Samsung WB600 Review

May 31, 2010 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star

Introduction

The Samsung WB600 (also known as the Samsung HZ30W) is a 12 megapixel camera with a 15x, 24-360mm optically-stabilized lens and a large 3 inch LCD screen. The WB600 offers 720p HD video recording and an HDMI port for quick and easy playback on a High Definition TV set. A wealth of auto modes - Smart Auto, Face Detection, Smile Shot, Blink Detection, Self Portrait and Beauty Shot - promise to make it easier for beginners to easily take great photos, while there are also A/S/M shooting modes for the more experienced user. The Samsung WB600 / HZ30W is available in black, brown and grey for $279 / £249.

Ease of Use

Samsung's WB600 camera upgrades its WB550 predecessor predominantly by increasing the zoom from 10x to 15x, adding Aperture and Shutter priority shooting modes, and significantly reducing the price.

First impressions are of a bold and chunky design with a depth of 28mm and weighing a shade over 200g. Constructed out of robust plastic with shiny chrome detailing and large buttons, the WB600 is just small and light enough to carry in a trouser pocket or small camera bag. Apparently the WB prefix stands for 'Wide' and 'Big' - not necessarily the attributes you'd want attributed to a 'compact', but here it refers to the lens reach, equivalent to an impressively versatile 24-360mm in 35mm terms.

Although it hasn't got an 'HD' suffix in the model name, as indicated in our introduction the Samsung WB600 nevertheless offers High Definition video clips in the economical H.264 format (though at 1280x720 pixels rather than Full HD 1920x1080) which can be paused mid-record and recording then re-started. The user can therefore perform rudimentary 'editing' as they shoot. The full extent of the 15x optical zoom is accessible when shooting movies - since that is one of the camera's key selling points, it would have been a travesty if it hadn't.

As expected, the large lens dominates proceedings at the front of the WB600, its surround jutting out almost a centimetre even when the camera is inactive, suggesting Samsung could have found room for a lens thread for supplementary attachments. The lens takes up the full height of the face plate, meaning the built-in flash bulb is shifted over to the left out of harm's way. Alongside the flash is a small porthole-style window for the AF assist/self timer lamp, and underneath 9 small holes for the microphone. Unlike its predecessor, the WB600 doesn't have any hand-grip, with only a slight outward curve in the camera body providing any kind of purchase, making this new model more difficult to hold steady.

Looking down on the camera's top plate we find a row of chunky controls set into a wide mirrored chrome strip that lends the Samsung WB600 a modicum of style. Starting at the left, there are a twin set of holes for the stereo sound recording system, in-between which is located the indented Power button, surrounded by a circular ring that glows an attractive 'Samsung blue' when in use. Not perhaps what you'd want if trying to use the camera surreptitiously at night, but then the glow from the 3-inch rear LCD screen - in the absence of an optical viewfinder - kind of gives the game away anyway.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90
Front Rear

To the right, and 'sunk' slightly into the bodywork, is a familiar bottle top style dial for the shooting modes. This feels firm to the touch and well implemented, in that the user can't accidentally slip from one setting to the other. Ranged around the dial are the expected Auto and Program settings, plus Samsung's own 'Smart Auto' mode. As it sounds, this is the manufacturer's equivalent of the intelligent auto modes on competitors from Panasonic (its Lumix range), Sony (the latest T-series Cyber-shots) and Canon (Digital IXUS family). Namely you point the WB600 at a scene or subject that hopefully the camera recognizes, automatically adjusting its settings to deliver optimum results. This means that it's not necessary for the user to manually delve into scene modes to call up the likes of 'landscape' or 'flower'; the WB600's operation is merely a case of point and shoot.

Incidentally, as you turn the shooting dial, a virtual version which the same eight settings rotates in tandem on screen, highlighting and explaining each one as you select it. Also found on the dial are a 'Dual IS' mode - which offers both optical image stabilization and the ISO boosting digital variety. In terms of light sensitivity the Samsung WB600 offers a very respectable range, stretching from ISO 80 up to ISO 3200. We'll of course be examining how well it does at its higher settings in the 'Image Quality' section of our review.

