Canon 9342A001AA reviews (95)
I love this ultracompact camera
A wonderful small camera
Canon have done it again and produced this year another great ultracompact camera. The Powershot S500 really hits the mark for me. Small, and well designed it is also a well-rounded performer in the digital camera world. At 5 megapixel resolutions you can take very good quality pictures. The camera itself is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use. It comes with 32 MB compact flash, so you may well want to upgrade this capacity. Also, a case is not supplied in the box. Still these are small minuses. Like a lot of the newer ultracompact digital cameras the S500 has a movie mode, and can capture 2-3 minutes. Outdoors it takes some very nice pictures, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by its indoor performance with flash. It is possible to take some good photos without red eye problems. You cannot really go wrong with this camera if you want a good high performance compact.
Canon has done it again!!!Canon has got itself a real winner with this one.The S500 is a very comprehensive point and shoot.Quality construction,ease of use,asthetically pleasing and good value.Pictures come out sharp and vibrant.The movie mode could be a little better(compared to the new Sony DSC T-1 which can take video at 30fps,just like you would see on a DVD)but that's a small complaint. All the new cameras coming out in May04 from just about all the manufacturers will have a high-res movie mode,so you might want to wait if you want to take video with your cam as well. Back to the Canon.I highly recommend this camera.Of course you will want to upgrade the included flash memory of 32MB which is just not enough.Also get some sort of carrying case,this camera is too expensive to let it get knicked or bumped.I found another site that has great articles on digital cameras:www.digitalelectronicsreview.com Check them out for a second opinion. Enjoy
Exquisite little gem!
I own a 20D which I absolutely love and was getting tired of lugging it around and was therefore looking for a good digital point and shoot. My two major candidates were the S500 and the S70.
If you follow the photography boards at all you realize that this is a fairly common dilemma - the S500 vs the S60/70. The S60/70 offers excellent manual controls while the S500 is significantly smaller without any manual control whatsoever other than exposure compensation. I just LOVE the look and feel of the S500 though if anything it could be argued that it is TOO small. If you feel it is and you are looking for a carry everywhere camera it is well worth the effort to get used to the small size because the camera takes beautiful pictures.
The S500 is simply beautiful. I can live without all the manual controls since I own the 20D and since this camera is primarily for my wife and for me when I don't want to lug the 20D around.
Several have pointed out that since this camera is so small it will always be with you whereas the S60/70 would be less likely to be carried along because of its increased size. This is a very good argument! The camera is SUBSTANTIALLY smaller than its bigger brother the S70. The form and size factors are what finally won me over.
One criticism of the camera. Low light focusing is less than ideal. You need to work with the camera to understand its limitations indoors. Also, battery life could be better, but that's the price you pay for such a small camera.
The sensor size of the S500 is the same as that of the S60 and the S70 - 1/1.8". This is an ideal size for a point and shoot IMO. The 1/2.5" sensor used in the smaller SD series cameras represents a poor image quality trade off. Stick with the larger sensor which give less noise, chromatic aberration, and better image quality.
I purchased the leather Elph case which protects the camera well and only adds insubstantially to the bulk. Some have complained that prior iterations of this camera scratch easily. I've owned them and found that if you keep the camera in a case and exercise modest caution that the camera will remain pristine.
The pictures are just fantastic! Color saturation is superb and the file size is sufficient that you can crop moderately with little negative impact. Other than in low light the camera locks onto its subject quickly and accurately.
One other consideration: The S700 will undoubtedly be hitting the streets soon. It will employ the larger Sony sensor used by the S70 which gives fantastic results. It might be worth your while waiting.
I am a huge fan of the Canon cameras and I would advise anyone looking for a camera, whether a point and shoot or a DSLR to carefully consider the Canon line since, in my opinion, Canon currently represents the state of the art.
Great Camera....whats that spot on the LCD - III exchanged my camera from Best-buy after finding the spot on the LCD the very next day. Since then I have had the opportunity to take some pictures and I must say I am very happy results. My wife took the camera for our daughters easter parade and the pictures are excellent. Crisp clear picture of little kids doing their thing as they marched (or ambled is more like it) to the chapel. Some people have said that Canon does not deliver true skin tones - for me that myth has be shot to bits! My daughters class is ethnically and racially diverse and skin tones were delivered flawlessly. Flash is quite effective. I could not find any obvious flaws with it. In fact I like to use the camera without flash to capture indoor shots and I was blown away by the results. Of course, I was capturing inanimate objects. I like the manual setting options. The camera allows you to set defaults for each mode (except auto) i.e. exposure, ISO etc. Thats useful if you want more control over your shots. It allows you to shoot in B&W also, which is great(and I don't thing the P10 has this - I may be wrong.) I also bought a 256mb flash Card - and I can get 99 pictures at 5mp. Decreasing the size to 1600x1200 at Fine (instead of superfine) gives you approximately 420 images. The flash card (SanDisk 256mb) cost only about $45 (it was on sale at best buy and I got 10% off of 4 Digital Camera accessories.) What an awesome buy! P.S: I tried to update my original review but my updates are not reflecting. I
Love it, glad I got it
I'm a big fan of Canon cameras. I have an old AE-1 SLR, a point and shoot, and a Powershot S100. I got the S500 mainly because of my past experience with Canon. I'm not disapointed in the least. I love my S100 because of the size. I literally carried it with me everywhere I went. Now with the S500 I do the same thing, and the pictures are so much better. I just got my first set of pictures from Ofoto and they came out stunning. The pictures are sharp, vivid, and balanced. I love my S500. I do think you should get a bigger memory card, because 32mb is barely enough for a handful of pictures. However, the camera is top notch. And the size makes it so much easier to deal with. Your not giving up quality for size with this thing.
This is one to get if you want 5MPThe new Canon PowerShot S500 is a 5MP upgrade to the immensely popular S400 model, which was a 4MP digital camera. The S500 produces excellent images, is easy to use, and is compact enough to carry in a pocket. 3X optical zoom is standard on these cameras. Besides shooting still photos, you can record low-res video clips as well as audio clips, but don't expect high quality on either. For a hundred bux less, you can get the 4MP S410 model which is otherwise identical to the S500. Should you go for this or the S410? I think for most consumers 4MP is plenty enough, with room for cropping and enlargements. 5MP is only necessary if you really crop a lot *and* plan to blow up the cropped images. The S410 strikes a great balance between pixel count and price -- it's a better value.
Point-and-shoot at its bestThis is my first digital camera, and I have no regrets. It's a damn fine point-and-shoot with very intuitive controls and can be used virtually right out of the box (just charge the battery a bit). The video capture feature is just fine; afterall, if you wanted a video camera, you would have purchased one. I considered the Sony DSC-T1, but with Sony's proprietary memory requirements, the cost/benefit just didn't add up. The S500 is a sturdy camera, and should satisfy the casual photo enthusiast for quite some time. The included software is also user-friendly and easy to use. My Canon Elan 7E and Canon Elph 2 kept me content for quite some time. With hundreds if not thousands of dollars spent on photo-processing however, it was simply time to get into the digital age. For accessories, you'll want to get a case for it (such as the PSC-50) as it only comes with a wrist strap. In addition, consider purchasing a larger CF card (256MB or 512MB... I purchased the SanDisk Ultra II 256MB). Once you buy a card, you'll be able to use it in digital SLRs if you go that route; the included 32MB card will quickly run out of space if you are taking full resolution photos. Anyone interested in taking the leap into digital photography and wanting unbiased reviews should take a look at Steve's Digicams at www.steves-digicams.com. Choosing a digital camera is very much a function of lifestyle. If you are used to SLRs and like being able to bring multiple lenses for special photography opportunities, then consider the Digital Rebel or EOS 10D; you won't find better cameras on the market. If however, you want a compact camera that you can easily take anywhere, consider the S500 as a happy travel partner to capture those moments, and never process film again!
Very Nice and Compact
Awesome compact size, nice images, great color, easy to use with excellent construction. In short the camera has a very high "Coolness Factor" and worth every penny. The only two thinga I would change would be to relocate the tripod socket to the center of the bottom plate. The camera is dense for it's size and with the "center of gravity" where it is, relative the tripod socket, restricts the camera's use in the vertical position when matched with a tiny tripod like the Sima ST-10T Mini Tripod with the tripod legs retracted. Get a slightly larger tripod (30-50% larger) and everything will be just fine. Second, the camera will let the user set exposure compensation in 1/3 EV increments, and set the type of lighting source, ie florescent, incandesces... but not in video mode.
Amazing Little Camera That Packs a Punch
If you are looking for a camera that has excellent picture quality, easy to operate, and compact enough to take everywhere - Canon's PowerShot S500 deliveres. This camera replaces my Sony DSCV1 Cyber-shot 5MP and left treadmarks on it. The S500 has better picture quality and is smaller. These are the qualities that I want in a compact, portable, point and shoot rig. If you want more features consider the new Canon Rebel (digital rig). Pound for pound this camera hangs with the best of them.
This is a good camera, but...I'd been waiting for the five megapixel version of this camera to come out, but after a bit of research I have some advice; buy the four megapixel version instead. Canon's been having problems putting five megapixels on such a small sensor like the ones used on the S50 and S500 (they use the same sensor). Check out the online review at dcresource(dotcom). Why buy a five megapixel when you get better image quality and smaller file sizes with the 4MP version of the same camera? I ended up buying a brand spankin' new S45 on closeout from Amazon for 2/3 of what these sell for. Let the members of the upgrade of the month club have their new toy, and be waiting to take their "old" camera off their hands, or buy a new one at a fire sale price.
compact, easy to use
this camera is compact, easy to use, a tad bit thicker than the sd100, which has a darker gray sliverish surface. this camera has a lot of options/fuctions, the best part i think is the 640x480 video option. the 30 sec limit means about 18 mb videos un compressed. it's great quality. and the picture's "smart focus" is great.
