Casio EXILIM PRO EX-P6006.0 megapixels, a Canon 4x zoom lens, and a host of features.<<Executive Overview :(Previous) | (Next): Viewfinder>> Page 3:DesignReview First Posted: 07/30/2004 |
Design
The
EX-P600 is quite compact, with an attractive silver body and low-profile controls.
Despite its small size, the EX-P600 packs a lot of features into its small body,
providing a six-megapixel CCD, 4x optical zoom lens, and a generous offering
of exposure controls and image adjustment tools. The EX-P600 measures 3.8 x
2.7 x 1.8 inches (97.5 x 67.5 x 45.1 millimeters), excluding any protrusions.
The mixture of plastic and thin metal body panels keeps
the EX-P600 very light at 9.2 ounces (260 grams) with the battery and memory
card loaded. The camera is just small enough to be quickly stashed into an average
shirt pocket, with a fairly thin body to prevent it from hanging up on pockets.
(While it will fit in a shirt pocket though, you'll likely be more comfortable
carrying it in a pants pocket or purse.) The shot above right shows the camera
posed with an SD memory card in front of it, so you can get an idea of its relative
size. The accompanying wrist strap is useful and secure, but I highly recommend
picking up a soft camera case to protect the EX-P600 when traveling.
The front of the EX-P600 features the lens, flash, phase-differential AF sensor (just below the flash), microphone, self-timer LED, and IR remote sensor. When fully extended, the lens barrel projects just under an inch from the outside lip of the lens barrel. When not in use, the lens is protected by a shutter-like, retractable cover that automatically slides in and out of place when the camera is turned on or off. A small finger grip on the front panel is balanced by a smaller thumb pad on the rear panel for a secure hold, and a rubbery texture on the front grip provides added friction for your fingers, but I'd still recommend using the wrist strap.
The right side of the camera has an eyelet for the wrist strap, as well as the connector compartment. Beneath the compartment's plastic door (tethered to the camera at the bottom of the compartment) are the DC In and USB / AV Out jacks. From this view, you can also see the textured edge of the Mode dial.
On the opposite side of the camera are the secondary IR remote sensor, speaker, and an external flash sync terminal.
The EX-P600's top panel has just a few controls on it, including the Shutter button (surrounded by the Zoom lever) and the Power button.
All of the remaining camera controls are on the rear panel, along with the optical viewfinder and two-inch LCD monitor. Less commonly used controls (Bracket, AE Lock, and the EX/Delete buttons) line the far left side of the LCD monitor, while the Macro and Flash/Calendar buttons are just above it. The large Mode dial dominates the top right corner, with a Four-Way Arrow pad below it. Surrounding the arrow pad are the Menu, Display, Self-Timer/Remote, and Preview buttons. The optical viewfinder has two LEDs adjacent to it, which blink or light steady to report camera status (such as when the flash is charging, focus is set, etc.)
The bottom of the camera holds the battery and memory card compartment, as well as a metal screw-mount tripod socket. The spring-loaded compartment door slides forward before opening out, and accommodates the lithium-ion battery and an SD/MMC memory card side-by-side. A small pressure latch keeps the battery in place, and pops it out when released.
The P-600 also comes with a very handy little infrared remote control. The remote can not only fire the shutter and zoom the lens, but can navigate the menu system as well. This would be very handy for studio or event-photography applications, in which you might want to mount the camera remotely and use a video display as the viewfinder. - You can control virtually all aspects of the camera's operation that involve the zoom lever, four-way controller, or Menu or Display buttons.
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