Continuing around the dial we discover Samsung's 'beauty shot' mode, useful for both acne-d adolescents and those of us who have over indulged by automatically retouching out spots and blemishes. Spotlighting the WB600's intended audience as the family, Samsung clearly wants its users to have to spend as little time post-processing images as possible - if any.

Samsung's Smart Face Recognition technology automatically adjusts the camera's focus and exposure for up to 20 faces, and it can even recognise the most photographed faces in your photos and focus on them. Smart Face Recognition also lets you quickly search for specific people in your photo album without having to browse through every single photo.

Adjacent to beauty mode is a dedicated scene mode. But rather than this mode automatically displaying its settings as icons, the user has to press the 'menu' button at the camera's rear and scroll down the text options to find them. Along with 'Night', 'Portait', 'Children' and 'Landscape' we get 'text', 'sunset', 'dawn' and 'backlight', with 15 choices in total.

The adjacent setting on the dial is for video mode. Here users get the opportunity to either shoot at top 720p resolution, a less memory hungry 640x480 pixels, or 320x240 pixels; choice dependant on intended use (whether playing back on an HDTV or merely posting on the Internet). Maximum frame rate at 1280x720 resolution is 30fps, with a reduced 15fps rate also selectable with a press of the button marked 'Fn' (or 'Function') on the camera back. Should users however plump for the very lowest picture quality, a higher frame rate of 60fps is selectable.

A major new feature for this WB-series generation is the addition of Aperture and Shutter priority shooting modes to the already present full Manual mode. With a full range of apertures and shutter speeds available, these two new modes are a very welcome inclusion that bridge the gap between Program and full Manual. There's no external dial for changing the values, instead you have to press the Function button then use the left and right navigation pad keys - but despite this rather slow form of operation, the A/S/M modes make the WB600 more appealing to a wider audience.

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Front Side

Staying on the Samsung WB600's top plate, the next control along is the large-ish and springy shutter release button, surrounded by a rocker switch for operating the zoom. Controlled by a protruding lip that falls naturally under the forefinger, the zoom takes around five seconds to travel from maximum wide angle to full telephoto - which is a little below par for the course for its focal range. We did find on occasion that said zoom took a moment or two to 'wake up' - and that its transitions are sound-tracked by a low mechanical blur; but said sound is low enough to avoid being off-putting.

That aside, once you've zoomed in and got your composition how you want, with a half press of the shutter button the Samsung WB600 is commendably swift to determine focus and exposure, the AF point highlighted in green and an operational 'beep' confirming you're good to go on and take the shot. With little noticeable shutter lag, at highest resolution setting an image is committed to memory in just under two seconds, the screen blanking out briefly, which isn't bad at all.

Moving to the back of the Samsung WB600, this is dominated by the three-inch screen, with a vertical strip of controls running from top to bottom at its right. LCD visibility is adequate indoors and out, though you inevitably find yourself cupping a hand or angling the camera for a better view with the latter.

At the top of the run of controls is a new and welcome one-touch movie record button, making it a cinch to start and stop your high-def movie masterpieces. Underneath is the Menu button which provides a range of selectable options, the brevity or otherwise of which is dependant on the particular mode the user is in.

Let's assume, for example, we're shooting in program mode. With menu selected an icon illustrated top bar provides drop down access to fine tuning the recording options. These include the ability to tweak operational sounds, LCD display, plus access to a setting menu, enabling memory to formatted or previously selected functions reset.

Directly underneath the Menu button is a four-way directional control pad with an OK button at its centre. This will be familiar to just about anyone who has ever used a digital compact before. Ranged around the four points are options for toggling the Display modes to show a nine zone compositional grid, all shooting information or just the very basics (i.e simply the number of shots remaining), self-timer modes, macro and focus modes, and the various flash settings.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90
Memory Card Slot Battery Compartment

A press of the OK button when shooting video meanwhile allows the user to pause and play/resume the recording - the feature which Samsung is highlighting as one of the WB600's unique ones. It works, though whether most of us would actually need/use it is a moot point.

