Olympus FE-45 Review

The Olympus FE-45 is a cheaper digital camera. It has a 10 megapixel digital camera and a 3x optical zoom lens. Power is supplied by two AA batteries. The FE-45 is very easy to use.

If you are looking for a simple snapshot camera at a low price then the FE-45 is worth considering.

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
This is a decent photo for a camera in this price bracket. Sun glare is handled well and the level of detail in the shot is good. As you would expect the FE-45 loses a bit of sharpness as you move away from the centre of the photo, but this will only become obvious if you make very large prints.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
I am not so impressed with this photo though. The FE-45 struggles with the lightest and darkest areas of the shot. The boats and trees look a little blobby as the camera finds it difficult to bring out any real definition.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
With the zoom fully extended this is a better photo. The boats and trees appear larger and this helps the camera to pick out more detail. Even so greater definition could be shown in the picture.

Outdoor 4 (Building)
As with the other outdoor photos I am left disappointed with how crisp the shot is. It is difficult to pick out the individual bricks when the photo is blown up to full size. The overall impression is that the photo lacks sharpness.

Outdoor Portrait
Out of my test shots I think this one is the best. There is warmth in the colours and with the subject closer, focusing is much sharper. With much less contrast in the colours there is far more detail in the shot too.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
This shot is surprisingly dark. I think this is likely to be more of a problem with the camera assessing the amount of light required than a really weak flash light.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
Without flash I am able to produce a much brighter photo. In fact the FE-45 does well with the conditions and manages to bring out a good level of detail.

Colours
Although one or two of the photos are a little dark I have no problem with the colours. Olympus digital cameras tend to give vivid colours without overpowering the shots.

Macro
The macro shot is one of the better efforts. It compares well against other cameras and you should be able to take close up snapshots without a problem.

ISO 400 and ISO 1600
I found noise levels to be on the high side once you start to increase the ISO settings. This unlikely to be of great importance to you unless you are planning to take a lot of low light shots or you are looking to freeze motion.

Overall
Even taking the price of this camera into account I am a little disappointed with the results.

The FE-45 is very slow to take pictures. A single photo took 1.93 seconds and five took 19.63 seconds. Using flash made no difference at all for a single photo and only a slight difference (20.23) for five shots.

The time taken to turn the camera on and take the first shot was also slow at 3.92 seconds.

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

The FE-45 is on the large side for slipping into a pocket. It does not have the elegance of some digital cameras, but many people may find its larger size and small grip on the front easier to get a good hold of. Black, blue and silver versions are available.

93.8 x 61.5 x 26.7 mm

112g

Two AA batteries power the camera.

Olympus has built 19mb of memory into the FE-45. This is enough for around 8 shots. You can expand the memory with xD cards and Micro SD cards.

Click here to save money on memory cards..

Excellent. To be honest most of the ease of use comes from the fact the FE-45 has fewer features than more advanced digital cameras. Even so the end result is a digital camera that is very easy to use.

Ease of use - price

Photos could be sharper - slow to take a photo - slow turn on time

When buying cheaper digital cameras you will always need to be realistic as to what the camera can deliver. Out of similar cameras I have tested recently the best bet is the Canon Powershot A480.

The Olympus FE-45 is one of the more basic digital cameras. It is a simple snapshot camera, but there are better cameras for a similar price tag.

Front View

Back View

Top View

Sample Menu

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-45