Olympus FE-250

Manual Control Options
With a price tag of $299.99, the marginal level of manual control on the Olympus FE-250 may come as a surprise, considering cameras by competing manufacturers like Panasonic and Sony allow at least partial control over these parameters. ISO and exposure compensation can be manually controlled. That’s it. No preset white balance settings, no auto focus shooting options, and no long manually engaged shutter speeds. To be frank, it’s pretty pathetic. Even if it is intended for the beginner or snapshot-only consumer, having such a limited camera is absurd. Add in the low-quality construction and the $300 price tag is outrageous.

Focus
Auto Focus (4.0)
Auto focus is an area where the Olympus FE-250 struggles. Photographers can expect a delay of more than two seconds when shooting in well-lit environments and an even longer pause in low light. Auto focus is as limited as other areas of control on the FE-250, and users have to rely entirely on the single focus iESP auto CCD contrast system for all shooting situations. It would be beneficial to have a three, five, or nine-point Auto Focus system for users to select from in order to compensate for backlit or multi-source lighting situations.

The Olympus FE-250 has both Macro and Super Macro shooting modes for capturing subjects at close range. Both modes are accessible when in still and video modes by pressing the left arrow on the four-way control. The Macro mode enables the user to shoot from 0.3 feet to infinity in wide angle and 19.7 inches to infinity in telephoto. The Super Macro mode allows the user to capture from 3.9 inches to infinity.

An odd little Olympus-specific handicap appears in Super Macro mode. Users will quickly realize the zoom control can no longer be used, and instead the user must shift the camera and repeatedly hit the shutter button to find the appropriate distance and subject for capture.

Manual Focus (0.0)
Considering the overall lack of manual controls it should really come as no surprise the $299.95 Olympus FE-250 has no control over manual focus.

Metering (5.75)
Metering, like white balance, focus, shutter speed, and aperture is a control that is entirely automatic and uses a digital ESP metering system to make adjustments.

Exposure (7.0)
When the camera is set to Auto mode, exposure can be altered using the up arrow on the four-way controller. Changes to exposure can be previewed via a live view on the LCD. The exposure compensation range is listed horizontally along the top of the screen, and users can make adjustments to the setting by pressing the left and right arrows of the four-way control. The exposure compensation range is the standard +/- 2 EV with 1/3 step increments.

Users who are less familiar with the manual controls on digital cameras will be pleased to find an onscreen description for the exposure compensation settings that states, "For manually making fine adjustments to the exposure when taking pictures." Further help is provided with the inclusion of the live view screen beneath the overlays. This allows users to visually gauge exposure levels without having to exit and reenter the menu system.

White Balance (0.0)
Don’t get excited. Seriously, don’t. Why expect there to be control over white balance? There isn’t even a whiff of a preset. Instead, the photographer who chooses to shoot with this little point-and-shoot will have to rely entirely on the Auto ESP system which, while competent most of the time, struggles with harsh fluorescents.

ISO (8.0)
Along with exposure compensation, the ISO settings for the Olympus FE-250 are manually controllable. The ISO settings can be accessed either through the Shooting menu or by pressing the OK/Func button for several seconds when in Auto mode. Either option will allow the user access to the full ISO range, although the Function menu is easier and quicker to access and provides a live view display as changes are made.

The ISO settings are expansive; from ISO 64 to ISO 10000. The FE-250's Digital Images Stabilization mode raises the ISO up to 3200 to compensate for camera shake and moving subjects.

Considering most point-and-shoots peak out at ISO 800 the inclusion of an ISO 10000 could be viewed as ludicrous. After initial testing at the maximum setting in low light scenes that included interior and exterior scenes at night, the results displayed the unsurprising presence of overwhelming levels of noise and digital glitches. Red and yellow aberrations were apparent in a number of places in the image, and the general noise was hard to overlook. An additional downside for both the ISO 10000 and the ISO 6400 settings is the reduction in image quality to 2048 x 1536 resolution. The high end of the ISO scale might be tolerable if needed in a pinch, but photographers are better off finding a better light source or using the in-camera flash. If shooting with this camera in low light and determined to boost ISO rather than seek an alternative scene or lighting, consider not exceeding ISO 400 where noise begins to overtake the image.

Shutter Speed (0.0)
There is absolutely no control over shutter speed, and users must rely on the automatic shutter range of 1/1000th of a second to four seconds for all shooting situations.

Aperture (0.0)
Like shutter speed, the aperture for the Olympus FE-250 is not manually controllable. Although the maximum aperture of f/2.8 will help in low light situations, the camera seemed to prefer boosting the ISO or engaging the flash over opening the aperture further when shooting in Auto mode. At the telephoto end, the aperture shrinks to f/4.7