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January 1, 2007

BenQ DC X600

With the styling of most compact cameras being so similar these days, it's not unusual to experience a feeling of déjà vu. In the case of the BenQ DC X600, though, we can confirm that our paths have indeed crossed before – although back then, it was branded as the Pentax Optio S6.

Basing the X600 on the Pentax wasn't a bad idea, as the S6 was a highly capable camera and one of the prettiest compacts of recent years. It's unsurprising, then, that BenQ has done little to change that winning formula, making only slight aesthetic tweaks.

The X600 retains the S6's comfortable profile and pleasing build quality. The layout of the controls, which frame the 2.5in LCD, also remains unchanged, right down to the peculiar spherical Menu and Delete buttons.

At the heart of the BenQ is a 6Mp (megapixel) CCD (charge-coupled device) sensor, producing images of up to 2,816x2,112 pixels, or movies at 640x480, running at a fluid 30fps (frames per second).

The X600 is fitted with Pentax glassware, the zoom offering an optical range a whisker under 3x (roughly equating to 37.5-112.5 in 35mm terms), and partnered by a usable f2.7-5.2 aperture spread.

Shooting modes cater well for the automatic fans, with enough options to keep the point-and-shoot brigade happy. More adventurous users looking for manual options won't find the BenQ quite so accommodating.

Image quality was pretty good overall, with generous colour saturation and finer detail captured admirably. Sadly, the BenQ does suffer from grainy images on ISO settings beyond 100 and a temperamental automatic white balance that occasionally dips into cooler tones.

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BenQ DC X600

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