Top Notch!I am a big fan of Canon cameras, so I might be a little biased. But that doesn't mean I don't use cameras from other manufacturers. I have found that Canon cameras, in this case the Powershot S500, are at the top of the camera market. The design is terrific. Canon really outdid themselves with the design of the Elph line of digitals. It's good looking and compact, but still packed with all the features you need. The one thing I really love about this camera is that it just feels solid in your hand. It's a small camera, but some people are surprised at how solid it feels. Included with this camera is a high speed 32mb compact flash card. They're the first to include a card of this type and size which is great. But if you're shooting at maximum resolution, you can really only take 11 pictures. You'll need at least a 64mb card to get 24 pictures at maximum resolution. The quality of the pictures and performance of the camera are very high. I can't believe the amount of information that is captured at 5 megapixels. The pictures are remarkably clear and vibrant. The camera performs well in all conditions. The low light assist lamp works well. The only thing they could have included was an 'action' shot mode that trims down the shutter speed to capture fast moving objects or people. The software you get with this camera is very good. Easy to download pictures, great organization, and all the little features like stitch assist are great. Overall an excellent camera. If you're looking for a top of the line point and shoot, you'd find it hard to find a better camera than the Canon Powershot S500.
Superb Machine! Excellent, Sharp Pictures in a Small Frame.I was shopping at Best Buy with my friend, who decided on the SD110, the smallest in the ELPH series. However, after a little research, I found that the s500 is only marginally larger than its smaller sibling. Even so, this marvel can slip into my front pocket easily and takes superb pictures. The s500 also has the distinction of having 5 megapixels--fully 2 more than the SD110, and 1 more than the cheaper s410. I'm thinking if I'm already going to be spending so much money ($500 with an additional battery pack), I might as well go all out for the best, or just stick to a cheap $200 camera. Right? And who wants to buy cheap electronics? :-P I also have the Canon A70 and the Sony Cybershot U40. While the A70 was my trusty workhorse last year, it is rather homely and bulky. While not *very* large, there would have been no way to slip that brick into my pocket, with it's protruding grip and lens. Also it is only 3.2 megapixels. From looking at the pictures I took today on the s500's "shakedown" around the neighborhood, I can already tell that it takes far more detailed, sharper images than the A70, which suffered from a minor "softness" in the pictures it took. Also, the s500 is less a camera than it is a work of art in it of itself. When off, the camera has a slim, elegant look. It has an nostalgic air of Art Deco about it. From the front, the highly polished silver and handsome gold rings around the lens will catch anybodys' eye immediately--a breathtakingly beautiful machine to take breathtakingly beautiful pictures. On the other hand, this camera is not nearly as small as the Sony U40, which was about the size of my index and middle fingers put together. However, that had no zoom and took only marginally acceptable images (2 MP and rather grainy)--I bought it primarily so I'd have a throwaround camera. In any case, the s500 is not *as* small, but it still fits into my pocket without any hassle (you'll know it's there, but it won't bother you), and the optical zoom and high image quality more than make up for it. Again, the image quality is superb, and all in such a portable package. Manual controls are light. There is AUTO, Manual, Panorama, and Video mode. In Manual, you can control the ISO and F stops, but they are not readily available, and require fiddling with the menu to access. I don't care, personally. I bought the camera for it's portability and ease of use when I want to snap pictures. I leave the wheel on AUTO and I am perfectly content with the images I get--for the average picture taker, too, I'd imagine. The movie mode is decent. This is a camera and not a camcorder, it's still part of the package, but I'll not put it into consideration when rating this camera. Subpar. My A70 could take 640x480s at 15 frames/second while the s500 only takes a sluggish 10. It's is quite choppy, but bearable. The s500 can have 15 frames a second under the two smaller video resolutions, but they still do not look as good as the videos I captured with my A70. There is just an element of choppiness that I do not like. Perhaps the increased megapixelage necessitates a decrease in smoothness, I don't know. However, the movie mode is just an additional nicety in this otherwise superb piece of machinery, and it decent, acceptable, just not as good as I know it could be, for Canons, but I know this feature is important for many people considering digital cameras. The proprietary battery is also something that I do not like (I prefer AAs) but I suppose there have to be some trade-offs--I'd suggest getting a spare, since it's theoretically supposed to last only about 2 hours per charge. I'd also suggest getting the skin-tight leather cover for this cam, since you can still fit it in your pocket while keeping that lovely luster intact, away from the coarseness of your pockets. I'd also suggest getting a CF that has as high a write speed as possible. When taking pictures at maximum size(2592x1944) and maximum resolution (super-fine), my card took about 1-3 seconds to finish recording. I could continue taking more pictures almost immediately afterward, but I would still have to wait for the images to finish writing before turning off the camera. I did not notice this when I took superfine photos at the Medium size settings. Speaking of CF, I'd also suggest getting as big a card as possible. This monster takes pictures at 1-3 Mb each which means about 100-200 picture for me--my 256Mb card doesn't seem so adequate anymore. But it's fine. Conclusion. So definately a great buy. It takes wonderful, superb pictures, and decent movies. By itself, it is a work of art, and truly is a handsome camera. All this, and is still compact enough to throw in your pocket or for the ladies, purse. There are slightly smaller and cheaper ELPHs, the sd110 and s410, but you will already be spending so much, and if you are, you might as well spring for the full 5 megapixel goodness that the s500 offers--3 megapixel cameras belong back in 2003. And there are other brands to choose from, but I honestly have not seen a more handsome camera that takes such spectacular images, and I think if you are considering this camera at such a price, that surely, you will be considering the aesthetic value of what you are buying. This camera is sure to please.
Not quite ideal
Update: A year on the camera still works fine. It's still too slow for any sort of action shot and there's no way to put it into shutter priority so far as I can tell. As a belt camera I still haven't found anything better and it's showing very little sign of wear from being with me every day. Battery life is still very good. However, the slow reaction of the camera has driven me to buy an EOS-20D. I can't take it everywhere but it's way better for any form of action. Curiously some of my best scenic shots are still with the S500. Would I buy it again? Only if I couldn't get something the same size with shutter priority and faster reactions to the shutter release.
After a couple of weeks of taking pictures and experimenting with settings I'd say this is good, great in many circumstances, but not perfect.
Some of the issues are just limitations of the form factor, the form factor was the deciding point in my choice of cameras. Perhaps I had some unrealistic expectations of the ability of technology to overcome physics?
Basically, with a 5M pixel sensor and a tiny little lens you don't get fast shutter speeds unless you either have excellent lighting or use the flash. Fortunately the flash is perhaps unexpectedly powerful, so most indoor shots can be well lit and fill-in can be used outdoors, though you seem to have to go to manual mode to force the flash to be used.
The battery seems to last well even when using the flash. Some reviews say you need to use one battery while charging another. Well, I don't know what they were doing, I meant to change the battery yesterday morning and the camera is still going strong today, I think that's about 150 pictures since I last changed the battery for the spare. Batteries still have memory effect even though it is less pronounced than with NiCd technology of the past, the NiMH battery in the laptop I am using now has only half the capacity it should.
Anyway, back to the camera. The metering system isn't clairvoyant, it does sometimes pick the wrong subject, especially in backlit conditions which is why I know about forcing it to use fill-in floash.
Indoor shots without the flash will often be blurred, I took one just after landing in Chicago ORD and there was a lot of blurred motion on walking people though I had managed to hold the camera steady as the background was sharp. If you don't use the red-eye reduction mode on the flash you will get amazing red-eye.
I use a 512Mb Sandisk Ultra II that I picked up for about $120, that gives me about 350 shots in fine mode. The speed of the card hasn't really been a noticeable benefit the way I have used the camera.
The colors are good, I'm not certain they are great, I have a suspicion they are a little blue. Certainly blue scenes seem very blue.
Speaking of blue... my old Olympus shows red flares to the right of bright edges, so a white light will have a red halo to the right. On a couple of shots the S500 has shown a blue halo to the left, one example was a person standing with their back to a very brightly lit window, even though he was correctly exposed. Perhaps fill-in flash would have fixed this, but that would have given some red-eye.
In summary, this camera has shown me that there's no substitute for big pieces of glass even in the modern day, the lens is still the most important part of a camera. My old Olympus 3040z with an f1.8 lens was much more effective in low light... but I never had it with me when I wanted to take a picture "right now". The S500 in the small belt pouch with the 512Mb compact flash has proven sufficient for about 3 days of casual photography. However, if I want to take memorable and sharp scenic shots I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy the EOS10D. I hear now that the S410 may have better low light performance, so perhaps I'll sell my S500 and try that instead.
My first digital camera!I have been resisting the digital camera thing for a few years now. I tend to lean more towards the Polaroid way of taking pictures - just point and shoot and you have your picture right there. Well, "guess what" my friends say, that is exactly what a digital camera does! So after much research, I decided on this cute little Canon PowerShot. It hurt my pocketbook a touch, but so far I think it is highly worth the price I paid. The PowerShot is incredibly easy to use. It is literally just point and shoot, but with amazing zoom capabilities, red eye reduction, and I can even shoot short video clips with sound. This camera is so much fun! I find myself taking pictures all the time as this little guy fits so easily into my bag. When I think about it, I am not sure why I resisted going digital. With a camera as good as this, there is just no reason not to. I love my PowerShot and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to buy a new camera.
Great Lil' Thing
Im 16, going to portugal for a year. Got this camera to take some photos before i leave, and while im there. Has great photo quality (printed some out at Walmart) I love the camera, holds a good charge. I lost the charger already (3 weeks) oops! but its a great charger. Many options on the camera. I love it!
