Product DescriptionThe FE-310 gives you more for your money. Featuring a powerful 5x zoom (37 - 185 mm) it takes you straight to the heart of the action - wherever it is. A very ample 8.0 megapixels guarantees shots come out with astounding detail. And ensuring that human subjects are always optimally captured, this model incorporates intelligent Face Detection technology. In addition to photos, the FE-310 is also capable of recording movies with sound. All results can be viewed on the 6.4 cm LCD.Ease-of-use is one of the hallmarks of the FE series, and this model is no exception. The ?one button, one function? design principle ensures that operation is easy - even for complete novices. And with 38 languages on board, usability is taken up another notch.
Excellent for the money (Rating: 4 out of 5) Sounds like some people have models that drain batteries severely, but most digital cameras are rough on Alkaline AA's. I got it cheap and took it to the bar last night and was happy. I went through about 75 shots and had to change batteries, that is good enough for me. It holds around 450 pictures with a 1G XD card. It has features that cannot be beat with all the shooting modes. So far the only setting that loses its' preference when the power is off is the flash mode (auto flash, red-eye, constant, or off). For the money, this is a good entry lever camera.
Gave it as a gift and they seem to like it. (Rating: 4 out of 5) Don't really have much to say about it since I am not using it but the price was good and the features were right. I can tell you to not put cheap batterys in it but other than that it works fine.
What battery life ? (Rating: 1 out of 5) I bought this camera back in May of 2008 to upgrade from an OLD bulky Fuji that was only a 2 Megapixel & a 3x zoom but still took great pictures. It seems right after I bought this model, the poor battery life reviews started to come in, & if I knew this I never would have bought it. Several times I've gotten the no battery warnig on the screen where the camera locks up, & hopefully if I wait a few minutes the batteries gain a little charge so I can take a picture or two before it dies again. Carrying extra batteries was a MUST. ( But should be not necessary )
I won't itemize all the concerns, ( soft focus, reset of settings each time it powers up, etc.) as there's a good review on the main page. But as an old 35mm SLR user, I'm used to an optical viewfinder, & just using the screen resulted in too many cut off heads & legs because of the times the screen washed out from bright light & then guessing.
I just purchased a Fuji S1000fd & one of the reasons..........
besides the screen, OPTICAL VIEWFINDER !
Brand new & would not focus. (Rating: 1 out of 5) We got this camera right before we moved overseas. We threw away the box and could not find the receipt in the confusion of moving. We never got to print or upload any photos because the camera would not focus. Now we are stuck and have to send it off and PAY for it to be fixed. Plus, we have to deal with all the hassle in doing so since we don't live in the US. Who knows how long that will take. So, I went ahead and got my daughter a new camera - NIKON. We also have a CANON and love it. Wont buy an Olympus again!!!
Battery life is no good (Rating: 2 out of 5) I've had one of these for 4 months now and I want to echo the negative comments here about the battery life as it sucks. It's amazing how little it lasts. Everything else is OK... I get plenty of blurry one's, but that may be me as I've had that issue with all my digital cams. Also, there is no small view finder, only the big one, but that's not really an issue for me as I'm just amateur with photos and only use that one anyway.
Just how bad is the battery life? With my brand new rechargeables, we're talking about 5 - 10 photos! With normal alkalines, it varies... I've gotten nearly 100 but also a lot less. I didn't actually try nickle cads because it came with alkakines and I happen to (fortunately)currently have a big pile of them. I reckon that pile will quickly diminish the more I use my camera.
Otherwise, however, a pretty good camera, especially for the price.