Below the control pad is a self-explanatory Playback button and the useful Function button, which handily doubles up as a delete button in playback mode. As expected the amount of information and options accessed via a press of 'Fn' varies dependant on which shooting mode is selected. For example in regular auto mode the user merely has the ability to adjust image size and resolution. Twist the dial around the program mode however and there's the ability to swap focus area, metering modes, change from single shot to continuous capture, choose from the range of ISO settings, adjust white balance or turn the ubiquitous face detection mode on or off. Like its rivals, Samsung also allows user access to blink detection and smile shot in this mode.

While that's it for the rear of the Samsung WB600, at its right hand side (if viewing from the rear) we find an included mini-HDMI port for hooking the snapshot up to an HDTV. Increasingly common for DSLRs that also shoot movies, it's still a comparative rarity to find such on a digital compact, even if it does shoot HD video. The required HDMI cable is an optional extra though, so bear in mind if you're on a budget.

Alongside the HDMI connection is a proprietary connector for Samsung's power and sync cable - the WB600 is recharged with the battery in-camera, either from an electrical socket or or alternatively straight from a USB port connected to your computer, rather than via an external recharger, which means that annoyingly you can't use the camera with a second battery whilst charging the first. Note that there is no port for USB and AV out. Also in the box is a quick-start guide as a hard copy, the full manual on CD ROM, plus a wrist strap.

The bottom of the Samsung WB600 houses a centrally located metal tripod mount and a a sliding cover for protecting for the shared rechargeable battery / SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card compartment. Battery life is good for approximately 275 shots from a full charge - adequate if not incredible. As previously noted, Samsung provides a compact plug/charger set up in the box that charges the battery within the camera itself.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 12 megapixel Superfine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5.5Mb.

The Samsung WB600 produced images of above average quality during the review period. Noise is the main problem, being obvious at the relatively slow speed of ISO 200 and then becoming progressively worse at the faster settings of 400 and 800. ISO 1600 and 3200 are only to be used as a last resort.

Chromatic aberrations were very well controlled, with some limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The 12.2 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting and require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera sharpening level.

Macro performance is good, allowing you to focus as close as 3cms away from the subject. Commendably barrel distortion is well controlled even at the 24mm wide-angle focal length. The built-in flash worked fairly well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate overall exposure.

Anti-shake works very well when hand-holding the WB600 in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. The maximum shutter speed of 16 seconds allows the camera to capture enough light for most after-dark situations.

Noise

There are 7 ISO settings available on the Samsung WB600. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

ISO 80 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

 
 

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 a little soft at the default sharpening setting. You can change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

   

Focal Range

The Samsung WB600's 15x zoom lens provides a focal length of 24-360mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

24mm

360mm

File Quality

The Samsung WB600 has 3 different image quality settings available, with Superfine 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.

12M Superfine (4.75Mb) (100% Crop) 12M Fine (2.61Mb) (100% Crop)
   
12M Normal (1.77Mb) (100% Crop)  
 

Chromatic Aberrations

The Samsung WB600 handled chromatic aberrations very well during the review, with limited purple fringing mainly present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)

Example 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Samsung WB600 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 3cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot

100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Samsung WB600 are Auto, Auto & Red-eye reduction, Fill-in flash, Slow sync, Flash off, and Red eye fix. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (24mm)

Flash On - Wide Angle (24mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (360mm)

Flash On - Telephoto (360mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

And here are a couple of portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Auto setting or the Red Eye Fix option caused any amount of red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
   

Red Eye Fix

Red Eye Fix (100% Crop)

Night

The Samsung WB600's maximum shutter speed is 16 seconds in the Manual mode, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 8 seconds at ISO 80.

Night Shot

Night Shot (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Samsung WB600 has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length

Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)

Anti Shake On (100% Crop)

1/10 sec / 24mm
1/15 sec / 360mm

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Samsung WB600 camera, which were all taken using the 12 megapixel Superfine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1280 x 720 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 12 second movie is 14.2Mb in size.

