The Olympus FE-280 is an 8 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens. The focal length of the lens is 36 - 108mm in 35mm format. The maximum aperture of the lens is f/3.1 - f/5.9. There is also a 4x digital zoom feature.

• Self timer with a 10 second delay
• Resolution for widescreen TV playback
• Add 5 seconds of commentary after a photo has been taken
• Correction of lighting in playback
• Correction of Red-eye in playback
• Panorama assist - only with Olympus memory card.

In super macro mode the FE-280 can focus from 5cm away from the subject. The camera has a special face detection mode. This helps it to produce crisper portraits.

The LCD screen is 2.5 inches in size. The screen is made up of around 230,000 pixels.

The flash unit has a maximum range of 5.5m. When the zoom lens is in use the flash range is reduced. At maximum zoom the range is 2.8m. The flash modes are automatic, always on, always off and red eye reduction.

The scene modes you can select from are: Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene with portrait, Sports, Indoor, Candle, Self-portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Behind Glass, Cuisine, Documents, Auction and Smile Shot.

You can shoot movies with a maximum resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. The top recording speed is 30 frames per second. Sound is captured with the video. Optical zoom can be applied before shooting starts, but not while shooting is in progress. Digital zoom is available at all times.

There are not too many advanced features to play about with. You do have access to exposure compensation (+/- 2 EV / 1/3 steps), ISO (50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600) and white balance (auto, overcast, sunlight, tungsten and fluorescent).

Shutter speeds are set automatically by the camera in the range: 1/2 - 1/2000 seconds. In night mode shutter speeds can be increased to 4 seconds.

Cables and software are supplied to attach the FE-280 to a television, computer and compatible printer. Olympus FE-280

Description:	8 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom
Ease of Use:	8
Features:	7
Colour:	8
Macro:	8
Indoors:	8
Value for Money:	8
Style:	8
Movie Mode:	8
Image Quality:	7
Build Quality:	8
Total:	78
Verdict:	A pretty standard pocket camera. Image quality falls somewhere midrange. It scores well for easy of use and is one of the most lightweight cameras on the market. It looks good without being a style icon and is available in a selection of colours. The FE-280 is also one of the cheapest pocket models around.
Review Date:	January 2008
Related Pages:	Olympus FE-280 Specification Olympus FE-280 Sample Images Olympus FE-280 Features

Camera	Rating
Panasonic DMC FX60	86
Canon IXUS 120 IS	86
Sony DSC TX1	86
Canon IXUS 110 IS	86
Canon IXUS 100 IS	86
Panasonic DMC FS62	85
Samsung ST550	85
Nikon Coolpix S570	85

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-280