Best word to describe it is "WOW!'
I'm not a deeply experienced digital camera buff. But, I'm fairly tech literate, have a very critical eye for color, detail, and composition for photos and painting, and I did my homework on this purchase. Tried out Kodak, Nikon, and Konica cameras with similar MP and zoom specs and features, and the Canon Powershot S1. Didn't even KNOW the store had this Canon S2 model in yet, and stumbled across it. The better quality in its clarity, color and sharpness images was IMMEDIATELY apparent. So, too, was the ease with which I could quickly navigate the settings (as a complete novice) and find what would get me a dynamite shot. I've had it less than 24 hours and have tested out its Macro, Super Macro, optical zoom, optical + digital zoom, autofocus, and a few other settings. With Macro and Super Macro I'm already getting professional quality images with detail, exact color, and clarity that would blow you away. Other settings are good, but my skill in applying them is lacking so the compositions are not stellar.

Other competing cameras did not come close to matching the color reproduction of the Canon, nor did they match the image clarity, ease of handling, set up of menus... Most were not a patch on this camera. In fact, with the exception of the Nikon and Konica Minolta Z5, the Canon Powershot S1 beat most of the 5 MP cameras for color and clarity, too. So, if money is an issue you might consider whether you would be happy with 8"x10" as a maximum enlargement and go with the 3.2 MP Canon instead. But, if you want 5MP detail, high-speed 48x zoom with image stabilization, color and clarity that will blow you away, plus features and form organized to make it a breeze to use...get the Powershot S2.

It's expensive, but WORTH EVERY PENNY. While you've got your pocketbook open, plan on getting over to Wally World and buying a good 1hr recharger and two sets of 4 NIMH batteries for this puppy, plus at least one 1GB high-speed SD card (San Disk Ultra II or Lexar 32x). You should be able to cram in about 800 full-size, full detail 1.2 MB photos on a single SD card that way. If you can get a better deal on 512 MB SD cards and wonder if you should get several of those instead of one whopping big 1GB card, go for it. Swapping the card out is a breeze. If you plan on needing more, memory is getting cheaper every day. But be sure to get the high speed stuff to save on batteries and keep the options open for fast continuous shooting.

I am running a Gateway tablet PC with Windows XP and haven't even installed the Canon photo shop type software for image manipulation. But, with XP it's plug-and-play to download images. I hooked up the USB cable and in a snap my test photos were downloaded to a folder under MyPictures. No muss, no fuss, no setup, not learning new software...a breeze.

Bought this camera to satisfy my desire to get telephoto shots and macro close ups for artsy photog hobbying, selling stuff online, bird- and animal-watching. Also got it to satisfy my wife's need for a portrait camera that would allow fast shooting without a lot of composition set-up, yet have enough megapixel detail to allow it to be cropped later and still blow up if need be. This bad boy has it all, and then some. I am delighted with it and haven't even begun to tap its potential.

This is my perfect camera!
I have been upgrading my digital cameras every couple years and my dream camera was one that was compact, 5-6MP, 10-12X zoom, and image-stabilized. This is it!! It won't fit in your pocket but will go in a medium size camera bag. My camera goes with me everywhere in my purse; I always like to be ready for that once-in-a-lifetime picture, and this camera starts up so fast you won't miss a shot. The clarity, color,and detail of the pictures are excellent. The menu and settings are super easy to use. I love the 12X zoom because I am a nature and wildlife photographer and the image stabilizer makes the camera shake a non-issue. I would highly recommend getting a larger SD card - I got a 512mb, which lets me shoot all day. Battery life is not too bad and I just carry extra AAs in my bag. It is a bit expensive but I got a good deal at Amazon and it has been worth every penny. I can highly recommend this camera, Canon has come through with the best of class!

PowerShot S2 IS
A wonderful camera, the quality of the shots both in color and clarity is remarkable. The 12x zoom is excellent and detail is amazing. The camera also has a very good super macro feature which is as good if not better than cameras I have tried costing much more. The selection of "special" shots is very useful and appropriate. Adding manual exposure/shutter speed is a nice feature but one I think most people will find redundant. I recommend this camera to anyone who aspires to taking more than "snapshots". This is my third Canon camera and I have been very satisfied with all of them and this is certainly the finest I have owned.

Best ultra zoom camera out there!
I love this camera. It has everything I wanted on a camera plus a whole lot more. I had a Sony P-73 before this one the image quality doesn't even come close to the S2! What was I thinking when I bought that Sony? The S2 comes with full-manual controls and a very capable automatic mode for those who want to just point and shoot. 12x optical zoom, great macro mode (0cm in super macro mode!), amazing movie mode plus you get image stabilization! What else can you ask for on a camera? Canon really made a great job!

It is everything I was looking for.....and more!
I have owned 5 digital cameras, first a sony, then a kodak, then another kodak, then another sony (that cost me $500++) and now this. All I can say is, where have you been all my life!

I wanted a camera that my wife could use as a point & shoot, and something where I would have some control without getting into a digital SLR. This looked like it had the things I was looking for, though I was a bit reluctant going for it because of the 5 mega pixel resolution (I really was hoping to get a camera with 7). Well, this is so sharp, that I can't imagine 7 megapixels. Now for the review:

This camera takes awesome photo's no only in the day time, but inside. The flash is very strong and I have not gotten any blurry images (unless I was indoors and did not use the flash). The zoom is truly amazing. The 12x optical is excellent, but I must say I was more impressed with the quality of the digital zoom images that were being produced. The stability control really makes a huge difference I think because I got some pictures I never thought I would get, and they were pretty sharp, too. The basic controls are pretty intuitive, and advanced controls have a small learning curve that anyone with even slight experience with an SLR can master easily (also read the owner's manual). Battery life is very poor, but considering all it does, I don't mind at all. Autofocus is very fast, zoom is very fast, so it will eat up the battery. I am going to buy some rechargeable's, because these lithiums are expensive (though they do last much longer than alkalyne's). The strap that is including is nice, as is the lens cap cover. Cable's are great and transferring the images to my pc was extremely fast. You gotta love the USB 2.0! The LCD is a little tough on the eyes, and for some reason, after looking at it for a couple of minutes, my eyes felt extremely strained. Not a big deal for me, because I prefer the old fashioned way of looking through the viewfinder. Funny thing though, it does not bother me when reviewing photo's. The video is also great, and something that take a bit of learning, but is very cool, is the panoramic function where you can stitch multiple images together. That is very cool (though photo shop will do the same thing, it is nice to have this feature when you are out).

I have used this camera in a variety of lighting conditions from beach to dimly lit auditorium and am extremely happy with the way it performs. The fit, finish, and feel are also quite nice, and the camera has several accessories that expand its capabilites. This is probably as close to a digital SLR as you can get, and still be able to have a P&S that any child could use. I am very happy with this camera! (See my review of the Sony DSC T-1 for a completely different type of review). I highly recommend this camera.

A wonderful camera
This camera is really wonderful. I previously had a Sony digital camera, about 5 years old, and this one blows it away. Of course, that should be expected because this camera is 5 years newer technology. The improvements I am realizing are:

1) 12x optical zoom. This cannot be understated. I am really able to take pictures that otherwise I would have been too far away to capture. The camera's larger size is more than offset by this capability.
2) Good flash. I can light up large rooms with the powerful flash.
3) SD card - one of the more common, inexpensize memory cards out there. I recommend getting a 60X card for maximum speed.
4) AA batteries - in case of an emergency, you can always buy a 4 pack and keep on going. I bought a NI-MH charger with 8 batteries at Uncle Sam's for under $20. No more proprietary batteries for me!
5) 5MP - the picture quality is excellent, better than my old Sony. Since I don't routinely make posters out of my pictures, this is plenty.
6) 640x480 video @ 30 fps with stereo audio. This thing is a high quality camcorder limited only by the size of the memory stick.
7) LCD which can be folded open and seen from front of camera: My wife and I commonly take pictures where I hold the camera out in front of us and take the picture of us arm in arm. Now I can make sure things are lined up before pressing the shutter. It is also nice that the LCD flips over so it can be stored against the body of the camera to prevent scratches.
8) Macro photography - this is a whole new area for me, as my old camera could not do this. I have taken pictures at 3" and had them come out very clear.
9) Through the lens viewfinder - which helps make sure that I am really taking a picture of what I am aiming at.

The only thing which I would like to see improved is the response time between pressing the shutter and the picture being taken when using the flash. The response time is very fast when the flash is off, but it can be upwards of several seconds if the flash is required (in full auto mode). I have not played with the flash and other settings to see if I can improve on this, and believe that I probably can due to the ability to fully customize this camera.

This camera delivers the goods.
This is a tough review to write, as it could take far more space than alotted. Here is the short version...

Some brands of digicams sport German or other Euro lenses. Some will no doubt argue, but after 35 years of being an active photographer, and a tech type of person, I feel that nobody makes high end lenses better than Canon makes them, and nobody makes more lenses that qualify as high end than Canon either.

The lens mounted on the S2 IS is the best of it's class. Even compared to quality SLR zoom lenses, it is a premium product. The camera is not a pocket cam, and does not pretend to replace one. Then again, it can do what no pocket cam can ever dream of, and can compete heads up with most digital SLR's in the hands of most people who buy a digital SLR. Truth is, most people who spend the bucks on a digital SLR would get far more from the purchase of an S2 IS.

The 5mp sensor produces 8x10 prints that rival 35mm quality. The VGA movie mode is simply awesome, and the DIGIC II chip is the same one that powers top of the line SLR's, which means outstanding speed from startup to shutdown. The selection of modes on this camera is incredible, yet it is easy to make a quick shot that looks great no matter what the situation. The continuous shot speed of 2.4 FPS is plenty when you consider that it isn't a burst mode. If you have a 1 gig memory card plugged in, it will shoot at the top speed until the card is full (around 600 pics at max resolution). The intervalometer function is a real treat, as you can shoot time lapse pics with a press of a button, and you have full control of how often the shutter trips, and for how long.

A 1 gig memory card will give you just over eight minutes of VGA movie time with high quality stereo sound. For most functions that don't call for a DV tape camera, 8 minutes of high quality TV screen sized full motion video is a long time. Consider that an old "super eight" film camera was only good for 3 minutes per reel, had no stereo sound, and wasn't as smooth as the S2's 30 FPS speed. Then there is the IS function. Between reviews and first hand experience, nobody makes an image stabilizing system as good as Canon makes it. It works in spectacular fashion for both still pics, and movies.

OK, other reviwers will compare specs, and show that the S2 IS is the top dog in the most useful class of cameras to hit the market in a long time. I just want to make sure that people thinking about buying a digital SLR look at the S2 first. I bought the S2, the lens hood, and lens adaptor, a closeup lens for use at max telephoto, a wide angle lens, a telephoto extender lens, a set of Hoyo UV and Polorizing filters, and a fine quality camera bag for under $1,000. My next purchase will be a slave flash to extend the flash range of the camera. The model offered by Canon is pretty cheap, and there are others to consider.

The bottom line is that the S2 is larger than a pocket cam, but much smaller and lighter than an SLR, and can beat the average SLR package to near death right out of the box for most shooting situations. Equip the S2 with a handful of accessories, and the casual SLR owner will have to spend thousands of Dollars on lenses, accessories, and a reasonable video camera just to keep up.

The S2 is a major compromise if you make a living taking pictures, and choose to spend thousands in order to make sure that you can handle every situation that pops up, but the S2 and a full compliment of accesories will fit in a medium small camera bag, weigh very little, and capture 95% of your shots just as well for under a grand. And it does awesome image stabilized still pics and movies.

I suspect that more than half of the people who buy digital SLR's would have been far better off with an S2, and would be enjoying new features well into the first Months of ownership. If you have the itch to step up, and you are torn between an SLR and a S2, buy the S2. You will be thrilled with what the UPS guy delivers. Buy the SLR in two or three more years. They might break out of the mold, and be ready for prime time in the consumer market by then.

Last note. I took my first pic with the S2 set to auto, flash on, at 12x zoom. I was sitting on my couch 18 feet away from my kitchen in dim evening light, with one incandescent light burning near my couch. I focused on a box of Cheerios sitting on top of my refrigerator (unlike many earlier digicams, the S2 locked on in a flash), and snapped the pic. The box was in a 3/4 view, so I could see the side panel, and the front face. Reviewing the pic on the camera, I was able to clearly read even the finest print on the side panel of that box. Take a look at the print on the side of a standard sized box of Cheerios next time you are in the market, and imagine snapping a handheld shot from 18 feet away, and reading every word in sharp detail on the camera display afterwards. Canon knows how to make a proper lens. And yes, Canon does Linux. I have been Windoze free for several years now, but free open source apps work fine with this camera, and I heard a rumor (I will try it soon on my Xandros box) that the Canon Win apps run under Crossover Office for Linux. Meanwhile, the camera app included in SuSE 9.3 communicates with the S2 as a PTP device with no problems.

Update - 7.10.05.

I have now used the camera for a little longer time, and had the chance to compare it more closely to it's Panasonic and Sony competitors. The S2 holds up like a champ. It has (by far) the best movie functionality among the three, and allows full and quiet use of the zoom capability of the camera while shooting movie clips. The stereo sound has amazing quality, and the built in wind screen function for the microphones work like a charm. The image stabilizer also does a fine job of eliminating vertical jitter when shooting a movie, yet does not interfere with zooming and panning at all. The zoom rate in movie mode makes for smooth operation, without a hint of lens motor noise spoiling the finished movie. Auto focus, and auto exposure during movie shooting are nothing less than spectacular. The S2 is simply the best TV quality movie taking still camera on the market. Period.

Memory cards.. I now have two SanDisk Extreme III 1 gig SD cards. They are flawless, and can shoot almost 600 full size pictures at a clip in 2.4 fps high speed continuous mode without a glitch. A good set of rechargeable batteries are able to keep up as well. None of the othe other cameras in this class can match it. I read from one reviewer that the Lexar 32x cards, and the SanDisk Extreme II cards work just as well. If so, it can save you about $20 per card. The more cards you have, the more movie time you can record.

On the primary still image side, I have concluded that it is a tight battle between the top brands, but Canon still retains it's title as the manufacturer of the overall best premium lenses. That's not a slap directed at the other two, as they all represent incredible optical quality. One area where the S2 is a clear winner is in function controls. Once you get used to the button layout, it is possible to execute very quick shooting decisions by pressing the right button, rather than roaming through nested menus. The other area is the Image Stabilizer. The Canon Image Stabilizer beats the offering from the other two hands down in both functionality, and user control. It is so good, you can take a handheld pic at 1/60 to 1/30 of a second at max zoom (nearly 500 mm compared to a 35 mm SLR), and clearly read the license plate of a subject vehicle located several hundred yards away from the camera.

Try that with a handeld SLR that does not have an image stabilized lens that alone costs more than the entire S2 package... The above issues are among the most important in the real world, and Canon delivers. Speed of startup, focusing, continuous shooting, and shutdown are close between the top three cameras, and Canon is not the fastest in all areas, but it has the best balance across the board. The final result will not only impress those who view your work, it will also impress you. Again, the ultimate margin from one to the next is small, but Canon offers the most complete package.


To sum up the update, the S2 has a very fast learning curve, outstanding accessory lenses, and overall best in class quality. I bounced mine off the asphalt from about three feet today with no ill effects. I wouldn't suggest you try it, but it survived just fine. The only scratch was to the ring of the Hoya UV filter I had attached to the lens (Thank God). If you are looking for the top camera in the new top consumer camera class, the S2 is it. Buy it and be real happy about how you spent your money.

Fabulous Camera
I absolutely love this camera! I had two requirements for buying a new digital camera: long zoom and powered with AA batteries.

We own an Olympus 4MP D40 and I really love that camera because it fits in my purse and takes great snapshots. But the Olympus eats batteries like mad and lacks a good zoom.

The Canon S2 IS doesn't fit in my purse but it is well worth carrying an extra bag.

The photos are amazingly clear and the Super Macro mode is unreal. I took some photos of my flowers in that mode and uploaded to this site. You can see the shots are clear, have fantastic color and I swear the lense was nearly touching the flower.

I did purchase an Ultra SD card and am using rechargable NiMH batteries. After using the camera for more than a week I haven't changed the batteries. My Olympus would have gone through dozens of sets with all of the work I've put the Canon through.

Bottom line...this is a great point-and-shoot camera that has so many other great features that even a non-professional can take professional photos.

Absolutely amazing
This camera is everything it is advertised. The photo quality is wonderful, the 12x zoom is very versatile and, along with image stabilization, delivers very crisp pictures. I don't even have the digital zoom enabled, and I have never felt it was necessary.

Video mode is very good as well, and the zoom motor is so quiet that it is not picked up by the microphone. The only thing to watch out for is in 640x480x30 mode, each second of video takes almost 2MB, so even a 1GB SD card will hold only about 8 minutes of video.

Highly recommended!

Great camera with one minor flaw
I agree with all the rave reviews already posted, so I won't rehash the same points again. But I will add one minor criticism and one great feature not previously mentioned. The criticism is that the viewfinder (which I prefer to use instead of the LCD screen) is dim and difficult to use in bright sunlight. Be that as it may, I noticed that one of the special scene modes was "fireworks", so I took the camera out to our July 4th celebration. The shots I took were fabulous! If you want to try this yourself, just make sure that you track the flare upward and try to shoot a moment before it explodes. This is because the camera is set to a relatively long exposure time and you want to catch the outward movement of the exploding colored particles from the beginning. Hold the camera as still as you can while the shutter is open, but of course the image stabilization feature is very helpful in obtaining sharp images under these conditions (it also renders the recommended use of a tripod unnecessary in my opinion). All in all, a great camera for the money!

Canon Powershot S2 IS 5MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zooml
Excellent camera and a lot of zoom for the buck. Ordered through Amazon because of a much better price than anyone else on line or in the stores around me. Timely delivery was another plus for Amazon, this is the 4th product I've ordered from Amazon and wouldn't buy from anyone else. Excellent, excellent service department.

Thank You

Right On!
Considering it offers more than all of it's competitive comparision models: Sony, Panasonic, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Nikon & Olympus. The CANON offers more like 9 picture effects, night shot, stereo sound, self timer 2 or 10 sec. & custom, LCD w/ variable angle function, movie snap (capture a still) while rec. up to 30 frames a sec., macro + super macro 0-3.9 in. 0-10 cm.. And thats it folks, with many months of research and help. We've scored! Salute CANON...

Fantastic Camera
My first digital camera was a Kodak 2 megapixels and 3X optic zoom. It was the latest thing when I got it. I had some problems with it about 2 months ago and decided to upgrade. I was all set to buy the Canon PowerShot S1 when I read about the new Canon PowerShot S2 that was suppose to hit the market in June, so I decided to wait for this camera. Believe me, it was worth the wait. This camera has everything and can do everything I want it too. It has many options: You can set it for night photos, fireworks, foilage, snow scenes, and beach scenes. you can shoot in auto or manually set it to your specifications. It allows you to shoot in color, black and white, gray tones, and sepia, and "My Color Mode." On top of this it allows you to take movies with sound which is great for family get-togethers.The 5 megapixels and 12X Optic Zoom allow for great images. Battery life is exceptionally long. This camera can do it all. When I opened the package, I was a little intimidated with all the manuals and paperwork that came with it, but after reviewing them it was a cinch to use this beauty. It is a little pricey but I feel it is worth the money. The only other problem is that is is bulky and definitely not a camera you can stick in your pocket to carry, but it comes supplied with a neck strap. I would recommend this camera to both a novice or an experienced camera buff. Canon has a real winner with this product.

Excellent choice
I've taken many, many pictures with this camera since bought, a lot lot more than with any other camera owned because it is so easy to use, the camera is so fast and the IS works pretty well as well, the pictures are just crisp and beautiful. Very happy. Recommended with 5 stars. It feels a bit bulky at times but nothing is perfect.

6th and Final (probably)
I've had quite a few digital cameras and thought I was satisfied with the Fuji 6X zoom until I saw this in a local retail store. It was so new, they haven't even priced it yet. My friend just paid over 50% more for a Nikon 4MP and had most the bells and whistles as the Canon had. I also liked the SD card rather than the Fuji xD. The SD fits my PDA so I can save/show pics when I travel. I went online and found out it was cheaper than I thought. Then Amazon had the better price so I went for it. I've had it for about a month now, the camera is awesome. I haven't used all the features yet but it's well worth the money just for what it's produced in the short time I've had it.

Spectacularly designed camera
Pros:
12x optical zoom, uses non-proprietary AA batteries, large image sensor produces better pics than cameras with more more megapixels!

Cons:
The lens cap falls off to easy, slightly heavy, difficult to hold with two hands, plastic threaded tripod mount, and separate adapter is required to install lens protecting UV filter.

The Canon S2 IS produces incredible images, much better than other cameras in its class with more megapixels! Having a 12x Optical zoom allows you to get closer to most shooting subjects especially ones that used to be out of reach with other digital cameras.

The 1.8-inch tilt-and-swivel LCD makes shooting pictures from unique angles super easy. For example you can shoot over your head to get pictures from behind a crowd or shoot from waist level to get pictures without attracting attention to yourself.

Most other digital cameras on the market are powered by a proprietary battery that can cost upwards of $40 and have a typical service life of less than one year. Since it is powered by standard AA batteries you'll always be able to find inexpensive replacements any place you go. In most grocery and drug stores you can find 4 rechargeable AA 2500 mAh batteries bundled with a charger for only $20.00. These batteries provide enough power for a typical day's shooting and are inexpensive enough to replace each year for optimal performance.

I love this camera
Great color and features. I had a sony before this one, nothing compares. Canon is the best!

Perfect if you don't know what you're doing, but luv doing it!
I adore taking pictures. Especially of tiny bugs, butterflies, and flowers in addition to far away things like birds and the moon etc. However, I'm not a patient person when it comes to learning what all of the buttons do and reading manuals et al and I wasn't educated in photography so AUTO is important to me!

For anyone that wants to pull a camera out of the box, snap a picture, and have others say "WOW! You're good at taking pictures!" this is the camera for you ;)

It's auto mode is amazing in a variety of lighting conditions and on a variety of subjects. BUT WAIT! There's More!

If you'd like to enhance your pics just a bit, but find too many settings and options and weird names/acronyms way too confusing this camera is GREAT! It's buttons are labeled and pictured in EASY TO UNDERSTAND Words and Pictures. Their uses and the menu descriptions are CLEAR, easy to find, and just about ANYONE could figure out what they do. If you'd love to be able to adjust the shutter speed, ISO, Aperture, etc..but are never quite sure exactly what they do or which way they should go...this camera makes it SIMPLE! "lighter, darker, cloudy, fair skinned, dark skinned, nighttime" are an example of the words you will see. BUT WAIT! There's More!

You need a camera your 2 yr old can use... but you also need a camera "smart photographers" can use. If you want to have it totally manual with a ton of settings to choose from (for a consumer grade digi cam) this cam is the way to go! You can enter total manual mode and go for it. Or you can enter "semi manual modes" where you set "this and that" and it adjusts everything else automatically.

If you're a one camera family.... I HIGHLY recommend this camera. Young or old... clued in or CLUELESS this camera can be used to take breathtaking photos from far away to so close it's bumping the lens.

The pano stitching is excellent as well by the way. I snapped 10 pics (just testing out of the box) and hit the stitch button in the included software and it did everything for me. In seconds I had an amazing panorama image ... snap, click, done!

Cons: Yes...there's always cons...but these are mild in my opinion. It comes with cheesy batteries so be sure to pick up some camera grade rechargables before you check out. It also comes with a very small memory card (considering the size of the images) so you'll want to pick up a larger card as well. The 16MB will hold about 10 images at their highest settings. The ON switch takes a tiny bit of getting used to but the off switch is really easy to find.. be careful. Thankfully, turning it on is FAST so even if you make the mistake...you shouldn't miss the shot.

Did I mention the video camera that's in this thing? No more tiny 320X240...this does a full crisp and clear 640X480 and it does it well!

One last note... the stabalizer is amazing too! My old cam made it difficult to use the full power of zoom without a tripod. SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE...hard to keep the subject inside the viewfinder. NO LONGER A PROBLEM WITH THE CANON! No tripod...full zoom...you can hold onto your subject even if you are a bit wobbly ;)

Go for it!

Great Camera for Novice photographers
It's about a month since I purchased this camera. Great pictures. Have taken about 300 pictures till date. If you have a regular SD card instead of a High Speed SD card, then images are distorted when you click during video recording. Other than that, no problems at all. Great Camera Indeed.

Replace your camcorder
Others have written some very detailed reviews of this camera so I will not duplicate what has already been said. Suffice it to say that this is a quality camera loaded with features. I almost bought an S1 last year. I was intrigued by the VGA movie mode on the S1, but wanted a model with 5MP or better still resolution. The S2 is the camera I was waiting for.

My goal is to replace my current digital camera and camcorder with the S2. So far I'm very impressed with the movie quality of the S2. The only drawback is, of course, the enormous size of the video files. It would have been nice if Canon had used MPEG compression (hopefully in the S3), but I've found a workaround to that problem. I've purchased two 1GB Transcend 80x SD cards and a 40GB PD7X CompactDrive hard disk portable storage device. The CompactDrive will download a full 1GB SD card to its internal notebook hard disk in about 3 minutes without using a computer. It's powered by 4 NiMH batteries and can download somewhere between 17 to 20GB on a single charge. Since you can shoot 1GB worth of video in 8 minutes, theoretically by swapping cards and downloading I could shoot about 2.5 hrs of nearly continuous video without even having to change batteries on the PD7X. I haven't actually tested this procedure yet, but I think it's workable. As soon as my son's soccer games start up in a few weeks I'll be putting it to the test.

Another great feature of this camera is the macro and super macro . You can shoot extreme closeups with the camera lens virtually touching the subject. I was just messing around with the camera and took a macro picture of a photo taped to my refrigerator. I was amazed to see that it was sharp and relatively well exposed even with poor lighting. It got me thinking about the piles of photos I have sitting in boxes waiting to be digitized. I have a flatbed scanner, but scanning is very tedious. Why not just take a snapshot of them with the digital camera? I decided to convert an old 35mm photo enlarger I had in the attic to a makeshift copy stand. I rigged up a camera mount and grabbed a couple of clip on reading lamps and started playing around. After some experimenting I found that using macro mode with Tungsten white balance setting produced great copies of my snapshots. Once I figured out the settings, I whipped through a couple stacks of snapshots in about 10 minutes. It's still tedious, but much better than scanning with my slow flatbed scanner.

With the S2 you can have your cake and eat it too. It takes great photos and videos and is easy to use yet powerful enough for those of us that like to experiment.

Update 8/04/05

I finally got to put the camera through its paces. I took it to a Braves night game last weekend and was able to capture a beautiful shot of Andruw Jones breaking his bat. The photo is sharp, in focus and you can clearly see both the broken bat flying apart and the hit ball. I took the shot handheld at iso 200 from my seat about halfway up the lower section (terrace 221 if you're familiar with Turner Field). I was amazed to be able to zoom all the way up to home plate and see that level of detail!

I also went to a museum and got to play around with the indoor modes. The museum had several large dinosaur displays in a large atrium. I used the panorama mode to take a series of shots of the dinosaurs. After I downloaded the photos I used the photostitch software to put the panorama together. It worked flawlessly and the results look great!

I'm also happy to report that the CompactDrive PD7X worked well. I downloaded several SD cards to it in the field with no problems.

I have one comment about the lens cap. Many people have pointed out that the lens cap comes off too easily. I noticed that too shortly after I got the camera and considered it annoying. However, it didn't take long for me to realize that the cap is designed that way for a reason. Have any of you turned the camera on before removing the lens cap? Immediately upon turning on the camera, the lens pops out from its stowed position, and if the lens cap is on it simply pops off without straining the motor. A tight fitting lens cap would probably be hard on the motor if the camera was turned on with the cap in place. Just my 2 cents.

The best camera for the price
I'm extremely happy with this product. It has lots of functionality, a good lense, and, what I personally really appreciate, a very powerful optical zoom. The best small digital cameras I've ever used. It's also light, so easy to carry around even when backpacking. And the image stabilizer really works! My only gripe about it is that Canon is not putting out a waterproof housing for this model (it has one for the S1 IS), so I can't take it diving or even sailing with me. I was actually thinking about getting a digital SLR (EOS or Rebel), but changed my mind. This powershot has hardly any delay; also, it has a great video mode with stereo sound recording, lighter, has a zoom (which I'd have to purchase separately for an SLR), not mentioning the price. A great buy!

Very good camera...BUT!!!!!
I've had the S2 IS for about two months now and I must admit that it is a great camera. I've gone through and read all the other reviews for this camera and I do agree with everyone on the quality, features ect..ect, so I won't get into that. What I'm going to talk about is durability!

