My wife and I have been looking for the perfect camera...at the right price. We recently purchased the Sony DSC-W100 Digital Camera at $210 for the floor model. We thought we made a good deal and I really liked many of its features. Unfortunately the pictures just weren't clear and focused enough for our taste. We returned it to Radio Shack just under the gun a couple of weeks back.

We were about to go on a cruise and we wanted a second digital with us. We have one but my wife and I don't share well so we went and picked up the Olympus FE-170. It didn't cost too much at $135 and we thought we would try a brand that was good to us as a film camera. Our old Olympus takes far sharper images than any of the digital cameras we have purchased. Unfortunately that holds true against this new FE-170 to.

This is a 6 Megapixel camera with 3x Optical zoom/ 12xseamless zoom. That zoom is amazing! None of the other cameras we had brought in the subject to fill up the viewer like this one. Of course we get much shaking when we do so. A tri-pod goes a long way in such circumstances.

The 2.5" LCD was of good size but isn't very easily seen in bright sunlight. I do like that it takes AA batteries that I can pick up anywhere. We happen to have a charger for them so we always have extra sets at the ready. Maybe because it takes so long to view images and go through them if deleting, but the rechargeable batteries seemed to drain faster than they have with other digital cameras we have owned.

I do like the Built-in Help guide. That gives me visual information when I turn the function dial on the camera. I find it very helpful. When I look into the LCD I get information through the display giving brief descriptions of the camera functions. Being digital cameras are still new to me and always changing in features, this is a big help.

I started using the video feature on the camera. I was happy with that. I was on a cruise and wanted to show the overall decor and feel of a particular area. As long as I was slow and steady with the camera, not an easy feat with such a small piece of equipment, the film was clear and displayed what I was looking to capture.

I do like the overall feel of the camera. It has a small body, well one of the smallest that uses AA batteries. Much slimmer cameras can be had with special batteries that I feel aren't as easily available.

I don't like where the dials of the camera are. Ergonomics aren't applied well. The grip is good but the placement of dials is inadequate. I happen to like putting a camera in my pocket when not in use. This camera fit just right.

Erasing images is horrible. It's a VERY slow three step process for each image and the buttons that must be pressed are much too small for my fingers. One positive point is that you won't erase a picture inadvertently.

The part of the camera I disliked most is the lag time. It is MUCH TOO SLOWWWWW. At one point on our cruise there was a belly flop contest. I tried getting the guys while they were in the air. That's when I realised how slow the camera really was. It had a two to three second lag. Much to long a gap from pressing the button to the image being taken. I did happen to capture one guy and I was impressed with the clarity of the stop action. There was no blur in the photo.

It came with a 512MB memory card. I had over 300 images and seven video clips after retuning home from a vacation.

In closing I'll mention the "Start-Up" directions by Olympus are not nearly as clear and defined as those given by Canon and Sony. Two CDs are given with the camera as well as cables for quick transfer of pictures from camera to PC. That worked with ease. The second disc gave more detailed information about the camera. It was informative.

The problem with the camera is that once again we did not get the sharp quality images we hoed for. Th lag time was much to slow and erasing photos was too much of a chore. Even switching from Photo to View took too long for me.

I simply do not recommend this camera.

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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W100 Digital Camera
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Canon PowerShot A520
Canon PowerShot A400



Polaroid one600 classic "instant camera"

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 135
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use