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(Review first posted 11 May, 1999) |
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1.5 Million pixel sensor |
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1280 x 1024 resolution | |
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3X optical zoom | |
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Autofocus lens w/macro | |
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Built-in flash | |
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Flexible "manual" exposure mode |
Preface
Fuji is a longtime player in the digicam marketplace, having produced
some excellent units over time, and finding some unique market
niches. (For instance, their VGA-resolution DS-220 had a superb
macro attachment with built-in flash that made it a runaway favorite
for oral surgeons documenting patient treatments.) Recently, they've
been making significant inroads with their higher-end consumer
digicams, with the petite (may we say "sexy"?) MX-700,
and the 1.5 megapixel MX-500, one of the true bargains in the
megapixel-plus market.
Now, they've updated the successful MX-500 design, starting with
essentially the same sensor and camera electronics, adding a 3x
optical zoom lens, and calling the new model the MX-600Z. (The
"Z" presumably standing for "zoom".) The result
is a camera that combines the excellent manual exposure adjustment
capability of the MX-500 with the highly-desirable optical zoom.
The new unit is also aggressively priced, doubtless causing some
consternation among their competitors, and helping to maintain
the downward price pressure we users appreciate.
High Points Overview
Design
The MX-600Z has an attractive, compact, metallized plastic case,
with a retracting lens that makes the package more compact in
the "off" state. At 4.8 x 3.35 x 2.38 inches (122 x
85 x 60 mm), and 12 ounces (340 gm) without the battery pack,
it is slightly larger than average for competing camera models.
Its somewhat thicker body precludes it being called a "shirt
pocket" camera, as it doesn't quite fit into a standard men's-size
shirt pocket. We applaud the metal wrist-strap bracket though,
which leaves us feeling a bit more secure about carrying the camera
that way. It also has a sturdy metal tripod socket, a distinct
rarity among even high-end digicams these days.
As with basically every digital camera we've tested, the MX-600Z
is "right-handed," with most of the controls set up
for use by the thumb and fingers of the right hand. Overall, we
found its design, ergonomics, and user interface to be excellent:
The camera controls and menus are easy to navigate in normal shooting,
and even the complexity of "manual" mode is quite easy
to maneuver through.
Viewfinder
As with most current digital cameras, Fuji provides both optical
and LCD viewfinders. The optical viewfinder on the MX-500 is clear
and bright, but crops the image relative to the CCD's field of
view slightly more than we'd like, showing only about 85% of the
area actually captured by the camera at the wide-angle end of
the lens' range, and 83% of the final area at the telephoto end.
(An 85% field of view is typical of the optical viewfinders on
most digicams we've tested.) The LCD viewfinder is much better,
but still not perfect, revealing about 94% of the final image
area. (Surprisingly, it's common for LCD viewfinders to crop the
image as well, even though you'd expect they could easily show
the full output of the CCD.) The area shown by the LCD viewfinder
is consistently well-centered in the actual field of view of the
sensor, as is the optical viewfinder at the wide-angle end of
the lens' range. At the telephoto end of the zoom though, the
optical viewfinder is biased toward the lower right corner of
the CCD's view, producing images slightly off-center up and to
the left. For some reason, our telephoto viewfinder-accuracy shot
was rotated about 1.5 degrees clockwise, while the wide-angle
view was perfectly square: We suspect this is due to error on
our part, and will repeat the test as soon as possible.
Other than our complaint about excessive image
cropping in the optical finder, both optical and LCD viewfinders
worked well. The optical finder is bright and easy to use even
for eyeglass wearers (a point we're always sensitive too, belonging
to that category ourselves), and dioptric correction is provided
spanning a surprisingly broad range from near- to far-sightedness.
The LCD finder is quite bright and sharp, with a very high refresh
rate that makes tracking even fast-moving objects quite easy.
Unfortunately, it has the same tendency to wash out badly in direct
sunlight that we've observed in all but a very few LCD screens.
