Casio Exilim EX-S600

April 10th, 2006 | by Vince Veneziani

Performance

So how does the camera actually work? Pictures look absolutely great, even at lower resolutions such as 1600x1200. The camera can auto-detect lighting conditions very well and only uses the flash when necessary.  Because of this, those low-light, ambient shots you're taking will come out just great. Plus, with the camera's handsome LCD display you'll know exactly what you're shooting. With a decent-sized memory card, you can up the ante a little and shoot up to 2816x2112 resolution pictures that end up having stunning image quality. It's overkill, though, when all you really need is the 2 megapixel setting to get great looking photos for 4x6 or 8x10 prints.

If you're shooting at a concert, you'll be pretty pleased with the results. The EX-S600 has 3x optical zoom with 4x digital zoom which can bring you up to 12x zooming capabilities when needed. Capturing photos of your favorite band in concert will be easy, no matter how far away from them you are. The lighting conditions are all automatically taken care of, but photographers with serious desires can dive deep into the extensive interface to get just the right settings.

Speaking of the interface, the layout is a bit lengthy, but not too much. Most digital cameras have the same layout as Casio, but it's usually hard to navigate through the endless options available; however, because Casio provides a 4-way directional pad, you'll easily be able to get to the options you need to make your desired changes. The EX-S600 also makes great use of its “Best Shot” function. When taking a picture of a person, selecting portrait mode brings up 9 squares on the display, emulating the “Rule of Thirds” that photographers use when taking detailed shots.

One very cool and welcome feature that comes with this offering from Casio is the ability to restore older pictures. Using the “Best Shot” function, you can take a picture of an older photo and have Casio automatically restore it to the best of its ability. It may sound a little weird, but seems to work pretty decently.  However, although this is neat feature, chances are you probably won't be using it too much.

Compared to other cameras in its class, the EX-S600 stands out above most, but only by a smidgen. The price is about right for a 6.0 megapixel camera of this caliber, but a Sony CyberShot or Canon Powershot in the same range will do just fine, especially if you can get a better deal on the price. The anti-shake feature and extended battery life make the Casio worth every penny though. Plus, being able to choose from 4 colors can be nice for some who might be giving this camera as a gift to someone. Personalization always counts.  Below are some sample images:

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