I was worried when I bought this camera that it just wouldn't stand up to the abuse I know I was going to put it through. I'm always outdoors doing something so, knocks, falls, dings, dust, dirt and water seem to always do battle with my electronic "toys". I can't count how many cell phones, cameras, walkmans...ect..ect, I've had damaged or even destroyed by Mother Nature's wrath.

When I took the camera out of the box I was worried because of how beautiful the camera is. I thought to myself, damn, this thing just reeks beauty which seems to attract extra attention from the elements for some reason. Not the case with this camera though.

I've dropped it once, had it covered in sand and covered in water by a salty wave while deep-sea fishing. I've even put it to the ultimate test....CHILDREN,,,nooo,nnooo,,Ahhhahhhh!!!!

These same children managed to break my Leatherman WAVE tool the first five minuets they possessed the thing; how could a camera possibly survive such grappling, clenching, twisting, clumsy, sticky, dirty hands? It did though.

I know you may think I'm stupid for putting such a nice camera through such treatment but, I'm one that likes to use what I buy right along with how I live. I'm not a clean freak, stay behind closed doors, air-conditioned type. I also remember how it used to feel as kid when no one would trust me with a "cool", expensive piece of equipment. It's only a camera and if the kids can feel good by being trusted enough to use it, I'm going to let them use it.

After all this wear and tear, the only damage I can see is minor cosmetic damage such as scratches. The lens is still as clean as a brand-new. The only problem I had was when the camera locked up one time with the lens sticking out. No buttons would work and I couldn't get the thing to respond to anything; I began to worry; one of the kids brought it to me in this condition. After opening the battery housing door and closing it again the camera came back to life and is again in perfectly working order. I love this camera, after all it's been through it still starts up quickly, uploads quickly, takes beautiful pictures and zooms in and out smoothly. I'm glad I decided to wait for the S2 rather than settling for the S1 but,..... Yes there's always a but....

There is no underwater housing for this camera yet. If I'd of known this I would have chosen a different camera. In fact, if Canon does not make an underwater housing I'll never buy Canon again. That's why I took away a star from it's perfect rating so far. I've been pestering Canon every day now to build an underwater housing with no luck, can you help????? PLEEEASSEE!

So, if your looking for a pretty, powerful camera and don't plan on taking it underwater, this is the camera for you.

Good shooting!

Bulky, slow to focus, poor design, useless viewfinder and weak lens cap
That sums it up. I ordered it on line. So I did not hold it before buying it. Price was reasonable, but the camera is too big to take along anywhere, the view finder is poorly located and practically useless (Try the Nikon DSCH1 or D50 to see what I mean) and it struggles to focus on high zoom. Too many blurry photos. Also the lens cap is too loose on the camera and keeps falling.

I find the workmanship and quality of photos exceptional. It is also fast to turn on and take photos. The engineers at Canon have done a great job on the inside. The controls are also easy to use and nicely located. But boy they missed in design. This is one unattractive camera and its silver.. You will not look cool carrying and using this camera. Has anybody noticed that all professional cameras are black. There is a reason for that. If S2 is pretending to be a semi-prosumer, make it black body.

My final three comments.. 1. No manual focus ring and 2. No RAW format, hard to find a case for it.

S2 is a potent camera, but not very useful... I wish I could return it and wait for S3.

If you want to carry a heavy, bulky camera, and have some blurry photos go for this or wait for the next generation.

Great camera got it cheaper elsewhere
I just got this camera...and love it. Weighty, but helps when shooting a picture for stability.

I got mine for $384 out the door through Dell and coupons.

Still a great camera

Choosing the right megazoom - for me it was S2 IS
Hope this helps you in making your choices--- there are several good mega zooms out there and the decision is not easy!!

My main focus was the S2 IS, FZ5, FZ20, Pro 1 and Minolta Dimage A200. Here is where I ended up --

I bought and researched most of my information through dpreview, image resource and mega pixel. But I tried the hardware at BH Photo in NYC where I live (actually in NJ across the river). They have a great return policy and I was able to take the FZ5 on a significant adventure to Agra, India -- the Taj Mahal.. The camera performed extremely well. The shots taken were 99 % accurate, the trimming feature was great and the sharpness of the pix were as good as I have ever seen. However I ended up sending it back because of the following - needed more function on the movie settings, the zooming feature was very fast but a little choppy expecially at the long end of the zoom (7-12x) when you I was trying to make subtle changes to framing my shot, I needed more control over the exposure compensation and white balance settings. The FZ5 only allows you to max out at 8 seconds one way and 1/1600 the other way (or was it 1/2000?). Lastly I felt that the camera needed a little more weight for my hand comfort. That is while initially it feels a little flimsy, it is quite well built; but for me it seemed as though I was holding a feather and it didn't feel as right when I was moving to take shots. The spot focus was awesome and got it right all the time though the center-weighted made me do a few double takes from time to time.

So what did I do? I went with the S2 -- Why? Because, I like the fact that I can take pix while taking movie clips. I didn't know how much I actually toggle between both modes. I have alot more control over exposure compensation and white balance. S2 offer's more sophisticated flash options (1st-2nd curtain and high/low flash sync). Its cool to have a swivel display. Manual Focus is good for night shots where focus assist can be fooled. Lastly I like the usb20 interface which means I don't have to wait till forever to download a gig (though I do use a reader half the time). The fz5 is usb 1.0. S2 has 15 seconds and 1/3200 on both ends of the shutter I believe.

I miss the trimming and resize function the fz5 has; it makes it real easy to make photo adjustments on the fly. Don't like the fact that the S2 has a plastic tripod hole. Like the fact that S2 has AA compatability. And of course love the fact that both cameras have quality long zoom lenses and OIS.

My super duper biggest worry on the S2 is the stuff I'm reading on the reviews about the chromatic abberation. I would hate to invest time taking shots I'm looking forward to enjoying only to see purple fringes around my subject. I'm also not as happy about the s2 not providing in the package a lens adaptor -- that whole system is alot larger than the fz5 where I had a uv filter attached to the fz5 body without it protruding too much. The s2 has a longer lense when it is on so the adapter hood is longer too -- that means I'll probably more often than not, skip putting it on and probably scratch the original lense by accident one of these days...

So I went with S2 for the features I needed -- the FZ5 is an awesome camera with no CA that I saw. and is extremely fast. It doesn't get fooled especially with spot focus on.

Oh btw -- I looked at a200 but didn't like the size, looked at H1 but didn't like size and memory stick and looked at fz20 but didn't like the size and value for the money.. Looked at Pro 1 but felt that if i want 8mp, i'll wait for the rebel xt to go down in price and resurrect my eos lenses...

I paid 460 at bhphoto for the s2...

Happy hunting

Engar...

Size Matters in Optical vs Digital zoom.
I bought this to replace a canon A-80 I owned. I wanted a better zoom and a zoom while taking movies. This camera has done all that and more. The photos even in the auto mode are flawless. The camera is also very sturdy and seems to surpass all my expectations. I would recommend this camera to anyone looking for a great all around camera. I've put it through the ropes and has not disapointed me yet. A++ to canon on this one, it will be with me for awhile to come.

Keep in mind that this camera is one of the largest in the point and shoot class, but this is needed to house the 12x optical zoom. Don't get confused between Optical and digital zoom.Optical zoom is the real deal, bringing the subject closer. Where digital zoom just crops the subject, usually causing blurry low quality pictures. If a Super zoom is more important than size then this is the camera for you.

Great Ultra Zoom
I agree with all the rave reviews already posted, so I won't rehash the same points again. This camera took a wondeful trip with us to Maui. I have used several digital cameras and this is by far the easiest to use straight out-of-the-box. Our main complaint was the lens cap; however, it did stay attached within the camera bag. The one thing that would make this camera even better would be an underwater case. The fireworks mode worked perfectly. The low light mode actually surprised me with how well it worked. The images allowed for printing of terrific 8 x 10s. A big thumbs up for a quality camera.

getting better
somehow, Canon has made most features of the camera come pretty well to hand...except the exposure lock...with gloves, this is a true pain to activate ..it needs a dedicated button for this.

Niggling aside, this box is probably the next best thing to a DSLR.

the clear and usable viewfinder almost makes the camera into an SLR and works on the brightest of glaciers. Call me old fashioned, but i like viewfinders. I love this feature.

The supermacro is delightful, but with a zoom of 12, you hardly need a macro at all.

In the focus bracket mode you can just about assure yourself a picture in focus...thereby averting the consistent focus problem that plagued all six of my six previous digital cameras.

If you are up to the size and weight this camera, you will be satisfied with its performance and features.

Great camera!
Only 2 complaints about this camera (that have been covered already). Lens cap is terrible, but that's not a huge issue for me. Also, the low-light focusing leaves a bit to be desired, but overall is good. I had tried a Sony DSC-H1 before this ... and there simply is no comparison. With the Sony was difficult to get good (non-blurry) pictures without the flash. The Canon, no problem unless it's dark. I am very, very happy with this camera and it worked great out of the box in auto 'dummy mode'.

One word " OUTSTANDING"

I have been into photography for over 30 years. I've been though many cameras in my day, but I must say this camera is the best. From ease of use to the quality of photo's and videos it's superb. I have it for over a month and have taken over 500 photo's. It has not let me down once,from low light to bright outdoor shots it has come through like a champ. The image stablization is a added bonus for those times when our hands just aren't as steady as we wish. Bottom line is this a well built camera that will come through in any envirorment. I'll have this one with me everywhere I go.

5 stars to Canon , you built a true winner here.

no image
3 times out of 4 on switching the camera on there is no image. when there is an image the camera works fine except for focus at low light levels.
i have used canon cameras for many years and this is the most disappointing product from them that I have ever had
If you can get one that gives an image very time, and you do not want to take photos in low light it would probably be okay

Go For It
This camera was the first I was interested after my Sony DSC-V1 crashed and burned on me 1 month after the warranty. But instead of buying it on the fly, I researched hard for 1 solid month. I was still considering the Sony H-1 for the big LCD but it had no Carl Zeiss lens. The Panasonic had a Leica lens, and Canon has always made great lenses for SLR's so I trust them with digital.(I owned the AE1 and the EOS Rebel). I am really happy with the purchase.
I'll just comment a little on what others have written.
-The lens cap is not a big deal and the problem is getting blown way out of proportion.
- The zoom is fast and accurate. The programmed and manual controls are easy to use. Some reviewers who said their pictures are blurry, I think they have themselves to blame.
- The ISO control is a great one to have and easy to use if you want to work with light conditions. My Sony did not have this feature, and it is something to appreaciate. This can be changed in every mode but the AUTO.
- I took over 250 pictures, overplayed the zoom and used the flash for a few days on 1 set of batteries. (much better than the Sony DSC-V1 i owned)
- The video is great and should be a BIG selling item. I honestly have not tested the memory psace needed for long videos but the clarity and smoothness is great.
- The 12x zoom has great speed sensitivity. To clarify, a hard push moves really fast and a soft touch zooms it at a great slow speed.
- some users do not understand you must be patient with the clos up macro. This one works really well with a little practice.
- It would have been great if the 1.8" LCD was larger but this is fine. At least, it can be flipped around and closed to protect it when not in use.

I see experienced digital SLR users buying this for the quality, zoom capacity and size. I am by no means a point and shoot camera person, but this one could be used by those that are. I enjoy manual controls (shutter spped and aperture) when the time is right. This camera does it all and does it well.

Canon does it again...
By no means am I a professional photographer, but I adore the art of photography. I previously owned a Canon PowerShot S30 that I have been using that camera since 2003. I am happy to say that through all my clumsiness that camera is still as good today as it was the day I bought it. However, it didn't have the features I desired in a digital camera...

So I did some research, and ended up with the Canon S2 IS. Not only did it have the features I loved in the S30, but it fixed all of the frustrations as well. I really like the size and feel of this camera. The added features are amazing, including the optical zoom, stability control - very useful, manual focus, super macro mode, high quality videos, and the incredible color enhancement options. I am particularly impressed with all the add-ons available, including telephoto and wide-angled lenses, and an ultra-bright flash. With all the options and features available with this camera, it should enthuse even the grumpiest photographer.

I admit, with every picture I take, I love this camera more. I would, without hesitation, recommend the S2 IS to anyone who is looking for a high-quality digital camera. My only word of caution: the batteries get drained rather quickly, but it only requires 4 AA batteries, readily available at most stores and gas stations.

After a little heartache about the price (I'm a college student), I realize that you have to spend money to get a good, high quality product that will last you for years.

Canon can consider me one of their most loyal customers.

A great all-around camera
I've been using the S2 for a few weeks and I'm extremely pleased. I've used many cameras over the years, from point-and-shoot to completely manual. I really researched this camera.

The bottom line for me is how many of the pictures I'm happy with. This camera takes better pictures than anything I've used. Perhaps only 1 out of 100 is not quite in focus or blurred. That's a great ratio.

I've taken superb close-ups at 12x zoom of a bee flying up to a flower. The bee and flower are perfectly in focus with the bee's wings frozen in mid-beat. The background is perfectly out of focus, just as it should be. I've taken excellent 360 degree panoramas of mountain vistas. Shots of people are especially nice if you use the "people" setting.

It's hard to take a bad photo with this camera!

A few of the pluses:

- Excellent image stabilization
- Superb full TV resolution video
- Very good user interface
- Comfortable to hold
- Very good button layout
- Uses regular AA batteries (use NiMH)
- Uses common SD cards

The manual pop-up flash is actually a great idea. I thought auto pop-up would be better but it is very easy to pop it up and it gives you much better control over when to use it, for example with fill flash.

I recommend the leather case and the leather strap. And get at least one 1GB card so that you can do movies up to 7 minutes long.

I could go on and on. Bottom line: This is a great camera at a great price.

Perfect camera for all recreational uses
I just took this camera to Northern California (Yosemite and Santa Cruz) and had a great experience. ALL the shots came out, even when my 9-year old took them -- no focus issues, no color problems, no blurred images. The image stabilization is amazing -- I'd been happy with my Nikon Coolpix 2500, but there's no going back now!

A couple of highlights -- there's nothing like a panoramic mode for handling spectacular vistas, and the S2's "photo stitch" mode was easy to use and superb at stitching together full-sized images. I shot the Mono basin in 8 full-size frames and am very pleased with the results. Some of the modes were also unexpectedly fun, such as taking shots in old western mining towns using the "sepia" mode.

I spent about 30 minutes reading the manual and playing with the camera and got everything I needed. As I got more used to the camera, I investigated some of the display details and was impressed with how much control I could have if I wanted or needed it. An example was taking time-delayed shots of our entire family. But frankly, you can just put the S2 on auto and fire away.

At the highest resolution I put 327 shots on one 512GB card. The software to download and edit the shots is very straightforward. Even with considerable review on the camera, I'm just on my second set of AA batteries.

If you've read the other, more comprehensive reviews, you'll know you need to invest in higher storage and some rechargeables. Overall, I'm very happy with this camera.

manufacturer's seal?
did anyone who purchased their canon s2 through amazon have an official canon seal on their package. I believe mine is an open item because it did not have the seal

Simply the best 5 MP camera out there
After the lens cracked on my Nikon 5400, which was a fantastic camera, i did a lot of research to find the best 5 MP camera available under $500. The canon Powershot S2 IS is easy to use for point-and-shoot and takes vivid and clear pictures with perfect color. You lose nothing in quality when you zoom in to its max. For camera buffs who enjoy the manual features, this camera is even better. It is so easy to understand, that even novice can learn how to customize picture-taking. The camera is also very light and has all the extra convenience features, such as the swivel screen, to make picture-taking enjoyable.

Far exceeded my expectations
I bought my S2IS last week, after months of research and indecision. Initially I was leaning towards the Sony H1, but I finally decided on the Canon after several sales reps from different retailers categorically stated that the Canon was definitely superior, primarily because of a superior lens and therefore superior picture quality. As one rep said, "If you're looking for the highest quality TV, you buy Sony. But if you're looking for the highest quality camera, you buy Canon".

The camera handles beautifully and operates very quickly. Startup and focus times, as well as successive-picture and shutter lags are almost nil. This is probably because of the DIGIC II processor, which no other camera in this category even comes close to. Because I do not like bulky cameras, I bought a case that fits the camera like a glove, and is not one of those "backpack-like" cases. The S21S is the smaller sized camera among those in the same category.

This is my first digital camera. I had refused to buy a digital camera in the past (vs. 35 mm) because of the lower quality of prints in older digital cameras. I was amazed the degree to which the printed photos of the S2IS have crisp, natural and bright colors. No fading colors or irregular borders. No visible differences vs. 35 mm. prints, with the exception of minimal chromatic aberration (purple fringing), but only in very high contrast settings. I have not had the need to retouch a single picture. The prints will come out identical to what you see in the LCD (or the viewfinder). This is especially important, since in other brands (Sony, especifically), the LCD is artificially brighter, so pictures would seem brighter and clearer in the LCD than when actually printed (or downloaded), which would be a big letdown when you get your prints. Do note however, that the S2IS LCD does provide a "higher brightness" option for use in brighter, sunny days.

The flash performance was very important to me, and I am glad that it works wonderfully. I have tested the flash in low light and in pitch black darkness, and the photos come out fully focused and with great brightness. I tested a distance beyond the 18 ft. specified maximum range, and the pictures came out very well lit, at all zoom levels. Specifically, I took a picture of a lit candle in total darkness 20 ft. away with 12X zoom, and the photo came out fully focused, and well lit, including the backgroundand and surroundings. The flash is high enough from the lens that red eye is not a problem. But at the same time, not too high that it casts a "shadow" under the targets.

The image stabilization system works impecably. Even with maximum optical zoom (12X), and a somewhat shaky hand, absolutely all pictures came out fully focused, bright and with no decrease in resolution. When taking videos, the quality is great, and again, fully focused even with 12X zoom. I have dowloaded pictures and videos to my computer and TV, and I was blown away by the clarity and overall quality in both cases. The included software package is easy to install and very versatile.

Just one fact to point out. If the LCD will be your primary way of viewing your pictures (instead of prints), or if LCD size is the major factor in your consideration for a digital camera, then this camera is not for you. I was willing to sacrifice to a relatively smaller LCD size (1.8 inch) in order to obtain superior printed pictures at the $500 price point.

The camera comes bare with no accessories. I believe that important accessories include a compact case, a high capacity memory card (my camera came with a free 256 MB SD card, and I bought an additional 1GB), and long lasting (2500 mh) rechargeable NimH batteries.

All in all, this camera far exceeded my expectations. The more I use it, the more I like it.

Right choice?
I bought my Canon S2 last week and spent lot of time to discover it. it is amazing, lot of features, i took lot of beatiful photos, nice movies, the battery life is amazing and i don't want to repeat what others are saying.

But my worry is the following question. Do we really need to carry that bulky size of camera to take such good pictures?

You may vote No to consider Canon S2 is a bulky camera.

My first and the best!!!
I have always been a film camera enthusiast, but for the past couple of years, I have been contemplating the idea of going digital. I was certain that I wanted a mega zoom camera - one that gave me at least 10X optical zoom and a host of manual controls. After doing an exhaustive research on the Sony DSC H1, Panasonic FZ20, FZ5 and the Canon S2 IS, I decided to get the S2 and thank God I did. Simply put - this camera is amazing. As other reviewers have pointed out - most users would never need to use any other modes than the "Auto" mode. The pictures are sharp and the lens is just magnificent. The Optical Image Stabilization works great - my S2 has yet to give me a blurry picture. I am also extremely satisfied with the manual controls that the S2 provides - still haven't tried all of them.

On the flip side, the lens cap is one of the "worst" I have seen - it simply doesn't like to stay on. Also, the tripod mount is plastic, so be careful while attaching the tripod base.

Overall, Canon just got a very satisfied customer!

Great Replacement for Nikon 4300
This Canon is a replacement for my Nikon 4300.
I had some experience with various digital cameras. As a result, I made up my mind on how much I wanted to spend and what features I expected to get for my money. I wanted to have a camera with at least 5 mp, it had to have good optical zoom, it had to be fast.
After long and exhausting research and experiments, I decided Canon S2 was meeting all my needs.
I did not have the time to explore all features Canon S2 offers, but so far I'm impressed.
Although this camera is larger than any point-and-shoot camera, it is extremely comfortable. If you don't feel like experimenting with manual features, you can leave the camera in auto mode and it will do really nice pictures.
So far I did not need to use the LCD. In this camera a viewfinder performs as LCD. The viewfinder on this camera is not a simple hole with glass. It catches the image through the lense; therefore there is no need to use LCD. This way in bad conditions you can keep the LCD closed. By the way this is the only camera that allows you to keep the LCD closed. You can also rotate the LCD to various angles. Keeping the LCD closed saves the batteries.
Long lasting batteries is another great feature of this camera. So far every camera I used consumed batteries like crazy. I mean I had to replace or recharge batteries after only 80-200 shots. So far I took around 200 pictures with this Canon with one set of batteries. The batteries are still good. I wonder how many more pictures I will take before the first set of batteries die.

I did not explore many features on this camera yet. I photographed in Auto, Landscape, and Portrait mode. I got excellent quality portrait photos, great landscape photos. This camera performs extremely well in auto mode.
I will add to this review as I experiment more with various modes. So far I'm very happy with this camera's performance.

Excellent balance of feature set, execution, and price.
Strengths: Excellent balance of feature set, execution, and price. Fast on time, focust time, sequential picture mode. Sharp capable optics with 12x optical zoom. Excellent movie mode. Decent price at $500.
Weaknesses: Picture slightly oversharpened. Noise at ISO 200. Some autofocus/autoexposure difficulties. No wireless remote. 1GB movie size limit. No Hot Shoe. No lens filter to protect lens.
Summary: Have taken about 6.5GB worth of pictures and movies with this camera. I am not needing to use my movie camera anymore (have not had to in my last 2 weekend trips).

Key positives for me:

1. Takes sharp pictures.

2. Fast enough so that I do not lose the perfect photo moment.

3. 12x zoom so that I can get close, and achieve the limited depth of field of a long lens.

4. Take movies in stereo sound, with optical zoom capability. A 1GB card can take about 7mins of 640x 30fps video. So for casual everyday events (parties, weekend trips), this is all the camera you need. I can see myself needing the DV for graduations, sporting events, musicals, etc.

5. Uses standard SD memory. I am using ATP (1GB) and Transcend (512MB) and are happy with both. These are fast cards that enhance the fast write capabilities of this camera.

6. Uses standard AA batteries -- 2200ah nimhs lasted me 2.5 GB of pics/movies in a weekend.

7. Variable Angle LCD allows pictures to be taken from awkward angles (not even available with Digital SLRs).

8. No wireless remote but the custom self timer is great. Can set to take the 5 shots in 30 secs so that I can take my time to get to my spot in the pics.

I had an Olympus C3040 (died recently), and so I was spoiled by its excellent picture quality and ability to take pictures even in low light (f1.8). But it was very slow, and so I missed a lot of picture moments, plus 3x optical won't handle musicals, football games.

The Powershot S2 allows me to acquire all the above features, with a minor compromise on picture quality, at half the price of entry level DSLR. And I get some of the features missing from a DSLR -- movie mode, variable angle LCD, light weight.

Very compelling proposition. Good Luck!

Digital Camera Novice - Loving the Technology!
OK- this isn't my first digital camera. I used my first one quite a bit, and paid as much for it as this fabulous Canon! Got fewer, lesser quality photos from it. Right out of the box I loved it! I was able to load it with power and card and was snapping photo's within minutes of arrival. The instructions explained things clearly...this camera is idiot proof (on one level) while offering excellent photographic options for those who are more technolgically, or artically inclined.

This all around great camera is one whose options I'm going to enjoy exploring in the coming days, weeks and months. On the basis of my immediate experience, I'd definitely recommend it.

THE BEST all around camera
This is quite probably the most versatile digicam out there - it's got all the zoom you want, it's got all the creative controlls you want, it's super fast, it's got image stabilization (without it, you could forget about the long zoom), it's got good to great image quality (unless you shoot exclusively at low light, in which case you will need a digital SLR anyway) and it's got THE GREATEST video mode of any digicam. I now use it as my primary camcorder. The videos are bitingly sharp, and while in low light they show significant grain, it is because the camera nicely gains up the video to make it bright and sharp. Certainly better in quality than any camcorder I've seen in the price range of the S2. It's not the smallest or lightest camera (not one to just carry around in your pocket), but it can do basically anything you throw at it. It's also not the easiest camera to use - if you want pure point'n shoot, look for a different camera. If you want versatility, the S2 is for you!

I love this camera
I bought this camera very recently and, with little chance to play around with it, took it to a concert (indoor venue) and shot a couple of hundred photos. I set the shutter speed manually, used center spot metering, and had a blast.

The photos were, in short, amazing. Very few blurry, unusable pictures.

I love this camera.

Really Good Camera
I upgraded to this camera after using a Nikon 2.5 MP for a number of years. This camera is great. The zoom works well and gives vivid pics at 5 MP. Its easy enough to use and the ability to tape live video is an added bonus. The software for transfering the images works real smoothly to the extent that once the camera has been plugged in it opens the software immediately.
The LCD is difficult to use in bright sunlight but then the traditional viewfinder is a good alternative. Cannon should sell the unit with a larger memory card, 16 MB just does not cut it. I bought a 512 card and now I can tape up to 2.5 minutes on the highest quality setting.
The camara is not too heavy and the flip out LCD takes some getting used too, but this is a great buy and lots of fun.

Great camera with a few flaws
Other reviewers describe the good points -- and they are many --with this camera, my photography now verges on art and I am pretty sure that the camera will always have more capability than I can use.

There are, however, two problems a prospective buyer should be aware of: My old camera was a 4mp Kodak. Both the viewfinder image and the LCD image on the Kodak were better -- brighter and sharper. When I aim the S2 at a subject, the image is blurry enough that I can not tell if everyone in a group shot is smiling. Pressing the shutter button half way down, allowing the auto focus to work, sharpens the image a lot, but still not as sharp as I was used to with the Kodak. This is true of both the LCD and the viewfinder in any light. After I take the pictue, I can view it in the LCD and the image is bright and sharp. Since no other reviewer has mentioned this as an issue, it may be related to the technology and affects all cameras using this same technology. I am hoping the problem will disappear as I become more skilled using the camera but after taking several hundred photos, it is still annoying.

The second problem is that you will need to spend about $200 more than the price of the camera to get rolling. You will need two sets of rechargable batteries, a battery charger, a 1 gig memory card and a camera case. Oddly, the recommended camera case has no room for spare batteries.

It is likely that all of these problems are problems with every other camera in this class, and none of them has stopped me from consistently great pictures. The 12X lens with image stabilization allows me to get shots that were not possible with my old 3X camera and the 5mp resolution allows me to get screen sized sharp pictures after croping.

Great camera!!!!!!!!!!!Better than Sony DSC-H1
I went to Disney with my best friend she took her Sony DSC-H1. I of course took my new Canon S2. Eight days later she went to Best Buy to return her Sony!!! We are beginners so all the pics were shote at auto mode. The canon shots were far better than the sony ones.
Yes the lents caps keep falling. And the canon case is thight no space for batteries. I went to Best Buy and get the Kenneth Cole Reaction case and its great and not expensive. you can fit the Energizer battery charger, spare batteries, memory and more.

Things I'm pretty sure you have not considered before deciding if buying or not.
I will address some points I have seen very few people have touched about, maybe this could help you deciding.

1) LENS CAPS: Yes, it pops out easily. It can be solved in a silly easy way: Put the tiny cap cord between the cap and the lens border (laterally), so it will be tight. Voilý!

2) IMAGE STABILIZATION: It's useful NOT ONLY for HIGH ZOOMING! For example: I love to take low light shots with no flash. Obviously, I need a very slow shutter speed. Shots impossible with the Canon S60 I previously owned (no way I can get a non-blurry image at 1/15s) are perfectly sharp even at 1/8s, and using no tripod but my bare hands!

3) VARI ANGLE LCD: Yes! For all of you still deciding between this one and the Sony H1: Have you ever tried doing shots at floor level? Ever been in a concert, sports venue, trying to do a shot above the heads of people? Taking shots of yourself? Kitty corner shots? I could go on and on...

4) COLORS MODE. I didn't know the S2 has this feature before buying it. And I read tons of reviews! You can take a shot in black and white, but making stand out a color! Also, you can swap or replace colors!. I know you can do that with Photoshop, but it is cool to test it live, so that you can in advance test different shots and angles.

5) SIZE & CASE: Yes, it is big. No, it is not AS big as you can imagine. It fits easily in one hand.
Case: I own the "official" Canon one. YES, you can't put anything else in the case. NO, I am not annoyed for that. I LOVE the fact the case is just the size for the camera, I don't like to carry a big bag with extra batteries, charger, etc. I love attaching the case to my belt and popping the camera in & out from it as taking walks.