Besides the "live" image itself, the LCD shows a number
of useful information displays when used as a viewfinder, including
data & time, current image quality setting, digital zoom mode,
and a "shake" warning when the camera has selected a
slow shutter speed, and the flash is disabled. In "manual"
mode, the current status of essentially all of the adjustable
settings are shown on the LCD, including exposure compensation,
white balance setting, flash exposure adjustment, and whether
"synchro" mode is enabled or not (more on this last
option later). We found the on-screen information and menu overlays
a particularly effective user-interface design, but also appreciated
that we could turn them off when we wanted an unobstructed view
of our subject in the LCD.
Optics
The MX-600Z sports an all-glass 3x zoom autofocus lens, with a
focal length range equivalent to that of a 35-105mm zoom lens
on a 35mm camera. (This translates to a range from moderate wide-angle
to moderate telephoto.) A 2x "digital zoom" is also
available, that crops down to the central 640x480 portion of the
sensor array. The maximum lens aperture of f/3.8-f/7.6 (wide-angle
to telephoto) is a bit "slower" than most current digital
cameras, particularly at the telephoto end of the lens' range.
In 
operation, the lens aperture switches
automatically between the f/3.8-f/7.6 maximum opening and an f/5.5-f/11
aperture. The user can override this automatic switching via a
menu option however, forcing the camera to use either the larger
or smaller aperture. (The option choices read "max depth/max
aperture".)
The autofocus distance for the lens ranges from 35 inches (0.9
m) to infinity in normal mode, and from 9.75 inches (25cm) to
35 inches in macro mode. The 105mm-equivalent telephoto performance
of the lens combined with this close-focusing to produce a very
good macro performance. In our tests, the minimum area covered
by the MX-600Z in macro mode was 2.9 x 3.6 inches (74 x 92 mm).
The one significant limitation we found in the MX-600Z's optical
design was the lack of filter threads for mounting external auxiliary
lenses. This is unfortunate, as the camera's other excellent capabilities
make it of interest to more-sophisticated users, who frequently
would want to further enhance its functionality through auxiliary
lenses. (In practice though, virtually all digital cameras with
telescoping lenses have foregone filter threads, to avoid problems
with damage to the lens mechanisms, resulting from overly enthusiastic
attachment or removal of balky filters.) Some digicams with telescoping
lenses forego lens covers, leaving the lenses exposed and prone
to scratching and fingerprints. We were therefore pleased to see
a cover included with the MX-600Z.
Exposure
The MX-600Z's sensor is rated by Fuji at an official ISO equivalent
of 100, very typical for the current crop of digital cameras.
The combination of its slightly "slower" lens though,
and a maximum exposure time of 1/4 second translates to fairly
modest low-light performance: Taking the official ISO rating,
maximum aperture, and maximum exposure time produces a minimum
effective light level of about EV 10.5. This agrees fairly well
with our own testing, in which we were able to obtain usable images
down to EV 9 or 10, but found the best results at EV 10 and above.
Not to despair though, as this light level roughly corresponds
to well-lit residential interiors: Don't expect to use this camera
for true night shooting, but it should work reasonably well with
available light in typical home and office environments.
The MX-600Z uses a surprisingly sophisticated 64-segment matrix
metering algorithm that produced very good exposures under a range
of conditions. (Even our tough "outdoor portrait" shot
only needed about +0.6EV of exposure compensation, less than most
cameras we've tested.) We feel the camera fits the description
of "point and shoot" very well indeed in this respect.
The MX-600Z provides an unusual degree of control over the exposure
system in several ways. One such is via an LCD menu option that
lets you specify a preference for either greater depth of field
or higher shutter speed. While not quite an aperture- or shutter-priority
exposure system, this option lets you bias the exposure program
in favor of larger or smaller lens apertures, a simple yet useful
extension of the camera's automatic exposure system.
