Olympus Stylus 600 / µ 600 6-Megapixel Digital Camera - Compact, Inexpensive and Cool
Written: Nov 03 '05 (Updated Nov 11 '05)
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Pros: Price, image quality, compact, sturdy, weather-proof, large LCD, easy to use, fast, features
Cons: Uses expensive xD cards, fixed aperture, blurry corners
The Bottom Line: I recommend Olympus Stylus 600 if you want a compact, cool yet capable all-weather camera with 6-megapixel resolution, large...
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| dkozin's Full Review: Olympus Stylus 600 / µ 600 Digital Camera |
After having good experience with the all-weather 8-Megapixel Olympus Stylus 800, I got the 6-Megapixel Olympus Stylus 600 for $235. While being similar to the Stylus 800, the Stylus 600 differs from it in many ways.
Pictures
The pictures of the Olympus Stylus 600 and the sample photos taken with it are available at the address below:
http://www.review-shop.com/Olympus_Stylus_600/Olympus_Stylus_600_Samples_1.html
You can copy and paste the above address into your browser's address area.
What is Olympus Stylus 600?
The Olympus Stylus 600 is a 6-Megapixel all-weather digital camera with a 3x optical zoom (35-105 mm equivalent with non-adjustable f/3.1 aperture at wide angle, f/5.2 at telephoto), a large 2.5-inch HyperCrystal LCD screen, powered by a proprietary rechargeable battery.
The all-weather design features rubber gaskets in the interior and allows you to use the camera in the rain or snow without having to worry about it breaking.
The camera features ISO range of ISO 64-1600, automatic or manual (ISO 800-1600 available in lower resolution SQ1 mode only at 2MP), automatic and manual white balance and exposure compensation. The camera stores pictures on xD-Picture memory cards or in built-in memory (7.9 MB) and features USB connection to PC and Mac computers. It has a built-in red eye removal feature called Red Eye Fix.
The camera features a shutter speed range of 1/2,000 - 4 sec (1/2-4 sec range is available in night mode).
The Stylus 600 has 26 shooting modes, including Portrait, Landscape, Museum, Sunset, Fireworks and other scene modes. It also features PictBridge technology for direct printing with compatible printers.
Getting Started
The camera comes with a proprietary Li-Ion battery and a charger that uses a detacheable AC cable. Upon the camera arrival, I charged the battery, inserted it into the camera and was ready to shoot using the built-in memory. The camera is sturdy and feels solid. It has a lens that is flush with the camera body when retracted and is covered with a large lens lid.
The top deck has a power on/off button and a shutter release button. The bottom of the camera has a tripod mount and the battery/memory card compartment lid. The lid has a rubber gasket inside to prevent elements from entering the camera. The side has a rigid lid with a weather-proof gasket that for the compartment that contains USB/A/V and DC power ports.
The Stylus 600 has no viewfinder, but relies solely on its large 2.5-inch LCD screen. The rear panel has a large 2.5-inch LCD screen, zoom control, a metal disk for menu control and other functions with a OK/MENU button in the middle as well as other buttons.
Usage
The Stylus 600 is compact, well-built and sturdy. The major controls are within easy reach. The menu system is simple to use and I could use the camera and all of its features without reading the manual. The dedicated Scene button switches between available scene modes and shows you descriptions of the selected scene mode.
The pre-programmed scene modes (the camera has them for all kinds of situations like Portrait, Landscape, Night Portrait, Party, etc.) are easily selected, have descriptive names and the camera even shows you pictures of what they are designated for. For example, the Fireworks scene mode has a picture (not an icon) of Fireworks.
The camera has a typical Olympus menus system. It is colorful and easy to use. The camera does not have a mode selection wheel, but relies on a couple of buttons: scene/shoot and review. The review button switches the camera to review mode. The scene/shoot mode switches it from review mode to shooting mode or lets you select a pre-programmed scene mode if you are in the shooting mode.
This arrangement takes some getting used to, but it works well and should be more durable than using a mechanical wheel.
The camera has a retractable lens that extends and has a lens cover that opens when the camera is powered on. When the camera is powered off, the lens retracts and the lens cover closes. Both the power on and off happen rather quickly (about 2 seconds) and do not produce much noise.
The Stylus 600 is very easy to use. You basically select either the full automatic mode or choose one of the scene modes and then point and shoot. Unlike the Stylus 800, the Stylus 600 has no manual modes, which is no surprise since it uses a fixed aperture. You will not even see the aperture or shutter speed value on the screen.
The camera also has an exposure compensation feature that lets you make the picture brighter or darker, depending on how you would like it to look. Obviously, this will only adjust the shutter speed and not the aperture.
The camera has two focusing modes - the one that automatically decides where to focus based on the scene mode selected (iESP auto) and another one, where the focusing is in the center (Spot AF) and you have to first point the center onto the object you want the camera to focus on, press the shutter release button halfway and then, after the camera focuses, re-point the camera (recompose the shot) and press the button all the way. In automatic mode, the camera can be used by anyone who can point and shoot. The preprogrammed scene modes give you more control.
The process of taking pictures with the Stylus 600 is easy and simple. You do not have to do anything other than point and shoot - the camera takes care of the rest. You press the shutter release button halfway to make camera focus and the camera shows you (on the LCD screen) that it focused. Then you take the picture by pressing the shutter release button all the way.
In addition, you can select Macro mode at a push of a button. The camera has a GUIDE button that describes how you can do things like blurring the background or brightening the subject.
Build Quality and Ergonomics
The camera feels solid and well-built. The controls have solid feel and the fit and finish are very good. The camera has buttons that are reasonably well located, but the menu control buttons could be larger and have better tactile response.
