Samsung WB600 Review
Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 12 megapixel Superfine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5.5Mb.
The Samsung WB600 produced images of above average quality during the review period. Noise is the main problem, being obvious at the relatively slow speed of ISO 200 and then becoming progressively worse at the faster settings of 400 and 800. ISO 1600 and 3200 are only to be used as a last resort.
Chromatic aberrations were very well controlled, with some limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The 12.2 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting and require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera sharpening level.
Macro performance is good, allowing you to focus as close as 3cms away from the subject. Commendably barrel distortion is well controlled even at the 24mm wide-angle focal length. The built-in flash worked fairly well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate overall exposure.
Anti-shake works very well when hand-holding the WB600 in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. The maximum shutter speed of 16 seconds allows the camera to capture enough light for most after-dark situations.
Noise
There are 7 ISO settings available on the Samsung WB600. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:
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ISO 80 (100% Crop) |
ISO 100 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
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Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting. You can change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look.
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Original (100% Crop) |
Sharpened (100% Crop) |
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Focal Range
The Samsung WB600's 15x zoom lens provides a focal length of 24-360mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.
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24mm |
360mm |
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File Quality
The Samsung WB600 has 3 different image quality settings available, with Superfine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.
| 12M Superfine (4.75Mb) (100% Crop) | 12M Fine (2.61Mb) (100% Crop) |
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| 12M Normal (1.77Mb) (100% Crop) | |
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Chromatic Aberrations
The Samsung WB600 handled chromatic aberrations very well during the review, with limited purple fringing mainly present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.
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Example 1 (100% Crop) |
Example 2 (100% Crop) |
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Macro
The Samsung WB600 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 3cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.
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Macro Shot |
100% Crop |
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Flash
The flash settings on the Samsung WB600 are Auto, Auto & Red-eye reduction, Fill-in flash, Slow sync, Flash off, and Red eye fix. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.
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Flash Off - Wide Angle (24mm) |
Flash On - Wide Angle (24mm) |
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Flash Off - Telephoto (360mm) |
Flash On - Telephoto (360mm) |
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And here are a couple of portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Auto setting or the Red Eye Fix option caused any amount of red-eye.
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Flash On |
Flash On (100% Crop) |
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Red Eye Fix |
Red Eye Fix (100% Crop) |
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Night
The Samsung WB600's maximum shutter speed is 16 seconds in the Manual mode, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 8 seconds at ISO 80.
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Night Shot |
Night Shot (100% Crop) |
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Anti Shake
The Samsung WB600 has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.
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Shutter Speed / Focal Length |
Anti Shake Off (100% Crop) |
Anti Shake On (100% Crop) |
| 1/10 sec / 24mm | |
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| 1/15 sec / 360mm | |
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Sample Images
This is a selection of sample images from the Samsung WB600 camera, which were all taken using the 12 megapixel Superfine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.
Sample Movie & Video
This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1280 x 720 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 12 second movie is 14.2Mb in size.
As of February 2025, we are no longer providing full size sample images or videos for download.
Please contact us if you have any feedback on our new policy.
Product Images
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Front of the Camera |
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Front of the Camera / Turned On |
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Isometric View |
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Isometric View |
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Rear of the Camera |
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Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed |
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Rear of the Camera / Turned On |
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Rear of the Camera / Main Menu |
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Rear of the Camera / Function Menu |
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Top of the Camera |
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| Bottom of the Camera |
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| Side of the Camera |
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| Side of the Camera |
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| Front of the Camera |
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| Front of the Camera |
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| Memory Card Slot |
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| Battery Compartment |
Conclusion
The Samsung WB600 adds two major features to its successor, namely a bigger 15x zoom and Aperture and Shutter priority shooting modes, whilst significantly reducing the price. The rather bulky design and unwanted noise at relatively slow ISO speeds prevent us from recommending it more highly.
The new 15x lens raises the bar above its main rival, the Panasonic TZ series, but does so at the expense of making the camera thicker and heavier. You can just about fit the WB600 into a trouser pocket, but it's something of a tight squeeze. The 24-360mm optically-stabilized lens is undoubtedly very versatile though, so the WB600 makes sense if you really need the extra reach. The Aperture and Shutter priority sensibly bridge the gap between the multitude of hand-holding technologies and and the fully manual option.