Most digital cameras these days allow the user to adjust the camera's
automatically-determined exposure somewhat, to handle subjects
with difficult lighting. (Backlit subjects, for instance, require
more exposure than the meter will indicate, since the meter's
exposure calculation is based in part on the brighter background
area.) The MX-600Z goes most of the competition a step or two
better in this area though, by providing not only a wide range
of +1.5 to -0.9EV in 0.3 EV steps for ambient lighting, but a
range of +/- 0.6EV in 0.3 EV steps for flash exposure as well!
The ability to adjust flash exposure is very rare in our experience,
and is a feature we'd like to see more digicam manufacturers incorporate
in their products. (We've found that reducing the flash exposure
somewhat in indoor shots produces more-natural lighting overall.)
Another common exposure-control feature incorporated into the
MX-600 is an exposure/focus lock function, when the shutter button
is half-pressed. This can be useful for situations where a subject
is off-center, or as a means to achieve more-accurate exposure
by excluding strong light sources near the subject from the exposure
determination. (With patience and a tripod, this can also be used
as a way to balance the exposure for multiple shots used as part
of a panorama.)
We particularly liked the MX-600Z's automatic image "preview"
in manual mode: After each picture is captured, it is displayed
on the LCD screen, giving you the option to either save it to
the memory card, or discard it. The image remains more or less
indefinitely, but if you take no action, it will be lost when
the camera shuts down automatically to save power. (We'd prefer
it if the camera defaulted to saving the image after some reasonable
time, perhaps 15 seconds or so.)
Flash
We found the on-board flash of the MX-600Z to work very well,
offering 5 different exposure modes. Its effective range is from
1.3 to 6.5 feet (0.4 to 2.0 meters) at the telephoto end of the
lens' range, and 1.3 to 9.75 feet (0.4 to 3.0) meters at the wide-angle
end. Available modes are on, off, auto, auto red-eye reduction,
slow sync, and "ext sync." In our tests, we were surprised
to find how well the built-in flash's illumination blended with
the tungsten room lighting in our indoor portrait shot: Many cameras
produce unnatural bluish highlights under these conditions, but
the MX-600 showed no sign of this. We at first were disappointed
in that it appeared that the MX-600Z disabled the onboard flash
when in macro mode. (This is a somewhat problematic use of flash
anyway, since the lighting tends to be so uneven when you get
the onboard flash that close to the subject.) We were pleased
then, when we discovered that this only occurs when the flash
is set to "Auto" mode: Other modes do indeed fire the
flash, which does a reasonable job of throttling-back its output
to produce reasonable exposures at macro distances. (For even
better results, we found that a slip of white bond paper taped
over the flash tube's window provided both a reduction in light
output, and a diffusion of the light, producing a much more natural
final result.)
The "external sync" feature deserves special comment:
Consistent with the greater degree of exposure flexibility the
MX-600Z offers in other areas, it also includes a thoughtful provision
for using it with external, slave-triggered flash units. In "ext
sync" mode, the on-board flash fires a single, fairly weak
pulse. This is enough to trigger a slave strobe unit at reasonable
range, but not enough to contribute significantly to the exposure.
In this mode, the shutter speed is fixed at 1/125, and the lens
aperture at its smallest opening (f/7.6-f/11). The white balance
is also adjusted to the 5700K value typical of most professional
flash units. While far from the level of control provided by a
professional 35mm camera, this minor extension of the MX-600Z's
capabilities translates into a significant increase in usability,
and pushes the camera's functionality into the "serious amateur"
category.
White Balance
The MX-600Z provides six different white-balance settings, including
auto, sunny, cloudy, warm fluorescent, cool fluorescent, and incandescent.