Something definitely not right about this model
Bought the first Digital Canon (Ixus in Europe) and have since purchased the 400 which was a vast improvement, but after 3 weeks with the 500 I feel there are inherent operational flaws in the microcode.
White balance was superb on the 400, but the 500 gives strange results (I've tried dozens of settings) from bleached appearance in strong sunlight (on the sunlight setting) to poor resolution using flash.
Resolution generally does not seem to have improved and occasionally the camera (for no obvious reason) produces a very low-res shot with settings in Superfine.
File sizes tend to be of the order of 2MB, the same or smaller than the 400.
When I press shutter release I never have any confidence that it will work. This aspect is particularly infuriating when you are trying to "capture the moment". I've just this minute tried to take a shot of the office I'm sitting in writing this review and I pressed and held shutter release and no shot was taken and no message as to why (just two defiant beeps). A second press of the button worked, but this dents your confidence in the device. Other times, the 500 seems to take an age to trigger the shutter (even on the Quick Shot setting).
This is now my third model in the range... the 2.1 had faults that I could live with (innaccurate viewfinder, hesitant shutter release) as the design and image quality was superb. The 400 was a staggering improvement with all of the glitches ironed-out and great resolution. The 500 is a big step backwards.
It pains me to write this review as I've recommended this range to friends and family time and time again, but this model looks like it was rushed to market without proper beta testing.
donnelt@yahoo.com
UPDATE 23 Aug 2004
Camera died with E18 error after 3 months use. Canon will not repair, citing misuse. BREATHTAKING ARROGANCE. Always kept in case when not in use. Looked after like a new-born baby. Search Google for "canon e18" and you'll see the extent of what is clearly a DESIGN ERROR.
Beware of moving this camera between indoors and outdoorsThis camera is the next generation in Canon's Powershot family. Let me start by saying that I have not bought this model, but that this cautionary note is based on a significant flaw in the design of the S400 which I have. I don't believe this flaw has been corrected in this updated model. I bought an S400 and used it for seven months. I was very happy with it. At that point, however, it stopped working without warning. When I sent it in to the factory service center, I discovered something very troubling about the camera that had I known earlier would have caused me to not purchase it. It turns out that this model--as well as many other Canon digital cameras, the tech told me--has an aluminum body. If you subject the camera to temperature changes (and it only takes a change of 10-15 degrees, I was told) condensation will form inside the camera, and the camera will start to corrode, eventually rendering it unusable. This is what had happened to me. What misuse had I subjected my camera to that caused this to happen? I took it on vacation to the beach with me. Carrying it from the hot and humid beach into an air conditioned car was enough to destroy the camera! The tech told me that he sees this all the time. He didn't know the percent of all Canon cameras that suffer this fate, but he said a lot of them do. He told me he gets lots of cameras back from people who have taken them on vacation to Arizona, Mexico, and Hawaii. He even saw one that had stopped working because the owner kept it stored in a stuffy closet. When the owner eventually took it out to use it, the temperature change back to normal room temperature was enough to fry the camera. I was told that this damage is not covered under warranty and that the manual cautions users not to subject their cameras to this sort of treatment. Canon will not provide service on cameras that suffer this fate. If this happens to your camera during the waranty period you're basically out of luck. You lose the investment you made in the camera and any peripherals that you bought. I hope anyone interested in purchasing a Canon digital camera will learn from my very expensive mistake in purchasing one. See the review section for the S400 on Amazon.com for even more stories from people who have had this same problem. What I said about the S400 holds true here as well. The camera is very nicely designed, but it's poorly engineered. If you plan to use the camera indoors only this is a great model. But if you plan to use the camera both outdoors and indoors, if there is a difference in humidity and temperature between the two where you live, and if you don't want to run the risk of totally losing your investment in the camera, this isn't the model or brand for you.
What a disappointment
I read so many good reviews of this camera that I was horrified when I saw the pictures it took. I have an old Kodak 260 which I wanted to improve upon, and this has failed. Pictures are either out of focus, 'bleached' looking with too much white, color reproduction is poor, red eye reduction fails to work - in short it fails on pretty much every criterion I wanted to improve upon. I thought at first it was me, so I read and re-read the manual, tried all manner of settings, and still each picture needs brightness and color balance, is out of focus and needs red eye reduction half the time. Also very annoying that it only warns you of low battery just before it runs out. It was a complete waste of money - only gave it 1 star because there didn't seem to be an option for zero. My five year old Kodak tank with 1.6 mega pixels is way better.
Great pictures, slight shutter delay
I'm happy with this purchase. Only issues are that there is a shutter delay that is longer than I expected. Also, I had to search for and download drivers for Windows 2000 - this was not needed to immediately connect to Windows XP.
The camera worked for 30 mins then died from E-18 error
I still couldn't believe that a brand new S500 only has a 30 mins of life span. I just received my brand new S500 this weekend. After taking 35 photos in 30 mins of its first use, it stopped functioning, shut itself down, with lense sticking out,lense cover wide-open. On the left lower corner of the LCD screen it showed E18. I contacted Canon CSR, he told me that it's called E18 error, meaning the lense won't retract, so it shut itself down to protect from further damage,and it has to go back to service center to repair. I post my experience on dpreview.com forum, and in one day there was a response from another s500 owner, saying that his first s500 suffered from E18 error after 2 months of use, then he bought another for his trip, then after 7 months it died from the same problem. After intensive search in the internet, I notice that I was not alone. E18 error results from the unreasonable mechanical design of the camera, the lack of lubrication of the metal motor and plastic lense track. After some use, the plastic wears out and the lense fails to retract. What I couldn't believe was that my s500 died from this problem in 30 mins, unbelievalbe. Avoid S500/410 by all means!
During my research for E18 error problem, this page pops up, if you're interested:
http://www.bitnet.cx/canon.html
E18 Errors doom an otherwise excellent camera
The Good:
Great pictures. Nice size. Average battery life. Loved the panorama mode. This was the best camera I owned until "E18" appeared on its LCD screen.
The Bad:
The E18 Error. I treated this camera with great care. I knew of the E18 problem from other reviews. I avoided everything that might trigger it. It happened anyway. At first sporadically, now E18 happens evertime I turn the camera on. Within 4 months of purchase, my S500 has become un-usable. Many people encounter the E18 problem with Canon cameras (not just the Canon S500).
Comments:
I've owned five digital cameras since 1996. All continue to work with the exception of the Canon S500. I have shipped software that works with digital cameras. I know very well how reliable digital cameras are supposed to be. It would be ridiculous for me to claim that every Canon S500 will eventually get this problem. But, based on some very easy-to-find-via-google user experiences, that something is amiss in Canon's engineering process and that Canon has spotty quality control. I will not recommend any Canon camera until Canon acknowledges and addresses this problem.
E18 Error / problem with the lens
This is my second Canon digital elph camera. Both were great cameras. Recently upgraded to the S500. About 6 months later I get the dreaded E18 error. I searched the Internet and found numerous people having problems. When I determined the problem to be the lens not fully extending I decided to give it a tug. It clicked and the camera came on, ready to take pictures. Turning it off and on produced the E18 again. While turning it on I gave it a nice little bump on the side (where the USB connector is) and the lens popped out on its own. No problems since.
Its a nice compact and light camera and takes great photos and videos. Only complaint (other than E18) is the limit of 30-second videos on 640x480 mode. I've got a 512MB compact flash card, I should be able to take as much footage as I have memory in one take.
Very happy customer
I have bought this camera this year. It exceeded my expectations - picture quality is great. So is the size, because I can just put it into my pocket and take it everywhere. I have no problems with it at all. The only issue is the battery life - it is little short and I need to recharge more often than I would wish. I wish I could use the standard AA batteries instead.
Terrific, compact camera...
I've had my S500 for about six months, and have used it extensively indoors, outdoors, and underwater.
PROS
Size. With any number of slim cases available, the S500 can be worn on your belt very comfortably. It's not too heavy, and it's small enough that it doesn't get in the way much more than a cell phone, doesn't look like a fanny pack, etc. If you're considering this camera, size is probably your number one concern, making this a great choice.
CONS
Pictures sometimes come out bright when using the flash. The brightness isn't bad enough that your pictures won't turn out good, but it is slightly brighter than you might expect (I.e., if you're using another Canon or other digital brand already). It also looks brighter on the LCD than it does when you view the pictures on a PC.
MISC.
- At max size and resolution, pictures may be over 3MB in size. I use a (few) SanDisk 512MB CompactFlash cards (SDCFB-512-A10), which hold around 200 pictures a piece.
- Battery life is decent, but you'll probably want a spare if you're going to be on the move all day. The Canon Digital Elph Camera Accessory Kit includes a battery, mid-size carrying case (great for travel) and a slim belt case. At ~$60, you can't beat it.
- For underwater photography (also good for rain, skiing, etc.), the underwater housing (WP-DC800) works great. I've taken several hundred underwater shots at a variety of depths (snorkeling and diving), and they come out very clear, with good light levels.
Overall, if you want a high-quality, compact digital, I don't know that you can do much better.
Nice camera, bad software
While I really like the camera itself, having no problems (yet), the bundled software for Windows is simply spoken a catastrophe. Installation as Administrator works fine, the software runs as long as I am admin but not when logged in as user. It took a whole while until I finally managed to get it installed in a way that at least I can use the software as normal XP power user. Now, after running the latest update it does not work anymore except as Administrator and it seems I have to go back and reinstall it from scratch from CD because the update does not install unless the previous version is installed (although the update does deinstall the software as first step...)
