Olympus Debuts 2 Budget Point-and-Shoots

If your needs are basic, you can skim over all the four and five-hundred dollar cameras we’ve been drooling over lately, and opt for something simpler. Olympus’s FE-360 and FE-370, announced today, cost $149 and $199, respectively, offering standard specs and a cute color palette. Both have eight megapixels (that’s plenty for most users) and face detection, but the FE-360 has a 3X optical zoom while the FE-370 has a more versatile 5X lens.

Aside from the difference in zoom factor and fifty dollar price gap, a few important features distinguish the higher-end FE-370 from the FE-360. For one, it has dual image stabilization, whereas the FE-360 has digital (we strongly recommend optical image stabilization, but dual is often  better than digital). It has Intelligent Auto Mode, and I like how it corresponds with Sports mode, something Sony’s and Kodak’s smart Auto modes don’t. Other features include Smile Shot and Expression Edit, a “fun” feature that allows users to edit subjects’ facial expressions after the picture has been captured.