectively. Between these two buttons is a small card access lamp.
The mode dial is located at the top right side of the camera's back. It's raised slightly from the camera to enable better control over adjustment. Settings listed on the surface of the mode dial allow the user to rotate between Auto, Movie, Guide, Scene, Night + Portrait, Landscape, Portrait, and Digital Image Stabilization mode. Beneath the mode dial is a large and well-designed four-way control with an OK button in the center. The up arrow doubles as the exposure compensation scale when in Shooting mode and the Direct Print mode when the camera is connected to a PictBridge compliant printer. The right arrow opens the on-screen flash display, the down arrow opens the self-timer options, and the left arrow provides access to the Macro and SuperMacro shooting modes.
There are two buttons located beneath the four-way control interface near the bottom of the camera. The right button allows the user to delete selected photos, while the left button opens the menu systems in Shooting and Playback modes.
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Left Side (7.0)
The in-camera speaker is located on the bottom left side of the Olympus FE-230.
Right Side (6.0)
The eyelet for the optional wrist-strap is in the center of the Olympus FE-230’s right side. Below this inset eyelet is an odd little plastic port cover. The cover opens to reveal nothing. The area underneath the cover connects directly to both the battery and memory card slot located on the bottom of the camera.
Top (7.0)
The Olympus FE-230's shutter button is located on the top right side of the camera. This raised, polished silver button is well-placed and sized. The zoom ring for the 3x optical zoom lens surrounds the shutter button and engages the telephoto range when pressed to the right and the wide angle range when pressed to the left. This control is adequate when making large adjustments, but it stutters right through subtle zoom changes. The power button for the camera is small, set into the camera body, and sits to the left of the shutter button and zoom ring.
Bottom (3.0)
A tripod mount is on the bottom left side of the Olympus FE-230, which doesn't block access to the memory and battery slots on the right side. The tripod mount is plastic and can be damaged easily if the bolt is incorrectly threaded. To the right, a cover that opens when pressed and slid to the right protects the memory and battery slots. The cover is poorly constructed and appears unlikely to hold up against rough handling. The battery and memory card slots are easy to access, and users shouldn’t have any issues inserting or removing these features.