-- Well, This these are the things that firstly come out from my mind. I suggest buying at ebay a kit with wide angle/telephoto lens, adapter and hood. They are at $95 roughly. That is the nearer you'll be to a PRO equipment at a surprisingly cheap price!

Romeo E. Cabrera

Returned it, waiting for S3
I received the S2 and spent several days trying it out. It took some great pictures even at 12X zoom -- nice and clear and more room to crop if needed.

I decided though, that I would probably regret my purchase when the next model comes out, which is due for June 2006. What are my reasons for waiting?

- I would like more MP, and the next version will probably be 8 megapixels.

- The next version is rumored to have 15X zoom, and the image stabilization should be at least (maybe better) than the S2's

- This is a big reason -- I do not like the tiny screen. Yes, I do like that it tilts, but if I had to choose a tiny screen that tilts or a larger one (like Kodak's 2.5 vs Canon 1.8) I would choose the larger one any day. The S3 will probably have a larger screen.

- This may not change with the S3, but I would prefer a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. I like being able to "dock" a camera in a battery charger or have 3 lithium ion's that would more than satisfy my needs. Four AA's also make the camera heavier.

So, even though the S2 is a great camera, I think the S3 will be a GREAT camera -- one that I will be much more happy with over the next decade or so.

Until then my little Canon SD200 will have to do :-)

Update:

The S3 isn't that great of a camera either!!! The LCD is small compared to the competition. Look at the Kodak P850, or the new Kodak, or the Sony H5, and you will be much happier.

Hopefully Canon gets it right with the S4.

good stills, bad movies.... so far
This camera has an incredible array of settings. I use the "bracketing" feature to take an overexposure and an underexposure along with the automatic exposure when shooting buildings against the sky, and the continuous shooting feature when shooting people. The ability to zoom in on the computer screen and see more detail, rather than just pixelation, makes the extra megapixels amazing to me, so I'm glad I didn't go for the S1.

So far, my movies have been jerky in the extreme, even on lowest resolution setting. I low-level formatted the 1 GB card (one of the ones listed below the camera on Amazon) but the movies still stop and start. Any suggestions?

Canon does it again!
I have a Canon Powershot A95 (5 megapixel 3x optical zoom) and absolutely love it! However, the zoom is simply mediocre; i craved a lot more zoom. I decided to spend a little more money for the newer s2 is model(for 12 x zoom). Canon is top of the line for cameras...so invest in a canon, no other brand will compare. I feared when the zoom was fully extended i would only get blurry shots...but canon's image stabilizer makes the photos appear like you are actually that close to the object. I also feared the weight of the camera...but when I compared it to the canon powershot a95, i couldn't tell the difference. The color accent feauture is VERY addicting. I take a lot of close up (macro) shots, and this camera, like the a95 takes great macro shots. If you are not looking at this camera for the zoom, buy the A95...same quality photos, just less zoom and no color accent/swap features. . . and $200 cheaper and smaller.
Complaint(minor): the lens cap can be rather annoying. I think canon made it loose so it would fall off when the camera was turned on; but because of it's looseness, it falls off sometimes when you don't want it to.

Go for the DSLR
I bought this camera based on some of the reviews and because I didn't want to shell out $1000 for an DSLR. I got it home and started playing with it.

Sure, it's a decent camera, but it was obvious that I would eventually want to upgrade to an DSLR.

All things considered, there are a couple of ways to think about this camera:
One is that it is a relative bargain for what it offers. High resolution, relatively fast shooting speed (compared to other point and shoot cameras), high quality video capability (amazingly good), image stabilized lens (low light shots were still blurry), 12X zoom, macro capability in an all-in-one package. You don't really need any addons except for more memory and a case.

The other side is that it is expensive. $450-500 is expensive for anything, and this camera is no exception.

For me, I believed the latter. Since I was spending $500, why not spend a few hundred more (ok 500 more) and just get the Digital Rebel XT?

Anyway, after battling the 2 sides for a day or so, I returned the camera and bought the digital rebel XT. My advice is to definitely go for the DSLR, they are in different leagues.

The S2 performed poorly in low light. It has an overly complex menu system. The DSLR has more buttons. I like buttons. They are much more accessible than a nested menu system.
The S2 was slow, offering 1.5 fps (max) while my DSLR has 3 fps. I found the wait to take my next shot with the S2 agonizingly slow, with the flash much longer.

Strangely, the S2 has a lens cap that just won't stay on. Perhaps one of the weakest aspects of the camera. I was holding the camera still, and the cap just slid off to the floor. Be prepared to lose the cap eventually.

The S2 has a cheap plastic silver look to it. It looks like the "flavor of the month". I'm not sure why so many electronics are plastic silver. Guess it's the trend. I'd much rather have black. I believe the S2 is as heavy as or even heavier than the Digital Rebel XT.

Bottom line is the camera may be one of the best sub-DSLR camera out there but it doesn't come close to the DSLR . Not by a long shot.

Great camera!
Love the quality of the pictures! Great speed in taking them too. Seems to be good with battery life. The only drawback is for camera neophites like myself, it's a bit more techy than I need. But, I wanted a camera that had a bit of substance to it...and it certainly fits my expectations. Overall, very happy with this camera!

Canon Powershot S2 IS
The one thing it does not have is a meter to show you how much of a charge you have left in your batteries.

One Of the Best Cameras Available In It's Price Range
Up until the very first picture I took with camera I was a Olympus user but as soon as I saw what this camera could do I immediately knew I was wrong. When I was first started using this camera I was just shooting randomly and was amazed at those pictures, but after experimenting with some of the advanced settings it only got better. Compared to other cameras in this one's price range I feel it is one of the best. My only complaint is that the battery is a little below average using the LCD screen.

Canon Powershot Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image
I love this camera. It is so user friendly. The Optical Zoom works better than expected.

First Digital Camera purchase
I bought this camera for our recent trip to Bonaire and it arrived 2 days before we left (very responsive seller - Adorama Camera). That didn't leave me much time to figure things out before we left, so it was my project for the plane ride. By the time we arrived I felt fairly comfortable using the camera - the owners manual was very easy to follow and the camera itself easy to use.

I don't consider myself an expert by any means, but I have dabbled a little in photography and the pictures I had printed from the S2 IS rivaled those from my Canon AE-1 (and oldie but a goodie) and far surpassed those from my SureShot. (Just a footnote: I did decide to go with the premium prints rather than standard, not sure how much of a difference there would be). I also decided to buy a 1 GB memory card as well as the rapid charger (Energizer) both were well worth the money and I would recommend doing that.

My only complaint is what I have seen others mention and that is the lens cap. It does not want to stay on. Kind of a hassle, especially while traveling (taking it in and out of the camera bag, etc).

So far a great camera that I am so happy we bought!

Great Camera!
After a great deal of investigation I decided to buy the Canon Powershot S2. After checking prices Amazon had the best deal.
So far I have really enjoyed this camera. I am an old SLR fan but this camera does everything and more. The only problem is learning all the different programs and settings.
I am going on vacation soon and will take the owners manual with me to learn and I shoot.

Excelent Camara!!
I used to have a powershot A70, now that i got the S2 IS i can see the difference in performance, i have a 256 scandisk sd card and the write speed after taking a picture is awesome, also the flash is pretty good even on really dark environments, the image Image Stabilized really help me to take blurless photos. I am really happy with the upgrade.

I am loving it!!!!
I am not beginner/novice photographer. The picture quality is top quality compared to other 5 MP camera brands that I have dealt with(Olympus, Sony and Kodak). It seems Canon has one of the best lenses. I owned Canon A95 and loved it. I decided to get into more serious into photography. This camera give you the point and shoot capability yet a lot of flexibility for the prosumer-wannabe like myself.

The size seems big at first, but it's relatively comparable to other upstarter prosumer camera.

I have taken few Macro shots and the resolution with default lens and the resul was great. Few things that I loved the most:
* Customized Self-Timer: This is great for me who tend to shake camera when I press the shutter. Self-timer reduces my shake, plus of course they comes handy in group pictures.
* Very fast multi-frame shots.
* Very good battery life. I think the 4-battery last me 150-200 pictures.
* They still use AA battery. Though this preent the camera to be smaller but it is just more practical for me during travel.

It would be better if this camera is sold with a remote. (I have been looking and still can't find it). The lens cap could be designed a little better. Overall this little nuisances are easily overlooked by the picture quality thatI have seen.

I am also ordering the hood and adapter (they are backordered though... :( Hoping I can use with creative filters.

If I were to summarize this camera in one sentence, it will be " A great quality camera that can do 99% of Profesional Camera at 50% of the price"

I LOVE THIS CAMERA
I won't go into the technical aspects of this camera as I am still learning them, but other reviewers have and I agree with all that I've read and experienced with my own camera. I still own a Canon SLR film camera that I bought in 1969. Yes, it still works as good as new. I used my experience with Canon to sway my purchase of the S2IS. This camera works easily, so far the manual appears to be easy to understand and the pictures I've taken look great. In fact, one photo in particular was so good I decided to enter it in a contest. The Amazon price ($395 in my gold box) was the best anywhere. No tax and no shipping. The 5 megapixel with the zoom lens is really cool. I took a picture of a horse drawn carriage at a distance of about 75 feet, opened the photo with my computer and zoomed in on the horse. I then realized the horse was wearing a medallion on his chest. I zoomed in further and was able to read it (his name was Prince) with very little distortion. Buy it, you'll love it.

Very nice camera
This is my third digital camera in six years and is, by far, the best yet. It's easy to use right out of the box. My only complaint is that it doesn't have an "action" mode, and pictures taken with the "continuous" feature come out very blurry. Since this is such a terrific camera, I have a feeling that this is probably due to something I'm doing incorrectly, rather than a problem with the camera itself. I'm blown away by what this camera can do for the money. I bought mine through Amazon for a little over $400 with a pre-order and never expected to get so much for the money. I've owned an Olympus digital, which I was also very happy with and was a bit hesitant to change brands, but I can recommend this camera to anyone who wants more than a point-and-shoot, but doesn't want to be a slave to the manual.

sweet camera
Takes very nice pics and the movie function is super. Tons of setting for customizing you own pics or just point and shoot on auto mode. I really have no complaints with this camera.

Great camera for the money
I've heard all the blather about the small, hard to see LCD, the poor EVF, and the slow recycle time, but I personally haven't had any problems with those. I've had nothing but success with this camera and have taken some amazing photos at 12x zoom that were crystal clear.
My only complaint is the lens cap that falls off with the slightest provocation!

Alaskan vacation with the Canon S2
We recently booked a trip to Alaska, one of the pre-trip decisions was to purchases a new camera. I had previously owned a digital camera it was three years old. Since the technology has advanced rapidly in that length of time a new camera was desirable.

After reading a substantial number of reviews, and talking with people that are highly knowledgeable about photography, I was able to narrow down my choices within the budget I wanted to work with. I have owned through the years, a number of fine film cameras and have been satisfied with the results; however, the allure of digital cameras is hard to resist, the ability to take large numbers of shots and instantly review your efforts is hard to resist.

The camera I finally settled on was the Canon Powershot S2 IS it seemed to include most of the features I felt were needed or desirable and was in the dollar limit I had budgeted.

I had very little time before our trip to work with the camera however; controls were logical and easily understandable. My impressions are from an informed amateur standpoint, not a professional, and should be weighted with that in mind. The Canon had no issues mechanically or electronically all features and controls worked out of the box, quality control is evident.

The final configuration of this camera is as follows:

1 - Canon Powershot S2 IS
1 - Canon LAH-DC20 Lens Adapter and Hood Set for the S2 IS Digital Camera
2 - ATP 1GB 60X Secure Digital Memory Cards
2 - Hoya 58mm Lens Filters / UV and Polarizer
1 - Lowepro Camera Bag - Novo 1 AW

The quality of the pictures was I felt excellent for the dollars spent. There are SLR cameras on the market such as the Nikon D 70 that likely surpass this camera however, costing twice the price. It is highly unlikely that the average user such as myself needs or would use all the features on a digital camera costing over a thousand dollars. For the semi pros out there and professionals they are a different story, and the money they spend would be justified.

I have been able to compare pictures with the Canon against cameras costing a great deal more taking similar shots and the quality differences are negligible at best.

I agree with many of the expert reviews regarding this camera, it does a great job for the money spent.

Canon S2 vs. 20D vs. SD Series
I own both the S2 and SD400, and have used the 20D extensively with L-Series glass, so I'll write a review about the differences. A featured review compared the S2 with the 20D, and having used both, there's absolutely no comparison, the 20D blows it out of the water. The 20D consistently produces framable "art work" with the right lens, however, getting the body plus the right lens will cost you over $2,000. So if you've used the 20D, don't purchase this as a substitute, you will be very disappointed. With all settings on auto, your shots with the 20D with L-Series glass will all make your mouth water, the S2 will "only" produce a very nice, and crisp shot, those shots that "wow" you, are few and far between. The 20D can also shoot shots instantenously back-to-back-to-back, and focuses nearly instantaneously, whereas with the S2 there will be a noticeable lag between shutter depression and the shot being taken, even in burst mode, so this camera is definitely not the best for sports or fast action photography, but then again, no digital is shy of the semi-pro DSLRs.

A much closer comparable to this model is the SD400, which I also own. Both produce great shots with great color, with the S2 having the slight edge in terms of clarity, detail, and moderately less CA. So if they're so similar why would you pay more for a much larger camera? Well obviously the zoom is huge, especially for wild life photography. The manual features are very rich, and the camera hunts slightly less, and is noticeably faster (in terms of shutter depression to taking the shot, and in terms of continuous shooting recovery time) than its smaller counter parts.

My recommendation: unless you need the zoom, or will use manual shutter speed / aperture frequently, you'd probably be better of buying an SD camera, as your shots will be of comparable quality, and you'll probably end up using it much more as the SD series cameras are pocketable, whereas this thing is pretty huge. And you'll end up saving some cash in the process. I bought this camera for wildlife photography, but for everyday use when I'm with friends or going on day trips, I'll most likely still use my SD400, and not worry about sacrificing much on picture quality.

In its class, the S2 is the best camera, hands down, Canon currently makes the best "point-and-click" lenses, period. On the DSLR front, it's a bit more competitive. I've had a chance to use a few other point-and-clicks, and none have been in the ballpark. So choose Canon, and choose practically.

The best Canon camera - UPDATE: Not so good after all...:(
I had own several digital cameras. From Kodak, Nikon, Olympus, and Canon. I owned Canon S40, S45, S1 IS, G6, and currently S2. First of all, let me tell you. The absolutely best pictures are only made by Canon. And among Canons that I owned S2 IS is absolutely winner. It takes crisp photos at any light conditions. The 12x optical zoom is unbelivable and IS is must have. So far, I shoot about 200 pictures of moving cars, people, animals and NONE of them are blured. Prior to purchasing this camera, I was concern if 1.8" screen will be enough as I was spoiled by Canon's G6 2.0" screen and Kodak's V550 2.5". I can tell you now that with optical viewfinder that is installed of S2, I am not using screen at all while shooting pictures. The lense cap is something that might be better but as much as I got used to G6 identical one, I am not seeing it as a problem. Now comparing G6 to S2, I am in most occurance prefer latest one as DIGIC II processor is absolutely awesome. It is fast and acurate. And one more thing, S2 makes awesome stereo movies with a lenght of almost 20 min (1G), not like my old G6 that is restricting me to 3 min mono sound movies. So unless you need to print large prints (like I do) of 20"x30", S2 is the best Canon camera on today's market.


UPDATE (01/07/06):
About month and a half ago, my Canon S2 started turning itself off for no apparent reason while I was taking a picture. First I though that it could be a short time limit when camera goes in stand by but it wasn't not the case. The set of 1 month old 4 x 2,300 mAh AA batteries (Sanyo, made in Japan) were always fully charged whenever it was happening and screen was not used. I called Canon Service Dept and they asked to ship it to them. Upon receiving camera back, I found that even though it was not shutting itself that often as before, this problem had still existed and at least once a day, I was expiriencing that problem again. Canon customer service said that they did everything that could possibly be done and there is nothig else that they could do. So I sold that Canon :( Until today, I have no clue what was wrong with my camera and I couldn't find anyone else complaining of the same problem. So I guess this camera was just possesed. This is my first Canon product that did not lasted in my hands for more than a year (I used only for two months when it was problem free). I don't want to discourage anyone from purchasing this camera as it isn't bad at all but as for me, I wouldn't buy this one again.

Great Camera Great pics Even low light!! Great Special Effects
I have had several digital cameras, Including Panasonic
Lumix, and the kodak dx7590.
I HATED the Panasonic, as I could NOT get a good pic indoors
or true colors. Only outdoors. WAY Over Rated!
The Kodak is also a GREAT camera and VERY easy to use,
BUT...The flash is not strong enough for low light and My
pics had a purple or Blue cast that I would have to
manually remove with a program.
That got really old, and last it had a VERY hard
time focusing in low light. I thought I would Pick up
one of these cameras to just play with as I had seen
the Color Accent which by the way are VERY nice, Just
imagine your daughter holding a pink flower and all the rest
in black and white!! You will love that!
SO, I start using it and comparing it, well the low light
pics are great! Flash is very bright and you can't tell
you even had a lighting problem. Also focus is great in low light too. Colors are true to life as well, no blue tones.
The lens cap is a pain, but like someone said, just put
a bit of the lens cap cord under the cap and it keeps it tight
and it won't fall off.
Very nice pics and Nice Camera!

Fantastic
This is my second Cannon digital camera. I had the Powershot S45, loved it, but they no longer made that model so I had to find something else after I broke it recently.

S2 was the right choice for me. I have been taking photographs both as a hobby and as a paid professional for many years, and I was very impressed with this small digital camera delivering beyond expected qualities.

The color is very accurate, and there is no waiting in between shots. The zoom is powerful AND takes focused photos. To top it off, the flash has an amazing range no other miniature digital/non digital camera can come close to (very important for me in terms of photo quality).

The macro and super macro mode took AMAZING crips images, and all the other fun gadgets are and will continued to be used fully by me.

I love the movie mode that is flexible in resolution/length of time - my older model was very limited in this regard.

Over-all, nothing to complain about, except the rechargeable batteries takes a long time to recharge fully - but who cares, they last incredibly long time too! I bought two sets, so I always have another set ready to go, but so far I have never needed to reach for the spare batteries, since they last so long after recharging.

The photo quality is mint, and I can't complain about anything so far. Yes, people are mentioning the flimsy lens cap, but it has not been any concern for me so far.

Love that zoom! Superfast! Great LCD, Awesome video settings!
This camera really surprised me in a good way! I didn't do any research on this camera at all but it has turned out to be even better than my Olympus 5060 or my old Canon G2. The things I really love about this camera are:
1) The zoom, wow, got some great pictures of whales and glaciers on an Alaska cruise! You just can't beat 12X optical zoom :)
2) Really fast! I've had a series of digital cameras including Canon G2, Olympus 5060 etc and this is by far the fastest of the bunch. On all the others there was a noticeable processing time delay; on this camera it almost always snaps the shot right away!
3) The same LCD I came to love on the G2 that flips out and twirls around. This is invaluable for getting good shots with the camera above your head, I often use it when taking pictures of my food for website restaurant reviews.
4) Great video settings, you can really take some high res quality video footage if you have enough memory!

In addition, the menus are easy to use and things like picture resolution settings are very easy to access (as opposed to being buried in the menu system somewhere!). I find that 5MP is plenty for my web pictures and I think for most people it is perfectly adequate. Downloading pictures is very easy via the supplied USB cable, doesn't seem to require a special driver the way my old G2 did.

The things I don't love so much:
1) The camera is a bit on the bulky side; but then so were my other cameras so I'm used to that. At least it is pretty lightweight for its size.
2) I'm not such a big fan of the flip out flash, several times I take a nighttime photo and wonder why the flash didn't go off! Just takes getting used to; at least its easy to turn off the flash if you don't want it!
3) Where is the high speed/sports setting on the dial? If you want to take high speed shots you will have to dig into the menu system.

Overall, this is the best camera I've ever owned of the 5 previous digital cameras; I'm a happy camper :)

Best super zoom camera
I have had other super zoom cameras from other brands. The only reason that I waited so long to buy this S2 IS is that its predecessor S1 IS is only 3 mega pixel. After using Olympus C-765 and Konica Minolta Z5, I have to say, Canon makes the best digital cameras. Here are the highlights of my opinion.

Pro (what the Olympus' and Konica Minolta's counterpart lacks)
* Superb image quality (this is also agreed by dpreview.com). Image quality is not just mega pixel, but also the clarity and sharpness.
*** Canon cameras produce less "noise" than other brand. In case you don't know what noise in photography means, it looks like random sand grain on a low-light photo. Konica Minolta is very very bad in terms of noise. If you can avoid vibration (e.g. with the help of a tripod), Canon S2 IS is ideal in all scenario. However, don't expect you can take anything decent with Z5 under in-door scenario without flash.
*** Good JPEG compression. The more compressed, the lower the image quality, but the more it can store on a memory card. So there is always a trade-off, and everyone has their optimal balance/compromise between file size and image quality. I find Canon's compression optimal for me. Olympus' compression is way too compressed. I can actually see the dots around high contrast edges with naked eyes, without enlargement. That is how it led me to verify the fact by some computer software. If you take a lot of geometric objects like architectures, this is the camera for you.

* FAST!! With DIGIC II processor, turning on, off, shooting is much faster. And zoom is also very fast (due to the ultra-sonic motor)
* Better operation interface. A simple thing like "2 second review window" where one has the chance to immediately remove a bad picture makes Canon more pleasurable to use.
* tilt-and-swivel LCD monitor. Great for self portrait, and unusual shooting angel (e.g. shooting from above head)
* You can add additional converter lens. Cannon offers a 1.5x telephoto and 0.75x wide. With the existing 12x zoom, you can get 18x optical zoom or 72x digital combined zoom. This is how some people shoot the moon.
* Super macro mode. You can shoot the micro print off a paper money (a very small text as an anti-counterfeit device. It is available on the 5 dollars bill or higher. see my pictures)
* Long battery life. Using 4 AA size rechargeable batteries (capacity around 8000 ~ 9600 mAh), S2 IS lasts much longer than Olympus C-765 (1050 mAh)


Cons
* Movie files are not compressed enough
* The official 0.75x wide converter lens is not wide enough for me

In conclusion: I will keep this camera for a long time.

Canon S2 IS Review, highlights and lowlights
I previously owned a small canon digital camara and learning to use this one was very easy. All the options are very similar, and finding new features is very intuitive.
Highlights:
1. great and FAST processor: using the features and navigating through pictures is really fast.
2. great advanced features for a non professional camera, including manual focus, which give more options
3. great image stabilizer, it really works
Lowlights:
1. Plastic sucks, my old canon camera is metallic, which gives a much better appeareance
2. 4 batteries and no options for recharging? yes!! you have to buy an external recharger, with AA 2500 mh batteries to make them last
3. very small lcd screen

In general, great camera, great features, great price!!!

Great Camera for the Price 4.8 Stars
Great camera for the price...and for a novice user like me. This is our first digital camera. My fiance and I bought an S2 IS and two 256 MB SD card. We were able to shoot more than 400 shots with the LCD on before the 2500 mAh single charge (4 AA rechargeable batteries) gave out.

The S2 goes from shooting mode to play mode in a second, and browsing the images is fast, even with largest format ( 2592 x 1944 px at 180 px/in. ). I have not fully gone through every mode...but for the everyday novice photographer, this camera does real good in taking quick-on-the-go shots.

For OS X users, make sure to install the software/drivers before connecting the camera. Photoshoot subjects with flash-on no closer than 2 feet indoors/night setting...but no farther than 16 feet away.

My Pros:
- Ease of use, rugged and versatile with the 1.8 LCD...shoot-n-go outta the box.
- Lots of shooting modes...snow, foliage, night, fireworks, manual settings etc.
- Has panoramic mode to help you take better shots for a panorama, CD comes with pano-stitcher.
- 640 x 480 px video at 30 frames/sec in stereo 44khz (colors look better than my Canon ZR50) You can shoot video for as long as you want...depends on the size of your SD card also.
- You can add additional lense for wide/macro and telephoto.
- A/V output, A/C adaptor...USB 2.0 connectivity
- Okay Manual Focus
- Has Macro mode...as close to 0 cm on the subject? Having the lense about 6 inches away works for me, and I just zoom in.
- Has subject/image stabalizer.

My want:
- Lens cap slides off easily, but necessary because the lense extends once turned on...some people are pretty picky with this feature.
- No hotshoe...the flash can be stronger...and needs to lock in place.
- Body a little bulky...can be more streamlined.
- For the price, camera should get 6.3 megapixel treatment.
- No RAW format mode...just high resolution JPEGs.

This is a Great Camera
This camera is awesome. Besides taking great still pictures, it has a number of bells and whistles built into it AND it takes movies. Suggest at time of purchase you get your self a minimum of 1 gig memory card to go with it (Approx $100) the 12X Optical Zoom is awesome. I took a picture of my cousin from the 86th Floor of the Empire State Building down to the 24th Floor of the building next door and I could make him out fine. If you have a young family or just want ease of use, this camera works for me. This camera has dual microphones which when you opt to video mode, picks up all sounds. Converts it to an .avi . Works super with Winamp when you play it back. If I had to come up with one criticism it would be that the LED Viewer is difficult to see what your shooting on a bright day. There is a view finder you can switch to that will get ya over but over all, I am very very happy with the camera. [...]

The Best
Canon makes some of the best lenses in the prosumer (and professional) digital market.
You can't take great pictures without a great lense. This is a great lense.
You also can't take great pictures in an indoor large room (hall, ballroom, convention, etc) without a big lense. This is a big lense.
You can't take a massively zoomed in picture without image stabilization or a tripod. This has fantastic image stabilization.

It also takes very good video, has some really neet color exposure / swaping functions that allow you to be really artistic without necessarily knowing what you are doing. User friendly doesn't begin to explain it.

If you know what you are doing, and you want compelte flexibility and amazing pictures, buy a Canon digital SLR. If you are trying to get that action shot of your kid playing soccer, but you can't get the photo to come out focused and not blurry, get this camera and save yourself the headache. The photos are wonderful (not professional, but wonderful) and a 5 year old can use it.

Macro falls short
I currently have a Canon G3 that I love, but I've had it for a couple years now, and I'm interested in an upgrade. I use my camera mostly for macro nature photography and everyday around the house photos. Most of the time I use automatic settings and come out with decent results. I've been wanting a better telephoto lens for birding. This is what I was comparing the Canon S2 IS against when I took it out for a test drive this weekend. I will be returning the S2 - it wasn't worth it as an upgrade to me.

There are a few design features that I did not like. The S2 uses the LCD to show what features are enabled. I prefer how the G3 has two seperate screens - one as a view finder and one for displaying settings. That way, if the LCD is closed, I can still see what settings I have selected. The eyepiece viewfinder is digital, not optical. When I'm zoomed in all the way, I will use it to track an animal, where I can see more of the scene, but the S2 eyepiece displays the same picture as the LCD, and when zoomed in all the way it was too blurry to see anything.

I loved the image stabilization and the telephoto lens. I was able to stand in my house and get decent photos of squirrels and birds in trees outside. I could get clear basketball players at dusk from a distance. The colors did not seem as rich as my other camera, but the image quality for normal shots seemed just as good. The camera focuses quickly and the pictures are quick.

The macro lens is what I was very disappointed about. It's true that you can get a photo with the lens directly on the object - I got a shot of the newspaper with the lens touching, but no animal or insect is going to let me get that close for a photo anyway. The part I disliked the most with the macro is that you cannot zoom in that mode. Usually I get as close as I can physically and then zoom in, but not with the S2.

Personally, I still want a camera that can do a telephoto zoom as well as this one, but not lose the macro capabilities I have with my G3. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any available right now that meet my needs, without me going to SLR.

aweeeeesome
This camera ROCKS.

keeping in mind, this is my first digital high zoom camera(even though I used other canon cameras with less zoom), this camera is just awesome.

I have carried this camera along with me for quite sometime now and I appreciate all the minute details that canon provides.

just to mention some few:
1) I have taken pics in las vegas with this camera and just turned out to be fantastic especially when I used the night vision mode. And the red-eye reduction is also good.

2) I have taken this to grand canyon and taken panaromic views and they are just great. not all cameras come with a feature where you can overlap pictures.

3) the color settings mode is cool. you can get one color highlighted and not the rest.

4) the video quality is just great and the sound recording is high quality stereo sound.

5) the flash works PERFECT. I have used my full 12x optical and 4x digi and zoomed on a book 16 feet away in another room and using flash I could get a very clear picture with titles and authors.

