Both cameras share the FE series' emphasis on simplicity over control. Besides macro, flash, and EV compensation, the only way you can change the cameras' settings is through its various scene presets. They automatically control aperture, shutter, focus, and even ISO sensitivity and white balance. Basically, the camera runs almost completely on autopilot. Casual shooters may find this convenient, but more advanced photographers will miss tweaking their shots.
Automated shooting isn't necessarily a bad thing if the automated aspects work well. Unfortunately, this is where the FE-170 parts ways with the FE-180. While both are automated, the FE-180 uses Olympus's TruePic Turbo image processor. The FE-170's unbranded image processor is the main cause of its performance woes. The camera takes 5.7 seconds from power-on to first shot, and every shot thereafter suffers a wait of 4.8 seconds without flash. With the onboard flash enabled, that wait becomes an even-longer 5.5 seconds. Shutter lag was almost as painful, taking a full 1.3 seconds from shutter release to shot. These numbers are more than double what we saw with the FE-180, which offered a 1.6-second shot-to-shot time and a shutter lag of just 0.6 second.
