JPEG/TIFF Image Size & Quality

The S602Z provides nine different image size / quality combinations. There are four image quality settings at 6 megapixels (2832 x 2128), including TIFF, two each at 3 megapixel and 1 megapixel and a single VGA mode. Because of the honeycomb structure of the S602Z's SuperCCD none of these can truly be considered the cameras 'native resolution', however the 2048 x 1536 size is nearest to the quoted number 3.1 million pixels on the CCD.

Standard Test Scene

To give an impression of what some of the combinations of image size and quality produce the table below is a cross reference of some of them:

• 6mp: 2832 x 2128 HI (TIFF)
• 6mp: 2832 x 2128 FINE JPEG
• 6mp: 2832 x 2128 NORMAL JPEG
• 3mp: 2048 x 1536 FINE JPEG
• 1mp: 1280 x 960 FINE JPEG
• VGA: 640 x 480 NORMAL JPEG

Images below are cropped 240 x 100 area of the image magnified 200% (nearest neighbour).

	2832 x 2128 (6mp)
HI TIFF	17,720 KB (Not available for download)
FINE JPEG	2,354 KB
NORM JPEG	1,049 KB
	2048 x 1536 (3mp)
FINE JPEG	1,198 KB
	1280 x 960 (1mp)
FINE JPEG	652 KB
	640 x 480 (VGA)
NORM JPEG	130 KB

We're now fairly accustomed to looking at SuperCCD 'processed' images, at the output resolution of six megapixels they do look soft and over-processed. Down to three megapixels and the images look far more acceptable and sharper. Obviously you will pay a storage penalty shooting at the 6 MP Fine JPEG mode all the time.

Image Sharpening

As we would hope of a camera at this level the S602Z does allow you to control the amount of sharpening applied to the images by the camera's internal processing algorithms. Fujifilm haven't however implemented something I asked for in the 6900Z review, that is control over tone (contrast) and colour saturation. These two other algorithm parameters make up the level of image processing control we would expect to find in a modern prosumer level digital camera.

Sharpening: Hard	Sharpening: Soft
Sharpening: Normal

As I commented in my 6900Z review there really is very little difference between normal and hard sharpening levels, for my personal taste the normal sharpening is too harsh and leaves too many artifacts (such as the white halo around dark detail). I would like to have seen the Normal sharpening made just a little softer.