LCD and Viewfinder
The camera has no viewfinder but has a large 2.5-inch LCD monitor that "gains-up" in the darker environments and has adjustable brightness. It works well overall, even in darkness or bright light. You can adjust its brightness to your liking. The camera can display a live histogram, which is helpful when you do not trust the LCD.
Performance
The camera takes only about 2 second to power up and extend its lens. This is pretty fast. The shutdown takes about the same time. This is good because with some cameras you have to wait several seconds for the camera to extend its lens.
The camera can take pictures at intervals of about 1-1.5 seconds in single-frame mode without the flash or about 5 seconds with the flash. The burst mode lets you take about 1-1.5 frames per second. The zooming is reasonable fast. You can fully zoom in or out in about 2 seconds. The 3x optical zoom works well, letting you frame the shot with good precision.
The camera focuses fast at under a second. The shutter lag when pre-focused, is very short, virtually non-existent.
Flash
The camera has a built-in flash with red-eye reduction function. The flash has good power and color.
Battery
I have not conducted the battery life measurement, but I did take more than 50 photos with occasional flash use and the low battery warning has not appeared yet.
Computer Connectivity
The camera uses USB 2.0 Full Speed (slower version) connection to transfer pictures to a computer. If you use the removable xD-Picture memory card , you can use a memory card reader (if you have one). I was limited to the use of the camera’s USB port because I used its built-in non-removable memory.
Image Quality
The Stylus 600 has a good automatic white balance system overall and you have presets for different lighting conditions (incandescent, sunny, cloudy, etc.) The camera produces pretty good photos.
But I noticed a couple of issues with them. First of all, the corners of teh frame are rather soft, comparing to the center. And since the camera uses a fised aperture, you really have to watch where you focus, otherwise some important elements of the picture may be out of focus/blurry.
The camera has image noise that is typical for a compact camera. Lower ISO settings feature lower noise with noise at ISO 400 and above making it suitable for small prints only (up to 4x6"). The lower-ISO photos are good up to 13x19 inches (wall-mountable).
The camera has ISO 800 and 1600 settings that are available in 2MP-resolution photos only and feature severe loss of detail when viewed pixel-per-pixel. But they are usable for 6x4 prints or email/web when downsized further in image editing software (with re-sampling such as bicubic or "bicubic sharper).
Pros
Price, image quality, rechargeable battery and charger included, compact, sturdy, weather-proof, large LCD, easy to use, fast operation, features.
Cons
Uses expensive xD cards, fixed aperture.
Bottom Line
I recommend Olympus Stylus 600 if you want a compact, cool yet capable all-weather camera with 6-megapixel resolution, large LCD screen, sharp optics, fast operation that is easy to use. But if you need manual control over the aperture or shutter speed, you might have to look elsewhere.
My Reviews of Other Digital Cameras
Canon:
Canon Powershot S2 IS Digital Camera Review
Canon Powershot S1 IS Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot A620 7.1-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot A610 5-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot A520 4-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot A510 3.2-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot A410 3.2-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot A95 5-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot S70 7.1-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot S60 5-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot S500 5-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot S410 / Digital IXUS 430 Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot SD200 3.2-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot SD300 4-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot SD30 5-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot SD400 5-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot SD450 5-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot SD500 7.1-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot SD550 7.1-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Panasonic:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 5-Megapixel Digital Camera with 12x Optical Stabilized Zoom Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 5-Megapixel Digital Camera with 12x Optical Stabilized Zoom Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ1 4-Megapixel Digital Camera with 6x Optical Stabilized Zoom Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2 5-Megapixel Digital Camera with 6x Optical Stabilized Zoom Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ4 4-Megapixel Digital Camera with 12x Optical Stabilized Zoom Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ15 4-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ3 Digital Camera Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ2 Digital Camera with 12x Leica Lens and Optical Image Stabilizer Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1 Digital Camera with Optical Image Stabilizer and 12x Leica Lens Review
Olympus:
Olympus Camedia C-765 4.0-Megapixel Digital Camera with USB and ED Lens Review
Olympus Camedia D-580 / C-460 4.0-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Olympus D-565 Zoom Digital 4-Megapixel Camera Review
Olympus D-575 Zoom Digital Camera Review
Olympus D-595 Zoom Digital Camera Review
Olympus Stylus 410 4-Megapixel All-Weather Digital Camera Review
Olympus Stylus 500 Digital Camera Review
Olympus Stylus 600 Digital Camera Review
Olympus Stylus 800 Digital Camera Review
Sony:
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H1 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-M1 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P200 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S40 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S60 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T1 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T33 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T5 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T7 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W5 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W7 Digital Camera Review
Fuji:
Fuji FinePix A345 Digital Camera Review
Fuji FinePix A350 Digital Camera Review
Fuji FinePix E500 Digital Camera Review
Fuji FinePix E510 Digital Camera Review
Fuji FinePix E550 Digital Camera Review
Fuji FinePix E900 Digital Camera Review
Fuji FinePix F10 Digital Camera Review
Fuji FinePix F450 Digital Camera Review
Fuji FinePix S5200 Digital Camera Review
Kodak:
Kodak EasyShare C340 Digital Camera Review
Kodak EasyShare CX7430 Digital Camera Review
Kodak EasyShare V550 Digital Camera Review
Kodak EasyShare Z700 Digital Camera Review
Kodak EasyShare Z740 Digital Camera Review
Kodak EasyShare Z7590 Digital Camera Review
Konica Minolta:
Minolta DiMAGE Z2 Digital Camera Review
Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5 Digital Camera Review
Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6 Digital Camera Review
Nikon:
Nikon D50 Digital SLR Camera Review
Pentax:
Pentax *istD Digital SLR Camera Review
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 235
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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Epinions.com ID:
dkozin
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Location: California
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About Me:
I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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