Only drawback I see is the lens cover.. but hey who cares.. for the rest of the features I get from this camera its very negligible.
I used 1GB memory card and 2400mAh rechargeable batteries for best results.

great camera
I just wanted to write if you are looking for a great all around camera, this is it. It is bigger than a compact camera, but smaller than a SLR camera. The pop up flash helps to reduce redeye, since the flash is farther away from the lens. It is a great camera. I have the canon digital rebel, but find that it is big and bulky to take everywhere. I have small kids, but I found this to be a compromise, without a sacrifice on quality.

Lens cap fix/Finally I can take photos again!
How To Keep Your Lens Cap From Falling Off

(late addition to review already posted)

Here's the best solution I've found. Go to a hardware or home-improvement store, and buy a sheet of small, felt "feet". The adhesive kind: which you can buy cheaply in sets of 50 or more, usually in assorted sizes. Typically they're used (in sets of four) for putting underneath items so that they don't slide around, or scratch the surfaces underneath. But we're going to use them in a way other than intended.

Peel off only one of them; I'd recommend a circle about 1/4" in diameter. Use scissors or utility knife (watch your fingers!) to cut it in half, being careful not to touch the adhesive too much. You want it to remain sticky.

You now have two tiny semicircles. Affix each of them to opposite sides of the inside rim of the lens cap. This makes the lens cap act as if it's ever so slightly "smaller".

The result is that the lens cap won't fall off anymore, but is still easy to remove.

If you find that the lens cap becomes difficult to take off, try to find an alternative method with a material of lesser thickness.

Most such "feet" have adhesive which doesn't stick very firmly, and after a few months, your handiwork falls off the lens cap. Then you'll have to do it again. However, this is far preferable to using a stronger adhesive but not being able to remove or adjust the position.

The most obvious fix is to tie a string to the lens cap, then tie that string to one of the two tiny loops on either side of the camera, on top. That way, if the cap falls off, you won't lose it.

The problem with this technique: when using certain camera angles, the dangling lens cap swings in and out of the viewfinder.

I use both methods. The latter can be annoying, but for most shots, the lens cap doesn't get in the way.

OK, OK...I know this review is now much too long, having already been somewhat too long in the first place. But I suspect the preceding info will be helpful to many folks.

[Original review follows]

I love this camera!

Working with film--more years ago than I care to admit--eventually, I gave up. I couldn't take a sharp photo without a tripod; my hands shake too much. A tripod is too heavy, and the set-up time kills the spontaneity. Forget taking candid shots if you need a tripod.

So a few months ago, when I heard about the "image stabilization" features of digital cameras, I decided to give photography another try.

Looking around, I decided I wanted a non-SLR digital camera with about 5 megapixels, image stabilization and at least 10x optical zoom.

I found only two cameras which met my criteria. Sony has a similar model, but I didn't like the way it felt in my hands. Also, its buttons are ridiculously tiny, even by modern standards of miniaturized gadgets.

So I chose the Canon, and I'm glad I did. Truly easy to use. I love the ability to shoot as many photos as I want, without worrying about every shot adding to the cost of film and processing. If a photo turns out a bit over- or under-exposed, usually I can fix it in Photoshop with just a bit of tweaking.

The biggest drawback: I find it difficult to get true, lifelike colors with the Canon. This happens regardless of the white-balance settings (some of which seem to act more like color filters). This, too, can be corrected in Photoshop. But color correction takes more work than, say, cropping...or changing contrast/brightness (for which Photoshop's Curves feature is phenomenal; trying to set contrast and brightness separately tends to become a trial-and-error process with many steps, all of which degrade the quality of the image).

However, I'm not a professional. I don't require perfection. It's unlikely that I'll spend the time to do a lot of Photoshop processing on more than one out of 100 images (and that's out of the promising shots: the ones I don't simply delete from the camera).

Despite image stabilization, and even in bright sunlight (where the shutter speed is fast), "camera shake" is still a problem. However, I should note that my hands shake much more than the average person, due to medical reasons.

If, like me, you find that image stabilization is not always enough, try using the VideoProp (model SVP-3 from Sima, if I recall correctly). This is sort of like a miniature monopod which is worn around the neck. You get much of the stability of a monopod or tripod, but without carrying a weighty burden, nor having to take a long time to set it up.

At first, you'll find adjustments are necessary: both to the neck strap, and the length of the pod (which telescopes). But once you've found the sizes which work for you, it becomes simple.

The VideoProp is intended for use with camcorders, but works equally well when shooting stills. There IS one serious problem. For the sake of quick set-up, the VideoProp's mounting bracket needs to be screwed onto the bottom of your camera at all times. But when in place, this bracket partially covers the lid to the Canon's battery compartment! Therefore, I have to carry a screwdriver, so that I'll be able to remove the bracket temporarily if I need to switch batteries mid-session.

If this is beginning to sound more and more like it's as much inconvenience as a conventional monopod or tripod--well, as long as you already have the VideoProp ready to go before you start shooting--soon you hardly notice it. You will, however, probably get a lot of questions from other photographers who've never seen anything like it before.

Essential for me is a medium-sized camera bag by MRock. There are "bungee straps" on the bottom of the bag, so that I can take the VideoProp (in the compact configuration to which it collapses, for carrying) along with the same bag. But outside the bag: so I don't have to worry about its metal parts banging into my precious camera, safe inside.

This particular bag (the Glacier Bay #88004) is large enough to hold all my accessories, including two sets of extra batteries, a hard case where I store extra memory cards, the Canon camera's user manual, microfiber eyeglass cloths (which I find are much better for cleaning the lens than anything else I've tried), and even that screwdriver.

It's not even particularly large; it's merely well-designed, with a multitude of pockets in which you can fit nearly anything you might need. Also it's expandable, though I can't imagine why I'd do so. Even with all the things I carry, there is plenty of space left in the bag.

And no, I do not have any financial relationship to the third-party companies mentioned above. I'm just happy I was able to get everything to work the way it should, without having to carry two or more bags everywhere I go.

After a lot of searching the perfect camera is here!
After spending literally hours and hours viewing cameras on line and reading consumer reviews I decided to purchase the Canon S2 IS. I needed a little better camera then the common aim and shoot type but could not afford the coveted Canon Rebel series quite yet. I find this camera to have the extra long 12x optical zoom and clarity of picture that Canon is famous for. LOVE IT!!!

Focus
The camera is great with the exceptions:
1)I have trouble focusing with it. Even on auto the lens seems blurry. Pictures are great though.
2)The lens cover does not stay on - it appears to need another gasket around the inside of the lens cover.
3)It is a bit heavier than I expected it to be.
4) I have been able to get some great hummingbird and quail pictures with this camera.

Excellent camera, but there are some issues
Since most reviews have shown how great this camera is, it would be better if you, as a potential owner, know some issues with this camera. Hence, my review is just for its cons (and how to overcome them), even though the camera is excellent overall.

1. This camera has a major problem with its auto-focus feature. There is a good source for you to understand this problem and how to overcome it. Since I can't give you the direct link, you still con find it using google and searching for a term "Canon S2 focusing issues".

2. The noise of images using ISO 50, 100 and 200 are relatively better than other P&S camera but at ISO 400, it's bad.

3. When recording video and you need to zoom in and out, the sound of the zoom motor is noticeable in quiet environment and will be recorded into your clip. However, if there is some background sounds, it would not be a problem at all.

4. If you use alkaline batteries, you can take only about 130 shots before the batteries drain out. But using NiMH batteries, you can take up to 550 shots on one charge.

5. The nature length of the lens makes the build-in flash is useless when you want to take some super-macro (new feature) picture where the object is less than an inch from the lens. In this case, you probably need an external flash.

6. Using macro focus (not super-macro) will give you some distortion. It's better to use telephoto macro.

7. Below F/4, there can be purple fringing (red, blue, purple fringe on edges), specially in bright scenes.

For much more in-depth review, you should also take a look at this well-known digital camera review website: DPreview

As easy as it gets
I purchased this camera in August. I travel a lot and needed a camera that would give me high quality, while not having to carry a lot of extra accessories around. This camera FAR exceeded my expectations.

For starters, I was taking pictures literally minutes after taking it out of the box. If you do nothing else but point-and-shoot, it is one very exceptional camera. I still can't believe how easy and intuitive it is to use. I have even been able to shoot in low-light conditions without using the flash. The camera's automatic features do a great job even under difficult conditions.

The zoom is powerful. As an example, if you know EPCOT at Walt Disney World in Florida, I was able to stand in front of the American Expeience and get good close-ups of Spaceship Earth. I estimate that the distance was about 3/4 of a mile.

You can easily override any of the automatic settings. However, interestingly, there are a number of preset settings you can use for common situations such as Fireworks or Fall Foliage. I tried those two and the results were very satisfactory.

There are two accessories you might want to consider. Each photo you take occupies about 2mb of memory. The SD memory card that comes with the camera is 20mb. This means that you run out of memory after 8 - 10 pictures. That is unacceptable. I purchased a 1-gig memory card for $75. It took me under a minute to pop it in and there is now very little danger of running out of memory.

Another thing I would purchase is a good battery charger and keep several sets of charged batteries with you. Digital cameras, in general, are known for eating batteries.

Hooking the camera into the computer was quick and easy via the USB port. Since I use some high-end digital editing software, I did not use any of the software that comes with the camera. Because I have not used it, I cannot comment on it.

The weight of the camera is light and, as a result, I carry it with me everywhere.

I love everything about this camera and have absolutely no hesitations recommending it. Canon has done it again!

Great Camera, But Went Sony H1 Instead
What ever you do, go to a camera shop and spend at least 10mins or more playing with a couple of cameras before you buy!

For me it came down to the Canon S2 IS or the Sony H1. I read every single review I could find on both cameras and agonised over the specs and sample pictures, pro's and cons for months. If you look at the specs of both cameras both seem very evenly matched. In the end I decided on the Canon.

A few things that convinced me the S2 was the better choice were: the far superior movie mode (great quality and you can zoom while taking video), the swivel screen, the superior burst mode (unlimited, fast fps).

That was until my Dad bought one and I borrowed it for a weeks holiday to a game park. I used the camera all day for a week and I got some amazing photos but I got back quite dissapointed in the camera. Deciding that you can only get so much out of reading reviews I went to a camera shop to actually play with my (then 2nd choice) the H1.

It took less than a minute for me to decide that this was by far the better camera (for me). Here's why:

1) The S2 has a terrible LCD. It's tiny (1.8") and almost impossible to use outdoors (even in overcast weather, forget even trying in sunlight). I found myself forced to use the EVF 99% of the time and although better, it really isn't sharp enough. The H1 has a 2.5" LCD which is MUCH brighter and makes the Canon's seem absolutely tiny in comparison. The EVF on the Sony is also a bit crisper and again, brighter. This is the only criticism I have that I can't put down to simple preference. The swiveling screen was cool, and allowed me to take some shots I wouldn't otherwise have been able to take (holding the camera out the sunroof etc) but when you can barely see what's on the screen it doesn't matter much that it swivels too.

2) It's a Sony. This won't apply to everyone of course but being used to Sony cameras there were some basic things about the interface on the Canon I just couldn't get used to (e.g. the zoom rocker in front, the switch to change between record and play (kept going the wrong way), the layout of some controls and the information on the screen). If you've used and like Sony's then keep this in mind (the same obviously holds true in reverse).

3) The H1 is faster. The reviews had point out that lag times on the Sony were a little faster than the Canon. This is evident after you've used them both and for me speed is essential since I do a lot of wild life photography on our trips (only thing stopping me going dSLR for this reason is the cost). This might not be too important for some people but for me it's essential.

So there's not much in it and one thing I used quite often that I will definately miss is the speed of the high speed burst mode on the Canon. The unlimited duration is not so important since I never actually reached the maximum amount the Sony can take but the Sony's burst mode is a fair bit slower. The movie mode I won't miss because I didn't use it. With a 1GB memory card you only get 6mins of video so I was too scared to use up space I would need for photos.

The shots I did get were awesome and that zoom really does kick ass but I urge anyone looking at purchasing a digital camera to make sure they take the time to go the the shops and try out each of their options before making the final decision. You really can't know which you'll prefer just from looking at specs and reading reviews!

The best compromise I have ever made
My husband wanted to by a "little" digital camera, and I wanted a digital SLR. What to do?? We bought the Canon S2 IS and I don't think that either one of us will look back.

I love the options that let me be in control of the image and my husband loves that he can point and shoot. Our pictures have come out well and I have made several 8x10s that are clear and have no pixalation, even after some serious zooming in. The camera fits easily in the hand and access to the controls are logical and easy to use.


The drawbacks include the viewfinder image is digital (which means that it uses battery life and the image in the viewfinder is more fuzzy than your picture)and the menu options are scattered, some features you access from one menu some from the other. Also, you cannot take pictures while reviewing pictures, so I reccomend waiting to review pictures until you are out of the action. Plus, you definatly want to strap the lens cap to the camera because it is not secure and pops off when the camera is turned on.

Don't be fooled by the drawback list, this is a well designed camera that takes excellent pictures, the zoom is great, and even when the photo has been unsatisfactory (my fault) the picture itself has been flawless!

The price also makes this a great deal, half the price of an SLR and just a little more money than the "little" cameras that have lower megapixels and little or no optical zoom.

Worth the money, lots of fun, easy to use; I highly reccomend this camera.

update feb 20 2006,


I no longer feel like this was the compromise camera. We have a one month old son and have 1000's of pictures of him. Our camera goes about 400-500 pictures on a set of batteries, so I am not sure what the reviews that talk about short battery life are talking about. This has been a great purchase and I still highly reccomend this camera.

Also to the reviewers that complain about the bulk - This is a feature packed camera that can be operated with one hand, but it is not an "elph". Less bulky than the SLR's and better zoom and controls than the little skinny cameras, I can't imagine a better design that has all the features and weighs so little.

We fianlly have used the videofeature, and the sound quality is suprsingly good, the image was good, we were pleasantly suprised with how well this feature worked since it was the last reason we got this particular camera.

Also we have since purchased the San disk 5 in 1 reader to transfer the images to our computer and it works great, I highly reccomend that as a neccesary accessory

Still a great camera, we are very happy we bought this one!!

Great camera, in the top of its class.
I love my S2 IS, pictures are awesome. I always go to the car racers in Englishtown NJ, and with the zoom of this camera i don't have to be close to the action anymore. The movie mode is great too, just wish it lasted longer than 8 minutes at the highest settings. No problems at all so far, knock on wood, you will love this camera, A+ in my book.

Canon S2 is one awesome digital camera to upgrade from PowerShot A300...
For the past 3 weeks I've been researching on three digital cameras- the Canon S2, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1, and the Minolta Z6. After doing this, I was so undecided since they all are great cameras and each of them have their flaws. I checked out the Minolta Z6 at a local computer store and was impressed by the design of the camera. It fits great in my hand, looks great, very streamline, and the highest megapixels between all three cameras at 6mp. BUT when I zoomed in, it was very loud and it really didn't focus well. So, I elimated the Z6. Then I went to another store and talked to the sales person about the Canon and Sony. They were side by side on display and I asked the person which one of the two are the big seller. He said the Canon has been the bigger seller. Both cameras were priced the same and he said although he likes Sony, he said the Canon out performs it when it comes to features. Its worth it. So, I broke down and bought the Canon S2.

I was really happy about my purchase. When I got home, I immediately played with my new camera and took a few pictures of my dog and cat. I used to have a Canon PowerShot A300 but realized that it wasn't optical. I wanted a camera that was a good upgrade but not like one of those expensive professional cameras. I'm a beginner at photography so I thought this would be a good way to get started and to upgrade my photography experience. The only thing that I don't like about this camera is the lens cap- it keeps coming off and it doesn't stay on secure. I hope Canon finds a way to fix this problem. Its almost like the lens cap is the wrong size or something. Anyway, my pictures are turning out great. I took a walk this morning with my dog and took a few pictures of the building in my neighborhood. They turned out really great and the colors are so crisp. I haven't used the video feature yet so I'll try that sometime soon. I really like the different settings that you can choose and how the camera fits in my hand.

I'm flying home to Honolulu to see my family for the holidays. Thats when I'll really put the camera to the test. But for now, my experience with this camera has been great so far. I'll definitely continue my review after my holiday trip. But for now, this camera is getting 5 stars because of its ease of use, quality photos, and incredible versatility.

Excellent compromise between pocket camera and DSLR
Background: I've been taking photos for 40 years and did wet photography for many years. I bought my previous digital camera five years ago but at 2.1 Mp it was past its use-by date. An upgrade was in order. After a bit of research - not much - the Canon S2 IS was my choice. I wanted mega-zoom with image stabilisation, reasonable compactness, and 5+ megapixels. In the wedding industry, where I have my business, professional photographers almost universally use Canon digital SLRs so it looked to me that Canon's picture quality and in-camera processing were likely to be superior.

I bicycle around Melbourne a lot and a pocket-sized 6-8 Mp camera would be convenient, but that 12x zoom trumps that, even though I have to backpack the camera. Five megapixels is enough given the sizes I work in - up to A4 - and the zoom means cropping is minimised.

Features I like.

I won't rehash previous reviewers' comments. I like the panorama function. This is much easier to use than that on my old digicam (which required a tripod for alignment) and the Canon PC software does a good job of stitching shots together. It can do vertical and horizontal pans, or mixtures of the two. I can retire my 21mm Rokkor now. The other day I took hand-held multi-shot pans indoors in a sports stadium. The indicated shutter speed was 1/16 yet the results are good given the difficult conditions.

The two-speed zoom is effective and easy to control. The slow speed makes it easy to frame a shot, and the high speed gets from maximum zoom to wide-angle fast.

Shortcomings.

I have noticed the problem with focus in low-light even with the focus assist light on. Sometimes - not always - the camera can't find the focus. It seems it needs a definite edge to focus on. Having seen professionals move their cameras slightly to find a focus point I suspect the Canon is no worse than others. I can live with it.

A case is not supplied. Canon is keeping the purchase price down I suppose, but all the same you do need a case. The official Canon case is ridiculously expense.

The lens cap is a slip-on type and is not as secure as one that grips a filter thread, but it's bearable.

The small capacity SD card supplied is a cost-cutter and must be augmented immediately.

The electronic viewfinder is not as easy to use as an optical viewfinder in daylight, but is better than optical in dim light and displays comprehensive picture information. The LCD display is small but this is more than offset by the convenience of the swivelling feature. The latter is great for taking pictures holding the camera over one's head.

Lack of a hotshoe flash or sync socket. A strange, and major, omission which dowgrades the camera advanced amateur level to serious amateur level. It will take an expensive Canon-brand (radio sync) flash fitted to an accessory bar but I can't use my high-power zoom flash. This was off-putting but I decided I could live with it as I don't do much photography that requires higher power than than the built-in flash. And the built in flash is reasonably powerful.

It's difficult to give an objective assessment having spent the money - cognitive dissonance and all that - but I certainly don't regret the purchase. I'm getting much pleasure from the camera and its excellent output.

Cannon S2 IS or Sony DSC H1
I had a chance to try both these cameras and after careful thought I chose the Cannon S2 IS. Both cameras have some wonderful options and both have some drawbacks. Remember while reading this I am no professional just a mom who loves to take pitures of her kids and these are just my opinions. I chose the Cannon for two important reasons to me. The first being I loved the way the colors came out rich and bright in the Cannon photos. The colors seemed deep and true whereas the Sony's especially those taken outdoors, seemed a little blueish and washed out. The other reason was the flash on the Cannon. The Sony flash seemed a little too strong and washed out all my indoor pictures. There were some situations where using the Cannon indoors I didn't even need the flash but when I tried the same picture with the Sony and no flash there just didn't seem to be enough light. The Sony does have a great huge LCD screen and the viewfinder I think is a little clearer and sharper than the Cannon but not enought to make a huge difference. I also liked the fact that the Sony only required two AA batteries whereas the Cannon requires four making the Sony a little more cost effective and possibly slightly lighter. The Cannon uses a SD card the Sony uses only Sony memory sticks. Since I have many SD cards the Cannon ended up winning in my decision. I also took into consideration that the telephoto button on the Cannon was on the front of the camera unlike most other cameras near the shutter button. The Sony's is on the back of the camera. Because I have smaller hands it was harder to hold the Sony and use the telephoto holding the camera with only one hand. It is really important when deciding between these two cameras to hold them and try them for yourself. Like I said they are both great but the Cannon S2 IS is the one for me. Where to buy it was the easy decision. I checked everywhere and AMAZON.com had the best price. No shipping and in my state no tax. Good luck and Happy picture taking.
Just an update to my recent review of the Cannon S2 IS. I am loving this camera. I got 236 pictures on the batteries that came with the camera so I am interested to see how many I will get with the new Energizer 25oo amh rechargeable batteries I am now using. I also have found a great camera bag for it. It is a Kenneth Cole Reaction bag. I got it at Best Buy for 29.00. It holds the camera and extra batteries the battery charger and sd cards and some other small items yet the bag is a nice small size. My pictures are beautiful and I couldn't be happier with this camera. Good Luck!

Not the best
I have had this camera for one week and it is going back today. I took it to my daughters cheer competition and every time I turn around it said to change the batteries and then it would shut off on me. I have taken a total of 85 pictures on 4 sets of batteries. I missed so many good shots because I spent so much time changing batteries at the most inconvenient times. The manual says I should be get 130 pictures on 1 set of AA batteries. Combined with this and the fact the lens cap falls off all the time, the flash does not automatically pop up and it's large size I think I will be looking into other options.

A camera classic!
As already said it's a great camera! If you are thinking a Kodak or Sony with similar features, I would say go with Canon S2, because 1.It uses 4 AA size batteries, just put 4 rechargeable in your camera and you are free to go. Similar other brand cameras usually use special rechargeable their own betteries (which are expensive to replace) not AA size, so you have to find a power plug every time you need to recharge it, and with 4 AA rechargeables you can take many more pictures, and you can always carry spares, they are cheap. 2.This camera has one of the greatest zooms in the market, 430mm equivalent zoom, simply telling, you can take clear pictures of moon with craters! and nobody has to pose for you anymore, you will take pictures from any distance. 3.Image stabilization is great, even if you are shaking your hands you will still get great pictures. 4. Has many manual settings I can say that you can use it like an SLR camera, too. From beginner to advanced it is a great camera. 5. Full resolution Color viewfinder is a great feature, because you don't have to open LCD display anymore. You'll see the same things in the viewfinder. This is a big plus because less LCD usage means longer battery life and more pictures. 6. Low light picture quality is really good, you can take pictures literally in any light conditions without flash, again that means longer battery life. 7. Only thing I'm having problem is finding a good camera case for it, I don't want to carry bulky camera bags around. I tried many different ones, but still looking for a good fit. And the last thing: I used many different digital cameras, all of them are best selling models in the market. But Canon S2 is the greatest digital camera I have ever used. Ever since I have this camera, I'm not using my SLR anymore and I don't think I need it.

Confused?
I haven't bought or tried the camera yet, however, it is highly rated and recommended by several of these reviewers and Consumer reports. My confusion is regarding the VIDEO USE AND QUALITY. I acknowledge that the photos are GREAT but what about the videos? Very little is said about this IMPORTANT feature:
1) How much memory does it require to get about an hour of video?
2) Is there any special equipment or software, not provided, that is needed to covert the recording to a DVD for viewing?
3) Can you edit the video? How?
4) Can the conversion be done on any PC and/or any film processing service?
5) How long does this take?
4) How is the quality? Indoors? Outdoors? Sports/action shots?
Any comments? Thanks!

Digital wonder
I used to have a 2 MP camera and me and my wife finally decided it was time to upgrade. After weeks of trying to convince my wife to get this camera, she finally decided to "allow" me to cough up the $500 for this bad boy, and now we're BOTH glad she did. It does everything you'd need a camera to do, and then some. Digital zoom is a thing of the past, and this thing comes in to focus in an instant. I can pull this thing out of the bag, turn it on, and have it focused in about 3 seconds. We took this camera to central america for a week and it took wonderful shots of everything. Everything from foliage to buildings, people to panoramic shots...all came out great. This camera has more options than a novice operator would ever need, but if you like to take pictures and want to take them well, this is your camera. I've taken pictures of football tackles, spanish forts, and family events...all in perfection. I've actually used this camera to enter 3 photos in a photography contest. The buttons and knobs on this camera are easy and intuitive, and with its many lenses (not included) you can shoot pretty much anything. I'm an amatuer actor and my wife came to one of my plays and shot the whole performance in video on this camera...and it came out great. We opened up a photography magazine at Wal-Mart recently to humor ourselves with the 5 best cameras of 2005 and this one was number one with a bullet. Save up your money and spring for the best.

Canon really got it right.
All I can say is if you don't like this digital camera, you must not like digital cameras. No it's not an DSLR, but's it's the next best thing to one. If you don't want to carry around 10 pounds of extra lens and all the trimings, this camera is for you. It takes a while to learn to use, but then that's half the fun. After you do learn all the features of this camera you will love it. Besides it's a Canon, what else could you want?

Great! ...just read the manual for best results.
We found that reading the manual will yield the best results. I know this sounds very obvious, but not everyone does this (me, being one of those people.)

We found that the shutter is MUCH FASTER than my Sony DSCP10 Cyber-shot. MUCH faster. My Sony is s-l-o-w to take a picture; whereas the Canon focuses, computes and takes the picture in under a second. My Sony could take up to 5 seconds! The Canon's responsiveness is very close to that of a normal 35mm film camera (SLR.) This could be a big deal if you are taking pictures of quick cats or slippery kids, or anything else that is good at dodging the camera.

The overall feel of camera is solid and lasting. I have my doubts that if I dropped this on cement that the lens and body will be able to take the blow, but I have yet found a reason to test this out and haven't had the opportunity to do so accidentally. The buttons feel good, should survive some repeated use and are well-placed. Maybe with the exception of the shutter button: I found it a little difficult to hold the camera with one hand while pointing it at me and my wife (you know, the obligatory self-portrait-picture-taking when no one is around to do it for you.) The shutter button is on the top-front of the camera and I found it hard to get my finger on it AND hold it. No biggie, just noticed it.

However, we noticed that a finger on our left hand covered the Auto-Focus lens when gripping the camera in a natural manner. I also noticed that it wasn't just us; I witnessed a couple hand this very same camera to a stranger to take their picture and she immediately placed her finger over the Auto-Focus lens. Why does this matter? The camera sends out a beam to judge the distance and focus the lens - cover it and the camera can't focus properly. The viewing screen is small enough that you might not notice the out of focus picture until you get home.

Another issue: pictures look BEAUTIFUL on the little flip-out screen, but when downloaded we saw that some looked very much out of focus (operator error, not the camera.) Point: the little screen makes all of the pictures look good, so take two or more shots to be sure!

YOU MUST BUY RECHARGABLE BATTERIES! You paid enough for the camera, so you pay hundreds more in batteries?? This camera needs four (4) AA batteries, and can go through them by the time you fill up a 1 GB card. The little flip-out screen will consume your batteries' life, so I HIGHLY recommend two sets of four 2500 mAh AA rechargeable batteries that you can rotate through. (You will thank me after you get half-way through your day and your regular batteries are dead.)

A really cool feature is the Diopter Adjustment. This will be VERY beneficial for those that wear glasses but DON'T wear them while looking through the view finder (some of us don't always use the little flip-out screen.) You can dial in an adjustment so that the display information will appear clearly. There are many LITTLE icons around the edges of the viewing area in the view finder, and if you can't see them or your subjects clearly because you have taken off your glasses then your picture taking will suffer.

The pictures we have taken with this Powershot are crispy, clear and close to life-like color (which means less PhotoShopping later.) BUT! you must configure your camera's "SCN" (Special Scene Mode) to match your environment in order to take great pictures! This includes Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Indoor, and Night Snapshot. This won't be your only adjustment, but it will take you from out-of-the-box to shooting-better-pictures quickly.

I highly recommend this camera.

The Camera that does it all!!!$$!!!
Let me try to answer some of the questions other have had about this Camera. I have had this camera for 6 months now, and have loved it every sense I have gotten it.