The installer is also not compatible with XP System Restore functionality. I tried to revert back to the point before the update but then the software wants the CD to install something again. This obviously should not happen if it was compatible to a XP restore.
The software service is incompetent, only advice: "turn off firewall and pop-up blocker" and despite of that "deinstall and reinstall". I don't need support service for that and automated service would be enough...
I like the camera and I like the software if it runs but the installation and the service is horrible.
Great things can come in small packages.
The Canon engineers have truly outdone themselves. I work for a high end photo retoucher, and my boss could not believe the S500's amazing image quality.
Sleek yet solid, the Canon S500 is the perfect little gadget to wow everyone. I never cease to be amazed on how they fit a 3x optical zoom lens and a great, fast image processor into such a small package. In fact, because the S500 is about the same size as an Ipod, it can fit into your shirt pocket or those neat Ipod clip cases.
I highly recommend this wondrous camera to anyone who demands quality without compromising style.
Gimme a break
some of these reviews are terrible. for someone to complain about "it always takes blurry pics or needs lots of color correction" is beyond belief OR you have a bad camera - hey, built by humans, so there's got to be some that are just bad.
i just took plenty of santa pics today at the mall... while we were waiting for my kids to come up, guess what, i experimented and must have taken 20 shots to see what was going to work... hey, yes there were some blurry ones due to ME moving the camera, but when i held it still the pics were crytal clear - and you can check this with the easy to use ZOOM IN feature while reviewing the pics.
i started 6-7 years ago with digital cameras with a olympus 1.3 megapixel. then a canon g3 and a $1000 nikon d100. today, we had this a500 in the car when we stopped by the mall - our pics are great. so if you have bad results its either YOU or you have faulty equipment - exchange it and get over it.
about the Windows XP software - geez - who would use that crap anyway? or any bundled software for that matter? Adobe Photosop Album 2.0 is the bomb and its affordable - get this and you'll thank me, but don't complain about the giveaway software and pan the camera.
have never heard about the e18 error, so can't talk about that.
this camera is small, incredibly easy to use and takes great pics as well. its also available at CostCo.
Condensation problem with ANY camera
Did a bit of online research after reading another review regarding condensation problems. Please note that
condensation seems to be a problem with any make, model and type of camera. This however doesn't seam to be as widespread as mentioned, and/or confined to one make.
Below a link to someone that experienced the same problem with a Sony.
http://www.digital-camera-reviews.info/html/digital-camera-reviews-2.cfm?Make=Sony&Model=DSC%20S%2075
Keep you camera in plastic bag when in hot and humid conditions, store it with silica and keep it out of water (obviously).
A jewel in my hands for 6 months...
The Canon S500 5MP camera is everything you can hope: small, easy to use, reliable, great pictures, and cool. You can truly put it in your pocket and take it anywhere. As with most digital cameras, it could be faster in taking the picture from the time the shutter button is pressed, but the S500 is better than most. The battery life and battery life indicator could both be improved.
As good as any comparable camera, if not better.
The top end of the S digital Elph series camera is now the s500. It is a great, reliable camera with excellent performance, especially compared with my old 230.
Pro: Light, easy to use, has advanced feeatures if you are advanced, and reliable, decent battery life, and well recognized camera.
Con: They still never have figured out the problems with the movie/manual settings/movie being so close together. Also the Shoot/play toggle is frequently found in the wrong position. Not smart enough to take nightime pictures and still see any lights. Still sluggish on startup.
And the software? I never installed mine, and pitched the disc. I believe in iPhoto. However, I found ... uh ... movies stay on the camera unless you have the software. That would be nice. But they only let you download the update version. *Shrug* Guess its my fault. Now how do I fix it?
Just got and workin great
I just bought one of the S500 it a sweet toy. I was recently looking to buy a digital camera. I have a Petax SLR which my bro has been using for his photography classes. My bro also had a digital camera but it is a couple years old and batteries have been kinda short lived (canon S45?). I borrowed it for a while and enjoyed it but it was still too big and heavy. I really enjoyed my real camera, but I realized my slr is not something that I can bring to a party in my pocket. I really wanted something small without compromising the image quality. So I did my home work. I looked at sony, pentax, casio, nikon,and of course canon. I had my heart settled on a T1 or the new yet to be realeased T3. 5 megapixls and a huge screen and tiny as hell. But the memory sticks sony uses in particular the duo is small in capacity and pricy. I was still not entirely dishearted. When I had some free time I went to a Sony Style store. He told me due to the small lense size that the color saturation is not the best. He tried selling me a different sony but they did not catch my eye. Then I started workin backwards. what is the biggest memory card type? Compactflash. Best bang for buck? CompactFlash. Same type of card my bro has too. So then I favored canon and nikon. I immediately zoomed in on the s500. Small fairly light. Kinda on the heavy side for its size, but not bad at all. Recharable Li-Ion. Short movies, 5mp, 3x optical zoom but you knew that. It had my bro's camera beat. I bought 2 1gb lexar cards incase one died on me, a spare battery, leather case and compactflash card reader to go with this new toy. I love it. I just went on vacation and I did not need to change the battery until the last night. It was great at parties right into my pocket. I snuck it into a dashboard concert and got some great picks too. Did not even need to be that close. For its size it compromises some of the more advanced features that the s-(doubledigit) line has but I haven't found anything I am missing so far. I highly recomend getting a Compact flash card reader. They plug and play with almost any OS mac or PC, and you can avoid all the messy camera software. I have not tried canon's latest but with the reader I have no need or desire too. The other benefit is with the reader your memory card doubles for file transfers. Anyway great buy.
E18 error
I haven't received an E18 error with an S500, but I did with my prior powershot, and that experience was enough to convince me not to purchase a Canon again until they've fixed this problem - or at least taken responsibility for it. I was able (after months of writing letters and sweet-talking customer service agents) to get it repaired under the warranty, but it's not a process I'd recommend to anyone. I'd had my camera for 6 months and been thrilled with it, and then out of nowhere the E18 message popped up. I simply have no faith in Canon digital cameras anymore (although I just bought an i960 printer and it's fantastic), and would caution anyone considering purchasing one to consider how important your investment is to you. The probability of getting an E18 seems awfully high, and Canon's utter unwillingness to deal with this problem despite years of complaints is too disconcerting to merit the risk.
Canon never disappoints!
I've just upgraded from a Canon A50, after toting it around for the past 4 years and putting it through loads of abuse. I've recommended Canon digital cameras to everyone I know and I've yet to hear a complaint. This camera was EVEN SMALLER than expected...easily HALF the size of my A50! They are not joking when they say it is the size of a deck of cards. Especially since my reason for upgrading was to have a small, yet powerful digital that I can carry along in a waist pack when I run the Honolulu Marathon next week.
My limited tests can be seen in the customer image library above, but I am sufficiently impressed to write my review immediately. I did make sure to buy a new camera rather than a refurbished model because I did have two problems with my old Canon, which required the 1-year warranty (you only get 90 days with refurbished). Since the repairs on that old camera, I've not had a problem in the last 3.5 years...despite dropping it a few too many times. The S500 has the same solid construction and aluminum casing, which should also protect it from mild abuse from its owner (I'd also recommend getting a nice little neoprene case for it...they may not always be pretty, but they're amazing protection!).
I've not had enough experience yet with it to speak about its battery life, but from past experience, Canons have better than average battery life, which I extend even further by limiting the use of the LCD screen. This models battery isn't much larger than a compact flash card, so I'm interested to see if it's as reliable as their other rechargable batteries. They did one major improvement in the battery charger that is worth noting...it doesn't have a cord. Much like the Apple Powerbook power cord, it has the prongs that fold out for charging and fold in for storage. Such a nice, tidy design for something that is normally cumbersome.
I have my degree in photography from Art Center in Pasadena, CA, so I feel qualified to give two solid thumbs up to this camera. It's not professional grade, of course, and any camera with a built-in flash can often give you red-eye or harsh shadows, but it's perfect for snapshots, vacation photos, ebay shots and having fun without carrying around a ton of equipment. It seems that most digitals do their job best when you just use the flash as fill, rather than your only light source...or better yet, turn the flash off and let the ambient light do its job. I know this one has quite a few manual override functions for shutter speeds and such, but I haven't had time to explore them very much yet.
My last suggestion would be to get a very large compact flash card in addition to the one that the camera comes with. I purchased a 1GB Ultra 2 from Sandisk (I found one for about $80), and it's very fast and will hold well over 100 uncompressed images. That will keep you from fiddling around with multiple cards when you're out and about. I felt a bit frivilous when I first ordered it, but now I am very happy I did.
colors are off
I bought the camera to upgrade from a Canon A40 (3 Mega pixels) to this S500, and tested identical shots with both cameras. Sadly the older camera took much better pictures. The color on the Elph seemed faded. Tried their VIVID color option, and it over compensates for the color problem.
Sadly, I'm returning the camera. Wish I knew what other micro digital camera to get instead. Maybe a Dimage X50?
Great camera for the size and features
This camera has proven to be quite an excellent companion. The pictures have decent quality and the battery life is excellent. It's survived a few drops on concrete with some serious nicks and scrapes, but the camera continues to function like a champ. The quick start up and small size make it easily fit in a pocket which will make you more likely to have the camera close by for those 'canon' moments that can come at any time. The pictures print in excellent quality (use an HP photojet with a Mac). The software with that comes with the camera is sufficient with the stitching software proving to be quite capable. I use other programs such as elements and iphoto for all other photo work which is usually superior to any photo software that comes with any camera. The durability and battery life have me sold on this camera. The picture quality is fine for my needs although I would like to be able to adjust the flash intensity for close up shots (currently try to filter the light with my finger over the flash which somewhat works). This camera replaces an older 3MP Sony camera with much satisfaction.
