Olympus FE-200 Digital Camera First Thoughts

The Olympus FE-200 is the current top model in Olympus' "easy and fun" FE line of digital cameras. The FE-200 is a 6 megapixel camera with a wide angle (28mm equivalent), 5x optical zoom lens and a 2.5 inch LCD. It's quite a bit chunkier than the FE-190 that I reviewed recently, but it also has to accommodate a physically larger lens. Our full review is coming soon, but I wanted to give you a couple first impressions until it's completed.

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Olympus FE-200 on right, next to FE-190 (view large image)

Initial Impressions

I really like having the 5x optical zoom on a Point and Shoot in this price range. As a bonus, it can also do a wider angle than most of its competition - great for group shots.

Overall, the camera operates pretty sluggishly. Start up time is pretty slow, as well as menu navigation and paging between images. Shutter lag is not bad as long as you do a partial press of the shutter first.

As far as build quality, the FE-200 feels very sturdy, especially for a camera in this price range. I like having the zoom control as a ring around the shutter release - more prefereble than a tiny rocker button on the back of the camera.

The 2.5 inch LCD is nice, but doesn't have a ton of resolution (130K pixels). It's pretty visible outdoors, which is a good thing, since there is no optical viewfinder.

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Specifications 

• Focal Length: 4.6 – 23mm (28 – 140mm equivalent)
• Sensor resolution: 6 megapixels
• Optical zoom: 5x
• Digital Zoom: 4x
• FocusRange: normal/macro mode:(Wide) 7.8” – infinity (Tele) 19.7” – infinity; super macro mode: 2.0"
• LCD Monitor: 2.5 inch, 130K pixels
• Shutter Speed: 1/2000 sec. – 4 sec.
• Sensitivity: automatic (ISO 64-640)
• Exposure Control Method: automatic
• Exposure Compensation: +/- 2 stops in 1/3-stop increments
• White Balance Control: automatic
• Built-in flash operation modes: auto, red-eye reduction, fill flash, flash off, soft flash
• FlashRange: 0.7 ft. – 8.2 ft. (wide), 2.0 ft. – 5.6 ft. (telephoto)
• Self-Timer: 12 seconds
• Storage Media: xD-Picture Card
• Computer Interface: USB 2.0 Full Speed
• BatteryType: lithium-ion rechargeable
• Dimensions: 3.9” W x 2.4” H x 1.1” D
• Weight: approx. 5.4 ounces (without battery or media card)