Menus (Nikon wins) - The menu systems are very different from one another. The Nikon L19 has a standard shooting menu that is organized into “folder tabs” and printed in large, easy-to-read text. The Olympus FE-25’s menu initially shows a screen of icons. When you push the camera icon, it takes you to the shooting menu which is very short and simple, and in text. I prefer the more commonly used folder-like system on the Nikon; it allows me to navigate forward and backward to change multiple settings unlike the Olympus that exits out of the menu each time a change is made.

All things considered, the flawed Nikon L19 has a more intuitive menu interface and a slightly better ergonomic design than the Olympus FE-25.

Playback Mode (Nikon wins) - Each camera has a designated button to enter the playback mode; it is located on top of the Nikon L19 and on the back of the Olympus FE-25. Both cameras display the last picture taken on the LCD screen; the L19’s LCD is slightly larger and has much better resolution with its 230,000 pixels – making the overall playback experience that much better.

The Nikon L19 can scroll through images with its multi-selector and zoom in on individual images up to 10x. It can also display 9, 16, or 25 thumbnails at a time. To top it off, it has a calendar mode that shows the first image taken on each day. Individual images can be magnified up to 10x and you can access a slew of technology that Nikon puts in pricier cameras: in-camera red-eye fix, D-lighting exposure compensation, and blink detection. The red-eye fix and blink detection are features that work quietly in the playback mode; the blink detection is the more noticeable of the two features because it will display on an image, “Did someone blink?” (by this point, it may be too late to snap a new shot though). The D-lighting compensation is a feature available in the playback menu. When selected, it brightens up darkened areas of the image – like the background of a subject when the flash is used. You can see a little preview before adding the compensation, which is a nice touch.

Other nice features in the Nikon L19’s playback menu include slide shows, a print set option, the ability to resize images to a smaller resolution, and of course deletion. You can delete selected images or all images, or you can quickly delete an image here or there with the designated button on the back of the camera.

The Olympus FE-25 can display 1, 4, 9, 16, or 25 thumbnails on its screen at one time. The specs don’t indicate just how far the FE-25 can zoom, but it is at least as much as the L19. The Olympus FE-25 has a more complicated menu structure that places the slide show, print order, erase, and edit options in the opening menu. When you venture into the editing menu, don’t get your hopes up: there are only options to crop and resize images. And for some reason, there is a separate playback menu with only options to protect and rotate. Why rotation isn’t part of the editing menu is a mystery. Images can be deleted from the playback menu or from a button on the back of the camera, with the same functionality as the Nikon L19. All in all though, the L19 wins with its increased LCD resolution and perks like D-lighting compensation.