Picture quality is very similar to the WB550. With ideal shooting conditions the WB600 impresses with its vivid, colour-rich imagery, with the caveat that this can veer towards looking slightly unrealistic on occasion. Keep an eye on the LCD and simply re-compose or stop down if everything looks a tad too bright and breezy. In low-light things aren't quite so rosy, with noise appearing at ISO 200 and becoming progressively worse as you move up the range, making this a camera best suited to sunny days.
Perhaps the best feature of the WB600 is it price - at $279 / £249, it's quite a lot cheaper than both the previous model and most of the travel-zoom competition, yet it doesn't sacrifice too many features in order to hit the aggressive price-point. We still prefer Panasonic's TZ series, but the gap has definitely narrowed with the introduction of the Samsung WB600.
| Ratings (out of 5) | |
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| Design | 4 |
| Features | 4 |
| Ease-of-use | 4 |
| Image quality | 4 |
| Value for money | 4 |
Review Roundup
Reviews of the Samsung WB600 from around the web.
reviews.cnet.co.uk »
Providing a massive zoom range and maintaining good image quality isn't easily achieved, but Samsung's done it with the WB600. The 720p hi-def movie mode might be slightly disappointing, but the stills are very good. The WB600 is one of the cheapest compact superzooms around, but it's also one of the best.
Read the full review »
Specifications
| Image sensor | Type | 1/2.3″ (1.10cm) CCD | |
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| Effective Pixel | Approx. 12.0 Mega-pixel | ||
| Total Pixel | Approx. 14.2 Mega-pixel | ||
| Lens | Focal Length | Schneider KREUZNACH Lens f=3.9~58.5mm (35mm film equivalent : f 24 ~ 360mm) | |
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| F No. | F3.2(W) ~ F5.8(T) | ||
| Digital Zoom | Still Image mode : 1.0X ~5.0X Play mode : 1.0X ~ 12.5X (depends on image size) |
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| Viewfinder | Electronic Viewfinder | N/A | |
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| LCD Monitor | 3.0" TFT LCD Screen Panel | ||
| Focusing | Type | TTL auto focus (Multi AF, Center AF, Selection AF, Face Detection AF, Face Recognition AF, Object Tracking AF) Focus Area, Manual Focus | |
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| Range | Normal : 80cm ~ infinity (Wide), 200 ~ Infinite (Tele) Macro : 3cm ~ 80cm (Wide), 100cm ~ 200cm (Tele) Auto Macro : 3cm ~ Infinity (Wide), 100cm ~ Infinity (Tele) |
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| Shutter | Type | N/A | |
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| Speed | Auto : 1 ~ 1/2,000 sec. Manual Mode :16 ~ 1/2000sec. Night : 8 ~ 1/2,000 sec. Fireworks : 2sec. |
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| Exposure | Control | Program AE, Shutter AE, Aperture Priority AE or Manual Exposure | |
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| Metering | Multi, Spot, Center-weighted, Face Detection AE | ||
| Compensation | ±2EV (1/3EV steps) | ||
| ISO Equivalent | Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 | ||
| Flash | Modes | Auto, Auto & Red-eye reduction, Fill-in flash, Slow sync, Flash off, Red-eye fix | |
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| Range | Wide : 0.3m ~ 5.0m, Tele : 0.5m ~ 3.0m (ISO AUTO) | ||
| Recharging Time | Approx. 4 sec. | ||
| Effect | Sharpness | Soft+, Soft, Normal, Vivid, Vivid+ | |
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| Colour Effect | *Photo Style Selector : Normal, Soft, Vivid, Forest, Retro, Cool, Calm, Classic, Negative, Custom, Defog, Sketch *Lens Effect: Miniature, Vignetting, Fish-eye I, Fish-eye II *Image Adjust : Sharpness (Soft+, Soft, Normal, Vivid, Vivid+), Contrast (High+, High, Normal, Low, Low+), |
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| White Balance | Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent_H, Fluorescent_L, Tungsten, Custom | ||
