Olympus has launched a series of cameras aimed at the beginner market as part of its FE range.

The Olympus FE-115, the Olympus FE-130 and FE-140, the Olympus FE-150, and the Olympus FE-160.

The Olympus FE-115
The Olympus FE-115 is the company's entry level camera, featuring a 5 megapixel sensor, a 2.8x optical zoom lens, a 1.5-inch LCD screen and five different scene modes. A Super Macro mode enables close-up photography from 2cm away, and Movie recording with sound captures action at 30 frames per second up to the limit of memory available.

The FE-115 has 28MB of internal memory and an xD-Picture Card slot for expansion. The camera is powered by a lithium-ion rechargeable battery. It available from camera shops from February, selling for around £120.

The Olympus FE-130 and FE-140
The Olympus FE-130 and FE-140 feature 5.1 and 6.0 mega pixel resolution, alongside a 3x optical zoom and a 2-inch and 2.5-inch LCD screens respectively. Both models sport 20 scene modes including Sports, Sunset, and Night Scene and a Super Macro mode that works from 5cm away. A movie recording function has also been included on both cameras with maximum shooting time only limited by the amount of memory available.

Both the FE-130 and FE-140 have 22MB of internal memory and an xD-Picture Card slot for expansion. Powered by two regular AA-size batteries the cameras are available from March priced at around £140 for the FE-130 and £170 for the FE-140.

The Olympus FE-150
The Olympus FE-150 is a 5 mega pixel, 3x zoom camera that features a 230k 2.5-inch colour LCD screen and five different scene modes. A Super Macro mode enables close-up photography from 6cm away, and Movie recording with sound captures action at 30 frames per second, in QVGA quality, up to the limit of memory available.

The FE-150 has 9MB of internal memory and an xD-Picture Card slot for expansion. The camera is powered by a lithium-ion rechargeable battery. It available from camera shops from April, selling for around £160.

The Olympus FE-160
The Olympus FE-160 is an exclusive at Dixons, Currys & PC World and sports 6 megapixels a lacklustre 2.8x xoom and 2.5-inch LCD screen. A Super Macro mode enables close-up photography from 6cm away, and Movie recording with sound captures action at 30 frames per second, in QVGA quality, up to the limit of memory available.

The FE-160 has 12MB of internal memory and an xD-Picture Card slot for expansion.

The camera is powered by a lithium-ion rechargeable battery. It available exclusively at Dixons, Currys and PC World stores from April.