Olympus FE-340 Digital Camera
- Digital Zoom: 4x
- Camera Type: Compact
- Weight: 0.26 lb.
- LCD Screen Size: 2.7 in.
- Resolution: 8.5 Megapixel
- Optical Zoom: 5x
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Olympus FE-340 5x Optical Zoom 8.0 Megapixel
Pros
Clear, clean photos, very easy out-of-the-box startup use, lightweight pocketable.
Cons
Users manual tiny print, poorly organized, old-style "you can..." w/out HOW you can do it.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Nice and easy. Intuitive touch and scroll controls, sharp clean photos, adequate everyday zoom, not too pricey at $159.00, lightweight and small enough for shirt pocket.
Lightweight: weighs just 4.7 oz. with memory card, battery, and wrist-strap attached.
Thin: 3 3/4" wide x 2 1/4" high x 7/8" thick; measured to include the slight protrusion of the shutter button on the height, and the slight protrusion of the lens area on the thickness. I think this is "thin" because my other cameras are much larger; however, I understand there are lighter and smaller cameras out there. I don't know if they deliver the quality of this Olympus FE-340.
Easy Tactile Controls
Simple Dial For: "Auto" "Portrait" "Landscape" "Movie" and "Anti Blur" modes.
This dial allows for fast out-of-the-box readiness for taking pictures without a learning curve.
Sharp photos on "Auto" setting.
Nighttime setting actually produces very good quality when using a tripod. I took pictures of the moon, and even when I did not block a nearby streetlight, the results were remarkable.
Action photos on "Auto" are sharp and clean.
Color is nice and clear.
Quick & easy on-the-spot settings changes.
Adequate zoom feature for most family and sports photos.
Fits easily into a shirt pocket, weighs only 4.7 oz. with battery, memory card, and wrist strap attached.
The "Quick Start Guide" manual, unfortunately, is terrible: tiny print, with graphics and depictions that are difficult to see. The Index is incomplete at best; for example, although this camera is capable of taking short movies, the word "movie" does not appear in the index.
Fortunately the "Mode Dial" with "Auto" "Portrait" "Landscape" "Movie" and "Anti Blur" selections included on the dial is straightforward and easy to use. Therefore, I have made little use of the instruction manual.
The serrated edges on the "Mode Dial" keep fingers from slipping on the dial, for solid clicking through the options on the dial.
There are other functions on the dial, in addition to those mentioned above: "P" for optimum aperture value and shutter speed; and "Scene" for selecting a scene mode, which is very poorly explained in the manual. These additional dial settings are probably seldom used - never by me since first experimenting with them- because the "Auto" "Portrait" and "Landscape" settings are great choices when properly used.
This Olympus FE-340 takes an xD-Picture Card, also used in at least some other Olympus cameras (including my old Olympus Camedia 590 Zoom).
The bottom right of the 1 5/8" x 2 3/16" viewing screen shows how many photos remain to be taken on the memory card.
Mine starts out at 498 pictures using a 256 MB xD Picture Card, but I don't know if this is always true on every Olympus FE-340.
I have taken 98 pictures using the internal memory, i.e. using no memory card at all. I view this feature as being really great, because I remove memory cards to use in other cameras, and if I forget to put the card in before leaving home with the Olymus FE-340, I'm not completely sunk!
The battery is an Olympus Model LI-428, 3.7v, 740mAh. My camera came with a corded chamber for recharging, so I remove the battery from the camera in order to charge it. Some "package deals" may come with a charger that connects directly from an electrical outlet to the camera. This may be an interesting point for some users, because the constant removal and replacing of the battery from the camera may be a wear-and-tear issue that results in the spring mechanism for battery removal being worn out. This happened to me on my Olympus Camedia D-590 zoom, so I'm particularly aware of this issue. Olympus support told me the minimum charge for repair is upwards of $135.00.
The Olympus FE-340 comes with an "Olympus Master 2" software editing and managing disk that works with Windows and Macintosh computers. I have not yet cracked open the envelope because it's not necessary if you have the standard software that comes with Windows XP or Vista. The disk, however, contains something called Trial Version Olympus Muvee TheaterPack for windows only.
I like the Olympus FE-340. It's easy to use, lightweight, and takes clean photos.
