Olympus FE-250

Auto Mode (7.0)
The Auto mode automates the shooting process but allows users to adjust flash settings, exposure compensation, ISO and Burst modes. These options are located in both Function menus as secondary controls of the four-way navigation system as well as the Shooting menu system. When accessed through the Function menu, the exposure compensation and ISO settings can be adjusted with a live onscreen view. Of course, users can choose to ignore all these features. Having control over the in-camera flash is especially helpful since the FE-250 flash is a bit too aggressive and tends to be fired when the camera should instead open the aperture or lengthen the shutter speed. In either case the photographer can expect several seconds of delay between the time the shutter button is pressed, the camera focuses, and the image is captured.

Movie Mode (7.25)
The Olympus FE-250's Movie mode is accessed by turning the mode dial to the film camera icon. It records AVI Motion JPEG files with monaural audio at a 640 x 480 resolution 30 fps high quality setting. There is a lower-quality option of 320 x 240 at 15 fps, but this setting shows drastic degradation when reviewed on an external monitor. The user can pick the frame rate and resolution through the image quality setting located in the Shooting menu. Other parameters such as exposure compensation can be adjusted. The zoom lens is enabled during capture. The shutter button is pressed again to stop recording. If the memory card or internal memory becomes full before the shutter is pressed the camera automatically stops recording and saves the video file to memory.

Drive/Burst Mode (5.0)
The Olympus FE-250's Burst mode is accessed either through the Shooting menu or the Function menu. Both allow the user to switch from a single frame capture to a Burst mode that allows for up to 12 shots to be captured at a maximum image quality of 2048 x 1536. This reduction in image resolution is rather drastic considering the highest stated image resolution is 3264 x 2448. Olympus claims it can capture images at a rate of 5 fps for 12 images, but the camera appeared to be shooting at a more conservative 3 or 4 fps. It takes about as long to write the images to a memory card as it does to take a hearty swig of iced coffee, so be prepared to wait before firing off another burst.

Playback Mode (6.5)
The Playback mode is entered by pressing the play button located directly above the upper-right corner of the LCD. The Playback mode allows users to engage features like Resize, My Favorite, Erase, and Slide Show, which are all found in the first menu interface. The only features listed in the Playback menu are Protect, Audio Clip, Rotate 90 degrees clockwise and 90 degrees counter-clockwise.

Images can be viewed in single, four-up, nine-up, 16-up and 25-up displays. These views are navigated by pressing the zoom toggle. Users can engage up to 10x playback zoom. Once the appropriate level of playback zoom is set the user can navigate through the captured image by pressing the arrows of the four-way control. The following information is displayed with the image: size, aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation, ISO, date, time, and file number.

Movies can be reviewed in the Playback mode with audio included. Audio attached to still images plays immediately after the image is opened. It is only possible to re-review the audio by scanning to another image and returning to the image with the audio file.

Custom Image Presets (7.25)
Most of the Olympus FE-250’s custom image presets are accessed by turning the mode dial to the Scene mode setting. The Scene modes found in this menu system are Sports, Indoor, Candle, Self Portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Pet, Cuisine, Documents, and Auction. These options are all useful, and with graphic- and text-based interfaces, users will be certain to choose the proper setting even when shooting quickly. There are four additional options located on the mode dial; Night + Portrait, Landscape, Portrait, and DIS (Digital Image Stabilization) mode.