Olympus FE · announced January 2006

The Olympus FE-115: a beginner's compact with one button per job, and the pictures it made

Olympus's manual covers it as the FE-115/X-715.⁶ The launch coverage and both reviews we read call it the FE-115 and none of them uses the X-715 name, so we cannot say in which markets it carried which name.¹²³⁴⁵

In January 2006 Olympus announced a five-megapixel compact priced at about $149, with a plastic body, two AA batteries and a promise of one button for each job. Two reviews found it simple and slow, and disagreed about whether its pictures were any good for the money.

Launched

January 2006

Launch price

$149 US · about £120 UK · €149²¹³

Sensor

5 MP CCD

Lens

38–106 mm, 2.8×

Card

xD-Picture Card

Battery

2 x AA

Specs and sources

Meet the camera

Olympus announced the FE-115 on 26 January 2006 in London, as one of four new compacts alongside the FE-130, FE-140 and FE-150.¹³ The UK release priced it at about £120 from February 2006.¹ Reviewed.com gave $149 for the US, with the line due in March,² and Clubic gave 149 euros from the end of February.³ Where it sat in the range is reported two ways: Reviewed.com said it was designed to fit between the FE-110 and FE-120 announced in August 2005, while Clubic said it replaced the FE-110.²³ Olympus's UK release called the body silver and lightweight,¹ and What Digital Camera called it chunky, with a plastic body and quite nice curves.⁵

Olympus's specifications, as Steve's Digicams reproduced them, give 87.5 by 62.5 by 38.5 millimetres and 140 grams without battery and card; Steve's called the boxy shape far from stylish but comfortable to hold.⁴ Clubic gave the same width, height and weight but a depth of 35.5 millimetres.³ There is no viewfinder: the only way to frame a picture is a 1.5-inch screen of about 130,000 pixels.⁴ Pictures go to 28 MB of internal memory unless you add an xD-Picture Card, which Olympus's manual calls optional.⁶¹

Why this one was interesting

One button, one function

Olympus pitched the FE line at first-time digital buyers who did not care for manual control, as Reviewed.com put it.² The UK release described a "one button, one function" design in which shooting, playback and deleting each had a button of their own, and a help function in the menu explained the scene modes on screen.¹ Steve's agreed with the layout, saying the controls were well placed and the menus minimal but effective, with few settings to get lost in.⁴

Ordinary AA batteries

The FE-115 took two AA cells, alkaline, NiMH or lithium, which Steve's said they love in a camera because the buyer chooses the cells; they recommended NiMH.⁴ Olympus's manual lists alkaline, Oxyride and NiMH cells as options.⁶ For the wider story of cameras that run on AAs, see our guide to CCD digicams with AA batteries.

Super Macro, and a stabiliser in name

Olympus said the Super Macro mode could shoot from as close as 2 centimetres,¹³ and Steve's listed 20 millimetres.⁴ The "Digital Image Stabilization" setting was not optical: Steve's said it raises the ISO to 320 so that shutter speeds go up, and found noise quite acceptable in that mode.⁴ What Digital Camera said it worked "to a point".⁵

What was lost

The savings show in the video and the controls. Steve's said the video clips had no sound and no zoom during recording, and that the camera had no continuous shooting mode.⁴ The specifications list automatic ISO and white balance and centre-weighted metering, with exposure compensation of up to two stops either way.⁴ The 1.5-inch screen drew complaints from both reviewers: What Digital Camera called it tiny next to dearer models and noted that it was the only way to compose,⁵ and Steve's often needed shade to see it outdoors, though it brightens its live image in dim rooms.⁴ What Digital Camera also noted a mode dial on the right that is easily knocked.⁵

The dark: its weak point

Steve's found the autofocus struggled in marginal light and often failed to focus under ordinary incandescent room lighting, since the camera has no focus assist lamp.⁴ The specifications Steve's reproduced list a flash range of up to 3.8 metres at wide angle and 2.2 at telephoto; Steve's said that limits you to individuals or small groups, and that red-eye reduction was fairly effective at close range.⁴

The three photos below are free files whose own EXIF data records ISO 320 or 400 on this camera. The spec table Steve's reproduced lists an automatic range of 64 to 320, so the ISO 400 file sits above it; we do not know what mode the photographer used.⁴

On eBay right now

Live listings for this camera, supplied by eBay and updated automatically. We earn a commission if you buy through them.

