Olympus FE 170 Video Guide

Looking at the Olympus FE-170 its main attractions are going to be simplicity and price. In terms of features this is a basic digital camera. The upside of this is that this vastly reduces the complexity of the camera. In terms of price you can pick this camera up for well under £100. This makes it one of the cheapest cameras available from a known brand.

In terms of general features the FE-170 is a six megapixel digital camera with a three times optical zoom lens.

With a width of 30mm I would suggest it is too large to slip into a standard sized pocket. It weighs 124g. This is light for this type of camera. As is typical of less expensive models the body is made out of plastic.

One factor I like is that Olympus have incorporated a 2.5" LCD screen on the back. Although this size of screen is becoming more and more common there are still a number of entry level digital cameras with smaller screens.

In the box you will find two AA batteries and cables to connect the camera to a compatible printer, television set and computer. Be warned this type of camera does tend to run down batteries quickly and investing in a set of rechargeable batteries may be money well spent. In fact I have found Olympus digital cameras to be worse than most other brands when it comes to battery usage. I often find that their cameras claim a battery has run out when I can still use it in another make of camera.

There is no memory card in the box. This is because Olympus have built 10 megabytes of memory into the camera. This does not go very far with a six megapixel camera and a few test shots is the most you can expect before the memory card is full. To be able to fully utilise the camera you will need to buy a memory card. The camera is compatible with xD cards.

Another feature I like is the in camera help text. This is displayed on the LCD screen and gives you tips on how to improve the quality of your photographs and how to incorporate different effects. Some of the tips are on the brief side, but every little helps and I would find the guide useful if I was relatively new to photography. Subjects covered include brightening a subject, blurring the background and shooting subjects in motion.

Click here for: Olympus FE 170 Review

Olympus FE 170 Video Guide - February 2007