S500 works fine for a small package
Just upgraded from Canon S100 to Canon S500. Very happy with it. Same steel case and small size... perfect for mobile use. The main reasons I upgraded to the S500 are the 5MP imaging and the ability to capture videos. The newer options for continous shooting mode and video clips are handy. The audio on the video clip came out surprising well and the subject was 50 feet away too. Added a 1 GB CF card for plenty of storage space (video and photos). Picture quality is very good on photos. The *very bright* flash can wash out images in a close up while in darker areas (not in sun light), so I usually turn off the flash and the photos come out fine.
New camera software (ZoomBrowser) works better than the older version that came with the S100 ... I make my edits in PhotoShop. Slick package.
Five stars for value in a small, durable package. Glad I upgraded.
sadly disappointed
After having some of the most wonderful pictures and moments with my Power Shot S200 I decided it was time to upgrade. On a recent trip I took both the 200
and the 500 just in case, in 9 out of 10 pictures the 200 took a far better picture. The 500's flash is so bright that it absolutely bleaches out the picture, the zoom is out of focus and as a result I turned it off and have been using the 200 ever since. In this particular case bigger is definently not better.
this cracks me up...
to hear the few reviewers saying the S500 takes "blurry" pics is pretty funny in my opinion. Yes, I've only owned this camera for a few weeks and I haven't experienced an E18 error or any other negative things which were written in these reviews. But, I do have a response to all those who say their pics turn out blurry...KEEP THE CAMERA STILL when taking pictures! Camera shake is THE leading cause of blurry pics. So next time you get "blurry" pics, try using a tripod or some other type of support (wall, table, etc) and then form your opinon on how sharp the pics turn out.
I guess you could say I'm a hobbyist of a photographer and all my gear is Canon, with the exception of a FujiFilm 4900Z "prosumer" digicam. The S500's picture quality is comparable to, or even better than that of the 4900Z at half the size. I've had many pics developed from my lab and the color and sharpness are simply amazing for a "point & shoot" compact camera. The thing you have to realize is that this is a "consumer" camera and not professional by any means. So, if you're looking for THE best picture quality, look at the professional line of cameras in the $0,000's and stear clear of this one. Other than that, if you want a very good consumer (probably the best in it's class) camera, pick this puppy up and you will not be disappointed.
Good Stuff
I bought this camera few days back and results look amazing. The only thing I would agree that its pretty techy.
You'll need to read the manual before doing some operations.
CANON S500
AWESOME FIRST DIGITAL CAMERA.IVE HAD IT FOR 2 DAYS.MORE FUN THAN A BARREL OF MONKEYS.ive had it for a couple months now & cant find just a canon camera bag i like.most universal bags dont fit quit right.
disgruntled, and embarrassed
I love Canon products. I love the zoombrowser software. I LOVED my S200 digital elph. So I upgraded..
I bought 2 S500's, and had 3 friends buy one with me, (including my girlfriend). I am embarrased to say, the pics aren't very good. I am a photographer, and have tried every manual feature on this camera to try and improve the pictures. They rarily turn out sharp, and it is very hard NOT to wash the pics out with the flash (even with the pre-flash feature). The 5MP doesn't seem to matter. BTW, turn off the zone focus and go center weighted, the zone focus will drive you nuts picking the wrong subjects. I called canon, and they think I'm wrong, but I'm not. I have defended it to my unhappy friends- but not anymore. E-bay here I come... Anyone know of a good, compact digital camera?
Canon s500
I originally purchased the Canon s500 because I wanted a small, portable camera that would take decent pictures. That's exactly what I got.
There's no doubt about it that there are cameras out there who take better quality picture than this one. Originally I got this camera thinking that it was more important that I get the shot than that the shot be completely flawless. I must say, when I first got the camera and took some test shots with it I was pleasantly surprised with just how nice the pictures turned out. I rarely shoot in the full 5 mega-pixel mode, as for me it's over-kill. Yet the camera still produces very nice pictures. Add to the great photo quality the camera's small size and you've got a great package.
Build quality on the camera is very nice. The metal casing feels substantial and sturdy in your hands. Unfortunately, I've dropped the camera a few times, yet it still works flawlessly. The camera uses a proprietary, rechargeable battery, so you can't pop in typical alkalines if need be. This may be a drawback for some; however the battery is nice and compact, and seems to work just fine for me.
The only drawback to this camera, at least that I've encountered, is the flash. It does a nice job of illuminating subjects up to ~10 feet away. Being a small camera, much beyond that and the flash isn't bright enough and pictures come out somewhat dark. Overall I believe this is a great camera. Its small size, great picture quality, and good usability make this camera a winner.
Bottom Line: If you're looking for a compact camera with great picture quality you can't go wrong with the S500.
Compact and powerful digital
I purchased this camera a few months ago and so far have been very pleased with it. Ergonomics and interface are excellent. The camera isn't the smallest on the market, but it is very small for all of the features the camear has. My only criticism, which I think holds true for all of this class of digital camera, is shutter-lag. Capturing moving objects like dogs or children can be difficult.
Overall, I highly recommend the camera.
Great camera. Nice features but has some drawbacks.
LIKES
1) Nice compact size. Easy to carry.
2) Great pictures for about 90% of the shots.
3) Great features. Video mode. Manual mode. Sounds and Wallpaper (Themes).
4) Uses Compact Flash which is the cheapest type of memory.
5) Runs on same battery as the S100 (my old camera) so I have spare.
6) Browse/Zoom feature is great when reviewing photos (improved a lot since S100)
7) Decent price (paid about 320$) for 5MP camera back in Dec 04.
DISLIKES
1) Pictures come out a little on the reddish/yellowish side indoors for 10% of the shots, so I use the Manual Tungsten mode and it comes out nice.
2) Video shooting on highest mode is choppy and skips w/ audio playback. I recommend using the middle quality and dont move the scene too much while recording.
3) Video is suppose to shoot only 30 seconds, but I found that using my 1GB fast CF, it can do it longer by separating into chunks then you can stitch together later on your PC.
4) LCD is a little smaller than usual (but its good in a way so it saves batteries)
5) Only comes with 32MB CF. I wish the digital camera industry can just do away without memory cards in the package. Buyers end up buying a bigger faster memory card anyways, so why not save us a few bucks?
Extremely Poor Warranty Service
A few months after I bought this camera, the compact flash door broke from normal use. I sent it in to get serviced and Canon has some very crazy policies about warranty work. They say that the CF door is ALWAYS the user's fault and costs $150.00 to fix. They also refuse to do any repairs unless you get EVERYTHING that they find wrong fixed. There was some kind of scuff on the lens housing and they wouldn't fix the CF door unless I got that fixed as well (which they of course classified as "Impact Damage" and you're back to paying the minimum service fee of $150.00).
Don't buy Canon products unless you keep them in a sealed container and never use them, because if they break, you're out of luck.
Very disappointed in product durability
Within the first month of owning this camera, complete with the Canon case designed for it, I had to send the camera in for service. I carried my camera in a computer backpack that was well paded, assuming the combination would adequately protect the camera. The 3rd time I used the camera I found the LCD to be cracked and non-functional.
I had a similar experience with warranty service that another write up mentioned; problems are always the fault of users and standard $150 charge for repair. I spoke with warranty service and customer repair concerning the matter with a fairly callous response.
Nice features and functions but very fragile piece of equipment in my mind.
Small and sturdy
I can't say enough good things about this camera. Great pics, tons of options and it's small to boot. Ever since I got this camera, I'm amazed of the picture quality. The only negative is that it lacks a preview button to view the last picture taken. Otherwise, the camera takes great pics indoor and out. I often do not even need a flash in a normally lit room.
Amazing little camera!
I can't say enough about how great this little camera is! I bought it in anticipation of a 10 day trip to Europe and it outperformed even my high expectations. I've had some experience with photography, a few classes, and some nice cameras (all Canon's) in the past but this is my first digital.
As I wanted to make sure I had enough coverage for the trip (hence the 5mp purchase), I added a 512 MB card and spare battery to my order. Just over 200 pictures later (at full resolution), I have the photo record of a lifetime! The images are clear and crisp and the color is excellent. Even on cloudy days the camera captured great shots. And even though I took the manual along, the camera is so intuitive I never had to use it. I played with the various settings throughout but if all you want is easy high quality images you'd never have to bother. I love that you can preview the pictures on screen and delete them if you're not satisfied. The battery is long lasting - one would take me through the day and charge up overnight (the extra was a little overkill but appreciated in situations where I couldn't immediately charge).
Since returning from the trip, I've transferred the images to my laptop, uploaded the images to Ofoto to share with family and friends, written slide presentations to cd, and had pictures printed in 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10. All have amazing quality and have received great reviews from whoever has seen them. In fact, 7 framed pictures are in my office and many think they've been professionally taken and purchased! The quality of the camera and prints, coupled with the ease of use of the camera and software is outstanding.
Recently, I purchased an iBook and Canon PIXMA ip3000 printer. The Canon connected to the iBook without installing the Canon software package and interfaces seamlessly with iPhoto. Although I haven't had a chance to print from the laptop yet I did connect my Digital Elph directly to the printer. On the sample paper that was included, I printed 3 images directly from the Elph. All are great, straight from the camera with no color alterations or cropping. I can't wait to see how they print with a little tweaking on the laptop!
Well done Canon! This is a combination I anticipate having for a long time.
Great little camera
Takes great photos. Works great all the time. I can't think of a thing wrong with it. I am very happy with it.
Love it
This is the best camera. I have two small kids this camera fits in my purse but takes really clear pictures.
