Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S600 review

Shooting speed in seconds  
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Shutter lag (typical)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9

0.3 

1.7 

1.3 

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S600

0.4 

1.8 

1.3 

Casio Exilim EX-Z110

0.6 

1.7 

1.8 

Sanyo Xacti VPC-E6

0.7 

2.0 

2.3 

Nikon Coolpix S4

0.8 

2.5 

2.8 

Olympus FE-120

1.3 

4.9 

2.6 

Typical continuous-shooting speed in frames per second  
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Typical continuous-shooting speed

Sanyo Xacti VPC-E6

3.0 

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9

1.5 

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S600

1.5 

Olympus FE-120

1.2 

Nikon Coolpix S4

1.1 

Casio Exilim EX-Z110

0.7 

 
Image quality
Image quality was reasonable for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S600's class, although we noticed postprocessing artefacts even at the lowest compression setting.
 

Edge oversharpening stood out as the S600's chief postprocessing problem (top), while purple fringing tended to be its biggest optical artefact (bottom)

Overall, exposures were very good with detail in the shadows, and highlights were less blown-out than expected for the snowy day we shot our outdoor tests. Colours were mostly neutral and muted and were biased slightly towards yellow in flesh tones.

While the ISO 1,000 sensitivity does let you shoot pictures at much lower light levels, it's even more useful under moderately dim illumination to eliminate the need for sharpness-robbing slow shutter speeds. Most casual photographers will prefer the grainy high-ISO pictures to shaky, dimly lit photos or none at all.

Edited by Lori Grunin
Additional editing by Nick Hide