Digital Trends

Canon Optura 600

October 24th, 2005 | by David Elrich

Features and Design

The compact 1.1-pound Optura 600 has a vertical form factor that takes a bit of getting used to. Unlike more horizontal models such as the Sony DCR-DVD203  you're really forced to shoot one-handed. It didn't take too long to get into the swing of things but we strongly urge any prospective purchaser to handle this camcorder—or any other--before the credit card goes on the counter.

The camcorder has a sophisticated-looking charcoal gray body with silver accents. The front is dominated by the 10x Canon video lens with a 200x digital zoom boost, a flash with red-eye reduction and built-in LED light that also doubles as an AF Assist lamp for stills. The camcorder menu lets you disable the digital zoom if you'd like. We suggest you do so since the results at 200x are very pixilated. Some videographers use this as a special effect and it's worth playing with but stick to the basic optical zoom for best quality. The camcorder does not have a built-in lens cover (a big oversight in my view) so you have to connect the supplied lens cap with a string to the wrist strap. This is very clunky. Also on the front are a remote control sensor and a small compartment hiding the AV out and DC in connections. On the top you'll find a stereo mic and the Print/Share button for direct printing of stills. There is no hot shoe for accessories, another oversight.

The right side has many of the main controls including the menu, light and audio level keys as well as the main mode dial similar to those found on digital still cameras. There's the tried-and-true auto for point-and-shoot operation as well as useful settings (portrait, landscape, high-speed shutter and so on) as well as six scene modes like foliage, snow and fireworks. For those who'd like to be a bit more adventurous, the Optura 600 has Program AE for manual adjustments (focus, exposure) as well as Aperture- and Shutter-Priority. Shutter speeds range between 1/8-1/2000^th of a second and apertures are f/1.8-f/8.0. You'll also find the Photo key for taking snapshots, a wide-tele zoom key and a switch to choose between recording on tape or SD card. It also has a headphone input.

The left side is dominated by a 2.5-inch flip-out LCD screen (rated a solid 123K pixels) and the battery compartment. Unlike many other camcorders, the battery fits flush to the body and is not an awkward appendage as so many others. Good work, guys. Flip open the LCD and there are seven keys primarily geared to play back but there's a handy LCD brightness button to deal with bright or dark situations. There's a mic input and a built-in speaker as well.

The rear of the Optura 600 has a fixed position .33-inch electronic viewfinder with diopter control. Below that is the main function dial (camera, video and playback). It's a bit confusing since there's a Lock button used for DV Messenger software that appears to be aiming point for the settings such as OFF. The real point is right below that, something that should be changed with the next generation. There are also multifunction keys for Focus/Data Code, EXP/End Search and Function. A handy Set key lets you scroll through menus and make adjustments. You'll also find the SD card and USB/DV output compartments.

The bottom has a tripod mount and open/eject button for the tape compartment. Bottom loading camcorders can be a pain if you use your tripod a lot but if not it's no big deal.

The camcorder kit is decent. It's supplied with a tiny 16MB SD card, battery/charger, AV and USB cables, lens cap, a remote and software on CD ROM. As with a digital camera, a larger high-speed card is recommended since you can take a whole six high-res images on the supplied card. Although there's no Quick Start Guide (a real no-no for any sophisticated piece of tech gear in 2005), there are two manuals for the camcorder and the digital video software. They're the typical Japanese style with small illustrations. In this day and age is it too much to ask for a bit of color in these manuals? Sheesh. You'll have to buy a tape as well as a Firewire/DV cable for fastest transfers. DV tapes cost around $7 each and the cable will set you back $10 or so. It's four-pin out of the camcorder so make sure you get the right one. Firewire inputs can be either 4 or 6 pins. (My Dell Dimension 9100 has a six.) There's nothing worse than settling in to your computer for an editing session or attempting to connect to a DVD recorder for a copy and realize you have to go out to the store for the proper cable.

After charging the battery, it was time to turn on the power, load a tape and SD card and start shooting.

Image Courtesy of Canon America