The quality of photos is surprising
I am new to the digital camera market. 4 weeks to be exact. I previously owned a cannon 35mm film camera. I am pleasantly surprised at the color and sharpness of the photos. I went with the advice of other reviewers and only use Cannon Photo paper. I also bought one of their printers. IP 4000. The combo is a winning one. The basic features are simply to use just reading a few directions.
Very fragile... breaks in a blink!!
I bought the camera and love it... for 2 weeks. I fall off on the table while taking out the memory card... the fall was less than 1 feet and it broke. I know that the cameras need to be handle with care and I am sure I was very unlucky... whatever... but is the first time I see a camera broke that easily. Now I guess I will have to fight to get it covered by the warranty. In any event, I found the camera too fragile.
Best compact Camera made
I love this camera. I really didn't know what kinda of camera would be good for me being that my husband & I ride quads and we needed something compact but that would also take crisp shots. This is the best camera I've ever used. I was a bit hesitant about the size because most cameras that take good quality pictures don't come that small, but this is definitely worth every penny. And Amazon has it for the lowest price anywhere online.
Good with some shortfalls
Especially considering the price, this camera is a fantastic buy. I've used several different digital cameras, and this is definitely the best(Olympus C-765, Pentax Optio S4, several Olympus Camedias). That being said, I have a few complaints:
Flash - Indoor scenes often have too little light to take a picture without a flash, but regardless of how little light there is inside, a flash will always make the pictures look incredibly washed out at ranges closer than about eight feet or so. More than ten feet will result in a blurred, low quality image that really doesn't benefit at all from the flash. So, for low lighting, get a tripod-- and get a decent tripod, too, the cheap ones are really unstable.
Batteries - Third party batteries cost me something like $5, and they work for maybe three recharges-- so do NOT buy one of these. The OEM batteries are exorbitant, though.
Lens size - A tiny lens means a tiny camera, but it also means a camera that can't take pictures that require a lot of light-- you either use a flash(losing color quality), or take a very blurred picture. For some reason, as well, low-lighting conditions often result in bizarre white balance. Indoor pictures always seem too orange, however I set it...
Additional praise:
Focus - Generally works out to be perfect or near-perfect.
Movie Mode - I don't expect it to be like a professional video camera, but for what it is, it works quite well. The microphone's easily twice as good as iPod mics I've used..
Size - It's so small! And the design is incredibly well thought-out. Everything's in the right place, and easy to use.
Quality - Picture quality is fairly consistent if you have the right ISO settings-- I usually use medium or high quality on S or M2-- low quality small pictures are only worth it if you want to just show them to friends and take a zillion, they're not really suitable for printing.
While I think I might rather have an EOS Rebel ideally, I'd rather go with something that's 1/3 the price and half the size. Good work, Canon! =P
A Word on Photo Quality
I did a bake-off vs a Pentax Optio & was quite surprised how much better this camera's photos usually were.
All were in our living room. The Optio had more trouble getting a good focus in less-than-bright indoor light. There was much less detail in its results when the focus WAS right (even after tweaking the "JPEG details" settings).
Especially I found less noise in the darker areas of the Canon's photos. Due to a bigger light sensor, which makes the camera a bit bulkier? Could be the reason, and a point to consider when you want a real ultra-compact / ultra light small camera.
There WERE a couple of shots where the Pentax colors looked a bit more natural. Maybe variations in brightness? Anyway, the differences were modest and neither was displeasing.
My wife was (very!) disappointed when she first got this camera (a birthday gift) because she'd focused on her friend's smaller ligher Optio. But when she kept getting compliments on her shots, while her friend had frequent disappointments, she changed her mind.
Great Disappointment
This is my 4th digital camera, yet is the most disappointing one to date. I'm a big fun of Olympus products, but several things led to the purchase of this one:
1. My wife just had a baby and needs an ultra-compact to carry around
2. $50 rebate from Canon with a Pixma printer purchase which I recently made
3. This camera's large CCD (1.8)
4. This camera uses inexpensive but durable CF card vs. XD card of Olympus'
Cons
Uncontrollable noisy level even at ISO 50 when shooting indoor
Heavy purple fringe aberration in most indoor shots
Small LCD (1.5")
Noisy AF operation
No battery life indicator
No scene mode
AF difficulty under low light even w/ AF laminator (AF Lock helps a little but annoying to use)
Pros
Well-constructed metal body, eye-pleasing good looks
Good color balance and saturation
Adequate flash power
Good video performance at highest setting
Good battery life
Bottom Line
If you use your camera more than 50% for indoor shooting, stay away from Canon Elph line
This camera is Mint!
I purchased this camera as an upgrade to a 2mp Digital Elph. It was nice that the 2 batterys that I had worked, and I also now have an additional charger. Picture quality is great...a little red eye here and there, but I think that is more from my picture taking. Included software is good, but i'd recommend Picasa 2...free download from Google, for Window's users. It's as close to iPhoto that I can find for XP. Pictures developed via Walmart look spectacular. 512 mb card helps. The 128 card that I had before would only hold 50 pictures from this camera...
Not a Point-&-Click Camera
I bought this camera specifically for my honeymoon trip to Paris. I have never used a Canon before but I decided to give it a go because of the great reviews. The first concern when buying a camera is the picture quality. You ask yourself if this camera will take a good picture every time you point and shoot. Well it does not! It takes about 4 good pictures out of 10. I took 250 pictures on my trip; bought the 512MB memory card, only 60 of them were print worthy. All other came out blurry or with dust particle in the air because of the strong flash. Needless to say that my wife was extremely mad at me for the horrible pictures. It maybe true that you could fiddle around a lot with the menu options that might improve your images, but on the other hand the option menu seems to be in Hebrew, impossible to understand. I'm a very well educated person, engineer, extremely computer and technologically savvy, but this menu is just impossible. If somebody tells you it's a cinch, it's probably because they spent well over a year trying to figure it out or have owned Canon cameras all their life. This is not a Point-&-Click Camera. I just was so extremely disappointed in Canon, so many good reviews that mean nothing. Hopefully this review will shed some light to perspective buyers. What camera should I buy then? You ask. I just don't know. Sony's are truly point and shoot cameras and their menus are much more easy to use. They use words like Menu, Video, and Resolution. Canon uses symbols and letters, very confusing. I would look at Cnet reviews and PC World reviews to see which Sony is on top. But overall this camera is on the bottom of my list. I write this review not to damage the image of Canon or to hurt Amazon sales but to inform buyers into making a right choice from personal experience. I never buy anything without ever reading the reviews, they provide a world of insight that the manufacturer can't mention.
You won't get it for free!
The get-a-Canon Powershot-for-free "offers" you see spewed everywhere on Amazon don't work! All you will get is a gigantic flood of junk email, telemarketing calls, and junk faxes.
Get the real scoop from the San Francisco Chronicle. Search sfgate.com for "David Lazarus free ipod not really" and you will see what these jokers are really up to.
The one you will carry with you
I've seen some great photo ops in my travels, problem is, I never had a digital (or 35mm camera) on me when I needed to capture them. I don't want to travel by air with expensive equipment that the morons at the airport toss around while they trash your carryon, I also don't like the "stupid American tourist, pls pickpocket me" look that an SLR around the neck labels you.
Enter the S500, compact flash compatibility with the Canon dSlR's should you ever upgrade, ultraportable for shirtpocket storage, quick startup for those once in a lifetime photo ops, and the accessories are as light and easy to carry as the camera. The only thing missing is a 10x zoom, but with 5mp, you have plenty of pixels available to crop and still get a great "enlarged" shot of the one subject you wanted in the picture.
Menus are intuitive if you cut your teeth on canon digital cameras previous to this one, and use other canon digitals besides this one.
Cons - old tech in digital camera age. if you are just starting out, look at the other memory media which allow even smaller ultracompacts. Doubt there will be a Canon S700 with compact flash card storage, but if you lug Canon dSLR's around at other times, or plan to upgrade to Canon dSlR's in the future, the memory media standarization with the S500 is a godsend to protect your memory card investment. and the current price of the S500 is a bahgain!
It's a great camera! And you CAN get it for FREE!
This is an outstanding camera if you want a 5MP that you can easily take with you wherever you go. It fits into your pocket, and takes unbelievably beautiful pictures. I've also read some reviews from people who say the online FREE sites are a scam and they don't work. Well, maybe some are, but Let me tell you, the one below DOES WORK. I got mine that way, and you can to. These naysayers don't entirely know what they're talking about. Just click on the below link, complete one of the offers, and refer a few friends to do the same....it's easy. the companys are all reputable - I recommend the Video Professor offer, which won't cost you a dime if you return everything within the 10 day trial period. The Blockbuster offer is also great. Just follow the link below and you WILL get your camera FOR FREE!!!
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GET THIS CAMERA YOU WONT REGRET IT
This is a fantastic camera. Its true you can get yours free...
[...] GOOD LUCK
Great until something goes wrong
I bought the Canon S500 just before a trip of a lifetime earlier this year. This camera was brilliant while travelling around Australia Asia and the Middle east. The scenic photos I took came out beautifully the colours were vibrant, I couldn't complain. Ironically I make it back home with camera but that's when it all goes wrong.
The camera was knocked off a side table onto a carpet floor; the lcd screen still came up but that was about it, no photos were taken, none of the buttons to change the settings worked,you couldn't play back images or anything. Sending it off to Canon didn't help either. Although Camera was still within the warranty, it would cost a minimum of $150 (no matter what is wrong with these cameras it seems 150 bucks is the standard fee) to fix as the knock to the camera wasn't covered in the warranty. It just didn't seem worth it to pay that much to fix a camera when I could get a new one for a similar price.
