With its excellent motion picture capability, the M603 is slated to be the ideal family cam.
Touted by Fujifilm to deliver "digital stills and full size (VGA) digital movies in a single ultra- compact camera", the FinePix M603 is the Japanese company's first digital still camera featuring high-quality movie recording. The unit comes with what's reportedly the most advanced Motion Photo VGA-size full-frame movie recording/playback capability of any digital camera currently in production.
While the highly competitive market for digital cameras has been marked by the struggle for bigger pixel counts, manufacturers are increasingly looking toward more significant ways of differentiating their products from the others. For Fujifilm, taking a step in another direction with the FinePix M603 is hardly surprising, given the company's propensity for producing innovative imaging products such as the MP3-enabled FinePix 50i, and its extensive experience in the photographic arena.
The M603's ability to deliver Motion Photo VGA-size full-frame movie recording with sound marks a further advancement in imaging performance.
Fujifilm's Pixel Mixing Technology enables VGA-size (640 x 480-pixel) movie recording at 30 frames per second (fps). The M603 also offers movie recording with zoom and continuous autofocus on a moving subject. The camera can record approximately 15 minutes of moving clips comprising 640 x 480 pixels at 30fps, or 30 minutes at the lower 15fps rate with a 1GB storage card. When played back on a conventional TV, this delivers full-screen, flicker-free movies. An outstanding feature is the extra-large 2.5-inch TFT LCD monitor on the back, which also comes with a panel hood to shield the screen from stray light and glare. This is a definitely boon as movie recording and photo-taking in the field can be very difficult, especially in bright sunny weather.
At the M603's heart lies a third-generation SuperCCD sensor which is responsible for both the image quality and movie-recording ability. This latest version of the award-winning sensor retains the stellar performance, faithful colour reproduction, high sensitivity and low noise of the previous sensor. The significant increase in "film" sensitivity range (maximum ISO 1600 for the equivalent) is made possible by the use of Pixel Data Coupling, a Fujifilm technology that utilises the fast processing abilities of the LSI. The ultra-low noise and superb colour characteristics mean more authentic colour images are delivered, even for skin tones and at low-light levels.
The vertical form factor allows for easy scrolling and reviewing of images and movies, and the Type-II CompactFlash storage is accompanied by an xD-Picture Card slot as well. A high-capacity battery pack (NP-120) is available as an option, to facilitate extended movie recording. Plans for the newly developed xD-Picture Card include storage capacity of up to 8GB, meaning the M603 will eventually be able to record up to 2 hours of movies on a single card smaller than a postage stamp.
The M603 also includes quite an extensive range of playback and review functions recorded digital movies. The Repeat Play mode allows the user to repeatedly play back a selected piece of movie clip, while the Fast Search function helps to find any particular portion of the clip by replaying at between 2x and 60x normal playback speed. There are also onboard functions to delete unwanted scenes and insert new material for quick-and-dirty editing while out in the field.
The M603 was obviously designed with motion pictures in mind, as it handles very awkwardly for a digital still camera. For still images, what it offers in essence is easy to use, with fully automatic point-and-shoot operations and additional manual compensation to cope with difficult lighting conditions. The camera can produce image sizes of up to 2,832 x 2,128 (6.03 million interpolated) pixels, with 3.1 million effective pixels. A burst mode captures four frames per second for up to five frames, and there's also an audio clip function.
The M603 offers a maximum shutter speed of 1/2000 seconds for fast action photography. Other features include a Super EBC Fujinon 2x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 38-76mm), 4.4x digital zooming (in 640 x 480-pixel mode), a continuous shooting function of four frames/ second at full resolution for up to five frames, and a Voice Memo feature. Image quality is excellent, with wide colour retention as well as the broad dynamic range typical of Fujifilm cameras.
The short x2 focal range is slightly disappointing, though, as it means users do not enjoy much flexibility in zooming in and out of their subjects. Although the camera offers a 4.4x digital zoom, using this feature will typically affect picture quality to some degree. This shortcoming is further exacerbated by the very limited maximum exposure time of 1/4 seconds. This results in a severely handicapped exposure range that doesn't provide much flexibility during low-light photography and long exposures.
All in all, the M603 is a compact, innovative product offering that delivers exceptional video clips. If you're looking for a economical motion picture camera which can take the occasional still image, then the M603 Zoom is definitely the one.
Fujifilm FinePix M603
Company: Fujifilm Australia
Price: AU$1299
Distributor: Hanimex
Phone: 1800 226 355
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