The Olympus FE-115 is a five megapixel digital camera with a 2.8x optical zoom lens. Its main attractions are ease of use and low price. It is a no frills digital camera and I can see the FE-115 appealing to anyone who is looking for a simple digital camera without spending a fortune. In fact this is one of the few cameras available from the leading brands to cost under £100.
Image Quality
When looking at my test shots it is important to take into account the price level of the FE-115. This is after all one of the cheapest digital cameras you can buy from a well known brand.
The results are a bit mixed. This is something to be expected. Starting off with the outdoor scenic shots focusing levels are good. A further plus point is that the level of focusing stays fairly sharp up to the edges and there is no really noticeable loss of quality as you move away from the centre.
There are three main negatives in these outdoor photos. The first is the loss of detail in the lighter areas of the pictures. This problem can be most easily identified by looking at the boats in the first picture. It suggests the camera can find it difficult coping with the glare from the sun. The next issue is a tendency to add a purple tinge to blue lines. Again this is noticeable on the boats. Finally the next two pictures are both darker than I would like to see. I am unable to come up with any reason why this should happen. These are after all standard shots.
Colours are o.k. but in general I felt the pictures lacked a bit of vibrancy and life. A bit more punch to the colours may have helped to overcome this. The dedicated test for colours shows that the colours are well balanced.
The two portrait shots come out well. The outdoor portrait is a pleasing effort. There is not too much to point out about this picture, but it suggests for standard portrait type shots in decent light the camera is up to the job.
Moving indoors the FE-115 is able to overcome the lower light conditions in the portrait shot. Taking into account the price I would say this is a good quality photo. Despite the light being less than perfect the camera manages to focus and produce a sharp shot. The fact that red eye levels are contained is another plus point.
Severe lowlight is a step too far. This is shown by the picture of bottles taken in more or less complete darkness. The camera is unable to overcome the extreme conditions and cannot lock onto the subject well enough to focus.
The final test shot is taken using the camera's macro mode. Here the FE-115 does surprisingly well. The shot is sharp and clear. This suggest this camera could prove to be a possible selection for Ebay type auction shots for anyone who does not want to spend too much money on a digital camera.
My last photo is usually a test for how the camera reacts to high ISO settings. There is no feature allowing you to change the ISO level. Therefore I was unable to run this test.
Shutter Lag and Recycling Times
I was able to take a single shot in 1.09 seconds and five shots in 22.58 seconds. These are both very slow times and could cause problems with any shots where you expect movement.
You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.
Features
The 2.8x optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 38 - 106mm lens in 35mm format. The maximum aperture of the lens is f/3.0 (wide) and f/5.0 (tele). There is also a 4x digital zoom feature. For close up photography the FE-115 can focus from 2cm away from the subject in Super Macro mode.
For composing images there is a 1.5" LCD screen. The screen is made up of around 130,000 pixels. To be honest digital cameras have moved on when it comes to screen size and this is about as small as it gets. There is no viewfinder.
The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 3.8m. This falls to 2.2m when the zoom lens is being used. The flash modes the camera has are automatic activation in low and backlight, red-eye reduction, fill-in (forced activation), off (no flash).
There are a small number of preset scene modes you can take advantage of. Whenever you use a scene mode you indicate to the camera the type of shot you are about to take. The camera will then use what it considers to be the optimum settings for the photo. The scene modes available are Portrait, Self Portrait, Night Scene and Landscape. There is also an option that allows you to piece together panoramic type shots. This is only available when you use Olympus won brand memory cards. Digital Image Stabilisation can be used as well.
ISO sensitivity (64 - 400) and shutter speeds (2 - 1/2000 seconds) are both under the direct control of the camera and you have no access to change them. You can call upon exposure compensation though (+/- 2 EV in 1/3 EV steps).
For when you would like to appear in the picture there is a self timer. The delay time can be set to approximately ten seconds.
Short movies of up to one minute and twenty five seconds can be recorded. The resolution is set to 320 x 240 pixels and the frames per second speed is fifteen. Sound cannot be recorded, but you can use the zoom before you start filming. Once recording has started zoom is disabled.
Olympus provides all the necessary cables and software to connect the FE-115 to a television set, computer and PictBridge compatible printer.
Ease of Use
If ease of use is one of your main criteria when looking for a digital camera then the FE-115 is well worth considering. It is true that the camera does not have an especially wide range of features. This helps to reduce the number of options in the menu system. Even so the camera is very straightforward.
Cost
You can pick up an Olympus FE-115 for around £95. This compares to around £105 for a Canon Powershot A430, £95 for a Fuji Finepix A500 and £100 for a Kodak EasyShare C360.
As you can see you have some choice when looking for an entry level digital camera around the £100 mark. Compared to other models I would say the FE-115 offers fairly good value for money.
Style
The FE-115 is functional rather than beautiful. It has a bit of a squat look about it. In fairness the size and shape allows you to take a good, solid grip when you are about to take a shot. It comes in silver.
The dimensions of the camera are 87.5 x 62.5 x 38.5mm and it weighs 140g.
Batteries and Memory Card
Power is supplied to the camera by two AA batteries. The camera gets through batteries quite quickly and I would suggest considering picking up a set of rechargeable batteries. If you do decide to do this make sure you pick up a set with a mAh rating of at least 2000 and preferably higher.
Olympus have built 28mb of memory into the FE-115. This is quite generous in comparison with other brands and will allow you to at least get started with the camera. Even so you will need to pick up a high capacity memory card before you can make the most of it. I was able to take 26 photos before the memory was full. This was using the High Quality setting. The camera is compatible with xD picture cards.
Click here to save money on xD cards..
Points I like:
Ease of use
Low price
Where it is not so hot:
Dark images at times
Small LCD screen
Shutter lag
Summary
It would be too much to expect the Olympus FE-115 to produce brilliant photographs. The camera does have its weaknesses, but that is only to be expected in this price range. If you are looking for a camera under £100 then this camera is certainly worth considering. It is very strong when it comes to ease of use.
Olympus FE 115 Front View
Olympus FE 115 Back View
Olympus FE 115 Top View
Sample Menus
| Olympus FE-115 Summary |
| Description: | Five megapixels with a 2.8x optical zoom lens |
| Ease of Use: | 9 |
| Features: | 6 |
| Colour: | 7 |
| Macro: | 8 |
| Indoors: | 7 |
| Value for Money: | 7 |
| Style: | 7 |
| Movie Mode: | 6 |
| Image Quality: | 7 |
| Build Quality: | 7 |
| Total: | 71 |
| Verdict: | "The Olympus FE-115 is a basic starter digital camera. It is one of the few digital cameras available from a name brand for under 100 pounds. As you would expect results are mixed, but if you are on a tight budget it is worth taking a look at." |
| Review Date: | July 2006 |
| Click for: | Specification Sample Images |
Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.
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