Olympus Mju Digital 600

(Olympus Stylus 600 in the USA)

Review Date: October 27th 2005

Page 1
Introduction / Price
Page 2
Features
Page 3
Specifications
Page 4
Design
Page 5
Ease of Use
Page 6
Image Quality
Page 7
Sample Images
Page 8
Conclusion / Links

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the SHQ 2816x2112 mode, which gives an average image size of around 3Mb - 3.5Mb.

Noise

There are 6 ISO settings available on the Olympus Mju Digital 600 which you can select at any time if the camera is in the Auto mode. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

ISO 64 (100% crop)

ISO 100 (100% crop)

   

ISO 200 (100% crop)

ISO 400 (100% crop)

   

ISO 800 (100% crop)

ISO 1600 (100% crop)

   

The noise levels look fine at ISO 64 and 100, but there's already quite a lot of noise starting to appear at ISO 200 and the image quality has deterioated quite a lot at ISO 400. The Olympus Mju Digital 600 offers fast speeds of ISO 600 and 1600, but the image looks more like an oil painting at these speeds (and the dimensions of the photo are automatically reduced too).

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are very slightly on the soft side and benefit a little from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop, although you probably wouldn't see to much difference in small prints. This is a good thing as you can't alter the sharpness in-camera.

Original 100% Crop

Sharpened 100% Crop

   
   

File Quality

The Olympus Mju Digital 600 has 6 different file quality settings available, with SHQ 2816x2112 being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

SHQ 2816x2112 (3,599Kb)
HQ 2816x2112 (1,602Kb)
   
SQ1 1600x1200 (1,140Kb)
SQ2 640x480 (537Kb)
   

Chromatic Aberrations

The Olympus Mju Digital 600 handled chromatic aberrations well during the review. Only high-contrast situations like those shown below caused any problems, with purple fringing present around the edges of over-exposed parts of the image.

Example 1
Example 1
   

Macro

The Olympus Mju Digital 600 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 20 cms away from the camera and a Super Macro setting that lets you get as close as 7 cms. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject in Super Macro mode (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot (click to view full-sized image)

100% Crop

   

Flash

The flash settings on the Olympus Mju Digital 600 are Auto (automatic activation in low and backlight), red-eye reduction, fill-in (forced activation) and off (no flash). These shots of a magnolia coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (35mm)

Auto Flash - Wide Angle (35mm)

ISO 64
ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (105mm)

Auto Flash - Telephoto (105mm)
ISO 64
ISO 64
   

And here are some shots of yours truly. As you can see, neither the Flash On setting and the Red-Eye option caused any red-eye. It's worth noting that the Olympus Mju Digital 600 does have a Red-Eye Fix option in playback mode if red-eye does occur.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
   

Flash - Red-Eye Reduction

Flash - Red-Eye Reduction (100% Crop)
   

Night Shot

The Olympus Mju Digital 600 maximum shutter speed is 4 seconds, which is not that great if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken with using the Night Shot scene mode, which used a shutter speed of 4 seconds, aperture of f/3.1 at ISO 250. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night Shot (click to view full-sized image)

100% Crop
   

Overall Image Quality

The Olympus Mju Digital 600 produced images of slightly above average quality during the review period. The 6 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera and unfortunately the sharpening level can't be changed in-camera. They ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, although you probably won't notice the lack of sharpness in small sized prints. The Olympus Mju Digital 600 dealt well with chromatic aberrations, which only appeared in a few of the test shots - limited purple fringing effects could only be seen in very high contrast situations. Macro performance is good with the Super Macro mode allowing you to focus as close as 7 cms away from the subject. The built-in flash worked well indoors with no red-eye and nice overall exposure. The night photograph was OK, although the maximum shutter speed of 4 seconds limits your creativity when darkness falls. The Olympus Mju Digital 600's main drawback in terms of image quality, however, is noise. ISO 50 and 100 look fine, but there's already quite a lot of noise starting to appear at ISO 200, which isn't exactly a quick speed. ISOs 400, 600 and 1600 are all something of a last resort option.

Page 1
Introduction / Price
Page 2
Features
Page 3
Specifications
Page 4
Design
Page 5
Ease of Use
Page 6
Image Quality
Page 7
Sample Images
Page 8
Conclusion / Links

DIWAPhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Olympus Mju Digital 600 have been submitted to DIWA for comparison with test results for different samples of the same camera model supplied by other DIWA member sites.