Manual Control Options
The EX-S600 does not offer direct control of aperture or shutter speed. It offers manual focus, ISO, and white balance, as well as exposure compensation. The EX-S600 also offers manual control of sharpness, saturation, and contrast via menu controls.
Focus
Auto Focus (5.0)
The EX-S600 uses a contrast detection system for autofocus. Its near-focus limit in macro mode is under 6 inches. The user can select either center-spot focusing, or a 9-zone mode, in which the camera chooses a contrasty object near the middle of the frame, and focuses on it. The LCD displays the zone that is in focus. An autofocus assist light lights up the center of the frame for focusing in low light.
Manual Focus (1.5)
The EX-S600's manual focus mode is cumbersome and inaccurate. When it's active, the user must press the center button in the four-way controller, and then use the side buttons to adjust focus. The center of the frame is enlarged to show sharpness a little better, but the enlarged view is even worse than the typical display – it doesn't ever get sharp, and significant color fringing further confuses the view.
There are two other options. Pan Focus focuses at 6 or 7 feet, which should cover many common subjects. Infinity focus is useful for landscapes.
Exposure (6.5)
The EX-S600 has an exposure compensation control that allows the user to set the exposure 2 stops above or below the meter reading, in 1/3-stop increments. That's a typical range of adjustment, and ought to be enough to compensate for backlighting and other very dark or bright backgrounds.
Metering (7.0)
The EX-S600 offers three metering patterns: Multi-zone, which evaluates exposure in several areas of the frame, and sets the camera after comparing the readings; Spot, which takes a single reading at the center of the frame; and Center-weighted, which takes a single reading of the entire frame, with greater sensitivity at the center. Multi-zone is the most useful setting for highly automated cameras like the EX-S600.
White Balance (7.75)
The EX-S600 offers automatic white balance and six white balance presets, which the user can select manually. The presets are: Daylight, Overcast, Shade, two fluorescent types and tungsten. The EX-S600 also allows the user to create a custom white balance, by shooting a white surface.
ISO (6.25)
The EX-S600 offers ISO settings from 50 through 400, plus Automatic. The camera will set itself to ISO 800 or 1600 when using the Anti Shake or High Sensitivity modes, which provides a bit more flexibility than most ultra slim cameras in low light situations.
Shutter Speed (0.0)
The EX-S600's electronic and mechanical shutter will take exposures from 1/2000 to 4 seconds, depending on the shooting mode. The full range is available in Night Scene mode, but most of the scene modes limit exposure to a range from 1/2000 to 1/8. The Fireworks mode sets exposure to 2 seconds.
Aperture (0.0)
The EX-S600 sets the aperture to either f/2.7 or f/4.3 when the lens is set to wide angle. The aperture value changes as the lens is zoomed but the values are not displayed on the screen.