The little wins

How it drew the picture

The two reviewers parted ways on the pictures. Steve's found the lens adequately sharp at the centre but quite soft at the corners, with moderate barrel distortion at wide angle, very little pincushion at telephoto, and moderate purple fringing in high-contrast areas that it called typical for this class of camera.⁴ What Digital Camera was less forgiving: exposure was pretty good and colour not bad, but fringing was pretty bad throughout the images, and its summary line told readers to ignore the promise of high resolution, since the camera was not even as good as 2005's 3-megapixel models.⁵ Neither review put a number on resolution or noise, so the disagreement stays a matter of opinion. The pictures below let you judge for yourself.

Photos taken with this camera, from Wikimedia Commons, credited under each picture. The file data records ISO 64 for seven of the eight and ISO 160 for the cactus.

Where it let you down

Speed was the practical complaint. Steve's timed about 4.5 seconds from power-on to the first picture, a shutter lag of 0.3 seconds when pre-focused and 1.0 second including autofocus, and about 6 seconds between shots without flash and 7 to 10 with it.⁴ Scrolling from one image to the next in playback took about 4 seconds.⁴ What Digital Camera said the same in fewer words: slow to take a picture and slower to write it to a card, though not the worst it had used.⁵ Video was the other weak point. Steve's found the clips sharp and well exposed but choppy at 15 frames a second, at under 3 MB for ten seconds at 320 by 240.⁴

What the reviewers said

We found no full review from Imaging Resource, DPReview or Trusted Reviews; launch coverage only. Steve's quoted a street price below $150 while the camera was current;⁴ we have no second price from a review.

The timeline

• 26 January 2006Olympus UK announces the FE-115 in London at about £120; Clubic gives 149 euros and Reviewed.com $149 for the US.¹³²
• February 2006Planned UK shipping month, and Clubic's end-of-month date; Wikipedia's model table also gives February 2006 as the release.¹³⁷
• March 2006Reviewed.com expects the line to reach US shops.²
• 7 July 2006Steve's Digicams posts its review.⁴
• August 2006What Digital Camera's page metadata dates its review to 6 August (a 23:00 UTC timestamp, so 7 August in the UK).⁵

Should you buy one now?

Buy one if you want a very simple 2006 snapshot camera on AA batteries and you accept slow shooting, soft corners and fringing. It launched at about $149;² what it sells for now is a question for the sold listings, not for us. We have not tested a unit yet. If you want a different 2006 Olympus, our Stylus 710 review covers a 7.1-megapixel model announced in January 2006 that used a lithium-ion battery instead of AAs. Before you bid, check these:

• The name. Search FE-115, and also X-715, which is how Olympus's manual lists it.⁶
• The batteries. It takes two AA cells, and Steve's counted about 75 shots on 2,500 mAh cells;⁴ AA rechargeables on Amazon ↗.
• The card. Steve's spec table lists xD-Picture Cards of 16 MB to 1 GB.⁴ Panorama needs an Olympus-brand card.⁴⁶ See our memory card guide.
• The screen. It is the only way to frame a shot, so check it is unscratched and that the picture is bright.⁵⁴
• The lens. The lens retracts behind an automatic barrier; check that it extends and retracts when you switch on and off.⁴
• The ports. The specifications list a USB connector, a video-out and a DC input;⁴ check that the seller includes the cables you need.

If you are wondering why cameras like this are being hunted down again, we tell that story once, in Pictures that never left the card. Terms are explained in our digicam glossary.

See recent sold prices on eBay ↗Shop on eBay ↗AA rechargeables ↗

Sources

1. Photography Blog, “Olympus FE-115” by Mark Goldstein (26 Jan 2006), reproducing Olympus UK's London press release of the same date
2. Reviewed.com, “Olympus Expands FE-Series with Three New Models” by Emily Raymond (byline 25 Jan 2006; text dated 26 Jan 2006)
3. Clubic, “4 compacts Olympus simples et abordables” by Anne Baudry (26 Jan 2006; in French)
4. Steve's Digicams, “Olympus FE-115 Zoom - User Review” (posted 7 Jul 2006; no author named; pages 1 to 3 and 5, Internet Archive copies from 2008)
5. What Digital Camera, “Olympus FE-115 Review” (byline TI Photography; the page shows 31 Oct 2014, its metadata says 6 Aug 2006)
6. Olympus, FE-115/X-715 Advanced Manual (110 pages; text as hosted by ManualShelf, not by Olympus)
7. Wikipedia, “Olympus FE Series” (table of models and release months; the article carries a request for more citations)

Photographs are credited under each one, all via Wikimedia Commons. Links to eBay and Amazon are affiliate links.