First about taking pictures. This is my first digital camera even though I have used other digital cameras before. I think it as easy to use as any camera out their. The pictures are easy to take and the camera has plenty of settings for me to use. I have hardly used anything besides auto, portrait, and landscape. All have given me better then I expected quality prints. The menus are easy to navigate; I hardly change any of the settings because it takes so great of pictures. I have started to use the features of where you can record sound to a picture, more to explain what the picture is. This works fairly well, but the audio is put into a different folder so when you put the pictures onto your computer they aren't tied together at all.
When I was reading reviews of this camera, some people said they had problems with red eye. This did worry me because one of the main reasons I was getting this camera was to take pictures of people. I can say now that out of some 100 or so pictures that I have taken of people (just straight on mug shots so to speak) I have had only about 2 -5 red eye problems. Most of them were so small that I hardly noticed it until I saw it on my computer, and then just removed it with any digital picture program. The Flash is a little on the weak side, but you only notice that if you are standing back probably more then 6ft. Also people have said this camera doesn't focus good? I'm not sure what they are talking about. I have only had maybe 2 times when the camera took a while to get the focus right. (By the way you can't even hear the lenses move in and out, it is so quick and quite it is amazing to me.)
Next about videos with this camera sense that is what one review was wondering about.
1) How much memory does it require to get about an hour of video?
This camera isn't made to replace your video camera. From what I have heard you can take 8 mins on a 1GB card (giver or take a minute.) That doesn't sound like a lot, and maybe you can get more on a 2gb card I'm not really sure. The most video I have taken is like 5 mins, and that was all I really needed. Just a couple of video shots here and there.

2) Is there any special equipment or software, not provided, that is needed to covert the recording to a DVD for viewing?

If you have a video burning program then you should be fine. The videos are put into AVI format and most of the time I have been able to just open the files in my burning program. I do know Canon provided some video editing program but I don't think that burns it to DVD but I could be wrong.

3) Can you edit the video? How?
Yes, you can edit the video either in Canon's program that comes with the camera (I haven't tried this program out so I don't know how good it is). Or just use any other video editing program. I have used Adobe Premier Elements and it has worked perfectly.

4) Can the conversion be done on any PC and/or any film processing service?
I'm not sure what this question is asking. Converting video? I think converting it between formants is easy.

5) How long does this take?
To convert? I don't know, I guess it would depend on how much footage you have?

4) How is the quality? Indoors? Outdoors? Sports/action shots?
The quality of the video is great! We bought a digital video camera (from Canon) just two years ago and my PowerShot S2 takes better video. The quality and sound are as good or better then digital video cameras that I have seen.


The only two downsides I have to the camera is:
1. The view screen on the back is a little smaller then I would have liked. The main reason it is so small is because it can swivel out and turn around and so forth. I wish it was a little bigger, but actually having the view screen swivel like it does makes it easy to shoot video, and get some pretty crazy angles for pictures.
2. Every so often when the batteries start to get low, I turn the camera on I guess two quickly or something and it well say I need to change the batteries. I wait a couple of seconds turn the camera on and it does just fine. Just ever so often I get that that message that I need to change my batters when I still have some juice lefts in them. I have only gotten 3 times in the 6 months I have had it.

This is a great camera, it isn't like your small compact point and shoot, but for anybody that wants a full range of features pulse be able to take some great video then you need to get this camera. Startup00@mstar.net

Memory Card Errors
I have found in online forums that this camera is having problems with Memory Cards loosing all the photos taken. Accept the review if you find it true.

Great Camera for Beginners.
This is my third digital camera. I wanted to step up, have access to more powerful features without being overwhelmed. As such, the Canon IS S2 fits the bill perfectly. The pictures are beautiful, for my amateur eyes. I bought a high speed one gig memory card to go with it. The pictures take quickly.



The only problem I have with this camera is that in auto mode, it can take an awefully long time to focus, sometimes never truely finding a suitable level.



Overall, a great camera. If you don't need the zoom and video, I'd go with a smaller model.

Great camera- great pictures
I was shopping around for a camera that was more than 3x optical. I had an Oplympus 3020 and I wanted more. Boy did I get more, started reading up on cameras. I did not want cameras with propritary battteries, if anything I wanted to be able to just go into any little store and buy standard AA batteries and move on. Discovered that SD card readers are everywhere, PCs, new TVs etc. All this led me to the Canon S2 IS. I bought it just before a trip to Spain in September 2005. I also bought 2 sets of rechargeable batteries, and a 512mb and 1GB SD ULTRA II cards. Camera was great, took close to 400 pictures. Pictures came out nice and crisp, put them on cds and sent to friends and family. Everyone loved them, some said they felt as if they were there when looking at the pictures. I have since taken pictures over the holidays and quality is great. I am actually considering the EXTREME III SD card, because it writes faster than the standard and ULTRA II cards. I have not had any problems with red eye. The focus is great just wait for the beep that it is focused and you are set. I just wanted to add my comments without too much technical details. It is a great camera and I just keep learning new things that it does. The 12x optical offers such flexibility that it broadens your perspective on possibilities.

It's a good camera
My overall opinion of the Cannon Power Shot S2 IS is very favorable. I would recommend it to anybody, but some of the features would be wasted on people who just want basic point-and-shoot photography.

There are other cameras that don't have all the features of this one that have a higher image resolution. For me the selling points of this camera were the image stabilization and zoom lens, which goes up to 12x (3x is more-or-less the standard). The image stabilization helps with taking pictures in low light and with longer shutter speeds, as well as when using the zoom lens. I really like the swivel screen feature. The camera has a good movie mode: you can zoom while you record a video and it records sound in stereo. You can customize a lot of the settings; for instance, the self-timer can be used in preset mode or you can specify the length of delay and the number of pictures to be taken.

Less satisfactory points are that purple framing (when bright light in the background creates a purple outline on objects in the foreground) occurs more often than usual. Also, when you turn the ISO up too high (to 400 ISO) the pictures start looking really noisy (dotty). Despite those facts, the pictures still look great, the images are sharp, the colors are bright, and the zoom doesn't distort the pictures at all.

One thing to note about the flash is that it does not pop up automatically; you have to manually lift up the flash. That's good and bad: the good is that the flash won't pop up when you don't want it to; the bad is that you tend to forget about it, but the camera indicates when it should be on.

Canon Powershot S2 IS
Love this camera! Take alot of animal photos so needed the zoom and the video capability. Recommend getting the Scandisk Ultra II or Ultra III 512 or 1 gg cards. Sony rechargeable world wide charger with either 2300 or 2500 rated batteries(two sets), lens hood and adapter and at least one UV Lens to put on the adapter which will protect your primary lens and lcd protector($3.95).

beware who you buy it from
bought this camera in august '05 after we decided we want the best camera for pics of our lil' one born in june '05. the camera is great (i am just an amateur) - the best feature being how fast you can take pics - and with a lil baby it helps to keep clicking and then choose the 1 or 2 in which he is striking a killer pose or smile. in any case, the camera stopped working after having used in 10-15 times but given it is under complete warranty one would hope that it would be repaired/replaced. unfortunetly, we bought ours through amazon.com through Adorama camera. i have called their customer service 18 times and emailed then 34 times since dec 11th (that's 34 days as of now) and have received absolutely no response - and it doesnt look like amazon wants to take any responsibility either. so the camera is great - just beware where you buy it from. your best bet is a local circuit city or best buy.

*****
an update on this. finally got in touch with adorama camera after 38 days (thanks to my MLK vacation - called them 9 am and they picked up after putting me on hold for 3 hours and 6 minutes!). they suggested that i call Canon directly at 1-800-OK-CANON to discuss the problem. So I called Canon and they have asked that I UPS (at my own cost) the camera to their repair facility and they will pay for shipping it back to me. so lets see how this works out. I will try to post an update when i get it back.

i also read another person's question here and didn't know how to respond - so here goes. Yes, you can use a 2GB SD card on this camera - I use one on mine though i must admit, even with my setting to get the highest precision pictures i never seem to use more than a GB before I want to download the pictures and label them and get prints ;-) but yeah, maybe in a longer vacation the 2 GB will be great! ;-)


*****
a second update on this. got the camera pic - repaired by canon factory services for free - excluding one way shipping cost. shipped - 1/20, accepted - 1/24, repaired and shipped back - 1/26, got it back - 1/30

and loving the camera all over again and clicking a ton of baby pictures again ;-)

Not sure can use 2GB SD memory card?
just have a question for this S2 IS 5MP camera. Can this camera use 2GB SD memory card? I know Canon S80 can use maximum 1GB SD memory card. Any suggestion or information?

Lovely camera with some annoying limitations
After carefully comparing the Canon S2 IS to other similar long-zoom cameras with image stabilization, it has a few features that stand out:
-- Super macro mode, letting you focus as close as you want, along with focus bracketing for those shallow-field shots when you're not sure
-- Tiltable LCD screen
-- Use of AA batteries
-- Solid physical feel and well-designed user interface

But some of its limitations are surprising:
-- Small, low resolution LCD screen
-- Lack of RAW (uncompressed) image support
-- Inability to display a histogram when shooting, only during playback

The LCD size may be necessitated by its useful swivel mount, but the other feature omissions are probably just in software, and so are more mysterious.

The enhanced movie features are nice, with 30fps 640x480 mode and 44KHz stereo sound, but it should be remembered that the image quality isn't going to equal a DV camcorder, if only for reasons of data rate: the Canon S2 records at about 2MB/sec (as M-JPEG), while DV reaches 3.5MB/sec (and DV has some efficiencies that M-JPEG lacks).

At first I was disapointed...
...but not for the reason you might think.
I ordered the camera, memory card and acc kit. The accessories
arrived several days before the camera did, so I had lenses, tripod
etc. to play with but no camera.

Once the camera came, I loved it. I get photos I never thought
I'd get with my old point & shoot vivitar digital.

I've been able to take great photos no matter what the lighting.
From bright sunlight to candle light it does it.

The extra features give me room to grow.

With this one camera I can take photos of a flea (in great detail)
or photograph craters on the moon (yes, it is that detailed.)

All my life I've loved photography but found it too expensive.
Digital is great, if you get a bad shot, you erase it.

Great Everyday Camera
The Canon S2 IS is a GREAT camera. If you are a casual photographer, perhaps even an amateur like me, this camera is perfect for you. It offers enough manual settings to keep picture taking interesting, and yet it offers enough options and extras that make it a perfect camera for someone who wants to photograph birthdays, anniversaries, vacations, first steps, etc. Also, the video mode is great.

I've been bitten by the photography bug, in large part due to my experience with the S2 IS. Everywhere I go now I see something worth photographing, but only if I can do it in a way I've never seen before. This desire leads me to want more flexibility and creativity in my camera and that is where the S2 IS lets me down a bit. The limited ISO settings and available apertures are restrictive for creative photography. The S2 IS is obviously not a dSLR so I can't knock it because I've outgrown it. I'm simply sharing this information in case someone is trying to decide between a superzoom and a dSLR.

Friggin' Sweet
--------------
12x zoom (awesome)
Image Stabilization Works Really Well
Manual Control Options
Excellent Battery Life
Great Flash
Multitude of Special Settings
Useful Swivel Screen
Stitch Assist Mode

Busted
------
Difficulty Focusing in Low Light
5 MP is Low
Manual Focus Difficult to Use
Limited ISO settings of 50 - 400; poor pic quality at ISO 400
LCD Could be Sharper/Larger
Limited Aperture Settings

Fantastic camera - just a tad bulky!
I have used Canon Powershots from A65 to A75 to A80 and A95 so this Canon S2 IS was a definite upgrade. I love the zoom and the new features like "my colors" and the picture quality is better. I do wish the flip screen was larger and easier to see in bright sunlight. But for the Amazon price and the features it is a great camera. The S2 I bought from Amazon said "Made in Japan" which makes it extra nice as usually the engineering is better. So even though I love the camera and its many features, my only complaint is that I have not been able to use it as much as my earlier Canon A95 due to it's size. Earlier I used to slip my camera in my pocket even when walking the dog as you never knew when you got a good photo opportunity. And my older cameras always fitted into my handbag so I was never without a camera. Now after upgrading to the S2, I have to carry it in a separate case, so I have not been able to capture everyday moments at work, on the road and flip it out at parties from my tiny purse. Earlier I used to take almost 60-70 shots a week and now it's just during some weekends or vacations. For instance, carrying the S2 on a date seems rather "geeky" and you can never carry it unobstrusively. So even though I love the versatility of the S2 I'll have to spend another $300+ to buy the digital elph. And I have a feeling that might get used more often and the S2 would become my vacation or special occasion camera where I can legitimately carrry a big camera without feeling like the "official photographer".

Where to shop for this and other camera's!
I did a lot of research on this camera and ended up making a satisfied purchase! I don't have buyer's remorse at all.

You WILL find the best prices at Beach Camera. They are a trusted website with many many positive customer reviews. DO NOT upgrade the shipping! I placed my order with standard shipping (8-10 days) and I received my order within 24 hours of placing the order! I didn't upgrade my shipping because other reviewers said the same thing about shipping...and it was certainly true.

If you go to epinions.com you can shop for the best prices from the most trusted stores. I love amazon.com's reviewers much better though, so I used both "tools" (and many others) to make my mind up!

Below you will find other great (INDEPENDANT) reviews. I suggest you use these to help with your buying decision:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons2is/page15.asp
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_s2-review/

CAMERA:
I did all my research via the internet and then narrowed it down to a couple camera's. I then went to bestbuy (which really is never a good buy) got pushed around by sales people then went to Staples to hold, touch, use and abuse the display camera's.

For a non-SLR camera you will be extremely impressed. With that impression, you will be more satisfied that you paid up to 3 times less than the SLR competitors.

PROS:
*Price ((...))
*Zoom
*Ease of use (important for my wife who is just a point and click user)
*5MP (low for some - however I won't be printing above 8x10 prints , so not a factor...don't need the overkill).
*LCD Screen swivel and put back! Much better than those that just have the back open to LCD all the time. You can get covers for most of them (as well as this camera) though.
*MOVIE (I didn't buy it for this, however it really is amazing) (just as I didn't buy my DVD Camcorder to take 1MP stills)

CONS:
*Lens cap (can be a factor...isn't for me).
*Small LCD with bad resolution (not a factor for me)
*Only a couple add-on lenses' (just covers other lens)

CONCLUSION:
I am very pleased with my purchase! The pros outweigh the cons for my use with this camera. Be cautious of where you purchase the camera (and all electronics for that matter).

Enjoy!

One of The Best - But...
As a professional photographer, I am very happy with this S2, and its size makes it very useful when traveling.
For those famililar with the S1, the bigger LCD on the S2 is a plus, and the auto-focus seems a tad improved. The rough section on the handgrip is a very nice upgrade. The S2 also seems a little less heavier than the S1.
I bought the S1 here at Amazon as a gift for someone, but it was defective. Amazon promised a full refund, but after I shipped it back, they went back on their word. The partial refund I have yet to see is a rip-off. So, I bought this S2 model from a local camera store and love it, but I don't recommend buying expensive items from Amazon if you're concerned about customer service.

Energizer Bunny?
Since purchasing the S2 I've found that I have to change the batteries every time I leave the camera overnight or longer. Otherwise, great purchase!

Excellent camera even better given the price
I bought this camera for the zoom (old 3x zoom 4MP Olympus) and have not been disapointed. This camera takes incredible pictures, see the samples on this page. Most of my pictures at 12x zoom have been perfect due to the IS function. The menus are much easier to use than the Olympus.

I do have 1 complaint as I tend to hit the mode button sometimes when using the camera and have on a couple occasions accidentally lowered the resolution of the pictures until I noticed it.

The videos are good enough to play on a big screen TV although the wind noise sometimes makes it through the filter. Also with my hand, the video image still moves around alot at 12x zoom. Another nice feature of the video is you can zoom while you shoot and I haven't noticed any noise from the zoom motor in the video. The stereo mics also work amazingly well considering they are so close together. The videos do chew up memory quickly but as has been stated, a 1 G card will hold 8 minutes and that is alot of video. I have never had the buffer run out even on normal (not high speed) cards although I haven't tried an 8 minute video either.

The best you can have!!!
There are so many things to tell for PowerShot S2 IS, and fortunately all are good! This is the best digital camera I have ever used and Hallelujah I bought it!!! It has lots of preferences, many useful speacial features. I'm not a professional photographer, but I have examined some Kodak and Sony models before but I can say that this Canon is much more better than them all! First of all the photos are very clear and sharp, especially if you use a tripod you cannot believe the result! And super-macro mode is perfect, it is very impotant for me, think for a moment from 0 to 10 cm, wonderful!!! Also the video quality is perfect, even indoor recordings are very good... and you can zoom while recording, a very important feature for a digital camera. The most important part is that energy consumption: I could use the camera for two days shutting without recharging the batteries.

Briefly, why are you still here and reading the reviews? Buy it, now! If you will not happy with it, please send me an e mail: anatolian_cat@yahoo.com

Great Quality
I got this camera as Christmas gift this year. I am completely satisfied. For the price, this camera is the ultimate package. Although it's such a good camera, there are a few things that I don't like. First off, Canon's lens is completely unique to Canon. The lens cap is shabby at best. It only slips over the lens, which scares me because it leaves the lens vulnerable to scratching. The other thing that I did not like about the camera is that it does not have a specific sports setting in the dial. On the other hand, this camera can become completely manual, including a manual focus. I feel that it's a fair trade-off. I read in another review that this camera eats batteries. The remedy for this is to turn the power saving feature on, and to buy some rechargable batteries. Turn the camera off inbetween pictures, and your batteries should last you alot longer.

Decent Camera While It Worked
This was a good camera while it worked. I did not like the fact that Canon took away the ability for us to fit on a filter to protect the lens just so that they could sell us an optional bulky device to fit filters on (They will probably make the lens an option next time around). This is a big deal given that the lens cap fits very loosely and falls off at the slightest touch - I cant tell you how many times I have accidently touched the lens when reaching for the camera.

Additionally, the manual focusing/macro focusing buttons are not the least bit intuitive. In this, Canon can take some lessons from the Minolta Dimage....the manual focus is true manual focus - the outside ring turns to manually focus the camera. With the Canon, you have to remember what combination of buttons to press to manually focus.

The compartment that stores the SD card is neatly fitted onto the side and slides open with some pressure, and then rotates neatly to the side - well done. Just above that compartment, where Canon could have used a similarly-styled compartment for the USB connections - if for no other reason than consistency - it has chosen to use a cheap rubber flap that gets in the way of the USB plug.


The optics and electronics worked wonderfully for just over a year and then something went wrong and my camera stopped working. The LED light comes on but the lens does not extend and the viewfinder/LCD Screen didnt work.

This was my 9th Canon camera from 1977 but my first Canon digital and probably my last.

Terrific
The camera is a jewel. Unfortunately it comes with a totally useless memory card which you should rush out to replace with a 256 or 512. For me, this is a Canon upgrade because I wanted the stabilizer function and some other features I was willing to trade for the heavier and larger camera. It was a good move. Enjoy.

Very nice serious amateur camera
I enjoy taking and showing good pictures, primary landscapes and portraits. I have a Nikon FE2 with a few lenses. But taking my FE2 to my business trips is simply to much space and weight, so my photo production decreased significantly.

2 years ago I bought a Canon SD400, my first digital camera, very nice, but you can not control depth of field, although you can control exposure using point metering and fixing exposure to some other point in the picture. I recovered a hobby I very much enjoy, I always took the camera with me.

When I bought the Canon S2 IS, I seriously considered a SRL, I still have several Nikon lenses. But the SRL would be stored along with my FE2 most of the time. The S2 is bigger the SD400, but it still fits my briefcase along with my Thinkpad and Infocus LP70+.

With the S2 I have composition liberty though complete exposure control, white balance control, and 12x optical zoom. With an SRL taking a picture at over 200mm, or a macro picture, without a tripod can be shaky, with the S2 the image stabilization feature gives crisp sharp pictures.

I easily got used to the menus with my SD400, the S2 shares similar menus. The camera is very easy to use, menus and buttons are intuitively functionally designed.

The LCD is a bit small, I hope Canon makes it bigger in the S3. But still I can take great pictures and the S2 definitely deserves 5 stars.

GREAT CAMERA
i just bought it, i love it , and it's easy to used it, and the manual its clear, but we need this products with more offers or combo offers, for example with free tripod, or free case, or free lens, and the warranty is ONLY FOR DE COUNTRY when you bought it.
CANON, must have like toshiba , world wide warranty.

bye

Like a Professional
I love this camera!! It makes me feel like a professional photographer! The pictures I took on the first day I had it, before I even read the owner's manual, were the best pictures I've ever taken! I'm quickly learning how to use the manual setttings and finding it very easy to take even better pictures, artsy pictures and stopping sports action. The pictures are crystal clear with full zoom. The video clips are also crystal clear with great sound quality. I did take the advise of a few reviews I read before I bought that suggested getting high quality batteries and charger and a very fast memory card. I went with the Powerex MH-C240W charger (with batteries) and a Transcend 2GB 80x SD card that gives me over 15 minutes of video time. Both I find to be excellent choices. I have taken about 500 pictures and 20 minutes of video without having to recharge. I am extremely happy with this camera!!

Much More Camera Than I Expected
I had a Canon Powershot A70 for two years. It took fabulous pictures and was easy to used. But, with a 3x optical zoom and 3.2 megapixels, I soon needed more. I had seen the S1 IS and was impressed with the features, but at 3 megapixels, it wasn't quite what I needed. So, I waited.

My waiting paid off when I got the S2 IS for Christmas. I asked Santa for this camera because the 12x zoom would be perfect for taking soccer pictures and because the 5 megapixels would give me better cropping and enlarging ability. The camera turned out to be so much more than I expected.

With the S2, Canon has managed to overcome the camera shake that's inherent with long zooms. They have also improved the color and quality of indoor images taken with the flash. Red-eye is virtually eliminated and shutter lag is non-existent. There are a slew of special shooting modes and almost as much creative control as you would get with an SLR.

In all, I think the S2 is the perfect camera for anyone who wants something more than a point & shoot but isn't ready or willing to purchase and learn to use a full-blown SLR. You will not regret purchasing this camera.

Canon Sure Shot S2, A winner for all
Having been a photographer for over 30 years I found it very hard to give up my Canon 35mm cameras. Its all I knew and I was very comfortable with it. Switching to a digital camera was a first painful but after the first week I was in love. Picking a brand was easy, I have shot Canon with out any problems for thirty years, why switch now. The S2 always takes excellent pictures, and it;s size is great. I like a camera that has a large optical zoom 12X and has good mega pixels 5. It also fits great in your hand and in your jacket pocket. Pictures are great with people always asking me where did you get those great screen saver pics for your computer. You can't go wrong.

Nice features if somewhat lost between pocketable compacts and DSLRs
This camera takes nice pictures and there's quite a bit of control. Added updates to the likes and dislikes.

What I like
- Image stabilization. I took a one-second hand-held exposure. No shake recorded. Bliss.
- Gobs of zoom. 12x optical is very nice for isolating subjects from the background. Warning, use conservatively for portraits, too much zoom isolates the subject but also flattens faces. Nicest for creating abstracts, for textures and macro photography
- Nice auto mode for normal use, but lots of custom options and all the features you see in pro cameras plus a bunch of others thrown in - Shutter priority, aperture priority, all kinds of timer functions, macro mode, manual focus
- Auto bracketing feature for those shots where you aren't terribly sure. One click takes three shots with an adjustible exposure range for exposure bracketing, haven't used focus bracketing.
- Focus is fast and pretty good - I was able to focus on a hovering bumblebee
- Flash doesn't pop up automatically. It warns you in the display that a flash is needed, but I LOVE the fact that the flash cannot come on unless you manually pop it up. I hate using the flash. With the stabilization mode, you can go as low as 1/6 sec if you remain steady and let the feature help you.
- 30FPS 640x480 video is nice, especially when combined with the 12x zoom. You can take pictures during the video at full res, but they do interrupt the video clip for a second.
- Flash is nicer and less pathetic than the ones in small cameras like Digital elphs, when you have to use it.
- Smartness - plug the USB cable in and it turns on and goes to Play mode. Elphs don't. You never notice until you switch back to an elph.
- Consistency. If you used a digital elph this is easy to get used to, even though the controls look different.
- Battery life is decent though I'm using 2300mAH NiMH AA's.
- The screen can be rotated for composing those on-floor or overhead shots. Very versatile.

What I don't care for much:
- Screen is small. The SD 550's screen has spoiled me rotten. The low resolution on this screen can misrepresent a picture by making it look OK until you see it at full resolution. The picture also looks terrible when it's not too bad on screen, be careful you don't delete something until you see it on a larger screen first.
- Where the small screen fails me: When taking high-magnification shots, sometimes the focus gets to the background instead of the subject. I couldn't tell from the little screen that I had messed up that shot. Ideally, for the level of zoom this offers, the screen should be even bigger. The LCD viewfinder didn't help either.
- 5MP? When I have the SD 550 and the S2IS, there's always that missing 2.1MP nagging me. The larger lens can make the picture more vivid, but ultimately the higher resolution would get it closer to a film camera.
- Cheap plasticky feel. SD 550 feels solid. This feels toyish but the same material probably would have added weight.
- Macro mode is kind of odd to reach, OK after learning.
- ISO 400 setting is as noisy as that of the Digital Elphs. ISO 200 is tolerable if you want to trade-off between noise and flash. No comparison to DSLR's whose ISO 1600 mode is even clearer than the ISO 200 here.
- Size. I can't bring myself to carry this around while I have the SD550 in my pocket. I might as well carry a DSLR if I have to lug something around my neck, though this is a nice all in one package that doesn't need additional lenses.
- Lens cap - falls off too easily (bad). If you go to rec mode, the lens pops it off (good)
- I like battery packs for their efficiency, over having to replace four different AA batteries. Not good while on the go.
- I used the intervalometer recently, and it seems limited, with a 1-minute minimum interval for a maximum total of 100 pictures. Shorter intervals and more pictures (500, 999) would have been nice.
- RAW mode and high-end CCD a la EOS digital rebel is on my wishlist here.

Awesome!
I have owned 4 digital cameras to date and upgraded from a Casio P600 to Canon S2 IS.... and believe me the Canon is an amazing buy! It punches more features and functionality that what I had expected while making my buy decision. The "Custom Colors" mode in the camera is astounding, allowing you to swap colors), accent colors -> Where you can highlight one color and get the entire image in black and white, Vividfy reds, greens, blues... and best of it, retains the original copy for any editing that you would like!

The camera also allows to add additional lenses if required (with a plugon adaptor) + allows to plugin an external flash too. I am yet to try out these, but it has a provision for it!

The lense cap is however a little too soft edged. It comes off too quickly.

I got my camera just 3 days ago and am still going over the functionalities so consider this as my list of wowing features (maybe cause I always owned a point and shoot earlier :P)

PS: Check out the customer submitted snaps

Canon optics are great!
I finally purchased this camera. I need to preface my review with a brief background.
I own a Canon AE1 Program, however due to multiple head and eye injuries had not taken any photos for 9 years. I was an avid amateur photographer with a great eye for composition, but unable to compensate for the loss in visual acuity.
I am very delighted with The Canon PowerShot S2 IS. I chose it because of my familiarity with Canon optics, which is awesome for the price. Last week I was able to photograph a woodpecker on the side of a dead tree across my pond. The photo came out well for one of only a few that I have taken.
The only negative I have found is the location for the menu button. I am right handed and the button is where I would normally put my thumb; however, this is easily adjusted by holding the camera just a tad different. I am very anxious to try some of the specialty modes like color selection. My best friend and I used it to take a few pictures over lunch in St. Louis for my birthday. They turned out very well!
I will update this review as warranted.

Great Little Camera!
I am a professional photographer and so do not use it for my own work, however I purchased this model for a family member who is new to digital photography. I felt the quality that comes with the Canon brand, and the range of features made it a good buy. I was not disappointed.

The camera is somewhat more "plasticy" feeling than I had anticipated and it's a tad smaller that I'd like but since the person I bought for has small hands, it is just right. The shooting menu and main menu system in general are easily accessible, as are the on-camera controls. The preview zoom is particularly easy to use, as it employs the same button and method as zooming the lens while shooting. Ultimately though it is this camera's lens that sets it apart from anything at or below its price range.

Definitely worth a look if you're a serious shutterbug looking for a simple but high quality digital camera.

A Great Hobby Camera
This camera is for the digital advanced beginner. A great second camera. Very good for close ups and macro experiments.
If you now have a basic point and shoot this would be your next step up.
Anything Canon is great!!

Canon Powershot S2 I2 5MP is great!
An excellent camera. We have barely touched upon what we can do with it, but even as amateurs, my husband and I have taken some excellent photos. Amazing sound recording, too, if you should need it.

Horrible lens cap.

I like it
I like this camera who realy needs more than 5MP anyway I dont, great movie mode can shoot a long video wont need my old camcorder anymore this works fine for how I use it. The only thing I cant do with this camera drop it in my shirt pocket like my other canon. No camera is perfect this one's fine.

Excellent Digital Camera
A warning to be careful which way you insert the memory card. You should never be able to put a memory card the wrong way into a digital camera, so that is definately a flaw on this camera. And after inserting the card wrong, the camera would no longer read memory cards.