The white-balance settings are available in the "Manual"
record mode, accessible via the 4-way rocker control on the camera's
back panel. We found the MX-600's automatic white balance to work
quite well within a reasonable range of illumination, but it had
a hard time with the very strong yellowish cast of the lighting
for our "indoor portrait" shot. We suspect at least
part of this difficulty was a result of the somewhat lower light
sensitivity of the camera/lens combination overall: There just
didn't seem to be enough signal in the camera's blue channel to
compensate for the strong yellow cast of the lighting. In common
with many other digicams, we found that the "tungsten"
manual white balance setting actually produced more highly-colored
images than did the "auto" option. This is doubtless
a result of to the "tungsten" setting being balanced
for professional tungsten studio lights, which have a much higher
color temperature than the household bulbs used to illuminate
our test scene.
Shutter lag and cycle times
When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually
a lag time before the shutter actually fires. This time is to
allow the autofocus and autoexposure mechanisms time to do their
work, and can amount to a fairly long delay in some situations.
Since this number is almost never reported on, and can significantly
affect the picture-taking experience, we now routinely measure
it, using a little Windows utility developed by Digital Eyes.
We found the MX-600Z shutter delay to be slightly longer than
most cameras we've tested, requiring about 1.3 seconds for a full
autofocus cycle before the shutter tripped. Prefocusing by half-pressing
the shutter release in advance of the exposure itself reduced
the lag time to about 0.2 seconds, fairly typical of the current
range of cameras shooting under that condition. Shot-to-shot cycle
times range from 10 seconds in large/fine mode, to 4 seconds in
640x480 mode with "Basic" image quality selected, neither
the slowest nor the fastest camera we've tested to date. (Note
that the camera cycles anywhere from 1-3 seconds faster between
shots if you turn off the LCD display, eliminating the "review"
display just after a shot has been captured.)
Camera startup is fairly fast, at just over 5 seconds, and shutdown
occurs in about 3.5 seconds. Switching from record to playback
mode (with a large/fine resolution image to be displayed) also
requires about 5 seconds, while the change back to record mode
is almost instantaneous. (You can take a new picture as soon as
you rotate the function dial back to either the manual or auto
record position.)
Operation and User Interface
As we noted earlier, we found the user interface of the MX-600Z
very easy to navigate, despite the range of functions and picture-taking
controls it offers. Major operating modes are selected via the
large function wheel in the upper right-hand corner of the camera's
back, as shown at right. (We generally like function-wheel user
interfaces, feeling that they make for easier, faster operation,
with less-crowded onscreen menus.) Within each major mode, functions
are selected from an LCD menu system, using the three controls
just above and to the left of the rear-panel LCD screen. The function
of these controls varies slightly, depending on whether you're
in "Auto or "Manual" record modes.
The three menu-related controls of the MX-600Z are shown at left.
The "Set" button brings up a set of four menus, governing
flash operation, image compression, file size, and macro operation.
Once the menu system is active, you can move between menus by
pressing the right or left arrows on the 4-way rocker control
(the round object with the cryptic "tele" and "wide"
icons on it in the photo). Once a menu is selected, the up and
down arrows on the rocker can be used to choose the menu option
you want. After you've configured all your menu choices, pressing
either the "Set" or "Menu/Exe" buttons saves
the settings. In normal operation (when the menu system isn't
enabled), the up and down arrows on the rocker control actuate
the zoom lens. Holding down the up-arrow control in record mode
for roughly 3 seconds after the lens has reached its maximum telephoto
setting triggers the 2x digital telephoto feature.
In "Manual" record mode, the LCD is always active, with
a 5-menu system constantly present. This manual-mode menu system
controls white balance settings, exposure compensation for both
ambient and flash illumination, exposure mode (full program mode,
or large/small aperture preference), and the external flash sync
function. In manual mode, you can immediately select any of the
5 menus by pressing the left or right arrows on the 4-way rocker
control, and the using the up/down arrows to choose the desired
option. You save your choices by pressing the "Menu/Exe"
button, upon which the up/down arrows on the 4-way control return
to their normal function of controlling the zoom lens. In manual
mode, you can still access the 4-menu auto-mode control system
discussed above, by pressing the "Set" button. After
you make selections from this menu, pressing "Set" again
returns you to the manual-mode menu system.
