Olympus FE-120 Review

The Olympus FE-120 is an entry level digital camera. It has six megapixels and a 3x optical zoom lens. Although the FE-120 has all the features you need to use it as a standard point and shoot model it is a fairly basic digital camera. The upside of this is the camera remains straightforward and easy to use.

This camera is likely to appeal to anyone who is looking for a no fuss digital camera and does not want to break the bank to buy one.

In my Ask a Question section people often suggest that because a digital camera has a large number of megapixels then it follows that the picture quality must be good. I am afraid to say that the FE-120 disproves this theory. Obviously when you are buying a camera for around £120 you cannot expect the same picture quality as you would expect to find with a more expensive model. Even so I was left feeling disappointed by the overall quality of the test photos I took with this camera.

Starting off with a high point the outdoor portrait is very impressive. Considering the time of year when the photo was taken the FE-120 manages to produce a photo with a really warm feel. I especially like the colours and I think these make a major contribution to the ambience.

Other than the outdoor portrait I am struggling to pick out any further highlights. Looking at the outdoor scenic type shots the colours are again good, but the focusing lets the camera down. The photos are fairly sharp towards the centre, but there is a clear fall off in sharpness as you move out towards the edges. This is likely to be a constant problem with any just about any type of photo you take. The camera also struggles with very bright areas and is unable to produce too much in the way of detail in white areas of the picture.

Moving indoors both the indoor portrait and the picture of beer bottles disappoint. The FE-120 does not have an auto focus illuminator. These send out beams of light helping the camera to focus. Without one this camera finds it very difficult to focus properly in lowlight. Both photos are well below the standard I have become accustomed to even with cheaper digital cameras. This looks to be strictly an outdoor camera unless the lighting indoors is very bright.

The test for colours produces an acceptable result. No one colour dominates, but even here I would have liked to have seen a bit more life in the test shot.

The macro shot is a little better. If you are serious about macro or close up photography then I would advise you to look for a better camera. If all you are looking for is to take the occasional macro shot then this should meet your requirements.

My final test is usually for noise at ISO400. With the FE-120 you have no control over the ISO setting. Therefore I was unable to carry out this test.

I managed to take a single shot in 0.48 seconds. This is a slow time. It took 10.72 seconds to take five consecutive shots. This works out at a rate of one photo every 2.14 seconds. This is an average time.

Shutter lag is likely to be an issue. If you are planning to use the camera mainly for landscape type shots or static portraits then this is unlikely to be a problem. Any shots where movement may been involved could be missed by the time the camera has recorded the picture.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

The three times optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 38 - 114mm in 35mm format. The maximum aperture settings are f2.8 wide and f4.9 tele. For close up photography there is a macro mode that can focus from 20cms away from the subject. There is also a digital macro setting that lets you get in closer at 2cms. Four times digital zoom is available too.

For composing images there is a 1.8 inch LCD screen. This is made up of around 85,000 pixels. There is a feature that allows you to adjust the brightness of the screen. There is no room for a viewfinder.

In addition to the fully automatic mode are a number of preset scene modes. When you select the appropriate scene the camera will optimise the settings it uses to take the best possible photo in the prevailing conditions. The scene modes available to use are Portrait, Self Portrait, Night Scene, Night Scene with Portrait, Landscape, Landscape with Portrait, Sports, Beach, Snow, Indoor, Fireworks, Sunset, Cuisine, Candle, Behind Glass and Available Light Portrait.

The maximum flash range is 3.7m. This falls to 2.1m when the zoom lens is in use. The flash modes available are Auto (automatic activation in low and backlight), red-eye reduction, fill-in (forced activation), off (no flash).

You can adjust the exposure compensation (up to +/- 2 EV in ½ EV steps) and white balance (sunny, cloudy, florescent and tungsten). Shutter speeds (4 - 1/2000 seconds) and ISO (50 - 320) are controlled by the camera.

Additional features include a panorama assist function. This helps you to take panoramic shots. This is only available if you are using Olympus brand memory cards. There is also a 2 in 1 function. When you use this feature you take two photos and the camera joins them into a single photo. Continuous shootings lets you fire off up to seven images at a rate of 1.3 frames per second (maximum).

After you have taken a picture you can change it to black and white or sepia. You can also make small copies suitable for sending by email or for displaying on the Internet.

You can shoot short movies. The duration of each movie is only limited by the capacity of the memory card you are using at the time. The maximum resolution is 320 x 240. Top speed is 15 frames per second. This is below the quality required to produce TV quality movie footage. You can zoom in while recording the movie, but you cannot record sound.

For when you would like to appear in the picture there is a self timer. This can be set to a twelve second delay.

Olympus provides all the necessary cables and software to connect the FE-120 to a computer and PictBridge compatible printer. This camera cannot be connected to a television set.

This camera is very easy to use. It is a simple point and shoot camera. This means that with its cut down set of features you are unlikely to come across too many problems and difficulties. The main controls for zoom, flash, reviewing images and the self timer can all be found on the back of the camera. The menu system is simple with few options to confuse you.

You can pick up an Olympus FE-120 for around £120. This compares to around £85 for a Canon Powershot A410, £140 for a Sony DSC S600 and £135 for a Pentax Optio 60.

As you can see the Canon Powershot A410 is much cheaper than the FE-120. It is worth keeping in mind that the Powershot A410 is only a three megapixel model. The FE-120 does work out a bit cheaper than the other two six megapixel models listed here.

The FE-120 is longer than many digital cameras. It is a bit too large to fit into a pocket. Weighing 140g it is fairly lightweight so you should not feel you are lugging a great weight around. It is a typical rectangle although it has a raised area on the front to help you get a good grip of the camera whilst taking a shot. It has dimensions of 106 x 56 x 36mm.

Two AA batteries are used to provide power to the camera. I must admit this camera seemed to eat its way through batteries at a very fast rate. Therefore to keep running costs down a set of good quality rechargeable batteries is likely to be a necessity rather than a nice to have.

Olympus has built 14mb of memory into the FE-120. Therefore it does not come with a memory card. I was able to take 13 shots before the memory was full. This was using the factory settings. In order to take more pictures with the camera you will need to pick up an xD card.

Click here to save money on xD cards..

Six megapixels
Ease of use
Low price

Picture quality
Shutter lag
Battery hungry

Entry level digital cameras with six megapixels are few and far between. Before you think you have struck gold with the Olympus FE-120 it will pay you to think again. Even allowing for its low price I have tested other entry level models offering much better picture quality and value for money.

Olympus FE 120 Front View

Olympus FE 120 Back View

Olympus FE 120 Top View

Sample Menus

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.

Olympus FE-120