| Shooting | Still Image | Mode : Smart Auto, Auto ,Program, A/S/M , Dual IS, Beauty, Scene, Movie *Smart Auto : Portrait, Night Portrait, Backlight Portrait, Backlight, Landscape, White, Motion, Tripod, Night, Macro, Macro Text, Blue Sky, Sunset Sky, Macro Portrait, Natural Green, Children, Cloud Scene : Frame Guide, Night, Portrait, Children, Landscape, Close-up, Text, Sunset, Dawn, Backlight, Fireworks, Beach & Snow, Self shot, Food, Cafe Continuous: Single, Continuous, AEB, Motion Capture Self-timer : 10 sec., 2 sec., Double, Motion Timer, Remote Controller(SCR-A5) |
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| Movie Clip | With Audio or without Audio (Max recording time : 20min), 15X Optical Zoom enable *Smart Movie enable : Landscape, Blue Sky, Natural Green, Sunset) *Low AF & Zoom Noise while recording Movie *Size : 1280 X 720 HQ (30 FPS, 15 FPS), 1280 X 720 (30 FPS, 15 FPS), 640 X 480 (30 FPS, 15 FPS), 320 X 240 (60 FPS, 30 FPS, 15 FPS), 320 X 240 Web (30 FPS Only) *Due to the noise while optical zooming, user can select to record sound or not. |
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| Storage | Media | Internal Memory : 128MB External Memory(Optional) : SD (up to 2GB guaranteed) SDHC (up to 8GB guaranteed) |
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| File Format | Still Image : JPEG (DCF), EXIF 2.21, DPOF 1.1, PictBridge 1.0 Movie Clip :MP4 (H.264(MPEG4.AVC)) Audio : WAV |
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| Image Size | 12M: 4000X3000 pixels, 8M: 3264x2448 pixels, 5M : 2560X1920 pixels, 3M : 2048x1536 pixels, 1M: 1024x768 pixels, 9M W: 3840 x 2160 pixels, 2MW:1920x1080 pixels, 10M P: 3984 x 2656 pixels |
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| Capacity (256MB) | N/A | ||
| Image Play | Type | N/A | |
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| Editing | Single image, Thumbnails, Multi Slide show, Movie Clip * Slide show : Slide show with Effect & Music |
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| Interface | Digital Output Connector | USB 2.0 Hi-Speed | |
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| Audio | Microphone : Stereo Internal Speaker : Mono |
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| Video output | AV : NTSC, PAL (user selectable) HDMI 1.4 : NTSC, PAL (user selectable) * Remarks: HDMI function is available when connected through Type C HDMI Cable (optional). |
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| DC power input connector | TTA 20Pin | ||
| Power Supply | Power Source | Rechargeable battery : SLB-11A (1,100mAh) Adaptor : SAC-48, SCB34-U05 * Included battery may vary depending on sales region. |
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| Physical Specification | Dimensions (WxHxD) | 106.6 X 60.5 X 28mm | |
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| Weight | 210.7g (without battery and card) | ||
| Operating Temperature | 0 ~ 40°C | ||
| Operating Humidity | 5 ~ 85% | ||
| Software | Application | Quick Time Player 7.4, Adobe Reader, Bulitin PC SW(Intelli-Studio) | |
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| MP3 Specification | Audio | Frequency | N/A |
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| Earphone Port | N/A | ||
| Output | N/A | ||
| Noise Ratio | N/A | ||
| Sound Effect | N/A | ||
| Play Mode | N/A | ||
| File | File Format | N/A | |
| Bit Rate | N/A |
| PMP Specification | PMP Decoder | Movie | N/A |
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| Audio | N/A | ||
| Subtitle | N/A | ||
| TEXT Specification | File | N/A | |
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| File Format | Window | N/A | |
| Mac | N/A | ||
| Function | N/A | ||
| Language | N/A | ||
| Voice Recording | 12 Mega-pixel 15x Schneider Lens 3.0"" TFT LCD Screen Dual Image Stabilization : Optical IS + Digital IS |
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| Date Imprinting | Date&Time, Date, Off (user selectable) | ||
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