As noted, we found the combination of function wheel and LCD menu
system very easy to navigate: We generally like "function
wheels", because they separate major camera operating modes,
and help prevent an "overloading" of functions on the
various control buttons. In our opinion, this usually produces
an operating interface that is easier for novices to learn quickly,
and which is quick to navigate in actual use.
Control Enumeration
With the preceding as an overview, we'll now delve into our standard
enumeration of camera functions, stepping through the major operating
modes one at a time.
Setup
Setup mode produces the LCD menu shown at right. Options available
here are as follows:
Self-Timer
The self-timer option has its own position on the function dial,
which unfortunately means you can't use it with any of the special
options from the manual-record mode. In self-timer mode though,
all of the normal automatic-mode menu options are available, including
flash mode settings, image compression, file size, and the macro
option. While we'd really prefer a self-timer that permitted use
of the camera's advanced exposure features, we appreciate being
able to use it in conjunction with the macro function.(We frequently
find ourselves using self-timers in macro mode, to avoid camera
shake on the rickety copy stand we use for our macro shots.)
Manual Record Mode
Five menus are available here, directly from the LCD viewfinder
display:
In addition to the preceding "manual mode" menu options,
all the standard "auto" mode options described below
are also available in manual record mode.
Auto Record Mode
In Auto record mode, the LCD display screen doesn't illuminate
unless you press the "Disp" button just to the right
of it, or the "Set" button above it. The "Set"
button brings up the menu system, while the "Disp" button
controls the LCD's use as a viewfinder, and display of the information
overlay. Once you've made your menu selections, pressing either
the "Set" or "Menu/Exe" button will save them.
The menu called up by the "Set" button contains four
sub-menus, as described below:
Playback Mode
The MX-600Z provides several unusual in-camera effects in playback
mode, that may be applied to pictures without resorting to the
use of a host computer. Applying a special effect to an image
leaves the original untouched, producing a new image in the camera's
memory.
Multi-frame playback.
This one eluded us until we broke down and
read the manual: You can quickly review images stored on the camera's
memory card, viewing groups of 9 tiny "thumbnails" at
a time. To access this review mode, press the "Disp"
button twice in rapid succession. You can scroll through the images
displayed by using the 4-way rocker control to move a cursor highlight
from image to image. Once you've selected the image you want,
you can display it full-screen by pressing the "Disp"
button once again.
Playback
zoom viewing
We often find ourselves wishing for more resolution and detail
in the cameras' LCD screens during playback, to see if we caught
fine details properly in the sho
ts we've
just taken, or if the framing is correct. Fuji addresses this
need in the MX-600Z, by providing a "zoom" function
when in the playback mode. To use this option, simply press the
up-arrow on the 4-way rocker control when in playback mode. You
can select display enlargement levels from 1.0 to 4.0x, in 0.2x
increments. Even better, once you're zoomed to a given level,
holding down the "Set" button turns the 4-way rocker
into a scrolling control, moving the zoomed window around the
picture as a whole. Overall, this is probably the best implementation
of playback zoom we've seen to date.
Erase Mode
Image deletion is handled in the MX-600Z through a separate setting
of the function wheel. Three functions are provided, to erase
either one frame at a time, all frames in the camera, or to reformat
the memory card. In single-frame erase mode, you can either step
through full-size images, or switch to the 9-up "thumbnail"
display mentioned earlier, by pressing the "Disp" button
twice in rapid succession.
Protect Mode
As you take pictures with a larger memory card, you'll sometimes
want to snap a number of exposures quickly, then "weed out"
the ones you don't want to keep. One way of doing this is to use
the "protect" mode to lock the images you want to keep,
then go back to the Erase mode screen and use the "erase
all" option to delete all the unprotected pictures in one
fell swoop. Regardless of how you use it, the MX-600Z's ability
to protect selected images against accidental erasure is a useful
option.
