Report Abuse

“I wanted to wait until I'd learned enough to write a...”

written by Stewartboyz. on 24/05/2003

Good Points
Total Control, Fast Operating Speed, Long, quick Zoom, Dual Media

Bad Points
None worth mentioning.

General Comments
I wanted to wait until I'd learned enough to write a comprehensive review but I can't contain myself. To say I really love this camera is an understatement! This is the one I've been searching for so I can finally retire my old 35mm rig. To understand why let me digress a little. About 4 years ago a new job started taking me to China and Asia 2 to 3 times a year every year. The first time I went I schlepped along my trusty old 35 mm, motor drive, data back and assortment of lenses and all. I shot 50 rolls of film, got some great shots, but decided that there had to be a better way. I purchased a 1.2 megapixel Fuji fixed focal length camera and stuck it in with my 35mm and video camcorder. I used the 35mm only occasionally but got some great video and digital images. Although I got digital photos I liked, I felt really limited by the lack of a zoom and the slow response times.



For my next trip, I left the 35mm at home, upgraded the digital to an Olympus D460Z, and brought along my camcorder. I was much happier with the Olympus but still felt limited. It was too automatic, very slow and I didn't like the total absence of manual control. Most of all, I couldn't get used to the shutter lag and slow write times. For every great shot I got I missed five because I couldn't get the timing down. I wanted something that behaved more like my 35mm but was irritated that to replicate the feel, capability and picture quality of my 20 year old $300 35mm manual would cost several thousand dollars. In the interim I played around with my partner's Olympus C4040, liked it, but it still didn't have the feel, handling and speed I was looking for.



Finally, I walked into an electronics store and found the S602 on sale at a "no brainer" price of $450, and decided to take the plunge. From traveling overseas I got used to traveling with lots of digital film and rechargeable batteries. The fact that the camera was only packaged with a 16mb smart media card and 4 alkaline batteries was irrelevant to me. I immediately purchased 2 256mb Compact Flash and 2 128mb smart media cards, 3 sets of rechargeables, and a charger. I then set myself to the task of putting the camera through it's paces. I am now a thoroughly happy camper.



A quick word about picture quality: At first I was a little leery of the camera because I'd read a lot of reviews damning the camera with faint praise because of the presumed actual and comparative shortcomings of the 3.1 megapixel SuperCCD and the software enhanced 6 megapixel resolution. I immediately shot a series of pictures at the four main resolutions of 6mp, both fine and standard and 3mp fine and standard. Next I printed them all on my Canon S820 with Canon Photopaper Pro at 8.5 x 11 borderless. In a word, the pictures are spectacular and I am hard pressed to tell the difference between them. I wouldn't worry to much about the tsk, tsk's of the resolution geeks. I've made terrific photos with my 1.3 megapixel Fuji and Olympus that drew ooh's and aah's when printed at 8 x 10. Adequate resolution is important and the S602 supplies that. I've never shown my photographs with a jewelers loupe so for myself I will just concentrate on making great photographs. I'm going to shoot and print a few more resolution test shots but I will probably settle on 3mp fine as my standard shooting resolution. The decision is going to be somewhat arbitrary because the pictures are so close. I can't wait to go back to China.