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Out of control: Olympus FE camera roundup

Will Greenwald Will Greenwald, Associate Editor October 20, 2006

Sometimes you just want to press a button and take a photo. No manual settings, no menus, no photography lessons. Just point and shoot. Olympus's budget-priced FE-series cameras are designed with that in mind. They're completely automated, and lack even settings such as white balance or ISO sensitivity available to the user. You just twist the dial, aim the camera, and take the shot. They're not perfect, and two of the models are extremely flawed, but these cameras still make a good choice for simple shooting.

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Product name
Olympus FE-170
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Olympus FE-170

Olympus FE-180
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Olympus FE-180

Olympus FE-190
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Olympus FE-190

Olympus FE-200
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Olympus FE-200

Price Check Prices Check Prices $259.00 $289.23
CNET editors' rating
Average user rating
Review date October 11, 2006 October 12, 2006 October 19, 2006 October 19, 2006
The Bottom Line The Olympus FE 170's price is hard to beat; its performance, not so much. This inexpensive shooter won't wow you with features, but its price and pictures are nice. If you don't mind the lack of features, Olympus's FE-190 offers pretty pictures and a slim body at a low price. This extremely sluggish shooter is a poor choice when compared to less expensive alternatives.
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Features
Lens aperture F/3.1-5.9
F/3.1-5.9
F/3.1-5.9
F/3.3-4.8
Equivalent 35mm focal length 38 - 114 mm
38 - 114 mm
38 - 114 mm
28 - 140 mm
Optical zoom 3 x
3 x
3 x
5 x
Light sensitivity ISO auto (64-400)
ISO auto (64-1000)
ISO auto (64-400)
ISO auto (64-640)
Display (projector) technology TFT active matrix
TFT active matrix
TFT active matrix
TFT active matrix
Video input type Digital camera
Digital camera
Digital camera
Digital camera
Digital zoom 4 x
4 x
4 x
4 x
Battery technology Info unavailable Info unavailable Lithium ion
Lithium ion
Weight 4.4 oz
4.2 oz
3.9 oz
5.5 oz
Effective sensor resolution 6,000,000 pixels
6,000,000 pixels
6,000,000 pixels
6,000,000 pixels
Still image format JPEG
JPEG
JPEG
JPEG
Display (projector) diagonal size 2.5 in
2.5 in
2.5 in
2.5 in
Manual focus Automatic
Automatic
Automatic
Automatic
Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications
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