Product Images

Samsung WB600

Front of the Camera

 
Samsung WB600

Front of the Camera / Turned On

 
Samsung WB600

Isometric View

 
Samsung WB600

Isometric View

 
Samsung WB600

Rear of the Camera

 
Samsung WB600

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

 
Samsung WB600

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

 
Samsung WB600

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

 
Samsung WB600

Rear of the Camera / Function Menu

 

Samsung WB600

Top of the Camera

 
Samsung WB600
Bottom of the Camera
 
Samsung WB600
Side of the Camera
 
Samsung WB600
Side of the Camera
 
Samsung WB600
Front of the Camera
 
Samsung WB600
Front of the Camera
 
Samsung WB600
Memory Card Slot
 
Samsung WB600
Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Samsung WB600 adds two major features to its successor, namely a bigger 15x zoom and Aperture and Shutter priority shooting modes, whilst significantly reducing the price. The rather bulky design and unwanted noise at relatively slow ISO speeds prevent us from recommending it more highly.

The new 15x lens raises the bar above its main rival, the Panasonic TZ series, but does so at the expense of making the camera thicker and heavier. You can just about fit the WB600 into a trouser pocket, but it's something of a tight squeeze. The 24-360mm optically-stabilized lens is undoubtedly very versatile though, so the WB600 makes sense if you really need the extra reach. The Aperture and Shutter priority sensibly bridge the gap between the multitude of hand-holding technologies and and the fully manual option.

Picture quality is very similar to the WB550. With ideal shooting conditions the WB600 impresses with its vivid, colour-rich imagery, with the caveat that this can veer towards looking slightly unrealistic on occasion. Keep an eye on the LCD and simply re-compose or stop down if everything looks a tad too bright and breezy. In low-light things aren't quite so rosy, with noise appearing at ISO 200 and becoming progressively worse as you move up the range, making this a camera best suited to sunny days.

Perhaps the best feature of the WB600 is it price - at $279 / £249, it's quite a lot cheaper than both the previous model and most of the travel-zoom competition, yet it doesn't sacrifice too many features in order to hit the aggressive price-point. We still prefer Panasonic's TZ series, but the gap has definitely narrowed with the introduction of the Samsung WB600.

4 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 4
Features 4
Ease-of-use 4
Image quality 4
Value for money 4

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Samsung WB600 from around the web.

reviews.cnet.co.uk »

Providing a massive zoom range and maintaining good image quality isn't easily achieved, but Samsung's done it with the WB600. The 720p hi-def movie mode might be slightly disappointing, but the stills are very good. The WB600 is one of the cheapest compact superzooms around, but it's also one of the best.
Read the full review »

Specifications

Image sensor Type 1/2.3″ (1.10cm) CCD
Effective Pixel Approx. 12.0 Mega-pixel
Total Pixel Approx. 14.2 Mega-pixel
Lens Focal Length Schneider KREUZNACH Lens f=3.9~58.5mm (35mm film equivalent : f 24 ~ 360mm)
F No. F3.2(W) ~ F5.8(T)
Digital Zoom Still Image mode : 1.0X ~5.0X
Play mode : 1.0X ~ 12.5X (depends on image size)
Viewfinder Electronic Viewfinder N/A
LCD Monitor 3.0" TFT LCD Screen Panel
Focusing Type TTL auto focus (Multi AF, Center AF, Selection AF, Face Detection AF, Face Recognition AF, Object Tracking AF) Focus Area, Manual Focus
Range Normal : 80cm ~ infinity (Wide), 200 ~ Infinite (Tele)
Macro : 3cm ~ 80cm (Wide), 100cm ~ 200cm (Tele)
Auto Macro : 3cm ~ Infinity (Wide), 100cm ~ Infinity (Tele)
Shutter Type N/A
Speed Auto : 1 ~ 1/2,000 sec. Manual Mode :16 ~ 1/2000sec.
Night : 8 ~ 1/2,000 sec. Fireworks : 2sec.
Exposure Control Program AE, Shutter AE, Aperture Priority AE or Manual Exposure
Metering Multi, Spot, Center-weighted, Face Detection AE
Compensation ±2EV (1/3EV steps)
ISO Equivalent Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
Flash Modes Auto, Auto & Red-eye reduction, Fill-in flash, Slow sync, Flash off, Red-eye fix
Range Wide : 0.3m ~ 5.0m, Tele : 0.5m ~ 3.0m (ISO AUTO)
Recharging Time Approx. 4 sec.
Effect Sharpness Soft+, Soft, Normal, Vivid, Vivid+
Colour Effect *Photo Style Selector : Normal, Soft, Vivid, Forest, Retro, Cool, Calm, Classic, Negative, Custom,
Defog, Sketch
*Lens Effect: Miniature, Vignetting, Fish-eye I, Fish-eye II
*Image Adjust : Sharpness (Soft+, Soft, Normal, Vivid, Vivid+),
Contrast (High+, High, Normal, Low, Low+),
White Balance Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent_H, Fluorescent_L, Tungsten, Custom
Shooting Still Image Mode : Smart Auto, Auto ,Program, A/S/M , Dual IS, Beauty, Scene, Movie
*Smart Auto : Portrait, Night Portrait, Backlight Portrait, Backlight, Landscape, White, Motion, Tripod, Night, Macro, Macro Text, Blue Sky, Sunset Sky, Macro Portrait, Natural Green, Children, Cloud
Scene : Frame Guide, Night, Portrait, Children, Landscape, Close-up, Text, Sunset, Dawn, Backlight,
Fireworks, Beach & Snow, Self shot, Food, Cafe
Continuous: Single, Continuous, AEB, Motion Capture
Self-timer : 10 sec., 2 sec., Double, Motion Timer, Remote Controller(SCR-A5)
Movie Clip With Audio or without Audio (Max recording time : 20min), 15X Optical Zoom enable
*Smart Movie enable : Landscape, Blue Sky, Natural Green, Sunset)
*Low AF & Zoom Noise while recording Movie

