The C-60 adds a number of improvements
to the C-50's capabilities. Aside from the extra one million
pixel the C-60 can capture over the C-50, the other improvements
warrant special attention. For example, CCD sensitivity starts
at 64 ISO with the C-60, and overall the camera is noticeably
less sensitive to noise than the C-50. Photos captured at 64
ISO are normally noise-free, even in deep shadow areas.
Aperture: f4.8, shutter speed 1/200
sec., 64 ISO.
Aperture: f2.8, shutter speed 1/800 sec., 64 ISO.
Indeed, with the C-60 set to
either 64 or 100 ISO, noise is not easily detected in everyday
photos. At 200 and 400 ISO some noise can become visible in solid
colour surfaces or in shadow areas, but even then the photos
are normally completely useable and will print out quite well
at up to a 5 x 7 inch size.
A note of caution however, the Auto ISO mode of the C-60 lets the camera
increase the CCD sensitivity over the entire ISO range.
Therefore, under low light
conditions, or when the flash is used to light a dark or distant
subject, images can be captured at up to 400 ISO and can contain
noticeable noise.
Distortion is reasonably well-controlled at the wide angle end of the
zoom, and only a bit of barrel distortion can be observed in wide angle
shots, as the image at right can attest to. At the telephoto end, the
3X zoom is the equivalent to a 114mm, and as is usually the case with
that type of focal length, the images show no pincushion distortion.
Aperture: f2.8, shutter speed 1/250
sec., 64 ISO.
Aperture: f4.8, shutter
speed 1/800 sec., 64 ISO.
The C-60's photos are well-exposed
and the metering normally yields images that contain detail in
the highlights and in the shadow areas of the frame. Similarly,
the colours captured by the C-60 are very realistic and well
saturated, making the lack of any control over saturation less
critical.
The default setting for image sharpness on the other hand, tends to be
a bit on the soft side, something which is perfect for portraits, but not
ideal for subject that have sharper outlines. Then, the images require
the sharpness to be set to +1.
The C-60 offers an excellent range
of image sizes, all of which can be used with either JPEG or
TIFF formats.
At the highest JPEG image quality (SHQ) the C-60 applies a reasonable compression
that brings the 17MB uncompressed file size for a 6 megapixel image to
3.5 or 4 MB — a compression ratio that ranges from 4:1 to 5:1 approximately — and
which generally does not cause any noticeable compression artefacts.
Aperture: f4, shutter speed 1/640 sec.,
64 ISO.
Like C-50, the C-60 offer a maximum
exposure time of 8 seconds — sufficient for shots of cityscapes
at night — but adds noise reduction, a system which eliminates
much of the electronic noise that is gathered along with the
image during long-exposures.
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