I sent the camera back to the Canon Factory and they fixed under warranty completely free of charge. I recieved my repaired camera only 5 days after sending it out. Canon has excellent customer service.

I have only played with the camera a little bit, but it is very easy to use and has a setting for every situation (even though the auto setting can handle most situations).

I really like playing with the color accent mode.

This camera takes great pictures and is easy to hold and use. I really like the swivel LCD screen. This camera is an excellent buy for the price level.

The only other thing I don't like is the lens cap. Digital cameras should have a lens protector that slides away when the camera is turned on...not a lens cap.

A piece of crap
I bought this camera for my daughter who likes to take many different types of pictures, but specifically micro, it didn't focus AT ALL close up OR far away, only a little in between. I tried to change the settings, but the pictures were still blurry. Compared to my 6-year-old Sony Digital Mavica( which was about $100 cheaper than this one)the pictures are extreamly blurry. This camera has a nice design, but the product inside is not as good as it looks.

Great for nature photography
This is a great camera. I purchased it for a recent Galapagos cruise. I was prepared to buy any camera but after research decided on the Canon. I knew I would want a lot of nature and wildlife shots with a zoom, and thought the image stabilization would be ideal. I was able to get great zoom and closeup shots, some even from a moving Zodiak. Other pluses I discovered for were the fast startup and shut down times, ease of shifting from photo to movie, non-automatic pop-up flash (flash photography is forbidden for Galapagos wildlife). It was great to shoot short movie clips. I took over 1400 pics and a combined 20 minutes of movie clips. It was great to catch short movies of things like a blue footed booby whistling and sea lions barking. I bought several 1 and 2 gig SD cards. By taking a lot of shots, some usually came out even when using full zoom handheld or from the moving boats. The batteries never died (used 2500 mah NiMH). I used a third party lens adapter with a UV and sometimes polarizing filter so the lens cap was a non-issue. The price has dropped a lot recently so it is even a better deal. I had to use the viewfinder and not the screen since most shots were in the bright sun, but this would be true with almost any digital camera. The only problem I encountered is that in some shots, I did not get the horizon completely horizontal so I had to try to pay more attention when composing thru the viewfinder.

LOVE IT....LOVE IT.....LOVE IT.......
Other reviewers have said it all. This is an excellent camera that I would buy again in a heartbeat. I've had mine for 9 months now, and I'm even shocked at the photos I take. It's not overly complicated to use....and I love the video capabilities.
I bought mine when it was $600. Now you can get deals on them.
I did buy a couple extra lenses for telephoto and macro shots.
If you go to www.lensmateonline.com they offer both a 52mm and 58mm lens adapter to match the brushed silver tone of the camera....plus they have additional accessories for your S2. Great prices too.
One other site you might want to visit is www.dpreview.com which will hook you up to all sorts of camera info, reviews and blogs. It's a great site for photo buffs.
Lastly, Amazon.com has lots of great photography books for sale...of which I bought 7.
Really, this is a fantastic little camera. Too good to pass up.

It's a good camera - dispelling some myths below
I read the Amazon reviews, and then bought this camera. For its required features (IS, AA batt, SD card, 10x+ zoom), the only other consideration were the Panasonics, which are not as available in retail (wanted additional store protection plan - I'm hard on cameras.)

1) you can't insert the SD card wrong and ruin the camera, unless you REALLY force it

2) the lens cap does not grip the edge tightly, so it does come off easily when you power on the camera (if you forget to take it off). And if you think it comes off too easily, a touch of tape to the inside rim takes care of that.

3) if it's coming out blurry, either the SUBJECT is moving too quickly for the ambient light, or you've got IS turned off. IS helps compensate for YOUR hand motion. All CCD digital cameras have *some* trouble in low light; optical zoom does not help this either.

4) yes, a slightly plasticky feel - but seems durable enough (and I have a 3-year protection plan so...)

5) yes, the macro/super-macro features are not so intuitive as to be used without reading the manual. And you won't take optimum pictures without reading it anyway. Ok, so read the full manual (RTFM).

6) I get 2 "working days" and 400 photos per battery charge with 2300mAH NiMH rechargeables - that's plenty. Set your power-down time-out appropriately and carry a spare set anyway.

-Ryan

Best camera I've owned!
I've owned half a dozen different film and digital point and shoot cameras in the last 10+ years and this is the first one I would unreservedly recommend to a beginner/semi-serious amateur. My two biggest beefs with the p&s cameras I've owned before have been short battery life and limited zoom capability. I absolutely hate rechargeable lithium ions. This camera has rechargeable NiMH's and I have been amazed at how long the batteries last. I can shoot several 1 gig SD cards full of pictures and video and upload them to my PC several times (about a week's worth of shooting for me) before the batteries need to be recharged. I bought an extra set of rechargeables but if push comes to shove, I can throw in some alkaline AA's and keep on shooting. My other big beef, limited zoom capability, is also answered with the S2IS. I have kids in school band and I've always had trouble getting decent pictures. Between the zoom capability of the camera and the image stabilizer, I no longer have that problem. I bought the S2IS primarily as a camera but the quality of the video, except in low light, has been an added bonus. I've never been a big video shooter but I now find myself shooting a lot more. I bought a 2 GB SD card and can get about 15 minutes worth of video on that. For short clips, it's fantastic. The S2IS also has some nice accessories available for the more serious amateur. I just bought the slave flash unit but have not experimented much with it yet. I plan to buy the telephoto attachment which will extend the zoom range even further. The big test for this camera will be my family's month long trip to Ireland in July. I have a lot of confidence that the S2IS will pass with flying colors.

Excelent camera, but needs AA bateries
Excelent camera! really good quality and do everything the page says. The only thing I dont like is that use AA batteries and they get empty very fast. But this way is not as expensive as if it had its own special battery that last longer.

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Excelente camara! de verdad muy buena calidad y hace todo lo que dice la pagina. nada es mentira. Lo unico que no me gusta es que use baterias AA porque se le acaban muy rapido, pero asi es mas barato que si usara su propia bateria especial que dura mas...

Great camera
I love the weight and feel of this Canon Powershot S2 IS digital camera. The stabalized zoom works great and if you want to turn the camera for a portrait, it is easy enough to keep it steady although the IS doesn't work with the camera held turned. I have yet to do a lot of experimenting with it, but so far it is easy to use and adjust. The software is easy to understand and you can send the pictures from the camera to "my pictures" on the computer. That makes it easy to use other editing software if you so choose. I prefer Windows Picture It, so I use that a lot. The pictures come out sharp and clear. The LCD leaves something to be desired as it goes very dim in bright daylight. That is the only thing that made me hesitant about buying this camera, but I bought it anyway because of all the other fine features. I took pictures of wild turkeys in our yard at the bottom of the hill and used the 12x zoom. The pictures came out sharp, so you could tell they were turkeys even though they were far off. If you get the recommended re-chargable batteries, you can take pictures for what seems like forever.

Canon Powershot s2 digital camera
I love the clear pictures it makes, and the 12 zoom. Very nice camera and not too expensive for such quality.

Great camera, super value, and expandable
I recently decided to dump my (still fairly modern) AF film SLR and get a dSLR. After doing all of my research, I decided to go with this camera instead. As a stand-alone camera, the zoom range is fantastic, not quite as wide as I wanted, but that's fixable. Image quality is fantastic w/ the IS turned on, and the lens is super fast. Try to get a 400mm f/3.5 lens for your film SLR, or for that matter a 300mm f/3.5 lens for your dSLR, and you'll be spending 10x the price of this camera on the lens alone. It's small, light, and has very good battery life.

If you want to add the flexibility you'd have with an SLR, get the adapter-- Canon makes a decent plastic rig that has a 58mm thread, and lensmate online makes a great aluminum adapter w/ a 52mm thread. I got the 52mm lensmate adapter, a Raynox 6600 0.66x wide adapter, and UV and circular polarizer filters. W/ the wide adapter, I get field of view equivalent to a 24mm lens on film, with very acceptable barrel distortion & resolution (no worse than my old canon 24mm lens). W/ the filters, I can get the polarization & everything else I was used to on my SLR. My total gear pack weighs about half of what I was used to when lugging everything for a hike. A very positive change indeed.

The only two things missing from this camera are the ability to shoot RAW images, and a hot shoe or PC connector for better lighting control. Canon sells a rig w/ a slave flash on it, seems o.k. but there's no way to do true off-camera lighting w/ this machine.

Overall, I think this camera is everything a serious amater needs as long as you're not doing a lot of portrait work w/ sophisticated lighting. And since the S3 IS is shipping in another month, with very limited upgrades (1MP larger images, that's about it), the price is really dropping on the S2. This represents a fantastic value for a high-end digital.

My amateur opinion
I can't give a technical review of this camera, but, as an amateur who bought it with the intention of capturing shots of the various forms of wildlife wandering through my rural yard, I think the camera is awesome.

I had previously been using a Kodak DX3600 digital, and it worked fine for things that were relatively closeup. But I decided I wanted a lot more detail, since the birds and animals didn't look like they were going to oblige me by coming any closer to the house where I was lurking, waiting to take their photos. So, after lots of investigation and comparisons done by my hubby, we decided to go with the Canon 2S IS, and we've been very pleased with the results.

My only complaints are:

1. That the user's manual is a bit confusing for neophytes to the world of photography, but after some repeat reading, and trial and error fiddling with the camera buttons and knobs, it's starting to make more sense.

2. That the design of the camera makes it a little difficult for someone with larger hands to hold onto without accidentally pushing a button somewhere...although the substantial weight makes it feel good and solid.

The power of this camera is way more than I could ever have hoped for, especially at the price.

Looking forward to taking lots of amazing wildlife photos!

Great camera, lousy documentation
We had the family Easter Hunt yesterday and my father-in-law brought his new canon camera. We spent 1/2 hour going through the manual to figure out the basics and found a lot of errors in manual. Much of what we tried didn't work, including how to erase all images. It had somehow protected an image and we couldn't delete it. The reference pages were often wrong too. Luckily one friend had a similar canon camera and could give lessons. It does have a lot of great features but the documentation should have been better. It may have been returned if someone hadn't been able to teach the features. We also blew off the advanced features such as the special effects and used a media editor program, roxio emc8 instead. When you ignore the over 70 year old market and don't take the documentaiton seriously that is a big strike against the product. Tech stuff is hard enough for many people so at least canon should have put more effort into their instructions.

Not just another camera
I've had this camera for 6 months now, and it still amazes me. First off, the 12x optical zoom is more than enough for most shots, and when it isn't, you can go to 48x with digital zoom. On most cameras, digital zoom is useless unless you want ugly, pixilated images, but the digital zoom on this camera, although still digital zoom, sometimes turns out fairly clear, but still not quite full quality.

Another great feature is the video recorder. The video quality is very high for a still camera. I've used it for several video projects. The only problem is that it uses up memory quickly. I get about 4 min of video on a 512 card, which is ok for short clips, but not good if you want to record something for very long.

The stitch feature is also very useful for larger shots. There are many settings to play around with, and the manual helps to understand the different settings.

It takes AA batteries, which means if you're out shooting and you run out of batteries, just stop at the nearest store and pick up 4 more batteries, and you're ready to go again, without having to wait for a charger.

While this is a great camera, it isn't perfect. First, the auto focus sometimes doesn't focus well, and the manual focus can be slow. This is especially true at night. Another major drawback is that it is relatively large. While this might not be a problem in some cases, it becomes inconvenient when you are someplace like a formal event, where it is good to have a camera that you can just slip into a pocket. I also don't like the software that comes with the camera, but I haven't found standard software that I have liked. The only thing it is good for is for stitching pictures together.

Although there are some drawbacks to this camera, it is still a great product. I am very pleased with it, and have gotten good results. If you're an amateur photographer looking for a quality camera that will take quality photos, and not empty you're wallet, I would highly recommend this camera. I plan on using it for several more years before needing to upgrade.

Disappointed in image quality; not worth the price
This camera tries to do too much, and therefore does nothing well. Unless you're really excited about the 12x zoom and don't need high-quality images, it is better to either spend less money on a more compact camera that will offer the same image quality, or spend more money for a digital SLR. I bought this because the features sounded really good, but I was so disappointed in the image quality that I will return it.

The first problem is color noise -- those are the multi-colored speckles you see on otherwise smooth surfaces, especially in darker areas of the image. From what I can tell, all digicams under $500 (i.e., non-SLRs) produce noticable color noise. Because the S2 makes no attempt to be compact or cheap, and because I read positive reviews, I thought it would do well in the noise department. However, this thing produces images that usually have *more* noise than my older, cheaper, smaller Powershot A60!

Another is that the autofocus does not work very well, which makes the 12x zoom much less useful than you might expect. Many of my AF zoom shots were poorly focused.

Before buying this, you should also keep in mind that the image stabilization is only useful for zoom shots. (That is the nature of IS, not a shortcoming of the camera.) For normal & wide-angle shots, you're still going to get blurrier images than you would expect from a 35mm camera. That's because the low sensitivity of the image sensor requires it to use slower shutter speeds and a wider aperture.

To be exact, you'll be taking pictures with a sensitivity equivalent to 50-speed film (ISO 50). If you tweak the setting, this camera will let you go up to ISO 400, but the color noise is unbearable on anything above ISO 100.

The video feature is really cool, I must admit. The resolution and frame rate are as high as you could ask, as long as your memory card is large enough. But remember that the quality will still be low, because the noise problem is more pronounced in movies than stills.

If you just want lots of features and don't mind the bulk, buy it. If you want to take high-quality pictures, and can spend a little more money, look at low end SLRs, like the Pentax *ist DL.

Easy to use, Easy Choice, worth the money
I love this camera...It's so easy to use, it gives you a great photo every time...crisp photos with great detail. Would suggest this buy to amateurs and proffessionals!

Not at all impressed
I am not a professional photographer but I do have specific needs in which MOST digital cameras do not meet. This happens to be one of those cameras. I do not like the fact that there is a delay between releasing the shutter and getting the shot. I have bought 3 digital cameras and have returned all of them for this reason. I am going back to film but if anyone can recommend a camera that can perform this feature that would be wonderful

I'm crushed - who needs blurry photos
I recently bought the camera with my grandson's first communion and my neice's wedding coming a week apart. Let me tell you that I had to delete approximately 40% of the photos taken --- reason: blurry/out of focus. I'm experienced with point and shoot digital cameras and I thought the zoom feature would be a great plus for both events. Instead it's been nothing but pure frustation. I even had two of my colleagues who could be classified as amature professional photographers "play" with (test)the camera and I guess I should be happy that half of their pictures also came out blurry (so it's not totally "me"). Bottom line - try to test out the camera before you buy it -- this may not be the camera you're looking for. As for me - my camera is in the mail being returned. The search continues...

Disappointed
I am a long time found of Canon cameras since my F1 SLR twenty years ago.

This is the fourth digital camera by Canon that I buy. My first one was an A20, then an A70 and Rebel XT SLR. I bought the S2IS for informal situations where I didn't want to carry the SLR and its accessories but still wanted to take decent pictures. The movie mode was great too, so I didn't need to carry my camcorder.

Of course it's no Rebel XT, but this camera compares poorly in terms of image quality even with the A20 and A70. Actually, the A20 took the best pictures of all the Powershots I owned.

On paper it's a very good camera, but I cannot say I am satisfied, even after some six months using it. Here are the problems:

* The image has a lot of noise, especially in light colored shaded areas, EVEN IN DAYLIGHT! Reviewing my old pictures taken with the A20 and the A70, I can assure that none of them showed the problem.
* I see a lot of chromatic aberration at maximum zoom, even halfway from the center to the border of the picture. One can say "what would you expect for the price"? But what good is a 12X zoom if you take crappy pictures then? BTW, neither the A20 nor the A70 showed the same level of chromatic aberration at their's (3X) maximum zoom.
* It complains that the batteries are low much too early. Not only did the batteries lasted way more on the A20 ad A70 using both Ni-MH and alkalines, the recharging takes 20 minutes instead of the regular one hour, showing that the batteries still have juice. Same for the alkalines: "expended" batteries from this camera last a lot in other equipment.
* The movie format is not very compressed due to the codec used, so the movie mode takes a lot of room in the card, much more that it should had they used something like MPEG2.
* The lens cap is really horrible (see other reviews).

The camera works, the stabilization is nice, the movie mode works well for small clips, though focus can be slow sometimes. If you are not very particular about image quality you might live with the other shortcomings.

A further tip: I use both high-speed and "regular" memory cards. Even with the slow cards, you can get clips up to 45 seconds because the camera has an internal buffer. It even shows how full the buffer is so you are not interrupted abruptly.

Super Pleased Prosumer
I have had this camera for about 8 months now. I can safely say there is very little more I could ask for in a digital camera. 5MP is an excellent image size for every-day use, and keeps the file management reasonable. I generally keep it at 50 ISO, I find there is no noticable colour noise at 50-100 ISO. This camera takes excellent shots in low light, of course there is noise if you have little to no light - if you were using film, you would have film grain - It is a very similar effect to using 1600 ISO film in low light. The movie mode is FANTASTIC. At max res, you get about 9 mins for a 1GB file. The sound quality and sensitivity is very good. There is no external mic port and no hot shoe. I can't really complain though.

If you are serious about taking lots of video with this camera, get atleast 6 or 7 high-speed SD cards 1 or 2 GB will do, and get a DVD Recorder. This will allow you to take about an hour of video at a go, and burning the video direct to DVD is the fastest way to deal with the files. I recommend the Sony DVDirect (DVD direct) device for being portable and easy to use, it creates a chapter break each time you stop the recorder). The zoom in conjunction with the video mode is excellent. You can only take a maximum of a 1GB video file (9 mins).

Features I love on this camera:
- 12X zoom is excellent
- image stabilization is very good
- image quality and size are perfect for everyday use
- tons of picture modes allow flexability and creativity for advanced users eg. up to 15 sec time exposures
- super adjustable functions, which are changable on the fly
- MOVIE MODE allows you to take 5 mega pixel pictures while taking video!!!
- vivid colour mode allows all your picutes to look more saturated
- videos taken at night require very little light to actually see what's going on - they still look great! 30 frames per second is great!
- very fast start-up time!

Areas for improvement:
- RAW picture capture would be awesome!
- bigger LCD screen would be awesome
- lens-cap that sticks better
- more compressed video
- faster auto-focus (it would be great if it could be as fast as the D70)

Overall, this is a great camera. I have taken over ten thousand images on this. I am always pleased.

I LOVE this camera.
5 megapixels is not a compromise and 12x optical zoom is the greatest thing out there. I also bought the 1.5x adapter and the telephoto lens along with UV filter. I only wish I could put a filter on it without adding other attachments.
This is my fourth Digital camera and Canon makes one heck of a camera. The clarity, color and detail are untouched by others unless you go SLR and serious money. I say save that money for a couple of 1gb SD cards and grin all the way to the bank. This is the only camera I think you should consider in this price range. The optical zoom is that good. How many of you have actually printed over 8x10 or 11x16 yoo have to get something in the 20 inch range before the 5 megapixel gives itself away. Oh an by the way subscribe to the podcast Tips from the Top Floor if you want to learn how to use your digital camera to it's fullest.

Excellent choice!
I struggled between this and the Sony DSC-H2, which shares any of the same features. The Amazon reviews convinced me that the lenses on the Canon model were superior, and I have not been disappointed.

I am a camera idiot, but I am traveling to the Amazon (the river, not the web page) next month and wanted to come home with some memorable photos. The zoom was certainly an important feature as I intend to keep a safe distance between me and the nearest python. I took this camera out of the box and took a photograph of an azalea blossom (using the close-up zoom) that is remarkable. Every vein in the blossom is clear as day, and there are beeds of moisture in the photo that otherwise would be barely visible to the naked eye.

I found the instructional booklet to be very clear and concise. Among other features, this Canon provides a setting that lets you choose the type of environment in which you are shooting (indoors, the beach, the snow, night scene, etc). Once on this setting, the camera automatically adjusts its settings to give you professional quality photos. I've had it now for a week and the photos I have taken are terrific. While I did initially see some of the blurriness another reviewer complained of, the more familiar I became with this camera and its features, the better the shots have become. I am very pleased with this choice.

Two points: First, I had hoped to be able to save some money by using the same memory card for this camera that I have in my Canon Powershot S400. (The Sony uses a Memory Stick, for use only in Sony products). Turns out - the memory cards for the two Canon cameras are of different sizes, and the IS 2 is sold with only a 16 mb card - which holds only six photos!! This seems to be a common practice among all manufacturers which I find insulting. Would it break the bank to give us a card of moderate utility??

Second, the Canon camera case that is made for this camera fits it very snugly and has a small internal pouch for an extra memory card. While it does not have a strap, you can fit the camera strap into the case and use that strap as your carrying strap. The case also has a belt-loop that lets you carry it on your belt. That said, it lacks space for extra batteries and I think it looks decidedly purse-like. Not that there's anything wrong with that....

UPDATE THREE MONTHS LATER:

I have now returned from the Amazon and the camera was as good as I could ever have hoped. The camera performed flawlessly and the pictures I have are wonderful. For me, this was a terrific choice.

Great Pictures, but died in less than 2 weeks
The Good:
While it worked, it took fantastic pictures.
The 12x zoom is great.
The image stabilization works perfectly.
Uses AA batteries.
The Bad:
The 1.8" LCD is too small.
The autofocus is slower than my Nikon.
You can't have the LCD and viewfinder on at the same time.
It died after less than 2 weeks, 3 days into a once in a lifetime vacation. Thank goodness, I brought my Nikon too.
Really Good:
Amazon issued credit without any problem.
I'm replacing it with the Panasonic DMC-FZ7S. I haven't got it yet, but will review after I've had it a few weeks.

Does what it's intended for and Does it well.
I bought this as an addition to my digital slr's for it's light weight and the very capable zoom with IS capability. Also, I wanted something the girlfriend would find easy to use as well. I find the S2 IS to be an excellent digicam with good quality results. I've taken about 200 shots with this machine and I'm pleased with the resulting images. I also took the advice of other reviewers and purchased the Lensmate adapters to better protect the lense barrel when it Is fully extended. I opted for the 52mm adapter. I agree with other reviewers that the lense adapters whether the Canon or Lensmate adapters are also mandatory if you truly to wish to protect your S2 IS. Banging that extended lense barrel against whatever could cause some real heartache.
Having said that, you also, might need to read the manual. There are a lot of bells and whistles that Canon engineered into the S2 IS and to fully appreciate what you have. Also, don't even think of using the 16mg SD Card that Canon includes. Go to Walmart, Target, or Amazon and get some large capacity SD Cards along with some rechargeable AA NimH batteries. These are items that you will need to bring this camera up to full speed for your own use.

i was hoping for a better camera
I have to say that I am NOT very pleased with this camera. I also own a canon SD200 and I was hoping that the S2IS would take better photos, but that hasn't been the case. The quality of the photos is about the same. Can't tell much difference between the two, but the S2IS has a much harder time focusing in. while using the zoom indoors the S2IS will not focus at all. Sometimes even outdoors I have a hard time with the focus. I expected a little better than this. My SD200 rarely has a hard time focusing. The things that I do like are the great zoom and great movie quality. If your planning on buying a video camera I would buy this instead. Takes great video and has the stabilization built in. if this camera would focus in better, I would love it. I find myself using the sd200 just because its more dependable in getting the picture in focus. I really wanted to love this camera, but there is just to many things you have to worry about to take great photos. I can also get just as good photos with my older sd200.

Unbelievable Super Macro Shots and more....
Like so many other reviewers here I debated between the Sony H2 and the Canon IS S2. Ultimately I ordered the Sony but alas - the order was cancelled and a week later the Canon came up for sale - so I bought it. I'm SO glad now that's the way things worked out. I'm big time into macro photography and the capabilities of this camera are outstanding in my opinion. It's amazing what you don't see when you are taking a macro shot that shows up on the actual picture with this camera. Minute leafhoppers, pollen grains, details of plants you didn't know existed - the list goes on. Having the ability to take an excellent shot of anything so tiny just opens up a whole new world in creative photography. If you don't believe that? Just check out the incredible macro shots from the Canon here at Amazon.

Even thought the Sony H2 and the Canon IS S2 appear near equal in the specs - I kept coming back to the photos here at Amazon. The Canon's somehow appear sharper, more colorful, and with things like the color accent mode which I've yet to use - more creative - in my opinion. Then there's the macro shots. No comparison here. Canon slam dunks that one.

The camera's capabilities on the other end of the spectrum are equally adept. A Mississippi Kite hiding out in a tall pecan tree on a windy day? No problem. Could even see the sharp raptor curve at the end of its beak.

So the camera addresses two issues that have been just driving me crazy for the past 3 or so years. Why is it that my 5 year old Sony Digital8 video camera took better macro shots and had a more capable optical zoom than the megabuck still digital cameras on the market? With the Canon? This is no longer the case. While the Sony has a 15x zoom and the Canon has a 12x the Canon can pretty much equal that with a little nudge on the digital zoom size. Plus the Sony could do 1.2 mega pixel while the Canon does 5. Finally - I no longer have to lug around the Sony to take macros or make sure I can zoom like I need to.

Everyday shots of the kids are a breeze to take, bright, beautiful, and in focus - indoors or out.

And WOW what an added bonus to have the video capabilities of this camera! Since SD storage cards are getting cheaper by the minute extended videos are definitely a possibility. I picked up a 2 gig card for forty bucks after rebates. Works great.

No camera is perfect and a few gripes are in order. I agree with some users here that the camera feels a little cramped in your hand. I find myself accidentally hitting a few buttons I didn't mean to. Then there's the lens cap - no reason to beat that one to death - but one user's ingenious solution of affixing a small sliver of soft Velcro to the inside rim of the cap works beautifully to keep the cap snug and not flopping off. The Sony H2 no doubt has a better LCD display too - big and bright - according to those reviewers. The Canon can wash out in bright sunlight. The thing is though - the Canon's auto focus works so consistently well it's questionable whether or not for a lot of shots you even need to frame the picture! I held the camera way over my head today for a picture of my son's band playing outdoors. Click. Done. Perfect picture. The Canon's picture cycle time can be a little slow too. So if you are trying to catch multiple snaps of the Loch Ness monster as it descends into the inky depths - forget it. You'll probably only get one shot with this camera - but boy, chances are it will be a history making clear picture highlighting Nessie's bloodshot eyes!

I have quite a few gripes here so why still a 5 star rating? Because when you are sitting in front of your computer marveling at the pictures you've just taken you forget about those issues - particularly if you got the camera at a bargain price. The Canon simply scores big where it needs to most - taking great pictures!

awesome camera but can be better
Firstly, I just want to state that i'm not a professional photographer. I am a regular consumer looking for a high end digital camera. But I do have an interest in learning about photography.

To cut to the chase, I believe that the camera have a bit of a problem at auto-focusing. Most of the time it works fine but when it comes to macros or using full zoom, it'll be better if you use manual focus.

I tend to use the viewfinder more than the LCD screen. The resolution of both are a bit low so it lacks details. What you see might not be what you get.

I love to take night pictures. So I've used the highest ISO setting at 400 ISO. I have to say I am very dissapointed in the picture quality. The noise level is way too much. I have taken great pictures at night though with lower ISO. But it usually involves me standing still for a few seconds.

I've bought a lens adapter from lensmateonline.com since the adapter from canon comes in black and lensmateonline.com have one in silver.

I love the zoom, macro, and movie quality. I even bought the teleconverter which gives me an extra 1.5x zoom. I wasn't all too happy with it though. It works great but didn't give me that much of an extra zoom. So save your money unless you want a *little* more zoom.

The image stablizer works pretty will when there is no zoom. It helps but isn't all that at full zoom.

Conclusion: Even with its fault, I love this camera. I would totally recommend this camera to anyone looking for an high end digital camera. It isn't the best for high ISO but great for macro and daytime pics.

Auto Focus Stinks!
After reading the rave reviews, I was sorely disappointed when I tried out the camera and found most of the pictures were out of focus. I tried it in Auto, Portrait, and Landscape modes. I also tried to set the ISO manually to 400. Most of the pictures of my kids were blurry. I even tried one where my child was sitting down playing, I was sitting with the camera resting on my knee--still not clear. The shots were much better with a flash, but those took SEVERAL seconds to focus. When my kids were moving, it took even longer to focus.

I then reread the reviews from worst to best and found others with similar experiences, even with the Canon Digital Rebel XT, which I was seriously considering. Perhaps some of us received a batch of Monday morning products, because most people seem to have excellent results. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of the lucky ones.

Great for casual, good-quality picture taking
I've had this camera for a few months now. I bought it for our month-long family vacation, and it definitely fulfilled my need in that respect. It takes pretty good pictures, is easy to use, and has several great features. The zoom feature worked really well for me, and the camera is easy to connect to a computer for data transfer.

