Digital Trends

Canon Optura 600

October 24th, 2005 | by David Elrich

Performance

The camcorder starts up very quickly (around three seconds) and you're ready to go. Once you adjust the wrist strap your index finger naturally falls on the wide/tele switch and your thumb rests on the back near the main function controls and record button. When you flip open the LCD screen, your thumb has a fairly handy place to rest but it's not going to win awards in the Ergonomics Hall of Fame. The camcorder is 4 inches deep so I felt some definite hand strain. As mentioned earlier, you must do a hands-on test with this or any other camcorder or camera since my strain may be nothing to you. Official dimensions are 2 x 4 x 4 (WHD, in inches).  

I used the camcorder inside and out, taking short videos interspersed with highest resolution stills (2304 x 1736 pixels) with the least amount of compression. A lot of the recording was done in Auto, since that's how most people use their camcorders.

The supplied battery is rated 850 mAh and is good for around 110 minutes with the LCD on, doing a lot of zooming and taking flash shots. This is an excellent number, far better than DVD-based competitors. It lasted close to that spec but if you're traveling a good idea would be a second battery (BP-315 rated 1520 mAh for around $80).

Videos were played back directly to front A/V inputs of a Toshiba 4:3 digital TV as well as a PC via Firewire. In both instances, quality was very good without the pixelization seen with many DVD camcorders. Also contrast had some oomph and colors were very accurate. Other than a relatively steep learning curve, there was nothing on the MiniDV side of the equation that would be an issue for the vast majority of home video makers.

It was in the photographic realm the Optura 600 really shined compared to its competitors. The fact Canon is one of the top camera makers on the planet might have something to do with it. As longtime denizens of the site probably know, I like Canon cameras such the Digital Rebel XT and SD500 Digital ELPH. This camcorder uses a variation of the processor found in Canon digicams called DIGIC DV. This helps speeds capture and supplies the tweaks needed for accurate photos. It also has nine point Auto Intelligent Auto Focus (AiAF) as well as center weighted average and spot metering. The camcorder also offers Auto Exposure Bracketing and 3- and 5-fps burst modes albeit at lesser resolutions. You have four to choose from with three compression settings for each. AE Bracketing takes three shots of a single image including and under- and overexposed image. You choose which one you'd like to keep. There's even manual focus if you'd like to try it along with a flash with red-eye reduction and an AF Assist lamp. If all this sounds like the features you'd find on a decent digital camera, you're right. Simply put: these were the best stills I've ever gotten from a camcorder. 4x6 prints were no problem and even some 8.5x11s held up pretty well.