Steve's Conclusion

The FE-110 and FE-100 are the first "FE" series models we have seen from Olympus (as of October, 2005.) Aimed at the entry-level consumer market, the FE-110 offers many appealing features like 5-megapixels of resolution, a 2.8x optical zoom and a 1.5-inch LCD, all the while keeping an affordable price tag. This model can be used by any member of your household with its fully automatic Program Auto mode and there's also four scene modes to choose from for optimal results in typical shooting situations (Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Self-Portrait.) Olympus did a good job of designing these compact twins. While they are small, the enlarged right hand side of the body allows for a comfortable feel in your hands, with all of the controls being laid out for easy access by your fingers. Because there are very few exposure options, the Menu system is very simple. Having all settings under one menu, there's no more switching from the Record menu to the Setup menu. The FE-110 features a 1.5-inch LCD which is the only viefinder on the camera. It worked well outdoors with very few angles that reflect the sun, however indoors it fails to "gain up". The Olympus 2.8x optical zoom featured on these models covers an equivalent range of about 38 - 106mm. I noticed slight barrel distortion at wide angle, but virtually no pincushion at full telephoto. Overall the lens produced sharp results both indoors and out. Shooting performance was a little disappointing. Power up to first image captured was about 4 seconds. Shutter lag, the delay between depressing the shutter button and capturing the image, measured 2/10 of a second when pre-focused and 1.0 seconds including autofocus. When capturing a sequence of images, the shot to shot delay averaged about 6.1 seconds without the flash and 8.6 - 10 seconds with flash, depending on the distance to the subject. These times are excessive due to the fact that you can not turn off image preview, which lasts for about 4 to 5 seconds. Our tests were done using an Olympus 512MB xD- Picture card, SHQ quality, Program Auto mode, flash off, and all other settings at default (unless otherwise noted.) Times may vary depending on lighting conditions, camera settings, photographer response, media, etc. Image quality is always one of the most important aspects when considering to purchase a digicam, and the FE-110 has got the goods for a camera in this price range. Its 5-megapixel SHQ images are sharp with wonderful color saturation. The white balance and exposure systems are fully automatic and seemed to work well in most lighting. When shooting indoors in mixed lighting conditions the display may show your subject being very "warm", but once the flash fires and the image is captured you'll see a much better finished product. Noise levels were surprisingly low in areas of contrast, but I did notice some traces of purple fringing around extremely bright objects in our sample photos. Indoors it excelled at portrait photography. However the short flash range (about 7 feet) will limit your picture taking to individuals or small groups. Both our indoor and outdoor portraits were sharp with good overall exposure and skin tones were very pleasing. You can see for yourself by checking out our Sample Photos page. The FE-110 can also capture video at either 320x240 or 160x120 without audio. I was a little disappointed that Olympus didn't include a microphone on these models. The optical zoom can only be preset before recording, which is the opposite of most models that don't record audio with movies. Although our samples were sharp with good exposure, the unspecified (slow) frame rate made them look "choppy". Both the FE-110 and the FE-100 are powered by a set of standard AA type batteries. We love models that use AA's because you can choose from a variety of different cells, like either one-use alkalines and lithiums or the recommended rechargeable NiMH cells. Using a set of 2500 mAh AA's I was able to capture all of our sample photos and conclude our other tests before the cells were exhausted. Always make sure you have at least one extra set charged and ready, there's nothing more aggravating than not being able to take photos due to dead batteries. We only recommend using alkalines as a last resort. Bottom line - the Olympus FE-110 will make a great camera for the consumer who needs a very affordable model with good image quality, but doesn't necessarily need to be able to capture images at blazing fast speeds or record high-quality video. Its 5-megapixel SHQ images can create beautiful prints up to 13x19-inches. Not bad at all for $200 or under! If you like the features of this camera, but don't need 5-megapixels, be sure to check out its 4-megapixel brother the FE-100 that costs about $50 less.

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