I've noticed a lot of reviewers complaining about difficulty in focusing. I've noticed this when I try to take close-up portrait shots especially, and in other instances as well. Another issue I have is that the resolution of the viewfinder is such that it's very difficult to see how well a picture is going to turn out when it's bright outside.

The camera doesn't take as good of picture as my SLR camera does, but that's to be expected. For a family camera this product certainly proved itself very useful to me. The quality of pictures is good enough for the purpose for which we used it (ie vacation pictures and snapshots), and the camera is very easy to use for casual picture taking. When I went shopping for a digital camera I wanted something that would take high-quality pictures but not carry the price tag of a digital SLR, and I think I found it with this product.

Good Camera, But With Some Flaws
I've had the camera for about a month, and taken several pictures. Overall, I am pleased with the quality of the photos. I haven't had the same problem with AF that some reviewers mentioned, and none in zoom mode. I bought a lens adapter from lensmateonline along with a polarizing filter, along with a real lens cap and am very pleased. The addition is worth considering.

My biggest complaint, and while the camera only got 3 stars from me, is framing shots. If it is a cloudy day, both the view-finder and the LCD screen darken the image so much that you have no idea what you're shooting. And, it's even worse on a bright sunny day. I hate "trusting to luck", but that's what you have to do.

If I had it to do over again, I'd opt for a digital SLR. This camera will probably become the "family" camera.

Excelent!!!!
Hi guy's, i'm a amateur in the art of photo world, and since i got this camera, i've experienced as lot of ways to take great pictures. My last camera ( canon sureshot 135mm )now seems like very very ancient aparatus...sorry about it. I'm very happy for my new camera and i'll like to share more experiencies.....

Thanks to Jim Krupnik for his comments about the camera, accesories and all about the tecnical especifications.

Sorry about my bad English...

great camera, if you can get past canon's quality control issues
for the first 3 weeks i had this camera, i was SO happy. absolutely stunning zoom, it totally opened up a new world of photography to me, could see things around me i'd never noticed before. but consider this:

my second digital camera, beginning of 2004, was bought brand new, canon a60. (very first had been a nikon coolpix that got stolen stolen after 2 months.) within a year of having the canon a60, the purple distortion happened, rendering the camera completely useless. it'd never been dropped.

i figured maybe i'd been a little rough with it, anyway, so i took a chance and bought, brand new, a canon a90. within 4 months, purple distortion starts taking over my photographs, and then it stops taking photos completely, screen black, camera dead.

so i figure canon's a-series is the disposable line, and i need to move up to their more expensive cameras. so i spent $360 on a powershot s2 4 weeks ago.

last week, i dropped it. onto soft grass. cursing myself, i looked at it, looked okay, took it home. tried to take a picture, purple distortion taking over my photos, absolute jagged mess.

now i know i dropped the camera, but i'd inflicted far worse abuse on my nikon coolpix, and it'd never shown any problems. 3 canons now, in under 3 years, I've wasted close to $1000. every single one, the same problem, whether dropped or not.

suffice it to say, i am not going to be buying a canon again.

Canon Powershot S2 IS = Unhappy
I thought this camera was the greatest point and shoot when I tried a friends. I wanted a point and shoot so I didn't have to lug out all my SLR camera equipment when I just wanted to take a snapshot.
My Major dissapointment with this camera is the viewfinder and screen. Both have terrible resolution. I couldn't make out what I was shooting half the time. Everything else on it was ok, I took it back anyway and got the Sony Cybershot.

best value for a digital camera
I am new to this camera, but so far so perfect. this camera is the best value in town; inexpensive but delivers outstanding pictures. its newer version S3 is about 100 dollars more expensive at the time of this review but essentially the same camera. in my opinion, S2 IS is a better value now. I would save the extra 100 dollars towards a dslr later. for the time being, I have my film SLR (another dependable Canon; elan 7) and this one.
While the camera does not give the same feeling as an SLR, it has a lens that would cost a fortune (for me) on an SLR. I am waiting for digital SLR prices to cool down more. For the time being, for SLR feeling, I have my Elan 7 which takes beautiful pictures and keep this one for an outstanding digital experience.
In my experience, S2 IS pictures are true to color; I especially like canon's red. I also like the fact that S2 use AA type batteries that I can find anywhere anytime.
cons:
1. lens cap (if Panasonic could solve this problem, why not Canon?)
2. small lcd
3. filter adapter should be included in the package
but these could not convince me to take one star from this camera. five stars!

Not a good choice!
The blurr on image is something that is nasty. While this is not only in the case of zooming to a object at far distance, but at most times. Factors that are to be counted bad:
1. Bad focus when shooting indoor
2. Night shoot capabilities is very poor compared to many others
3. The manual says that focus is reduced when zooming on distant object. the zoom would show poor capabilities even in a normal zoom.
4. A loose lens cap (minor but irritates you most of the time)

I may not be an expert on cameras, but have experienced a very good number of digital cameras for the past 4 yrs. Inspite of all this I was taken away by the long long review given in this list by the first gentleman. I was taken away by such a long lovely review. But it appears to me that it must have been a professional who wrote that review just to market this product better.

Lens cap works for me
I love this camera. Personally I think the loose fitting lens cap was an intentional trade off. I've accidently turned the camera on dozens of times in the 3 weeks I've owned it with the lens cap on. If it locked in place I'd probably have damaged the camera by now. Since it's loose fitting it just "ejects". I think it's better to have the lens cap ocassionally fall off unintentionally than to damage the camera if you happen to turn it on with the lens cap on. [Of course it would be even better if it was interlocked so you couldn't turn the camera on, but that would cost money and would be one more thing that could break.]

Please don't disregard this great camera because of all of the bitching about the lens cap!

Great Camera !!! Great features
This is my second Canon camera. My first camera was Canon A95. I gave it to my brother and thought of buying a higher zoom piece!!! After much of research it came to Sony DSC-H2 and Canon S2. It was difficult to select the best one. In the end I went with Canon just because of my experience with the earlier camera. Canon S2 works great. Solidly build, great image quality, nice features!!! It is cheaper than Sony too. I highly recommend this camera!!!

Great camera now a great bargain
Read some of the other reviews on this camera for in depth analysis on how this camera performs, such as Jim Krupnicks'. Now that the S3 is out, the S2 is coming down in price. It is just 1 step below a full SLR, at half the price. This has a lot of complicated features, but you can use it in auto mode right out of the box - then learn to use the more advanced features as you go along. The 5MP plus the 12x zoom provides all of the resolution for anybody but the professional.
As I use this camera more and more, I get more impressed by the ergonomics of it. Not just that it's comfortable in the hand, but for example: No need to go to Movie Mode to make a movie. Just hit the button and it starts recording. Hit it again- it stops,and you're right back in still mode.
This is not a pocket camera. That's the decision you have to make. If you just want to pull a camera out of your pocket and make some snaps, go with the Elphs. But for greater flexibility at the expense of size, this it excellent.
I highly recommend the lens adapter for this. It protects the lens body in case you drop it, and you can put a UV filter on, which really helps, plus keeps dust off the actual lens. Lensmate makes a 3rd party adapter that is superior to Canons'.

excellent time to buy s2
I thought I'd mention that with the recent introduction of the Canon s3 is, the s2 has fallen about $100 in price. I've owned the s1 for over a year (got it for only $250 through amazon) and it's been terrific. the s2 is supposed to be a major improvement over the s1, and the s3 minorly better than the s2.

I recently finsished a vacation in Hawaii with other college friends, and after exchanging the exact, uncropped, unedited photos digitally, I was surprised to find that the s1's colors were more vibrant (and accurate) than a high end digital slr (canon rebel xt). Go for it! Hope this helps.

User Friendlyw/advanced Features
I got this camera one day before I left to go on a trip to Yellowstone National Park for a week. I had one day to get familiar with its features. I must say, other than a few instances I made shots that I know would have been unable to get w/other cameras. I have 2 other digital cameras, one with a large zoom as well. The stabilizer on this camera made for some wonderful shots. I have had several people -who are very good amateur photographers-state that they were sure some of my distant shots turned out so good because of the image stabilizer. On the first day I got a shot of an eagle in a nest and even better the baby eagle's head sticking up. Another shot, greatly admired by the Park Rangers was a pic of a big horn sheep ewe and 2 week old baby high up on a ledge. Clearly the camera worked for me. The burst function worked well. The stitch function works great-the software that came with the camera is easy to use and makes it easy to file and share photos with others.

I very much like the LCD screen that folds shut so I don't worry about scrathing it. I thought the battery life was good- and I was using the camera many hours a day.

The only feature I think needs improvement is the lens cover. It slips off too easily and I have learned to try to be careful with it.

good camera
I bought the Canon S2 IS to replace my two year old Olympus 725UZ, I have played with it for two days, things work great so far.
1) 12X zoom with image stabilizer is fun to use. USM is very fast with little noise.
2) movie quality is very good, however it can not really replace a camcorder due to large avi file produced, but ok if occasionally capture very short videos.
3) battery performance is pretty good with "single focus" and "shoot only IS".
4) LCD is too small and the EVF looks coarse, but the vari-angle is a very interesting feature.
5) manual focus is not quite useful at all: it is difficult to determine the best focus even with magnified view.
6) I heard a lot of people complain about the loose len's cap. but it works ok for me.
7) autofocus works with difficulties in low light condition even with AF illuminator.
8) supermacro mode is amazing, but I am not quite sure its usefulness.
9) user interface is much easier to use compared with my old olympus.
I guess I would be happy with this camera before I see an E18 error (hopefully never)

Lens cap
A simple solution to the lens cap that seems to easily fall off is to put some masking tape over the layer of felt that is supposed to hold the lens cap on. You do not have to cover much of the felt. This worked very well for me. Good luck.

Very Good Starter & Intermediate Camera
Having gladly dumped ALL my Epson products (very poor customer support) I found this camera be be a real great one to use. Has superb beginner features, excellent advanced functions and numerous add on hardware flexability. Having used mine now for several months I can find no flaws and find it heads above the pack in reliability and picture capture! If you plan to spend $300 to $400 for a QUALITY camera seriously consider this one as I did. Having bought this I even purchased the Canon Scanner and S9000 Printer- I had to use Canon customer service and actually got to speak to a KNOWLEGABLE human being for FREE about my problem and it was solved on the phone in minutes!! I am extremely impressed by this kind of service and products. I hope Canon hits Boom Town!

Good for general use travel camera
I just returned from an overseas trip, where I took a bunch of photos under a variety of conditions. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the images.

Here's the good:
1. Battery life is excellent! Get NiMH rechargeable batteries and you will be able shoot hundreds of photos and power up and down numerous times on a single go!
2. Quiet operation. The camera is virtually silent if you want it to be.
3. Rotating LCD. This is extremely handly for overhead shots and discrete photos if you are one of those who doesn't like blatantly obvious in your face type shooting.
4. Images turned out much better than I thought they would based on the LCD preview.
5. Zoom is obviously very versatile and handy.
6. Secure SD is small and cheap. I got several 1Gig cards for about $30.

Here's the not so good:
1. Autofocus can be a little slow/inacurrate/finiky and this can be very frustrating.
2. Macromode is sub-par or I couldn't figure out how to use it effectively. This was a major disappointment, particularly as the preview photos looked ambiguous (they turned out much, much better once put on my iMac).
3. Size. It's a little on the big size, but build feels solid.
4. Color saturation or "something" sometimes too intense. The images are a little TOO vivid/saturated sometimes.

Summary: For the price, I'm very pleased with performance and do not regret owning this handy little point and shoot with manual options.

I love this camera!
I'm no camera expert, but I've had my S2 IS for about a year now and am extremely happy with it. My photos wow everyone who sees them (and that is not because of my photographic prowess, I assure you). One thing I'd change... I'd like a remote shutter control.

Great camera
I was a film major at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and I had been using an old SLR that I had received as a gift for all of my photography classes. Last year it broke and I have been camera-less for too long. I recently decided to get back into photography and I decided I wanted to make the switch to digital. I started researching cameras here on amazon and other sites and after reading the many reviews for this one, both the good and the bad, I decided to order and see for myself. I have not been disappointed in my purchase. This camera is extremely versatile and with a little practice I believe anyone could use it. It's got great manual features and other special effects, such as macro and super macro, that make it great for people who know more about what they're doing when it comes to photography but it is also a great point-and-click camera for people just getting into photography, as well. It's got a very small learning curve and I feel almost completely comfortable with it after owning it for just a few days.
I have to admit that I'm a bit confused after having read the bad reviews that said the images were constantly blurry. I mean, yes, a few images I have taken have been blurry, but if I just hold down the button to take the picture a split second longer, it focuses just fine. Also, people need to learn to use the flash; if you're trying to autofocus in a darker setting, the camera will keep the aperture open longer to get more light into the picture. That means if the subject is moving, the camera picks up all of its movement. Therefore it is blurry. It's the same with any manual film camera. So maybe these people just don't really know how to use cameras in the first place.
One of my only gripes with this camera is that the manual focus button is in a really weird location on the lens and you have to hold it down while pushing down the buttons to focus closer or farther. Hopefully I'll get used to it.
Overall, however, I think this is a great camera and I really recommend it to anyone, from beginners to pros, who are looking for a new camera.

Canon Powershot S2 IS 5mp
Good ergonomics. Fits nicely in my hand, all the buttons are well placed and easy to access. I can even switch on the camera and take pictures with one hand.
- Powerful flash. Enough to fill up a moderate size room.
- Great video mode with sound. It also comes with an audio video cable so that you can connect the camera to your TV and watch the vidoes and pictures on your TV.
- LCD is decent size and is fairly bright, which means it's even visible outdoors in the daytime.

If you're looking here, this camera is probably for you
I own both this camera, and the 350D (or Digital Rebel XT, if you will). This puts me in a good position to compare the pros and cons of going the S2 route, or holding out for the dSLR.

The Powershot S2 is a very versatile camera. The movie mode is outstanding, the versatility of the lens is impressive, and the overall smallish package has a lot going for it. The vast majority of my pictures are well exposed, with pleasing colors. They are generally quite sharp, too. The image stabilization's usefulness cannot be overstated. Those are the pros. The con (there is only one, but it is a big one) is that the pictures I get are not of the quality I have come to expect from my dSLR. This camera on its best day cannot deliver images that my 350D on its worst day can give me.

The Digital Rebel XT is more expensive, larger, requires multiple lenses worth a lot of money to equal what the Powershot S2 offers, can't shoot movies or offer live previews, and is far more cumbersome to carry around for long periods of time. Now, with that being said, the pictures that it takes are so much better than any small sensored camera (including this one), it really isn't fair comparing the two. Anybody who so much as shoots with a three year old Digital Rebel (let alone any of the better SLRs) will never look at compact cameras the same way again,

What am I trying to get across? If you already have an SLR, the S2 is nothing but a complimentary camera, which will let you leave your SLR body/70-300IS (or 70-200L) lens combo at home in a pinch. If on the other hand you are coming up from an A/S*0 series Powershot (or the equivalent from another manufacturer), this is almost certainly enough camera to keep you happy for a long time. It offers most of the functions of an SLR (albeit in a watered down format), and it offers most - but certainly not all of the image quality. An SLR it is not. But SLRs are not for everybody. If you are not serious about photography - and by serious I mean you use the camera at least every other day in an attempt to improve your skills, stick with this camera, and go no further. It will deliver all you will ever want or need.

If, however, you really are serious about learning or making the next stride in photography, go and get a Rebel XT. Your pictures will be sharper/cleaner and you will be able to learn and do things that no compact camera could ever dream of doing. It is far more expensive to go this route, so only make this commitment if you know you are serious about it (and can afford it). Even a minimal outlay for the Rebel XT will set you back $1,000 - it's not just the camera body we're talking about here. You WILL end up buying better lenses, filters, and all the rest that goes along with SLR ownership. If you end up getting hooked and go the "L" lens route, that $1,000 will seem like peanuts. But there are also a lot of people who purchase an SLR, yet end up using it like a point and shoot, and also rarely use it. You really don't want to be one of them, having $1,000 of camera sitting on a shelf, either collecting dust or being used once every 2-3 months. Save your wallet and purchase an S2!

Last thing. Unless you really like the black color, or really want that extra megapixel of resolution, get an S2 instead of an S3. The cameras are identical, except for 5MP vs 6MP. The S3 has a slightly higher rated flash, and the LCD screen is a bit bigger (with the same resolution). Other than that, the specs are exactly the same. The S2 can be had for $320 (as of 7/9/06) if you look carefully. The S3 isn't under $400 anywhere.

Good luck, and happy shooting.

My Go-To Camera
First thing, I won't go over all the features of this little camera, just let it be said that you'll seldom find it unable to do what you need it to.

We have two nice DSLRs in our house, with a battery of lenses, but when I head out the door, 90% of the time I grab the S2 instead of one of the more expensive cameras. Why? It's smaller, easier to carry, has the extended zoom range, and uses AA batteries. It's better to have a camera that you'll actually take with you, than one that takes great photos but is awkward to travel with or carry so it stays at home.

While everyone goes on about how great the image stabilizer is with the long lense, (which is is) it also shines when you're in a low light situation, like a museum, where you can't use flash. I have a great collection of art photos from museums around the country that I could have never taken with one of our Nikon D70s without a tripod.

The only limitations I find in the S2 is that it doesn't have an especially wide angle view, but none of the "ultra-zoom" cameras do, so it's not something you can fault it for.

For low light, another stop in the ISO (from 400 to 800) would be nice, which Canon has put on the S3, so if you want that feature you can get it.

While the camera will do most anything in manual and specialized modes, you don't have to know anything about cameras to get good pictures, and I've handed it to a half-dozen novices to use for the day and they've all come back with good shots.

I've had many brands of digital cameras, Olympus, Fuji, Sony, Nikon, and Casio, and for point and shoots, Canon just does it right. (For D-SLRS, however, I have to go with the Nikons.)

As far as mega-pixels, the reality of it is that most of the time you'll be reducing the size of your pictures to use them on the internet on in e-mails, so unless you need the extra features and plan to make big prints, the S2 has plenty of resolution for most purposes, which makes it a great deal price-wise.

Awesome Camera
This camera is like having my old 35mm film camera back, only way better!! My digital photos are actually worth saving and printing now. I am not much on all the technical talk, and I dont understand most of it, but this camera is fairly easy to figure out and has tons of different settings for different types of photos. And some cool ways to play with color in your photos too.

and the video option of the camera has great sound and the quality is very good... I would use this over my old camcorder ANY DAY.

Great Camera!!!

This camera makes me want to get up early on a Saturday morning and just go take pictures! That's how great it is.

Canon Powershot S2 IS 5MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Hi,
I liked the camera and its performance very much, it satisfied all my expectations. However when I ordered from Amazon, it was told that the product is absolutely nrand new. But When I received the Camera, the Original Canon Box was not sealed pack, it was in open state, this Canon Camera box was within another box. I am not sure why should Amazon open the Canon camera's box seal, that reduces my trust that the product is not used.
Anil

Canon Powershot S2 IS
I am still learning how to use the many features of this camera, but I love it! I have taken great "everyday" pictures as well as close-ups, landscapes, even fireworks (which turned out awsome!). The stitch feature is easy to use and makes great panoramic photos. I have not yet tried any of the manual settings.

Be prepared to spend some quality time with the manual before becoming proficient with the camera. However, anyone can pretty easily pick it up and take normal pictures without instruction.

Two downfalls (which I don't deem important enough to push the overall rating down):
1) The software that comes with it does not do much in the way of photo editing. Be prepared to do your editing in another program.
2) As I read in many reviews before I purchased the camera, the lens cover is not the greatest. Falls off easily and is not of the greatest quality.

Canon Digital
This is my first experience with a digital camera - I have always and still do, use film. This camera seems easy to use and has good quality. I was surprised at how small the initial memory card is. When Amazon recommends buying a card right away, pay attention. You only get about 8 pictures with the card that comes with the camera.

I would recommend the camera.

Great Camera
I would highly recommend this camera. Easy to use, light weight and has a great zoom. Pictures all come out very clear.

Fine camera at a very attractive price
The Powershot S2 IS is an excellent value, now that the price is below $350. The 12x, optically stabalized zoom lens and 5 megapixel sensor delivers crisp images, even in lighting less than ideal. It's modes are easy to navigate, and is truly a best in class (tied with the S3) for videos. Video quality is very good, particularly the stereo sound. Afraid you'll miss a good shot because your shooting video? No problem! You can take high-rez still shots while recording video! (It does interrupt the video shooting, however).

Should you move up to the S3? It depends on the amount of low-light shooting you do. Although the move to 6 megapixels is nice, the biggest improvement would be the addition of a usable ISO of 800, which helps a bit in low light shooting. If all you do is take pictures in reasonably good lighting, then, no, the price difference does not justify the difference in cost.

Awesome camera
I always wanted to invest less on a digital camera, till i saw this stunning piece of art with all the features u want in a digi. Its good for those who want to take incredible pictures with less effort.

Amazing for Home & starting professional.
awasome camera, and good with ultra sandisk SD memory card. and amazon is doing fantastic job, i wanted this camera on time i have ordered from dell and i did not got on time so i cancelled order and ordered from amazon and i got it just in one night that's cooool...

the picture quality & zooming and Image stabilisation is working gr8!!!! i could take pictures while i am driving and pictures are clean & clear....

this camera is absolutely wondurful..!!!!!!!!

I am very satisfied!
This is my first digital camera. My other camera is a Nicon N 6006 with plenty of lenses, zoom, wide angle, etc. and the decision to add a digital was not easy, for I am very happy with my Nicon and the quality of its lenses.

The S2 shoots sharp images, has a nice zoom and is very easy and straightforward to use, although sometimes a bit slow in the shooting. The different shooting modes are very handy, especially for photo stitching. I'd like to have some higher sensibility for night timte photography without the flash (the flash is good for most of my snapshots, even as a fill flash in sunny conditions at the beach or in the snow).

The only down side I foun until now, is that the camera is not very small. Considering the size, I might as well have gon for an SLR instead (if it wasn't for the price). I still have lots to learn of this camera until I really use all its potential, but it's looking really good so far. I can recommend this camera to everybody who is interested in nice, sharp photos and vacation shots, unless you are looking for something really small.

Canon Powershot S2 IS 5MP Digital Camera
I bought this camera for a friend and he loves it. At first he and his wife thought this was more camera than either wanted but it has a auto setting that will allow you to take good pictures without being a "Camera Person" It has many advanced features that can be learned if you ever want to progress from the point and shoot mode. If you want a good camera with a lot of zoom this one is hard to beat. It is top rated in its class in Consumers Report. I bought the Powershot S3 IS for myself. It cost about 100 dollars more and it is essentially the same camera with more ISO settings. I would buy one of the two based on my personal wants. I am using a 4 G card in mine and I am very pleased with it.

Great camera
A great camera. IS is so nice that you dont need worry about the shaking. The picture looks fabulous and color is so natural. Will go next version in next year.

awesome...
i could have written the review even before buying this camera... did too much research before buying... got awesome features at reasonable price... there are few features which i would like to have... they have included those in next model s3-is... but only problem is 100 bucks extra is too much to pay for those features... anyways this camera preforms excellent in auto mode and gives enuf manual features to tweak it to my requirements... i love the special effects that i can generate on the fly... simple pics can look very professional... in future, i would love to have more than 15seconds exposure... may be upto 1 minute exposure would be a great addon...

Canon S2 IS
Quality is excellent. Easy to use for advanced photographer ( or amateur using Automatic settings ).The only improvements that I would like to see is more finger room when removing/replacing the SD card. ( Hard to get hold of it with big fingers).
I would buy it again.

It's amazing !!!
It's really amazing. I had Kodak 7530. Cannon S2 IS scores alot over Kodak. The video is wonderful. You can make extensive use of Zoom.

Disadvantage - You can't keep it in pocket.... but other benefits fades away this disadvantage

Excellent Camera
I am not a professional photographer, but after buying this camera from amazon at a great price I found that I couldn't stop taking pictures with it. I am used to the regular canon point-and-shoots that are great for taking regular pictures. After a little acquaintance with the s2 I couldn't resist trying out all of the great features. This camera allows you to shoot in almost any situation with stellar quality and results. Movie mode captures excellent video while still in picture taking mode. I am a big fan of canon for their excellent lenses and this camera is no exception.

Canon Powershot S2 IS 5MP Digital Camera
This is my first digital camera and I think it's great. Features I especially like are the image sharpness, the 12x optical zoom, the ability to view images on a television direct from the camera, the flip screen, and the use of AA batteries.

Canon Powershot S2IS
I have owned several digital cameras and this one has to be the best of the lot. I have owned the S2 for several months and during this time it has not failed me. I am amazed by the battery life. Also, the zoom capability coupled with image stabilization, is outstanding. I have taken zoom pictures at night and the results were very usable. The built-in flash has good range.

Canon S2 IS review
Overall, this is a great little camera. My background is professional photography, so I am more used to a camera that I can set manually when desired to obtain motion blur, depth of field, timed exposures, intentional over or under exposure, etc. My wife made the venture into digital a few years ago, and has been using a 1.3 mp camera, which was okay, but not as fancy. We got the Canon to give her more mp, and some extra features. We've only had it a month, and haven't learned a lot of what it can do, but compared to digital cameras owned by other family members and traveling friends, this Canon seems to give sharper, more well exposed pictures on automatic than most of the others. I think the IS (Image Stabilization) works well, since I'm a little shaky, but the pictures always seem sharp. One feature I think they missed on though is being able to use a manual fill flash with the automatic setting. Won't work. You have to go to one of the programmed or manual settings to be able to use manual fill flash. Another thing is that the flash doesn't pop up automatically when you need it, even on "automatic" mode. You have to raise it manually. Then, if flash is needed, it will go off.

Good Camera
I gone through most of the review and thought of buying Sony H1/H2.Finally endup buying Canon S2 for it's good price . I like this Camera in all it's aspects as explained in other review.Good picture,clarity,colour, more manual control and good price. My -ve side is, low 16MB SD card(just can't take more than 3 to 5 picture),no rechargeable battery(need to buy separately with additional cost) and more noice.I hear more noice all the time even there is no use. I think the image stabilizer keep on working for the hand vibration while holding camera and that noice is more...

Still need to explore more and will come up if anyother issues exists.

Good Camera - But Disappointing Engineering
I bought this camera about a year ago when it was first introduced after doing extensive reserached, and reading several user comments like these. Though the camera offered more features than I would ever use, I wanted a durable camera that would last.

The camera worked beautifuly for about 9 months than started acting up. At first it was E13 errors that would completely shut the camera off, while trying to snap a picture. An entirely frustrating process, when you have a two year old that you are trying to capture images of.

After talking with Canon digital support they suggested getting rid of my current memory card and replacing it. After I did so, the camera began to work again.

A month later, the camera lens began having issues when I was first initalizing the camera. The lens would stick and look as though it was trying to force itself out, and do this back and forth 5-10 times each time. According to Canon this was a lens error issue, that needed to be sent to Canon to fix.

Currently I am still waiting for the camera to come back.

Great jump from S1 - Almost Pro Camera
It took some time to find the camera i wanted because the factors where:

- 4 or more Mp
- 8X or more optical zoom
- Not so bulky (i like to use cameras, not just store cameras)
- Fast shooting (i hate lags)
- Affordable (i'm not into spending US700 or US1500 on a camera yet)

One of the best options was the S1 but the 3Mp was not good for the printing size i wanted to have. So when i saw the S2 i thought it was the rigth one. In order to be sure I checked amazon reviews and dpreview.com and then it was very clear.

I bought this camera in July 2005 as a replace for my Kodak DX6490 (4 Mp, 10X Optical zoom) who was death by that time. The difference is huge! The Canon S2 specs and behaviour is fantastic: 5 Mp, 12X Optical Zoom with Stabilization, vari-angle display (you don't know how necessary it is until you have it), fast shooting, multiple auto modes and manual modes, feels good in the hand, Canon optics that you can see in awesome pictures and all the professional modes in case you want to go beyond with your photos.

I'm very happy with this camera, the zoom is excellent and the image stabilization works very well, of course at the end of the zoom in low ligth conditions it is better to have a good hand or use a tripod.

The image quality is very good, the best i've had from a digital (please note that i haven't tried a digital SLR), sure my 35 film Canon EOS 300 is more "pro" but... i don't carry it often because of the size.

There is the new Canon S3 (6 Mp) but i think the jump it's not as big as the one Canon did from S1 to S2 so i'd rather keep the S2 and even if you are thinking on a new camera, the price difference says "Get the S2".

Now, it's been almost a year since a bougth it and nowadays you can find a lot of cameras with more Mps but... if the zoom and the value are important for you the S2 is the rigth one.