*Size : 1280 X 720 HQ (30 FPS, 15 FPS), 1280 X 720 (30 FPS, 15 FPS), 640 X 480 (30 FPS, 15 FPS), 320 X 240 (60 FPS, 30 FPS, 15 FPS), 320 X 240 Web (30 FPS Only)

*Due to the noise while optical zooming, user can select to record sound or not.
Storage Media Internal Memory : 128MB
External Memory(Optional) : SD (up to 2GB guaranteed)
SDHC (up to 8GB guaranteed)
File Format Still Image : JPEG (DCF), EXIF 2.21, DPOF 1.1, PictBridge 1.0
Movie Clip :MP4 (H.264(MPEG4.AVC))
Audio : WAV
Image Size 12M: 4000X3000 pixels, 8M: 3264x2448 pixels,
5M : 2560X1920 pixels, 3M : 2048x1536 pixels,
1M: 1024x768 pixels,
9M W: 3840 x 2160 pixels, 2MW:1920x1080 pixels,
10M P: 3984 x 2656 pixels
Capacity (256MB) N/A
Image Play Type N/A
Editing Single image, Thumbnails, Multi Slide show, Movie Clip
* Slide show : Slide show with Effect & Music
Interface Digital Output Connector USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
Audio Microphone : Stereo
Internal Speaker : Mono
Video output AV : NTSC, PAL (user selectable)
HDMI 1.4 : NTSC, PAL (user selectable)
* Remarks: HDMI function is available when connected through Type C HDMI Cable (optional).
DC power input connector TTA 20Pin
Power Supply Power Source Rechargeable battery : SLB-11A (1,100mAh)
Adaptor : SAC-48, SCB34-U05
* Included battery may vary depending on sales region.
Physical Specification Dimensions (WxHxD) 106.6 X 60.5 X 28mm
Weight 210.7g (without battery and card)
Operating Temperature 0 ~ 40°C
Operating Humidity 5 ~ 85%
Software Application Quick Time Player 7.4, Adobe Reader, Bulitin PC SW(Intelli-Studio)
MP3 Specification Audio Frequency N/A
Earphone Port N/A
Output N/A
Noise Ratio N/A
Sound Effect N/A
Play Mode N/A
File File Format N/A
Bit Rate N/A
PMP Specification PMP Decoder Movie N/A
Audio N/A
Subtitle N/A
TEXT Specification File N/A
File Format Window N/A
Mac N/A
Function N/A
Language N/A
Voice Recording 12 Mega-pixel
15x Schneider Lens
3.0"" TFT LCD Screen
Dual Image Stabilization : Optical IS + Digital IS
Date Imprinting Date&Time, Date, Off (user selectable)

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