anything against 601z?

i'm pretty sure i'm going to buy a 601z. does anyone have any good reasons not to?

and what about this seizing up thing people talk about? do we know why it happens? and definately how to stop it from happening?

any other particular issues?

and one thing i loved about the ixus was the underwater case you can get. excellent! is there anything like that possible for the 601z? doubt it.

any comments welcome... thanks, pablito.

Hi
Ive had mine for 6 weeks now And just love it I have
not experienced a single freeze up with it , but by the sounds of
it many others have. So far I'am really pleased with it,
Robin

pablito said:

i'm pretty sure i'm going to buy a 601z. does anyone have any good
reasons not to?

and what about this seizing up thing people talk about? do we know
why it happens? and definately how to stop it from happening?

Click to expand...

too little zoom? it's part of the reason why I upgraded from the Fujifilm 4700Z.

pablito said:

i'm pretty sure i'm going to buy a 601z. does anyone have any good
reasons not to?

Click to expand...

I've had mine for two weeks and really like it. No freezes or other software-related oddities to report.

The camera starts up fast and shot to shot times are very fast, as is the playback. Battery life has been very good - I filled up a 128Mb card before the "half-full" light came on.

I've been really impressed with performance. Onscreen photos look very good - rich color and sharp. I'm still waiting for my first batch of test prints from Ofoto.

So far my only gripe is the AF has some problems focusing in low light (dim room lighting) especially at full telephoto. I thought lack of manual white balance would be an issue, but the auto WB is good -- better than my Olympus -- and the presets have given good results when the auto hasn't.

As for waterproof housings, probably the only thing that would work with the f601 is these "plastic bags" that fit any camera:

http://www.aquapac.co.uk/

You shoot right through the plastic. I'd love to hear how they work. Has anyone used one?

pablito said:

i'm pretty sure i'm going to buy a 601z. does anyone have any good
reasons not to?

and what about this seizing up thing people talk about? do we know
why it happens? and definately how to stop it from happening?

any other particular issues?

and one thing i loved about the ixus was the underwater case you
can get. excellent! is there anything like that possible for the
601z? doubt it.

any comments welcome... thanks, pablito.

Click to expand...

--
--
Neil Kohl

Neil Kohl said:

Neil Kohl said:

So far my only gripe is the AF has some problems focusing in low

Click to expand...

light (dim room lighting) especially at full telephoto. I thought
lack of manual white balance would be an issue, but the auto WB is
good -- better than my Olympus -- and the presets have given good
results when the auto hasn't.

Click to expand...

Neil Hi, the 601 does find low light autofocus hard at full telephoto but not often at full wide. Have you tried to assess what it is like at autofocussing at Iso 400 and 800. Iv'e not seen any reports on this specific any it would be goood to know.
--
Best Wishes,
Richard Dunn
Warwick UK
http://www.pbase.com/rmwd/galleries

cheers robin. 1-0 to the 601.

2-1 to the 601. thanks for the aquapac tip... i think i'll give it a try and i'll let you know. pablito.

Hi,

disadantages of my F601:

• It is so small. My old SLR was much easier to hold (1 kg). I didn't carry it much, though.

• Confusing screen size of the picture files. But printing is superb: as there is hardly any "pixelation", rather softness, enlargment works fine.

• Starting up & zooming is a little noisy. Have no comparison to other brands though.
• Menue system takes a little while to get accustomed to.

• Strong barrel distortion (only) at full wide angle. This is especially annoying, as I would use this setting preferentially inside or for architecture, i. e. when it can be seen best (worst?).

Advantages:

• Lovely camera!

• Seems to be very reliably, i. e. hardly any "bad" shots.

• Autofocus stops to work, when it is pitch-dark. Roomlight or lantern-light is easily sufficient to autofocus (with my F601)
• No freezing with the 128MB card I use (Toshiba).

• ISO1600 allows picture taking until dusk without tripod (most others camera-owners have to go home earlier).
• 4 h voice (or bird-) recording,

• 4 min movie capture (but file sizes are a hug).

• Usable macro-mode.

Conclusion:

If flexibility is important for you, the F601 is definitely your camera. Get one & share your experiences!
Greetings,
Norbert

Richard Dunn said:

Neil Kohl said:

Richard Dunn said:

So far my only gripe is the AF has some problems focusing in low

Click to expand...

light (dim room lighting) especially at full telephoto. I thought
lack of manual white balance would be an issue, but the auto WB is
good -- better than my Olympus -- and the presets have given good
results when the auto hasn't.

Click to expand...

Neil Hi, the 601 does find low light autofocus hard at full
telephoto but not often at full wide. Have you tried to assess what
it is like at autofocussing at Iso 400 and 800. Iv'e not seen any
reports on this specific any it would be goood to know.
--
Best Wishes,
Richard Dunn
Warwick UK
http://www.pbase.com/rmwd/galleries

Click to expand...

Here's what I wrote about it recently:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1012&message=2594550

In summary:

Advantages: light weight, fast lens motor, sumptuous colors, good AF with plenty of light, best movie mode I've ever seen, fast media read/write, fluid LCD refresh, battery the same as Pentax Optio (might be cheaper)

Disadvantages: nasty barrel distortion at wide end, no option for preventing the file name numbers from reseting to 0001 every time you remove the card, oversaturated LCD that washes out easily in sunlight, irritating animated menu system that takes too much effort to navigate, too much reliance on the annoying menu system for even the simplest things like EV compensation, slightly cheap-feeling casing, whiny and loud lens motor, nearly useless manual mode because there's no meter readout

Bottom Line: F601 is a good choice for people who want a general-purpose point-and-shoot camera that takes great pictures in auto mode. However, it is not the right camera for those who want to exercise manual control over the camera on a regular basis.

Of course, all this is just my two cents. Your mileage may vary.

• Tomm

pablito said:

i'm pretty sure i'm going to buy a 601z. does anyone have any good
reasons not to?

and what about this seizing up thing people talk about? do we know
why it happens? and definately how to stop it from happening?

any other particular issues?

and one thing i loved about the ixus was the underwater case you
can get. excellent! is there anything like that possible for the
601z? doubt it.

any comments welcome... thanks, pablito.

Click to expand...

Richard Dunn said:

Neil Hi, the 601 does find low light autofocus hard at full
telephoto but not often at full wide. Have you tried to assess what
it is like at autofocussing at Iso 400 and 800. Iv'e not seen any
reports on this specific any it would be goood to know.

Click to expand...

Richard,

The AF seems to work fine with nice contrasty subjects. An example: The camera could not focus on my dark grey tabby cat, but could focus on the patterned bedsheet she was standing on (room lighting was on the dim side). You are correct in noticing that AF is much better at full wide -- even trying to focus on the same subject that failed at full tele.

I first noticed the problems with autofocus at high ISOs (400-1600) -- a little disappointing as this is when you'd want low light AF performance. ISO setting doesn't seem to affect AF.

--
Neil Kohl