This is the best no-thinking-needed camera I've used in quite awhile.
I paid $159.00 at Sam's Club during August 2008. This may be too much, as it did not come with a memory card. However, this suits my needs because Sam's will take back anything without question so long as it's not abused, and is returned within a "reasonable" time - as long as a few weeks of trying out a product in some cases.
I wrote this review because I couldn't find other instructive reviews online, and I hope this helps other people.
Thin: 3 3/4" wide x 2 1/4" high x 7/8" thick; measured to include the slight protrusion of the shutter button on the height, and the slight protrusion of the lens area on the thickness. I think this is "thin" because my other cameras are much larger; however, I understand there are lighter and smaller cameras out there. I don't know if they deliver the quality of this Olympus FE-340.
Easy Tactile Controls
Simple Dial For: "Auto" "Portrait" "Landscape" "Movie" and "Anti Blur" modes.
This dial allows for fast out-of-the-box readiness for taking pictures without a learning curve.
Sharp photos on "Auto" setting.
Nighttime setting actually produces very good quality when using a tripod. I took pictures of the moon, and even when I did not block a nearby streetlight, the results were remarkable.
Action photos on "Auto" are sharp and clean.
Color is nice and clear.
Quick & easy on-the-spot settings changes.
Adequate zoom feature for most family and sports photos.
Fits easily into a shirt pocket, weighs only 4.7 oz. with battery, memory card, and wrist strap attached.
The "Quick Start Guide" manual, unfortunately, is terrible: tiny print, with graphics and depictions that are difficult to see. The Index is incomplete at best; for example, although this camera is capable of taking short movies, the word "movie" does not appear in the index.
Fortunately the "Mode Dial" with "Auto" "Portrait" "Landscape" "Movie" and "Anti Blur" selections included on the dial is straightforward and easy to use. Therefore, I have made little use of the instruction manual.
The serrated edges on the "Mode Dial" keep fingers from slipping on the dial, for solid clicking through the options on the dial.
There are other functions on the dial, in addition to those mentioned above: "P" for optimum aperture value and shutter speed; and "Scene" for selecting a scene mode, which is very poorly explained in the manual. These additional dial settings are probably seldom used - never by me since first experimenting with them- because the "Auto" "Portrait" and "Landscape" settings are great choices when properly used.
This Olympus FE-340 takes an xD-Picture Card, also used in at least some other Olympus cameras (including my old Olympus Camedia 590 Zoom).
The bottom right of the 1 5/8" x 2 3/16" viewing screen shows how many photos remain to be taken on the memory card.
Mine starts out at 498 pictures using a 256 MB xD Picture Card, but I don't know if this is always true on every Olympus FE-340.
I have taken 98 pictures using the internal memory, i.e. using no memory card at all. I view this feature as being really great, because I remove memory cards to use in other cameras, and if I forget to put the card in before leaving home with the Olymus FE-340, I'm not completely sunk!
The battery is an Olympus Model LI-428, 3.7v, 740mAh. My camera came with a corded chamber for recharging, so I remove the battery from the camera in order to charge it. Some "package deals" may come with a charger that connects directly from an electrical outlet to the camera. This may be an interesting point for some users, because the constant removal and replacing of the battery from the camera may be a wear-and-tear issue that results in the spring mechanism for battery removal being worn out. This happened to me on my Olympus Camedia D-590 zoom, so I'm particularly aware of this issue. Olympus support told me the minimum charge for repair is upwards of $135.00.
The Olympus FE-340 comes with an "Olympus Master 2" software editing and managing disk that works with Windows and Macintosh computers. I have not yet cracked open the envelope because it's not necessary if you have the standard software that comes with Windows XP or Vista. The disk, however, contains something called Trial Version Olympus Muvee TheaterPack for windows only.
I like the Olympus FE-340. It's easy to use, lightweight, and takes clean photos.
This is the best no-thinking-needed camera I've used in quite awhile.
I paid $159.00 at Sam's Club during August 2008. This may be too much, as it did not come with a memory card. However, this suits my needs because Sam's will take back anything without question so long as it's not abused, and is returned within a "reasonable" time - as long as a few weeks of trying out a product in some cases.
I wrote this review because I couldn't find other instructive reviews online, and I hope this helps other people.