Computer Connect Mode
The MX-600Z has a built-in serial interface port that can be used
to connect it to a host computer for image downloading. As noted
below, this works well, but is quite slow at transferring files.
(We strongly recommend the optional FlashPath floppy-disk adapter.)
Image Storage and Interface
The MX-600Z stores its images on
the tiny SmartMedia removable memory cards. It ships with a 4MB
card, and supports cards as large as 32MB, the largest currently
manufactured. (SmartMedia cards are slated to grow as large as
128MB over the next year, and we don't know whether existing cameras
will be compatible with those larger sizes or not. Regardless,
32MB is a LOT of image storage, corresponding to probably 40-50
pictures at the MX-600Z's maximum image size and quality setting.
(The furnished 4MB card stores anywhere from 5 to 80 images, depending
on the image size and quality setting.)
We timed image transfers from the MX-600Z to our standard PentiumII
(350 MHz) Windows workstation. We measured the transfer time at
143 seconds to move a 690K high-resolution file from the camera
to the PC. This translates to a transfer rate of about 4.8 KBytes
per second, a bit slow even for a serial-port transfer. By comparison,
the FlashPath (see the following paragraph) copied the same file
in only 25 seconds.
Although not included with the MX-600Z, a useful accessory is
the "FlashPath" floppy-disk adapter. This device accepts
a SmartMedia card in a slot in its side, and then plugs into a
standard floppy drive on your computer. With appropriate driver
software installed on the host computer, the SmartMedia card can
then be read like a floppy of 4, 8, 16, or even 32 MB capacity,
and files simply copied off of it. The FlashPath adapter provides
file transfers that are typically about 5 times faster than those
made with serial connections. Overall, we highly recommend the
FlashPath for owners of SmartMedia-based cameras, feeling that
the ~$80 "street" price is well worth it, when it comes
to the increased enjoyment and usage you'll get from your camera.
(We found our own digital camera usage at least doubled after
getting a FlashPath adapter!)
Video Out
Although not included with the MX-600Z, a useful accessory is
the "FlashPath" floppy-disk adapter. This device accepts
a SmartMedia card in a slot in its side, and then plugs into a
standard floppy drive on your computer. With appropriate driver
software installed on the host computer, the SmartMedia card can
then be read like a floppy of 4, 8, 16, or even 32 MB capacity,
and files simply copied off of it. The FlashPath adapter provides
file transfers that are typically about 5 times faster than those
made with serial connections. Overall, we highly recommend the
FlashPath for owners of SmartMedia-based cameras, feeling that
the ~$80 "street" price is well worth it, when it comes
to the increased enjoyment and usage you'll get from your camera.
(We found our own digital camera usage at least doubled after
getting a FlashPath adapter!)
Power
The MX-600Z is a bit different than most inexpensive digital cameras,
in that it uses a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery, rather than
the much more common AA cells. The advantages of the LiIon battery
pack are that it's very compact for the amount of power it delivers
(1350 mAh), has no "memory effect" as is suffered by
NiCd batteries, and no self-discharge tendency, as do NiMH cells.
The only drawback we see is that you can't get replacement batteries
in a pinch at the corner drugstore. Besides the battery pack,
the MX-600Z includes an AC adapter, which will both power the
camera and recharge the battery pack. Fuji gives an official charge
time for a fully-discharged battery as 7 hours. An optional external
battery charger is available that cuts this time to 2.5 hours.
(NOTE: Because the AC adapter for the MX-600Z also functions as
an in-camera battery charger, we STRONGLY advise against using
any power source other than the official AC adapter. Adapters
not designed to charge the particular LiIon batteries used by
the MX-600Z could cause severe damage and even a fire hazard!)
