Olympus FE-5020 12MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Wine Red)

by Olympus

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.2 x 1 x 3.6 inches ; 3.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B002HWRKUC
• Item model number: FE-5020 Wine Red
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,667 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 21, 2009

Product Description

Color: Wine Red

Where Sophistication Meets Simple. Super-wide 5x optical zoom capability in a slim, easy-to-use camera that brings you hassle-free performance and sharp image quality.

5x SUPER WIDE-ANGLE ZOOM(24mm).
All the capabilities you need in one compact lens. The 5x optical zoom gets you close to the action while the 24mm wide-angle lens lets you capture breathtaking panoramas.

AF TRACKING.
The camera automatically tracks the movements of energetic photo targets like kids and pets and continuously adjusts the focus and brightness to easily capture them sharply.

INTELLIGENT AUTO + SHADOW ADJUSTMENT.
A highly practical technology that identifies the scene youâ?TMre shooting, from Portrait and Landscape to Night +Portrait, Macro and Sports, and automatically adjusts the cameraâ?TMs settings to keep both the subject and the background clear and in focus.

MAGIC FILTER.
Add a little extra dimension of drama or enchantment by applying a filter effect, such as Pop Art, Pinhole or Fisheye.

FACE DETECTION.
Tracks up to 16 faces and automatically focuses and optimizes exposures for sharp, brilliant portrait pictures.

DIGITAL IMAGE STABILIZATION PLUS.
With high ISO sensitivity and faster shutter speeds, you can freeze the action to capture sharp, blur-free images, with less noise, even if you or your subject is moving.

STYLISHLY DESIGNED.
Not only does it take great-looking pictures, but the FE-5020 also sports a great-looking, super-slim body with a premium finish in one of several classy colors, including wine red, royal blue and dark gray.

VGA MOVIE WITH SOUND.
Make your own movies with the VGA Movie with Sound function, which includes the ability to easily upload your finished productions to YouTube.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT LITTLE CAMERA, October 18, 2009

By 

Phenix (Seattle) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Olympus FE-5020 12MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Dark Grey) (Electronics)

I really love the Olympus FE-5020. It produces very acceptable images for this price range. Olympus is a brand you can rely upon. I also own an Olympus Stylus 500 which I bought 5 years ago and it has produced many great images.

I see that the two previous reviewers here have decided to return their cameras. Don't let that turn you off this camera. I am very fussy about picture quality. I was a professional photographer for 20 years before I left the business. Sure, there will always be cameras that take better pictures, but for this price range you won't go wrong.

The thing about this camera that really appealed to me is the 24mm lens. I also own a Panasonic FZ28 and a Sony HX1, and while they are both superb cameras, they only go down to 28mm on the wide end of the zoom. The Olympus FE-5020 nicely fills that gap. Another thing I love about the FE-5020 is it's compact size. It fits in my jacket pocket and will go with me everywhere. That's a bonus because you can't take photographs when the camera is sitting home because you didn't feel like lugging it around.

I don't find the controls too small. I'm a guy with large hands and have severe carpal tunnel syndrome but I manage nicely in navagating the camera settings.

It is true that you will probably need to manipulate the photographs on a computer. I believe that the beauty of digital photography is the ability to work on a computer rather than breathing the toxic fumes of a darkroom. To me, digital photography is 50% camera work and 50% computer enhancement. If you're not onboard with this, you may want to look elsewhere. The images I enhance on the compter are great. You can either use Picasa which is free or the Olympic Master software included with the camera. I start out with Photoshop Elements 6, enhancing contrast and color saturation.

I opted for the dark gray FE-5020 because I'm old school and think a camera should only be one color--black. I was happy to discover that the dark gray is actually closer to a dark navy blue so I got pretty close to having a black camera.

The neopryne Olympus camera pouch advertised by Amazon fits the camera beautifully and is very nice. I'm going to order another Lithium battery because I'm running it down in about 2 hours of shooting. It would probably last most people longer than that, but I'm always checking each image, zooming in and out of the captured image which really eats up power. I also walk around with the camera powered up when I prowling for shots.

I hope this information is helpful to anyone interested in the camera. I've had mine for about 5 days and just love it. I will try to post a photograph in Customer Images, but I've tried this before and my pictures exceed the size they allow you to post.

Enjoy your image making. I hope you enjoy photography as much as I do.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Looks good for the price, but lots of flaws, October 14, 2009

By 

Russell N. Balliet - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olympus FE-5020 12MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Dark Grey) (Electronics)

My Canon SD850 got claimed by the sand dunes recently so I needed to replace it. I was looking for something with a wide angle lens at a decent price. After some research I decided to purchase the Olympus 5020 and here are my thoughts after some time with the camera:

First off the image resolution is decent, but the colors are very flat and don't seem very accurate. Sure you could fix this in post processing, but you shouldn't have to do that. The camera does seem to do well inside with flash as long as the subject is within a few feet. I actually probably could have dealt with the color issue, but the more I played with the camera the more I got annoyed by some other things. Olympus boasts about AF tracking and face recognition, but these modes do not operate simultaneously, you have to pick one or the other and at that neither seems to work well. Also, the stabilization that is a standard feature on most cameras doesn't operate all the time, but has to be selected as a separate shooting mode. One really odd thing that I couldn't figure out is when in the standard "P" mode the camera doesn't shoot in full 12mp, but only 5mp; I went through all the settings, but couldn't figure out why this was happening. Macro mode leaves a lot to be desired, the documentation claims 3cm, but the best I could do was about twice that distance. There's pretty much 0 user control; in some settings you can change the white balance and ISO, but that's it.

Most of the controls are within the menu system, which is easy to navigate, but it means a lot of button pushing to change the type of AF or shooting mode. There are a lot of different scene modes to choose from, but if you want to change the one you're using you have to cycle through all the shooting modes back to the scene mode and pick the new one you want. In my opinion all this stuff should be at the fingertips; not buried in menus. The construction of the camera also feels cheap, the D-pad on the back feels very flimsy and "clicky" when used and the battery door feels like it would snap off very easily. Overall the construction and controls are very clunky and poorly designed.

The bottom line is that this might be a decent first digital camera for someone, but if you're someone like me who has used digital for 7-8 years you'll quickly see that Olympus left a lot on the table with this camera. I really wouldn't recommend this camera to anyone as there are many cameras of this size and resolution out there; I had hope for the 24mm wide angle, but more cameras are offering wide angle now too.

Mine is going back and I decided to spend some more money and get the Panasonic Lumix FX580

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Olympus FE 5020, January 17, 2010

By 

R. A. Hartig "XDouglas Driver" (VA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Olympus FE-5020 12MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Wine Red) (Electronics)

Great little camera for a very reasonable price plus free shipping from
Amazon. The 24mm wide angle lens makes point and shoot much easier, as it eliminates the hassle of having to back up to include everything or everyone in a close in shot. I would have prefered a written instruction manual as opposed to the supplied CD. The "quick start" instruction sheet is, I think, too brief.

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