The Olympus FE-300 is a pocket sized digital camera. It offers a lot of megapixels, 12, and a 3x optical zoom lens. Aside from the amount of megapixels it is similar to many other pocket cameras. The FE-300 is easy to use and will suit anyone looking for a straightforward, snapshot camera.
Image Quality Olympus FE-300 test shots
Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
I like the colours in this scene. They add a bit of warmth to the shot that I certainly didn't feel when I was taking the photo. The camera also handles the glare from the sun well, although blue lines on the boat have come out with a purple tinge.
Sharpness is good, but it does drift off towards the corners. This is noticeable in the higher branches of the trees away from the centre of the photo. There is also some noise showing in the sky.
Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
Focusing is similar to that in the first photo with the centre sharper than the edges. Here the fall off in sharpness is more noticeable. Towards the edges the photo looks soft in places.
Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
This is the sharpest photo of the three scenic shots. The purple tinge is showing again in areas that should be blue. I can also see purple fringing in places. This is where a purple line has been added to the edge of light coloured objects. This should not happen with a digital camera with a short zoom lens like the FE-300 has.
Outdoor Portrait
I would have liked this photo to have been a bit brighter. The result is on the dull side. Although the photo was taken in the shade there was plenty of light. This suggests that this camera needs extra light to be at its best compared to other cameras.
Indoor Portrait with Flash
The FE-300 handles this photo well. Red eye has been avoided and there is about the right level of lighting produced by the flash. This means that the photo is bright enough without colours being washed out.
Indoor Portrait without Flash
With the flash turned off the colours in the shot have a more natural feel to them. To compensate for the lower light the camera automatically adjusts its ISO setting. This means that overall picture quality is reduced. This reduction in quality is only likely to be a big issue with larger prints.
Colours
There is nothing wrong with the colours produced by the FE-300. They are well balanced and strong enough. Most photos have a natural feel to them.
Macro
In macro mode the closest you can get to a subject is 10cm. This means that my test shot has been heavily cropped. It is not a bad a attempt, but with most cameras now able to get in a lot closer the FE-300 is not the camera to go for if you are planning to take a lot of close up shots.
ISO 400
Increasing the ISO level adds noise to the photo and colours start to break down as well.
ISO 1600
At ISO 1600 all picture quality has gone. The picture takes on a fuzzy look and colours become blotchy.
Overall
Picture quality is roughly above average when compared to other pocket sized cameras. There are no major disaster areas and the camera performs well in the majority of my tests.
Shutter Lag
It took 0.55 seconds to capture a single photo and 15.05 seconds to capture five. With the flash turned on times increased to 1.79 seconds for a single photo and 18.25 seconds for five. These are all slow times.
You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.
Style: I was surprised to see this camera was 22mm wide. It looks deceptively slim to me. It has a plain, unfussy design and is a typically rectangular shape. It is available in black.
Dimensions: 94 x 56.5 x 22.1 mm
Weight: 115g
Batteries: Lithium ion. Olympus supplies a battery and charger as standard.
Memory cards: A large 48mb of memory have been built into the FE-300. I was able to take 21 photos before the memory was full. It is also compatible with xD cards.
Click here to save money on xD cards.
Ease of use rating: Good. Although I do not particularly like the menu system used by Olympus this camera is easy to use. There are not that many features to bog you down and you should soon find your way around.
Points I like:
Simple design - easy to use
Where it could improve:
It could be cheaper! - shutter lag - basic movie mode
Alternatives
The best value pocket camera I am currently aware of is the Canon IXUS 70. If 12 megapixels is a must, take a look at the Fuji Finepix F50 FD.
Verdict:
The Olympus FE-300 faces stiff competition from so many other pocket sized digital cameras. Picture quality is good, but I am concerned at the higher than expected price. I feel there is better value for money available elsewhere. If 12 megapixels is a must then this camera is worth adding to your shortlist.
Front View
Back View
Top View
Sample Menus
| Olympus FE-300 Summary |
| Description: | 12 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom lens |
| Ease of Use: | 9 |
| Features: | 7 |
| Colour: | 8 |
| Macro: | 6 |
| Indoors: | 8 |
| Value for Money: | 7 |
| Style: | 8 |
| Movie Mode: | 6 |
| Image Quality: | 8 |
| Build Quality: | 8 |
| Total: | 75 |
| Verdict: | Competition is tough when it comes to pocket sized cameras. The Olympus FE-300 struggles to really stand out from the crowd. If the number of megapixels is important to you then it does offer more pixels than most cameras. Picture quality is good and the camera is easy to use. |
| Review Date: | December 2007 |
| Click for: | Specification Sample Images Features |
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