Olympus FE-140

Reviewed August 2006

Characteristics

The Olympus FE-140 is equipped with a 1/2.5-inch (1 cm) CCD, composed of 6.4 million pixels of which 6 million are effective. The camera offers three image sizes, all saved in JPEG format, the largest image size offering two levels of compression:

• SHQ: 2816 x 2112 pixels with a compression ratio of approximately 6:1.
• HQ: 2816 x 2112 pixel with a compression ratio of approximately 12:1.
• SQ1: 2048 x 1536 pixels with a compression ratio of approximately 17:1.
• SQ2: 640 x 480 pixels with a compression ratio of approximately 11:1.

CCD sensitivity starts at 80 ISO, but is fully controlled by the camera. The camera increases sensitivity as required by the ambient light and the mode in use, normally covering a range of 80 to 320 ISO, but which can extend to 800 ISO when the Blur Reduction mode is used.

The 3X optical zoom of the FE-140 is composed of 6 elements in 5 groups, producing a focal length range of 6.3 to 18.9 mm, the equivalent of a 38 to 114 mm in the 35 mm format. Its maximum aperture is f3.1 at the wide angle end and f5.9 at the telephoto end.

The camera is also equipped with a 4X digital zoom, which must first be activated in the menu (see further). The zoom is a standard digital zoom, capturing a portion of the centre of the full size image and then interpolating it to the currently selected image size, which results in a loss of image quality.

Normally, the FE-140's shutter range covers from 1/1000 to 1/2 second, but when the camera is set to the Night Scene, Fireworks, or Available Light modes, it can be as long as 4 seconds. Noise reduction is automatically applied to all images captured with a shutter speed of 1/2 second or longer.

The image size and quality are selected in the menu. The menu of the FE-140 is quite succinct in all capture modes, as befits the stated goal for this camera of keeping things simple. The menu starts with five options:

• Image Quality: makes it possible to select the image size and compression, as explained above.
• Reset: returns the camera to its factory settings.

• Camera Menu:
  • Digital Zoom: turns on or off the 4X digital zoom.
  • Panorama: serves to capture a series of photos so they can be assembled into a panorama using the software supplied with the camera. An Olympus brand xD card must be used for the mode to be useable. The camera displays a portion of the previous image so that the next can be overlapped, allowing the program to stitch the photos together.

• Setup: provides access to the setup menu (see the Interface and Software section of the review for details about the contents of the Setup menu).
• SCN: (only active when the Mode Dial is set to the SCN position) access the menu from which any one of the 14 scene modes can be selected.

Set to Playback, the menu has a similar appearance but offers more options:

• Slide Show: starts a show of the images in the camera, which can have transition effects or not (Normal, Fader, Slide or Zoom).
• Edit opens a sub-menu which has options to edit images (see below).
• Print Order: servers to select images for printing. The number of prints of each image can be set, as well as whether or not the date will be imprinted.
• Calendar: displays the images in a calendar format, showing a thumbnail of the first image of those captured on a specific day.

• Playback menu opens a sub-menu consisting of two options:
  • Protect: tags images to prevent an accidental erasure.
  • Rotate: changes the orientation of an image in ±90° increments.
• Setup: accesses the Setup menu (see the Interface and Software section of the review).
• Index: to review images as thumbnails, 9 photos per screen.
• Erase: to delete an undesirable image.

Selecting EDIT from the menu displays the following options:

• Resize: serves to create a smaller size copy of an image to make it easier to e-mail. Two resolutions are available: 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels.
• Trim: makes it possible to save a portion of an image that has been magnified on-screen as a new image.
• Red-eye Fix: automatically corrects the red-eye effect.
• Black and White: creates a black and white copy of an image.
• Sepia: creates a sepia (brown) toned copy of an image.
• Frame: serves to add a frame to a photo, and change its orientation.
• Title: allows adding text to an image, and changing its orientation.
• Calendar: allows adding a calendar to an image, and then saving it as a new image.
• Layout: allows arranging and/or combining multiple pictures to create an album page.
• Brightness: serves to adjust the brightness of a photo over ±5 increments, using a before and after display, and saving the result as a new image.
• Saturation: serves to adjust the saturation of a photo over ±5 increments, using a before and after display, and saving the result as a new image.

The Olympus FE-140 is equipped with a 22 MB internal memory, as well as with an xD card slot. The card slot is located underneath the camera, and protected by the solid door it shares with the batteries. In North America, the FE-140 is retailed without a memory card.

As a guide, the chart below shows the image/movie capacity of the FE-140 using both the internal memory, and an optional 1 GB xD card:

The Olympus FE-140 is powered by 2 AA-size batteries and in North America, the camera is retailed with 2 Panasonic Oxyride batteries. However the camera can be powered using standard alkaline batteries, or rechargeable Ni-MH batteries.

The camera has two external connections. One of these is on its left side, and is covered by a soft, grey plastic door that fits tightly. Depending on the cable used — all of which are supplied with the camera — the connection serves for:

• USB: once connected via USB, either to a computer or to a printer, a menu is displayed offering a choice of communication protocols:
  • PC (Mass Storage): to connect to a computer so that the camera is recognized by the OS as a removable disk.
  • Easy Print (PictBridge): allows printing images one at a time when the camera is connected to a printer.
  • Custom Print (PictBridge): allows printing images by album, or all at once, or as indexes while giving a choice of having borders or not, and determining the number of prints to make of any one image.

• Video Out, serves to connect the camera to a television, using either NTSC or PAL systems.
• AC Adapter, which requires the use of the optional multi-adapter CB-MA1, making it possible to run the camera off of household current while running slide shows or downloading images to a computer or printer.

The second external connection of the FE-140 is located underneath the camera. It serves to connect to a Kodak Printer dock, using a plastic dock adapter that is included in the FE-140's kit, and print photos directly.