Olympus FE-250

Viewfinder (0.0)
With its petite body size and large LCD screen, it should really come as no surprise that the Olympus FE-250 lacks a viewfinder. This may be a shortcoming when the camera is running low on batteries, as the LCD is a battery-drainer. But considering the terrible framing accuracy of real image viewfinders and their tendency toward being absurdly small, this omission really shouldn’t be a huge detraction for potential buyers of the FE-250.

LCD Screen (7.5)
The Olympus FE-250 comes with a nice 230,000-pixel, 2.5-inch Color LCD that will help users establish a shot with ease. The image quality on the LCD monitor is crisp and clean. Its brightness can be adjusted via the sub-menu located within the Setup menu. Within this sub-setting the user will be able to select between bright and normal settings.

The image smoothly transitioned even when moving the camera quickly and haphazardly. There wasn’t the oft-encountered stuttering lag time of other point-and-shoots with large LCD screens. Solarization wasn’t a huge issue with this camera either, and shooting outdoors with snow on the ground and a bright midday sun didn't render the monitor useless.

The LCD screen utilizes Olympus's Bright Capture technology to assist in low light shooting. The LCD automatically brightens to allow the user to better see the image they are capturing. 

The LCD screen displays shooting information such as shooting mode, shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation, and ISO. Overall, the LCD's tack-sharp quality, ample size, and Bright Capture technology make it a highlight of the FE-250.   

Flash (6.0)
The Olympus FE-250’s small, horizontal in-camera flash is located near the upper left corner of the front face. Its position is close to where the middle finger of the right hand grips the camera, which may result in it being partially obstructed.

The flash range is 0.98 to 14.1 feet in wide angle and 1.6 to 8.5 feet in telephoto. It is distinctly far away from the lens, which results in noticeable shadows cast across subjects and a strong highlight on the right side of images.

The flash can be adjusted marginally via the right arrow on the four-way control. It is displayed on the screen as a transparent overlay over a live view. The following four flash settings are available: Flash Auto, Red-eye, Fill In, and Flash Off. These settings can either be scanned using the up and down arrows of the four-way controller or by repeatedly pressing the right arrow.

Though there is no control over the strength of the flash, the Fill In setting is a definite improvement from the Auto setting when capturing subjects close to the camera. While the Red-eye setting reduces the number of blazing crimson eyes, its performance was far from perfect.

Zoom Lens (6.5)
The Olympus FE-250 has an Olympus brand 3x optical zoom lens that telescopes when the camera is turned on. It is composed of six lenses in four groups. The lens has a typical point-and-shoot focal length of 7.4 to 22.2mm, comparable to 35 to 105mm in the 35mm format. This range is good for taking a snapshot of your son at a Red Sox game, but won't do it for close ups of Manny Ramirez.

At the 7.4mm end the lens has a maximum aperture setting of f/2.8, and f/4.7 at the 22.2mm end. With a wide maximum aperture of f/2.8 there shouldn’t be any need to boost the ISO levels excessively, which should come as a relief considering the levels of noise encountered at the higher end of the FE-250’s ISO range.

The lens can focus up to 11.8 inches from the subject in the Macro mode and 3.9 inches in the Super Macro mode. However, the zoom is fixed in the Super Macro mode, forcing the user to be nose-to-subject to get the shot.

The zoom ring located on the top of the camera body controls the zoom lens; toggle it to the right to zoom in and to the left to zoom out. Subtle adjustments to zoom were nearly impossible - the lens sped through the focal range too fast. Zooming in on a subject is smoother than zooming out; the lens breathes a bit before its set at the focal length. While it moves about a tad awkwardly, the mechanial noise resulting from the zoom being tweaked won't draw attention at the ballet or grade-school awards ceremony.

In addition to 3x optical zoom, the Olympus FE-250 has 4x digital zoom. The 4x digital zoom is represented on the LCD screen as a red bar located directly above the vertical optical zoom graphic. The camera zoom will pause momentarily when the user reaches the end of the telephoto range before entering the digital zoom. Digital zoom is generally not recommended, as it significantly degrades image quality. There is no way to turn the digital zoom off and users will need to be aware of where zoom levels are at all times.

Overall, the FE-250's lens is typical for a point-and-shoot. Though getting the zoom to stop at precise focal lengths is nearly impossible, the f/2.8 aperture allows for low light shooting without having to bump the ISO into the way-too-noisy zone.