Olympus FE-280 Zoom Review

Typical playback display with default info shown momentarily.

Press the wide angle zoom button to enter the Index playback mode. You can display 4, 9, 16 or 25 images per page. You can then use the 4way controller to search through your stored images.

The playback image can be magnified in several steps from 1.0x to 10.0x in 1.0x increments, you can then scroll around the image using the 4-way selector. Press the telephoto zoom button to enlarge and the wide angle button to shrink.

Pressing the menu button in play mode brings up this shortcut menu. Here you can start a slide show, resize you images, choose the DPOF (Direct Print Order Format) settings, add images to My Favorites, erase an image, enable silent mode as well as enter the Playback or Setup Menus. In the Playback menu, you can protect images from deletion, Rotate an image for proper orientation or add a voice memo.

The rotate option is perfect for changing the orientation of an image to be displayed on a TV set.

The Resize option lets you save an image to a lower resolution.

Movie clips can be played back on the camera's LCD or a television set via the supplied Audio/Video cable. When viewed in camera, sound is heard through the built-in speakers. Using the 4-way controller, you can fast-forward and rewind the video as well as adjust the volume.

SETUP Menu Options

Format - Format the xD memory card
Backup - Save a copy of images on to your PC
Menu Language - English, French, Espanol, Portuguese
Pixel Mapping - Map out bad pixels
Record/Play Buttons - No or Yes, Yes allows you to turn the camera on and off by pressing one of these buttons
Monitor Brightness - Adjust LCD backlight
Beep - Choose Low, High or Off
Camera sounds - Low, High or Off
Shutter Sound - Choose Shutter theme
Volume - Set the volume of sounds
Set Clock - Set time and or date
Video Out - Video out signal - NTSC or PAL format
Power Save - Turn power saving on and off