Olympus FE-4020, FE-47 compacts announced

Olympus has introduced two new cameras in its FE series, the FE-4020 and FE-47. Both cameras come with 14 megapixels. The FE-4020 has a 4x optical zoom (26mm - 105mm equivalent in 35mm photography) and the FE-47 features a 5x optical zoom (36mm - 180mm equivalent). Both cameras have numerous in-camera features including the following:

• Intelligent Auto: Intelligent Auto Mode automatically identifies what you are shooting (Portrait, Landscape, Night and Portrait, Macro or Sports) and adjusts the settings to capture the best quality results depending on the situation.

• AF Tracking: AF Tracking technology locks your subject in focus and continuously adjusts focus and brightness whether you or your subject is moving. This enables you to keep fast-moving, unpredictable subjects like small children in focus. There's even a specially designed AF Tracking "Pet Mode" for animal lovers.

• Advanced Face Detection: Advanced Face Detection, which reduces the chance of blurred subjects in pictures by distinguishing between people's faces and the background, tracks up to 16 faces within the image area and automatically focuses and optimizes exposure for them.

• Magic Filter: Magic Filter consists of various image enhancements that enable users to enhance and customize images as they are being captured. These image enhancements include Pop Art, Pin Hole, Fisheye and Drawing (turns your image into a sketch outline for children to color).

Easy Operation and Help Guides Enhanced Help Guides are built into the cameras. The Menu and Scene Guides display a brief description of camera settings and features on the LCD to explain more advanced techniques such as adjusting ISO and white balance settings using the Program Auto mode.

Olympus FE-47

Exposure Compensation enables users to preview and select various exposure effects on a live, multi-frame window on the LCD before snapping the shot, allowing users to see precisely what an image will look like when adjustments are made. Menus are available in English, Spanish and 37 other languages. Both cameras include an AVI movie mode with sound.

Olympus FE-4020

New [ib] Software
All new Olympus digital compact cameras will come with new [ib] (image bridging) software including functions for photography workflow, browsing, editing and photo-organizing. The latter permits you to organize your photos by person with automatic face recognition technology, by location with a geotagging function or by event. The new software will be available for Windows operating systems only.

SD Compatibility
Olympus' new digital compact cameras offer SD memory card capability for up to 32 gigabytes of capacity.

A Range of Colors
The FE-4020 will be available in warm gray, pearl white, light pink and light blue, while the FE-47 will come in silver, black, red and blue.

Availability and Pricing
The FE-47 will be available in January 2010 and the FE-4020 will be available in February 2010. The FE-4020 includes a lithium-ion rechargeable battery, and the FE-47 includes two AA alkaline batteries. Both cameras also include a USB cable and charger, audio/video cable, wrist strap, Quick-Start Guide, Olympus [ib] Software and Instruction Manual CD-ROM, and a Warranty Card. The estimated street price for the FE-4020 is $149.99 and for the FE-47 is $119.99.