Prior to owning the S500 I'd owned the S300. This camera lasted about 3 years (I upgraded to the S500 for the better megapixels and new functions) and it was not as delicate as the S500, it went all over the world and wasn't always in a camera case and operated perfectly, it's ownly fault was it was superceded by newer models. I know camera's are delicate machines but I expected the S500 to hold up a bit better than this. I hope the SD500 has had some of these kinks ironed out
Great for Most Everything! Almost free!
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MOST (the normal user) will not be disappointed! This is a cool small camera. If you want more power (7 megapixel) and a larger camera go to the Canon G6. This fits great in your pocket. The pictures are clear. Relatively easy to use. A good place to start - unless you are wanting to shell out the big bucks. I only wish it came with larger capacity memory card. But they are getting cheaper everyday. 1GB seems to be getting cheaper everyday.
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this is good
This digital camera isn't really mine though. My dad bought this camera last summer and this camera is pretty cool because it was voted on TIME Magazine that this camera was one of 2004's hottest and best technology. The picture quality is good and you can zoom in as far as you want to. You can also take videos but you may need a bigger Memory card if you want to take videos and pictures together.
A great little camera
I have owned the Canon S500 for 7+ months now and taken over 1000 pictures. I must say that this is a highly capable camera in its class. It's neither too tiny to handle nor big enough so as not to fit in a small pocket. It has more control than a simple point & shoot camera and gives consistently high results.
The LCD though small is higher in resolution and it makes it look better than the bigger but grainier LCD's on certain Sony models.
Surely, small cameras like these are never comparable to professional ones but i would find it impractical to carry a big SLR everywhere! Pictures taken carefully (i.e. proper conditions and settings), are really capable of standing high among the results of much better cameras.
Even though there are newer, sleeker cameras with better video capabilities, I reiterate that when it comes to still picture quality, the S500 is one of the most capable in its size and resolution category.
Finally, you must always remember that a camera with (x+1) mega pixels does not necessarily offer superior quality than one with x mega pixels resolution.
Great Camera
I've only had the camera for a few days, but so far it's great. It's easy to use, takes beautiful pictures, and it looks good.
blurry photos
When i first got this camera about 5 months ago, i loved it
i even liked the little videos. AFTER 5 MONTHS I KEEP GETTING BLURRY PHOTOS. NEXT TIME I'LL BUY A FUJI CAMERA.
CATHERINE FABRIZIO
E18 error
Our Canon PowerShot digital camera lens froze and with the E18 error. We rarely used the camera and kept it in perfect condition (locked up and well protected). But one day the lens would not retract, and the display only showed the error code "E18" in the lower left corner. I took out the battery and replaced the flash card with a new one, tried everything else I read about.... There is no reason why my camera should have stopped working, unless it was manufactured to do so...
My friends told me that their PowerShot camera did the same thing, so instead of sending it back and getting another that would soon give another E18 error, we decided to purchase a Sony Camera that works.
Canon should take responsibility for this!
Best compact camera I've used
This is the first digital camera I have ever purchased (I bought it for myself as an early graduation present), and I read tons of reviews before settling on this camera. This is the ideal camera for people who like to carry around a camera all the time because of its compact size, and it takes EXCELLENT pictures!
Pros: compact size but big enough to easily hold onto it, works well indoors and outdoors, flash is great, almost no delay when you press the button and when it takes the picture (a problem I noticed with other cameras), pictures come out with very high resolution even when they are cropped and enlarged, the screen on the camera moves very quickly and smoothly, you can adjust many of the modes with the buttons on the camera rather than going to the menu option (very convenient for changing the flash option quickly), the software makes it VERY easy to upload your pictures onto your computer, the battery charger is very easy and convenient to use, and the case for this camera fits like a glove if you decide to purchase it.
Cons: no battery life indicator (I solved this problem by purchasing an extra battery to carry around with me), screen is kinda small.
As you can see, the pros greatly outweigh the cons. I would highly recommend this camera to anyone. My dad is a fanatic about taking pictures (not sure what kind of Canon he has, but I think it is a Canon Digital Rebel), and the pictures I take with my camera are comparable in quality with his. I have had my camera for almost 3 months now, and I have never had any problems with it! It took perfect pictures for my prom and graduation, and all my friends were begging for copies of my pictures because they were so great. If you are debating over getting a lower megapixel (like the 4 megapixel version of this Canon), I'm sure it would also work as well as this one (especially if you are going to buy normal 4x6 prints for most of your photos), but I have never had any experience with that particular camera. Canon seems to make high quality cameras, and this particular model would be the perfect camera for anyone.
great little camera
i bought this camera after i lost my old canon s230 (3.2MP). i was going to buy the same camera but then decided to upgrade to a 5MP.
i am already familiar with this series of cameras so i wasn't expecting much of a difference, but i was in for a shock.
on my old s230 the flash wasn't very powerful and the digital zoom was never worth using since the pics would come out blurry. also it was an annoying delay when taking action shots.
the new s500 fixed all these pet peeves and i am amazed at the quality of pics. the flash range is great and you can use the digital zoom and still get great pictures. also there is a new mode that takes pics superfast so you won't miss that special moment.
definitely a great upgrade from older S-series.
E18 error
I had this error after 14 months with this camera. I actually think this is a very good camera, it takes very good pictures and it's very friendly. I had an E18 error in my camera about a month ago. I sent it back to Canon Service, they gave me the option to replace it for a couple hundred dollars, but after looking at the reviews of the camera today, I just realized I'm not the only one with the same Error, I don't want to pay again in 14 months. I'll probably look for a different brand.
Rolas
Love this Camera!
I bought this camera to replace a larger Kodak I had. I was looking for something smaller that could fit in my purse but wanted great quality pictures. I do a lot of scrapbooking, so I needed the zoom quality options.
I take this camera everywhere to capture opportune pictures so it has taken a beating and still works great. (I did accidentally drop it in a creek once and it stopped working. I contacted Canon and they fixed the camera for $75. As mentioned in a couple of other reviews I have read, they are very water sensitive.)
I have been very happy with the quality of the pictures. I have an HP Photosmart 100 and can print the pictures right off the card. Have also designed web-sites and have been able to use the pictures on them.
Same E18 Problem
I bought my Canon S500 in April 2004 and have not even bothered to look over the reviews since my purchase as a result of my seeming satisfaction with this item. Well, I just returned from London where, of course, I experienced the E18 problem with associated lens retraction issues. Since I carry my camera in my pocket, I assumed that somehow I had inadvertently powered up the camera. It is only now that I realize that this is a consistent problem with the camera occurring almost 18 months to the date noted in prior reviews. Thanfully, I have an extended warranty but would be seriously upset if I had to come up with additional money to repair what is obviously an inherent manufacturer's technical issue. The seeming lack of concern on the part of Canon to address this issue easily earns this item 1 star review.
Defective camera
The Canon S400, S410 and S500 have all had serious reliability problems. Read the reviews on this website and you will see that many customers have had a mysterious 'memory error' and/or the lens jamming (E18 error). These problems have shown up at about 18 months on all of these models. Since Canon hasn't fixed the problem in over 3 years since it first started showing up, I wouldn't want to bet that the new SD400 camera won't also turn into a paperweight after 18 months.
Oh - I forgot to mention that Canon will 'fix' the cameras for $150. Nothing like turning a defective camera into a profit center.
DO NOT BUY CANON
I had the same experience as some of the other reviewers. Essentially, I loved my Canon PowerShot until about 18 months after I got it when it started getting memory card errors. I called Canon and they were very unresponsive. At first, I thought I was the only one with this problem until I read the other reviews. Bottom line, I would never buy another Canon product again as they have poor quality control and even poorer customer service. I am going to buy a Sony instead.
a keeper for a looong while...
This is my second day owning this camera and it is replacing my S50 which I have been using for the past three years. The reason why I bought it was mainly because of the compact size compared to my bulky s50 and also the video mode produced better quality videos than the s50. So far I love this camera!
I have been comparing shots with the s50 and s500 and one thing that I did notice is that the LCD is of a better quality on the s50 and that would mean the images would look much better when viewing from the LCD monitor. I was able to view images that I took with the s500 on the s50 and the images from the s500 looked much sharper , clearer and superior. So I will be keeping the s500 for a long while. I also noticed a few unhappy customers that experienced error problems or LCD cracks. For those, I would recommend that you purchase the camera from a store that will issue a refund like COSTCO , this is my first choice in purchasing digital cameras because you can return it at any time whether its 1 month or 1 year from now, as long as you have the receipt. And they will issue a full refund, plus I got it $100 cheaper at costco off of the retail price.
Also in response to another reviewers concerns about speeding up the shutter speed. All you have to do is change the image capture mode to the "action" mode.
And please read all of the manual! I 'm pretty sure the error screen is appearing because the format of the av/out is not matching up correctly. You have to pick the right format befor you connect it to your tv.
Problems with Canon Power Shot Camera SD500
The SD500 has all of the design problems that the SD300 and SD400 have. The most important problem with these cameras is that the LCD is very fragile.
The problem is so bad that Canon's warranty no longer covers the LCD.
I bought a SD400 for use on a 2 month trip to Japan. I needed something lighter and easier to carry than the various digital single lens reflex cameras that I normally use.
Two days and 123 pictures later I found that the LCD screen was not working. The camera had been exposed to normal every day handling.
Best Buy and Canon said that there is no warranty for broken or damaged LCD screens. The bottom line; "Sorry boy, you are SOL."
I have used Canon cameras for over 50 years but this experience has, at long last, cured my addiction to Canon.
This camera is a Power Shot SD 400 Digital ELPH, Serial # 0723361903.
If any one is interested, I can get you a deal on an attractive paper weight.
