Casio Exilim EX-Z600

Manual Control Options
Manual control settings on the Casio EX-Z600 are not as limiting as those found on the Kodak EasyShare models but also are not nearly as extensive as those found on Canon’s A-series, either. The manual control options for the Z600 are manual focus, exposure compensation, metering, white balance and ISO, with no manual control options for the shutter speed and aperture levels (other than EV compensation). The Casio EX-Z600 is a fine camera for those who want to start tinkering with manual control but lack any experience. And with 33 preset shooting modes, the user will have plenty of options to fall back on.

Focus
Auto Focus
Focal settings for the Casio EX-Z600 provide a number of options, located within the rec. menu under the logically named Focus submenu. The focal options for the Casio EX-Z600 are auto focus, macro mode, pan focus, infinity mode and manual focus. These controls are easily switched between by scanning the settings with the four-way controller. The auto focus reacted with a fair level of clarity although the camera did struggle a bit when fast alterations were made to zoom levels.

Manual Focus
The manual focus setting is located within the Focus submenu found within the rec. section of the shooting menu. The manual focus setting is easily selected from the linear list and once selected it is possible to control the focal levels by pressing the Set button. This then displays a focal scale along the lower edge of the LCD screen for the user to navigate with the left and right arrows of the four-way controller. The focus scale has numerical levels as well as macro and wide angle symbols placed alongside it.

While it’s not the fastest to adjust, the manual focus did react with a clean and smooth precision that accurately settled on the proper focus setting. If users are more comfortable with dedicated buttons, there is the L/R Key option located within the rec. menu. When this option is selected the user can choose to set the left and right keys of the four-way controller to set focus, EV shift, white balance, ISO, self timer or off.

Metering
The metering parameters for the Casio EX-Z600 are manually controllable and allow access through the quality menu which is accessible when the camera is in shooting mode. The metering mode options are center, spot and multi-zone metering controls which can adjust to more complicated lighting situations than one fixed automatic control. With metering options like center-weighted users can compensate for problems like the extreme backlighting of subjects. With multi-zone metering the user can properly control settings for lighting situations where multiple light sources are present.

Exposure
The exposure controls for the Casio EX-Z600 are accessible by entering the quality menu, engaged through the menu control on the back of the camera. The EV shift scale for the Z600 is a predominately standard scale in the point-and shoot-market of +/-2 EV with 1/3 EV steps occurring throughout this range.

White Balance
White balance is a manually controllable feature on the Casio EX-Z600 and accessed by entering the same quality menu which contains manual controls for ISO and EV shift. The white balance controls display a live view screen without overlay so the user can immediately view changes made to the composition. The white balance settings are scanned via the up and down arrows on the four-way control and include Cloudy, Shade, Fluorescent N, Fluorescent D, Tungsten and Daylight.

ISO
The ISO settings for the Casio EX-Z600 are also controllable through the quality menu and are ISO 50, 100, 200 and 400. Supposedly, the auto ISO levels have a maximum ISO setting of 800 when the anti-shake or high sensitivity controls are engaged, although this claim will need further testing in our full review. Check back in the near future to see how the EX-Z600 performs in terms of noise and light sensitivity.

Shutter Speed
Shutter speed, like aperture, is not manually controllable by the user, although the preset Night Scene mode will extend the shutter speed dramatically beyond the capacity of the auto mode setting. The automatic shutter speed range for the EX-Z600 is 1/8th of a second to 1/2000th of a second, while the Night mode extends that scale to 4 seconds through 1/2000th, and Fireworks mode alters the scale to 2 seconds (fixed).

Aperture
Aperture controls are not accessible to the user of the Casio EX-Z600. The EX-Z600 has an aperture range of f/2.7 to f/4.3 with auto switching, beyond the control of the user.