Included Software
The MX-600 Zoom ships with a basic software package, allowing
image acquisition and manipulation, on both Windows and Macintosh
platforms. Software on both platforms includes an application
called "Picture Shuttle" that handles communications
with the camera, for downloading images. Picture Shuttle maintains
a "desktop" metaphor, showing the camera and any "albums"
it knows about as icons in a desktop-looking window, as seen in
the screen shot below. (We say "desktop-looking" because
it actually is a separate window, and not part of your compture's
normal desktop.) PHOTO
When the camera is "opened" in Picture Shuttle, you
see an index display of the pictures it contains, as shown below.
(You can choose to see thumbnails of the pictures as shown, or
turn the thumbnails off to speed up the initial display of the
camera's contents.) PHOTO
When a picture is selected and downloaded, PictureShuttle automatically
opens the "EZtouch" application, which provides for
rudimentary image manipulation. The EZtouch screen is shown below.
Besides the PictureShuttle application, two TWAIN drivers are
provided, which allow image acquisition directly into applications
supporting the TWAIN interface (which include most applications
on the Windows platform, and a few on the Mac). The normal TWAIN
driver functions much like Picture Shuttle, allowing downloading
of already-captured images. In addition to this, the SNAP TWAIN
driver allows you to "snap" (capture) pictures with
the camera while it is tethered to the computer. In our own testing,
our Windows machine had reached a rather delicate state of too-many-drivers,
and so we weren't able to successfully test the TWAIN software.
(For those lucky enough to be unfamiliar with Windows, it periodically
is necessary to completely "wipe" the hard drive and
re-install Windows, if you're in the habit of installing and removing
software applications on a regular basis. - We really needed to
do this on our main Windows box, but couldn't afford the time
out of our schedule to do so in time for this review.) We did
however, find Picture Shuttle to be a very functional downloading
application, although it was rather slow, as reported earlier.
(We strongly recommend the optional FlashPath adapter for any
serious users of the MX-600: The difference in speed relative
to the serial port is dramatic, and ultimately makes the camera
much more usable.)
The final software package included with the MX-600 is Adobe's
ever-popular PhotoDeluxe. This program provides a broad range
of image-manipulation and "project"-oriented capabilities,
and has versions for both the Mac and Windows platforms.
Test Results
In keeping with our standard policy, our comments here are rather
condensed, summarizing our key findings: For a full commentary
on each of the test images, see the MX-600Z's "pictures"
page.
As with all Imaging Resource camera tests, we encourage you to
let your own eyes be the judge of how well the devices performed:
Explore the images on the Pictures Page
for the MX-600Z, to see how well the camera performed,
and how its images compare to those from other cameras you may
be considering buying.
Overall, we felt the MX-600Z took very good pictures. Its exposures
were consistently quite accurate, doubtless thanks to the 64-segment
matrix metering it employs. Color and tonal rendition were quite
good, producing good saturation on strong primaries, yet doing
a good job with delicate pastels and skin tones as well. In most
cases, with "daylight" lighting, we obtained the best
results using the "Sunny" white balance setting, the
auto white balance tending to produce a slight magenta tone.
Resolution was very good, with a visual resolution of 600-650
line pairs/picture height, in both vertical and horizontal directions.
This puts it right at the top of the current crop of 1.3 and 1.5-megapixel
digicams.
Macro performance is good, although not quite in the "microscopic"
realm. Nonetheless, with a minimum coverage area of 2.9 x 3.6
inches (74 x 92 mm), it should more than meet the needs of most
users.
See for Yourself!
Take a look at the test images from the
MX-600Z (with extensive comments), or jump to the Comparometer(tm)
page to compare its reference images with those from other digital
cameras.
Conclusion/Bottom Line
The MX-600Z is a very strong offering, following in the footsteps
of the highly popular MX-500. That earlier camera set a benchmark
for cost-effective performance that few competing units could
match. With the addition of a 3X optical zoom lens, and the retention
of all the exposure-control options of the previous unit, the
MX-600Z is a great picture-taking machine at a very competitive
price: Combining "point and shoot" ease of use, and
great pictures, yet providing the photographer with a greater
degree of exposure control than most competing products, it looks
like Fuji has another winner!
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