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It was ok while it was working
I took this camera to central europe last month and it was good while it worked. I dropped it from 3 feet and the mode switch stopped working. I couldnt preview / edit or delete pictures any more- I sent it to canon and they wanted to charge me $125 to repair it. I know it was my fault for dropping it but - shouldnt a camera be dropped once or twice without an important switch becoming useless?
Memory card error - a lot of peole have the same thing
Stay away from Canon, many people are having the same problem with the s400 memory card error and canon won't recall it. Instead they are charging people lots of money to fix it. Look for yourself if you like. Attached is my correspondence:
To whom it may concern,
I have the Canon Powershot S400 and I have been getting the Memory Card Error since it was less than a year old. I was under the impression that it was the card itself but after I purchased a new card I kept getting the error.
Upon research I have found many other people that have had the same problem and Canon is not backing up their product, this is obviously a defect and should be taken care of at no expense to the consumer.
I spent over $500.00 on this camera and I expect it to work. I would like this camera repaired or replaced at no expense to me, if you choose not to support this I will be happy to rally all of the people I can and file a class action suit against Canon for faulty products.
I have enclosed just a few of the many unhappy people so please do not insult my intelligence and tell me this is the first you've heard of it.
I will await your prompt response.
Keith Williams
Phoenix, AZ.
Dear Mr. Keith Williams,
Thank you for contacting us regarding your PowerShot S400.
I regret that your S400 needs service despite the fact that it is relatively new. Unfortunately, no matter how well made or how well treated a product may be, there is always a chance that it will need service. That is why we offer multiple support options for products in-warranty or out-of-warranty. In the case of an out-of-warranty S400 we offer the Flat Rate Repair and PowerShot Upgrade Programs, both of which were developed from customer feedback. There is a charge for both of these programs - I am sorry for any dissatisfaction this causes.
I can understand why you would have misgivings, but I must caution you against relying on information that may not be credible. The fact is that the S400 is a successful and robust design as witnessed not only by its excellent sales but also by the service data we have collected since it was introduced two and one half years ago. Another fact is that Canon has an excellent reputation for a reason. We use our service data and we constantly review our products and processes to identify opportunities for improvement. If we find a problem we will act proactively and appropriately. Examples of this are two different programs related to service notices we published on our website in the past few months. In both programs we are servicing the related models at no cost no matter the warranty status. Further, we are refunding customers who paid for related service in the past. This is how we have always conducted our business and it is how we intend to continue to do so.
I hope that my responsiveness demonstrates our commitment to your satisfaction. I also hope that the information I provide reassures you.
If I can offer any further help, you are welcome to call my toll free telephone number, 866-865-7815, extension 2569.
Sincerely,
Brian Stout
Canon Customer Relations
Taken advantage of... frustrated
Once again... the memory card error is showing up, although I have not dropped the camera or done anything that would cause damage. This is the second time this happened. the first time I had it repaired with Cannon and this time I am just fed up! NO MORE CANNONS FOR ME... It's ridiculous that the same thing keeps happening for me and so many others yet they want to charge us $150.00 each time just to repair it.
LCD Screen Broke Within about a Week
While the camera worked it took great pictures.
8 Days after I purchased it, however, the LCD screen no longer functioned at all - it just showed strange colors, but no images (in both the shooting and viewing modes). I can not link the problem to any event (I did not drop it, etc., I handled it carefully). I brought the camera back to the retailer who said I must have placed too much pressure on the screen and so it's my fault. I am about to send it in for warranty repair, but from what other reviewers suggest, Canon will NOT repair it for free. I had a Pentax Optio for over 3 years and I never had this problem. I do NOT recommend this camera.
E18 Error Strikes again
If only I had known about this error before getting the camera! I received this error while on vacation several weeks ago and it rendered the camera useless. Do a search of the internet on this issue prior to purchasing. This issue has come up on several of Canon's point and shoot models and their is currently a class action lawsuit being investigated by a California based law firm.
Junk -- After 23 months
Don't buy this camera!!! Prone to "Memory Error" & E18 errors after warranty is up. Cost min $150 plus shipping to fix.
This camera was great until 23 months went by then I started mysteriously losing pictures due to file format errors. I switched memory cards and it happened again. Then the "memory error" displayed after a month or so of losing pictures. Now it doesn't work at all. I called canon to see what type of service could be provided and if they would fix what appears to be a factory defect since so many people have reported this problem. Minimum cost is $150 or I could upgrade to a refurb S500 for $199 w/6 month warranty. They have to be kidding, $250 get me a new one. For what appears to be common problem I was expecting more from canon. Guess I won't be buying another canon.
Google this "Canon "Memory Error" E18" and see for yourself that Canon cameras have problems.
Do Not Purchase this Camera!!!!
After owning three other Canon cameras I am through with Canon. All my other cameras were fine. This cameras LCD broke within the first month of normal use. Never dropped! All of my other Digital cameras held up for years. Ive had two powershot s50s 1 lost and 1 stolen. Never had a problem and those were both dropped numbers of times.
This is a product defect/design flaw and Canon will not cover it under warranty. $150.00 to get it repaired and It will happen again, or you may start getting the E18 errors. This is a expensive paperweight!
Poor design. Very dissapointed. I will never buy another Canon product again.
DON'T BUY! PICTURES ARE BLURRY. Terrible Customer Service. It is worse than a disposable camera! BEWARE OF WARRANTY
I purchased the canon powershot s500 digital elph last March. I kept getting blurry pictures so I called Canon technical support. They went through the whole procedure to make sure my camera was all set up. Well I followed their directions but everything was the way it should have been. So they said I should send it in because there was obviously a problem with it. Then I sent it in and had to pay for the shipping there. They sent it back and said they had switched out some optical thing. Well I just finally went to get my pictures developed and they all have the same problem. They never fixed the problem. Mind you this was the approximately 9 months of my son's life before the age of 2. I called tech support and ended up having to wait more than 24 hours for a call back from a supervisor. She said they would send me pre paid envelope to check out the camera. Well I was greatful and had to tell her that during babysitting in late August a little boy had dropped my camera so there was damage to the outside part of the camera, but it did not effect the quality of the pictures because they were the same as prior to the day it was dropped. She said that they would probably not cover it due to the fact that it might have been caused by the dropped camera. I told I have proof of when it happened and that the pictures prior to that date are coming in blurry just like it was before I sent it in the first time. I started to cry that my son's 9 months are all ruined and she was practically laughing when I got off the phone. The camera is worse than a disposable camera. Don't waste your time or money on this piece of junk. I recommend Olympus. My Olympus prior to this was only 3 megapixels and was better quality than this piece of junk. I am planning on contacting the Better Business Bureau regarding this matter. Please don't waste your time on this, like I have to! I hope this helps people make better choices! Good luck! I wish someone could have forecasted this for me!
Simply superb
I needed to replace a lost S4oo we had for about a year. Looked at the SD series and thought them too small for comfort. There is such a thing as too thin to handle comfortably. The S500 is, like the S400, just right in size. Big area on back for thumb so you an even one-hand hold it. Try that with any SD. Pictures are excellent for a hand-held. Not Nikon N70 film SLR good, but plenty good enough for any snapshot purpose. Bought one of last new S500's available at NewEgg abd very, very happy with it.
CLASS ACTION SUIT
1 year old... 3 e18 errors 2 battery erros shipped back for service 4 times! search the net for e18 before you buy!
The best camera I have had so far...
This was my first digital camera that I have ever bought, and I am completely satisfied with it. Talk abt the resolution or the camera's feature. All of it is packed into one small sleek camera. I recommend this digital camera to everybody. And I would say if I would decided later in future to get another one. I would alwayz go for Canon. They are the best in making Digital Cameras.
Lens Jams!
After just over a year, my lens jammed and the display read "e18". So I was pretty upset to discover that this is an extremely common defect - and a defect that Canon refuses to admit. Try Googling Canon S500 e18", and you'll see what I meant.
Don't buy it unless you want a very expensive paperweight.
Shocked and Dissapointed
I have known Canon to be a very high quality company. However, I was deeply shocked and disappointed to find that this camera fails to meet the expectations I had about this camera. A few years ago I bought the Fujiffilm 3800. I loved this camera but after a few ski trips I found it rather bulky. I then bought the Canon S500 becaus of its small size and after many good reviews about the S400. For most of the pictures I take on a ski trip this camera is fine. However, if you are taking pictures other than outdoors in the daytime, this camera is worse than a disposable camera. First, there is no red-eye reduction. It simply does not work when I set it to take flash with red-eye reduction. Second, pictures taken at dusk or dawn come out blurry. I would speculate that the shutter speed is way too slow and you would need a tripod. Third, night picture?....Forget about it. I tried to get a beatiful picture of the Chicago skyline but the picture was underexposed. So, I tried the manual mode and played with the exposure settings and I could not get a setting that would produce non-blurry pictures. Looks like I'll be back in the market for a Fujifilm. After all the reviews I've read, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop (E18, LCD, etc.). Not to mention the terrible service that I have been reading about.
Junk! Do NOT Buy It!!
Over 90% of pictures I took by this Canon are blurry. No way can you fix it. I really got fed up with it. Waist your money. Waist your time. More important, waist your precious moments!
GREAT CAMERA! I'm loving it!
I'm surprised to see that a lot of people only give 1* to this camera! I've had it for 2 years now and i just love it! Thanks to it, I discovered I had a real passion for photography... It's very easy to use and my pictures are great! When I show them, people usually tell me " you must have an expensive camera"... and i just show them my little Canon S500 and they are surprised with the result!
I'm just loving it!
wonderful camera
A birthday gift for my daughter. Lots of great digital pictures were the result! Great quality pictures, the only minor problem was a loose on/off knob. It still works but requires more attention than it should. But still takes super quality pics....
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