Great Camera for the 'Wanna-Be' Pro
There are too many bells & whistles to describe here, but Canon has provided a camera that allows the photograher new features to create his/her perfect shot. The various settings are not easy for a newcomer to learn, but Canon has made the setting icons fairly intuitive.

I would say that the only negative we have found with this camera is that moving subjects continue to come out very blurry. Stop-action still doesn't work very well. Since we take many 'action' photos, that is why the review is probably lower than we would have given it. If you take mostly still subjects, then this is a great camera to use!

Capture memories you'll never forget!
I bought this camera 7 months ago when it still cost around $500. It was worth every penny. I've taken thousands of digital photos of hundreds of events, ranging from soccer games (yes, it works well for actions shots) to beautiful scenery on family vacations. The photo quality is great, good enough for large prints, especially if you use the highest super-fine setting. You may have to buy an extra memory card to store all of your photos on a long trip; I bought a 1GB card and that does just fine.

It's true that this camera has lots of settings--I don't even use half of them! This doesn't bother me though, because even as an amateur photographer, I'm snapping photos that I couldn't have dreamt of taking with my previous digital or film cameras.

It's easy to use, advanced enough for all your needs, but still portable enough to take on all your photo adventures. And the deals on this one just seem to get better!

I love it
I have stuck to film for years, but I decided to try this camera and my first three shots convinced me I had a winner. With one gig memory card I figure I can get almost 200 shots a shooting. It is light and even though I had to study the instructions extensively, it proved easy to use. I wish a better case was available according to the others who have bought available cases.

Nice camera
We have enjoyed using this camera. Consistant good results can be had with careful study of the various settings and practice. Love the long zoom.

Great Camera
I have been eyeing this camera for over a year, since Chris Pirillo recommended it. I have owned several Canon Cameras, including the A510 and A520. Well, when the S3 came out and the price dropped on the A2, I made the leap and bought it. It is great, great pictures, great recycle time, GREAT ZOOM! And small enough to still be able to sneak into places.

I do not need the higher res of the S3, so the S2 is the camera to get

solid choice
I'm the proud owner of two Canon cameras, this model and an A1 film SLR. The S2 IS was a solid buy for me. I use it often to take a variety of pictures, from portraits to action shots. I really enjoy its low light capabilities - I would rarely use the flash in indoor shots and the pictures I take all come out with great exposure. Shooting macro with the S2 IS is a cinch and the detail that I get from this 5MP digital is quite impressive.

The camera has an intuitive design and easy interface. That seemingly big bulky handgrip comes in handy on windy days or when your shooting from a moving vehicle (or a trolley!) Canon loves mode dials and so do I. I also like how the screen flips out and clicks to multiple viewing positions, though it's a bit small and washed out in the sun like all screens do. Uploading the photos onto my computer is quick and easy thanks to the included USB cable.

I've tried most of the features on the camera. Took great pics of the redwoods using the foliage scene setting. Made a mini movie of my dog chasing tennis balls that was limited only by the capacity of my memory card. And I used Canon's Stitch Assist software (on the cd that is bundled with the camera) to create a stunning panoramic of San Francisco from Twin Peaks.

Since buying this camera in April '06 I've actually dropped it twice! But it's a tough camera and escaped with a few scratches but no damage to its internal mechanisms. I should note that it fell on its side, not on the lens.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this camera for those interested in composing and taking great digital shots and are not too concerned with size and weight.

Very Good Camera
This camera is awesome. I was using Kodak with 2MP. But Canon S2 IS has 5MP with 12x optical Image Stabilizer, which provides great pictures. With Telephoto zoom you can enjoy it to the fullest extent. Surely recommended.

Works for me
This is my first digital camera, and I'm not a camera buff so I can't really give a detailed objective review. But we just got back from an Alaska cruise with it and I'm very pleased with the results. With a gigabyte card and a set of NiMh rechargeables we literally took thousands of pictures. Batteries easily lasted all day; downloaded the card to the laptop in the evening, and kept on clicking. Took quite a few excellent video clips too. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat; in fact I may have to - the kids are always borrowing it (even though they have their own digital cameras) so I might need to get another for myself.

Great for the price!
We had looked into buying a more expensive camera but since we are not professionals and were really only looking to catch vacation photos and the like we settled on this one. We especially were more comfortable with the price versus other, more professional cameras. So far I have been exteremely pleased. I would definetly recommend reading the manual thoroughly before taking too many pictures because you may need to change settings to get the best picture possible. I was suprised when we first got the camera because it seemed to be larger in the picture, however, the size is very comfortable to hold and is nice for traveling and hiking becasue it is lightweight. I would definetly recommend getting a 1 GB card so that you can take as many pictures as you want. The zoom features are great on this camera. I would recommend a tripod for 48x zooms because it is nearly impossible to hold the camera still enough to get a clear picture. Also, you can take a picture, and then zoom into the picture. This was kind of neat because we took a picture of something moving from a long way off and where then able to zoom in on it a find out what it was (a buffalo- we were at Yellowstone.) Almost makes binoculars obsolete! We took a short movie with the camera too (takes up loads of space on the sd card) and took 60 rapid sucession photos of Old Faithful. The benefits of this camera are nearly endless! This is definetely enough camera for me, although I am sure professionals and serious ametuers may be looking for a little more. I really believe for the price, this cannot be beat.

On a side note, I am still looking for the perfect carrying case. I bought one rather cheaply that works okay - but the velcro closures scare away any animals that i am trying to take pictures of! Any suggestions?

Budding Photographers, you need this camera-
There are many amazing things said in the bazillions of reviews for this camera. I don't know that I could say anything more, but I'd like to add another rave review anyway.

This camera is a peach. The auto settings are fairly good, and once you delve into the custom/advanced settings you'll see how amazing this product is. I'm virtually a newbie to anything more advanced than a point and shoot, and I'd like to say that the user interface is simple to understand and allows a newbie to get the hang of the settings quickly and easily. It's very customizable, user friendly, and intuitive.

One thing I would like to note (because I haven't read much about it in the reviews) is the battery usage..

I had a Pentax for a brief period and that puppy would burn through a set of batteries in about 2 hours.

I've had my Canon S2 IS for a week today. I've practically lived with it. Taken close to 2,000 high res. large shots, and guess what, I've only used one set of disposable batteries, and am now on my "maiden voyage" charge of Nimh's.. and it's still going strong after a week. Even though this camera has an astounding lens, fabulous zoom, and many many customizable settings and abilities, what impresses me most (aside from the beautiful clarity of the photos) is the battery usage. I mean come on, a crappy little point and shoot pentax could only snap 150 pics per battery set (and uploading them to the comp sucked the life right out of those puppies), and I'm close to 2,000 pics, and have my S2 IS plugged into my computer once or twice a day, anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes at a pop, I'm editing and deleting pics from the camera almost every time I turn it on, fiddling with the settings/focus/exposure constantly and I'm STILL runing strong-- AFTER A WEEK.
It's a thing of joy.


-As for the lens cap complaints, I haven't had a problem with mine. It fits firmly enough to not slide off when carrying the camera around, but is loose enough to pop off if you accidentally turn it on- thus preventing you from scratching your lens.. and I do believe that is the purpose of a more 'relaxed' fitting lens cap.

As for the darkening screen when you're shooting in bright light, well, my first instinct is to say "try watching your tv in bright sunlight and see if you can see any better" that's the nature of a screen, it's only so bright and when you take it into glaring sunlight, naturally you won't see it as well. However, it does have the tilt option so you can angle it to see better, and if all else fails, you've got the oldschool view finder that you can use, so I think the "dark lcd screen" complaints are pretty baseless since there are ways around it.

I do suggest buying a set of tripods. One full sized, and one mini. While shooting in the auto settings, you won't get much blur at all, but once you venture into low light shooting, or well, a lot of your custom settings that require macro or lowered shutter speeds, you'll need a tripod to steady your shot.

--and make sure your camera bag is big enough. The leather bag Canon suggests isn't nearly large enough. I've got the Tamrac Digital 6 and it's just big enough for my needs right now (charger, extra batteries, extra memory card, av cables, lens cleaning goodies), but I can see that in the future, once I begin switching out lenses, I'll need a much much larger bag to accomodate everything.

The camera itslef is a bit heavier than most, almost similar to an analog 35mm's weight, but you'll get used to it quickly and have no problem "one handing" it when needed. -- and it's very comfortable to hold with all of the buttons in a logical and ergonomic arrangement.

All in all, I don't have one single complaint about this camera, and I think most of the complaints that you might read on the S2 IS are from people who didn't understand the instructions, or didn't consider the engineering behind certain aspects of the design (lens cap and dark lcd screen).

First let the pictures blow you away and then the camera.
The Canon Powershot S2 SI is saying, "leave the compact cameras to the mobile phone developers, and the SLRs to pros with the cash for it. Look at me. I am what you have always wanted." The Canon Powershot S2 SI is the hybrid offspring of what happens when you cross a compact camera with a SLR. It is lighter than most SLRs but a lot heavier than a compact. You might even feel a little bit shocked when you hold a camera like this that looks almost completely plastic. Its first impressions are flimsy, even when you open the viewer door you are thinking, hold on, this is more like a kid's toy than a Canon camera. Canon is probably nodding its head. If you want the quality of high-end SLR technology, and then some more, for a fraction of the cost, you are going to be making some sacrifices. If anyone has made a sacrifice it is Canon who has shaved $400 off their low-end SLRs (Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP Digital SLR) for the Powershot S2 SI but give you most of the features of a $1000+ Canon Digital SLR (Canon EOS series). For this reason you can understand why something like the screen door feels a little on the light side. The plastic however is middle to high grade graphite, but fairly heavy. If you drop this I would suspect that you would probably end up damaging it easily. You really need to watch this camera like it was your baby. What you need to do is to open up the manual, learn to take automatic indoor, outdoor, close-ups and how to do a full optical zoom with stabilization. Set your picture size to 2,592 x 1,944 with highest settings on quality. The green laser shoots out when you semi-press the snap button, the image suddenly becomes ultra-sharp in the viewer, green square goes on, great, click and then quickly hook it up to your PC to see the results. When you finally load up your images you will be feeling daft about yourself, zooming in on tiny details like the tip of the blade of grass and zooming back to the cinematic garden shot you just took. It doesn't get much better than this for the price. If you where to ask what can this camera do, the answer is in downloading and reading the PDF manual which is 187 pages of functions. Automatic, manual and custom settings abound. If you can do it on a pro SLR, you can probably do it here. With a 1GB memory card you can have up to 8 minutes of good quality video (awesome 640 x 480 video at that for the price) and stereo audio or over 300 full size, best quality images. (As a note: the Canon PowerShot S2 IS gave me a Memory Card Error and or Card Locked! Error with a SanDisk SD 1 GB card, even though the card is unlocked. Sometimes you might not even be allowed to format this card in the camera. This may be due to some cards being faulty but it appears that many users are suggesting that the problem has to do also with the card speed and new Canon cameras. The only solution is to take the memory card back and get another brand. I got this card, it gave me the above errors. I got a different 1GB model (a 150X speed one) and it worked on the Canon Powershot S2 IS, no problem). Although 6M is cutting edge for low-end cameras, you will pay a 1/3 more for the S3. This is a fantastic 5M model for the price. The lens is outrageously good (maybe even SLR pro quality). Basically if you have done your homework, this is the camera to get.

Awesome camera - but it is big!
This camera is really great. Fantastic zoom - clear pictures. Easy to use. Just one thing....if you don't want a heavy camera you better not get this one! It's really heavy and bulky. But if you don't mind that it is a great deal!

Still loving it after a year...
I've had this camera for nearly a year and still love it now that I've gotten to know it. I am still learning fun new settings and it's ease of use and impressive picture quality have sparked my own interest in photography. It's so user-friendly that even my technologically-challenged husband can operate it. Buy the camera, you won't regret it.

Just perfect
I have had it for two days - And I love it. The software that came with the camera is also just perfect. It lets me perform all normal edits within seconds. Camera is easy to use yet powerful. I am very happy with the purchase

Good camera for ameteurs
I have been using this camera for about 1 year. Some of the problems with this camera is
1) Lens cap doesn't stay on the lens, it always falls down. There is no grip.
2) View finder doesn't show the actual picture that the camera will capture. i.e what you see in the view finder is not what you get. The good news is, the picture that is captured is better than what you see in the view finder.

Gives me a warm feelng
Love this camera. Just wish i could charge the batteries in the camera.
Also would like to see a better usb door.
Fred

I love my S2!!!
Have only been playing with this for a few days, and am not by any means a serious photographer, but wanted a digital that offered more features than my low-end cameras from other manufacturers. The Canon is heavier and bigger, reminding me in good ways of my most beloved older film cameras. It's really easy to get started. This camera writes to memory MUCH faster than my others, making it far more useful for taking candid shots and the like. It "feels" right in my hands, and the controls are conveniently located for me. Review and delete functions are easy and quick. I'm still on the original batteries. The zoom is great. I'm delighted! And I have to say, so far the manual has been understandable. With the number of features this camera has, I expect to be learning for a long time. I'm very happy so far.

Poor Optics or Poor Customer Service?
Love my camera, BUT....

Great camera, especially the 12x zoom, but when I noticed early on that all of my shots had a BLURRY portion in about 1/4 of each photo, I returned the camera to Canon. After 2 months, they sent the camera back to me saying everything was normal. Hmmmm.

Here, I know something is wrong: if blurry photos are normal, then I'm unimpressed with the camera's optics. However, I'm leaning toward the more likely problem: poor customer service. It appears they didn't care to take the time to fix the problem.

Not impressed. Next time, I'll spend my money on a Nikon.

S2 or H1?
When selecting a camera, I was trying to decide between Canon S2 and Sony H1. Why did I select Canon? I just can't get used to Sony's user-inteface, whereas Canon's UI is just naturally intuitive. Since then I've used it on every trip I went on. True, you can't stuff this camera in your pocket, but that's the sacrifice for gorgeous pictures that it takes. I've had no problems with it whatsoever, and I've never regretted purchasing it. Everyone who sees the photos I take comments on how vivid and colourful they turn out - and I compliment Canon on making a camera that takes such good pictures.

Great value
This camera is pretty amazing. I am not a professional by any means, I just enjoy taking pictures; And with this camera it is incredibly easy to take high quality pictures that have great detail. I took it out for the first time today and got some really amazing pictures of wildlife. The zoom is fantastic and the camera itself is very nice to hold. The controls are intuitive and I've never had quite so much fun with a camera before.

good value, learning curve may help if you buy canon products later
for $300 or so i don't see how you can do better than this camera. i did a fair amount of research on digital SLRs and digital zoom comeras, then decided to start with the canon S3 instead of a digital SLR, but it was not scheduled to ship until november so i went with this. i've managed to take a picture of a steller's blue jay in flight with this camera (see customer-submitted images). if you do eventually want to graduate on to something more advanced like a digital SLR, as I am already considering after a few days photographing birds, then an added bonus is that the menuing systems of canon's digital SLRs seem to be similar. even if i later get a digital SLR, i'll still be happy with this camera because of its ease of use and the video capability.

new camera
I absolutely love my camera. I purchased it for the zoom features and portrait setting. My chirldren play sports and I am not always in a postition were i can get close, and this is exactly what I wanted. I would advise to practice all the settings to find the ones that work for your subject. I have recommended it to everyone I know and you can't beat the price.

So far, so good!
I haven't had this camra for very long, but I am very suprized at what it can do for how cheep it was. I know almost nothing about camras, but the Canon Powershot S2 IS 5MP is by far better then an HP that my mother bought for almost three times the price of mine. It's easy to use, and there are a lot of really cool things you can do with it. By just messing around with it I've taken some of the most detailed clouse up pictures I have ever seen with any nonperfetional camra, and even better then some perfetional cameras that I've seen. If you get confused, just read the mannul to help you out. I've learned a lot of neet tricks with it.

Good camera
This is my first digital camera and I think this will be the only one for a long period. It's perfect for the people who are learning how to shoot and for the people with experience in the topic of taking a good fotography.

Very Pleased
This is my second Digital Canon and Iam more then pleased with this camera. It is hard to beat a Canon.

Excellent camera at a low price
This is an excellent camera.
The main reason for selecting this camera is that I Have excellent experiences with canon cameras. I own a Canon EOS film camera for a very long time. I also have a 2MP Canon digital camera, which was my first exposure to digital cameras. I have been very pleased with the quality of this 2MP camera. Finally I decided it was time to upgrade to a better quality digital camera, that comes close to a SLR camera. My choice was the Canon S2 IS, as 5MP is more than I will ever need, and I love the 12X zoom and Image Stabilization.
The pictures (color and sharpness) are of "excellent" quality. The camera has an Automatic mode and also allows me to have more or full control of the settings.
I like the fact that it uses AA batteries as you can get them anywhere if your rechargables run out. I always carry 2 sets of rechargables and one set of alkaline (very long shelf life).
What more could I ask of a camera? Oh, I forgot. I also used it as a film camera and the quality is also excellent. Only one minor drawback: in the best quality setting, you can only get 15 minutes of movie with a 2GB SD card (the highest it will accept). I wish it would accept 4GB as these are getting cheap.
But for the price I paid, I cannot complain! Five stars!

Canon Powershot S2 IS Digital Camera
I used this camera to take over 1,500 photos on a recent trip to China and it performed beautifully. No problems and it is light to carry. I'd recommend it to any photographer.

This camera is awesome!!!!!
Now, I had this camera for about two weeks. I love this camera. It takes time to get use to. I had no idea how to use manual modes but I have been playing with them and getting some excellent shots. The auto modes are great too. I use them for snapshot pictures. I am already looking into buying a tripod for this camera just so I can get even better pictures using the 12x optical zoom.

Just be ready to buy rechargable batteries. You will want to get them because this camera eats up regular batteries. I just bought rechargables for under $20.

You will not be disappointed with this camera. My only suggestion is to read the manual and give yourself time to learn what this camera can offer.

Worth 5 stars and more!

Very good camera for the money
Let's start with some bias, I have owned Canon cameras since the early '80's. Having said that, I still think I got a great deal and more camera than I expected. This is not a top of the line Rebel, but it is a *serious* upgrade for those with entry level point-and-shoot cameras who want more camera for not much more money.

I bought the Powershot S2 as a "last year's model" and saved about half the retail price after the S3 was released. After I checked reviews on both Digital Photography Review and Steve's Digicams websites, I knew what to expect. I was aware, for instance that the flash is not automatic -- you must pop up the flash before shooting indoors or in backlit situations. I also knew the memory card is SD format (smaller than my existing memory cards) and the flip out viewfinder could be a bit brighter and the eyepiece on the standard viewfinder could use a bigger cup.

Even so, I like the 4AA batteries in the grip (nice camera balance), I like the size of the camera and was pleasantly surprised by the S2's ease of use and the 12x optical zoom. Pictures are crisp, the color is good and the viewfinders are virtually 100% of the actual picture [bonus: the flip out viewfinder protects itself when not in use and enables self-portraits].

This camera performs very well in high volume situations and action shots. It is particularly well suited to families with kids in sports and extra curricular activities. The 12x optical zoom keeps you close to your kid even when you are on the sidelines and the quiet zoom motor won't distract from piano recitals, weddings, etc.

A note about the movie mode, this camera takes movies that are equal to our Sony digital Handycam -- with a couple of 1-2GB SD cards the S2 eliminates the need for two cameras on holidays -- there is a 1GB limit on movies, which gives you about 7-10 minutes of video.

There are so many features to this camera, I'd strongly suggest you spend at least 30 minutes going through it before going out with the camera. Even so, I have handed this camera to a stranger, pointed to the shutter button and said "take 2 shots, just in case" with great results.

I have a Canon AE-1 SLR, and the Pentax that Steve Erwin used to do ads for. I upgraded from a Canon A-70.

I'd recommend the S2 to anybody below pro who has a point-and-shoot camera now and is looking for more.

AWESOME CAMERA!!!
I was thinking about getting another camera at the time of this purchase but came across this camera and read the wonderful reviews and thought I would give this one a try. This is absolutely the best camera I have ever owned.....and I have owned quite a few digital cameras. From past experiences...I've learned that my Canon cameras were the best. So I knew right off the bat I was going to buy another Canon. When I recieved the camera, my husband and I were so amazed how wonderful the pictures were. I actually took professional looking holiday pictures of my kids and made them into 8X10 pictures down to wallet sizes.Without a doubt, the pictures would look great making them much larger then an 8X10. My family and friends think I should start doing it professional. I also video taped my son's football games from the camera then had them put on a dvd. I was so amazed of the zoom you can take from sitting in the stands!!! You will not be disappointed with this camera. I haven't yet. And the battery life is great. That is a huge plus in my book also!

Everything you could want in a digital camera
This is a full featured 5 megapixel camera at a decent price. My favorite features are the 12x zoom and image stableization-the movie mode is decent . Although It doesn't bring a battery charger, it takes 4 AA batteries which is very convenient because you can always purchase a pack of batteries on the go. I ordered a charger and a pack of rechargeables for mine.

Great value, but not perfect
This camera is capable of taking good pictures. The auto-focus is better than other digital point & shoots that I've tried, creating depth of field similar to a SLR. Its easy to hold, and the swiveling LCD screen is pretty neat. That said, the disappointments I've found are: serious shutterlag when using the flash, especially if the batteries aren't 100% charged, and poor quality video. Its also hard to read the display in bright light.

Feel like a professional photographer
Unfortunately our last Canon was dropped by my husband while on vacation. I was devastated. I started the research very diligently. I wanted a camera that actually feels like a camera (not a pocket one which I don't like at all.) And a camera that made my pictures look good. I am soo incredibly pleased with my S2IS!! It fullfilled all my wants and needs, plus the pictures are awesome!!! The price was incredibly good too. (At Target they were asking for $100 more for the same product.) The only drawback is the delay time while using the flash...but I take most of my pictures outside during the day so I don't use that feature that much. I would highly recommend this camera for people who want something a little more than basic, and can't afford or handle a "professional" one, like me.

excellent, but not perfect
Excellent camera. But a little plastic feeling and a small LCD.

A great digitial camera from Canon
I bought the Canon S2 camera to replace my 2-yr old Nikon Coolpix 3200, as that one was really acting up. This camera is a dream come true. Great pictures, stabilized zoom is a must-have - my hands shake at the last minute when shooting, hence this helps dramatically. We have used this camera for shooting at various light conditions (evening, night) and the results are always great. Don't expect it to beat an SLR, though. The feature for single color selection (rest of image is B/W) is a cool tool to experiment - had some nice effects, when we used this feature at a county fair. Nice job, Canon !!

Couldn't have been easier to get professional results!
I am a grandmother who received the camera the day before taking her grandsons to the Nascar Bristol night race. The pictures taken on the Canon Powershot camera are better than anything I ever took with our expensive 35 mm cameras; I found the instructions easy to read and understand, and the camera easy to use right out of the box. Love it!

Highly recommended to the average user who wants quality photos.
I chose this camera looking to upgrade my older Olympus 2.1 MP(which was also very nice for its day). My primary concerns were: 1--photo quality; 2--zoom; 3--type of batteries needed.
I wanted sharp photos, even in 'odd lighting' situations, and when shooting a distant subject. For the price, this camera exceeded my expectations. I can use my 4 AA rechargeables which is what i wanted--no problem replacing whenever i need. Even at max zoom, the photo quality is good.
Video quality also is a 'bonus' to me. i wasn't terribly concerned with digital videos, but for a still camera, it does a nice job in video mode, with decent stereo sound, and is simple to shoot stills while shooting a video.
I have still not read the manual--i'm not into 'instructions'--and i think i've used most features the camera offers. it has a highly intuitive menu, rather 'idiot proof'. :-)
The only possible 'drawback' for some shoppers is the size of the camera. if you are looking for a small model to carry everywhere, this is not the camera you want. however most of those tiny ones can't come near the quality, even if they are 5MP cameras. the lens simply can't support it.
hope this helps someone out there...

Fantastic
This product is very good. I think it's product is complete for my purpose.

A lousy photographer can look great by using this camera. :-)
Comparing it with Canon S3, I did not find much difference between the two apart from the fact that Canon S3 is 6.0 mega pixel and Canon S2 is 5.0 mega pixel. And it really Does Not matter unless you have to take the prints of the size of a dinosaur.

I have started using this camera only a week back and I am very happy with the outputs.

- The clarity of the pictures is amazing. You can go as close to the subject as (nearly) touching the lens to the subject or you can take a picture using the maximum zoom i.e. 48X. The picture never blurs if taken properly.

- There are a lot of cool shooting modes like Portrait, My Colors, Special Scene which give amazing results.

It really makes you a Great Photographer even if you are not. ;-)

Budget concious buyer
I will try not to repeat most of the other reviews here.

I was initially looking for a camcorder but on second thought, I realized that I really need more photos than videos, because no one anymore has enough patience to see all those domestic videos. But short videos can be interesting and, in some situations, only video can tell the story. So, I decided for a video capable digital camera. The S2 was chosen the best in this category in 2005 and, after reading tens of reviews, decided for it.
The other two specs that were decisive for me were: use of SD cards (the most inexpensive of all flash cards) and AA-sized batteries (idem).

Why I bought an S2 IS instead of the newer S3 IS, besides price? First: the difference in their specs are minimum (S3 has a slightly larger LCD - 0.2" is a too small difference!; S3 has a "sports mode" - the users say the settings in this mode is awful; grid/histogram on shoot mode - this is a nice feature; 6Mpixels instead of 5Mpixels - more about that bellow). Second: I don't pay importation tax in my country for cameras with 5.2M pixels or less. Third: I never make large (>A4/letter size) prints, so I don't need even the 5Mpx of S2. Fourth: The CCD of both S2 and S3 are the SAME size (1/2.5"); that means S2 (w/ 5.0 Mpixels) is more sensitive than S3 (w/6.0 Mpixels) because its photocells are bigger (less cells in the same area). This is a fact, as S2 reaches ISO 50 and the minimum in S3 is ISO 80 (higher ISO usually means more noise in digicams).

One information I would like to share here is about the minimum f-stop of this camera, as this info is hard to find online (it is not even in the camera manual): f/8, which I think should reach at least f/16 or more.

Overall, I am VERY SATISFIED with this camera. I definitely recommend Canon Powershot S2 IS or S3 IS.

Excellent camera, learning is involved
I LOVE this camera, I got it to replace a more traditional point and shoot that was stolen. After reading the manual cover to cover at least twice, I still am a bit confused on the more involved shooting modes and things like changing shutter speed. But that is only cause I am coming from knowing NOTHING about photography. Once I master these I plan on getting some of the special lenses Canon offers. A few points that I think are top notch on this camera vs some of the others i looked at... I think the view screen being able to turn around and close or rotate to stay open, or tilt in any direction to ease some more difficult pictures, is a stroke of genius! I really like the placement of the buttons too, they are easy to reach when your in the middle of taking some pictures and want to change modes. And finally my favorite thing about this camera is the color modes! I love to play with these, and I swear I'm gonna come up with some brilliant pictures once I get the hang of them!

very nice!
When using the viewfinder, the colors are slightly tinted green/blue. Pix themselves are true to color. Display screen is a bit small by today's standards. Form factor is tough: where to put the thing? Doesn't fit easily into any but the larger pockets. Don't like using a neckstrap. Am considering the grip strap.
Regardless of the above niggling considerations, the zoom is fabulous, the antishake feature is terrific, and the pix themselves, impeccable.

Accessories useable (S1 IS to S2 IS or S3 IS)?
Are accessories like the lens converters, the wide angle and long angle lenses, and the filters that I purchased for the Canon Powershot S1 IS compatible with the Canon Powershot S2 IS or the Canon Powershot S3 IS? I am looking to updgrade, and I want to know what costs I will have other than the camera itself and the memory (since the S1 IS used Compact Flash memory). Thanks!

Camera's great, but not the one I got
This camera never worked from the first day I received it. I ended up having to send it to the factory and they had to replace the optical unit. I'm not a genius, but that sounds like a key part of the camera. Once it was fixed, the camera worked great as long as there's not a lot of sun.

Great camera... Good Image Stabilization and Zoom
When I had seen this camera on net, I had anticipated to be quite big but this one is really small & handy... Except for the LCD panel which is cumbersome to open always, its a great camera... The zoom is amazing and so is the image stabilization to go with it...

Good Camera
I am not good at photography, but after taking this camera, I have started liking photography. It's worth it's value.

Very good camera, still room for improvement

I bought the Canon PowerShot S2 IS about a year ago, and have taken about 2,500 photos and about 15 video clips with it. Overall, I am very happy with it, and if I were buying a new camera today, I probably would get the S2 or S3.


Things I like about the S2:

* Extended zoom (12x). I use it often.

* Image stabilization. Particularly helpful when using a high zoom factor, or when shooting in low light with a low ISO setting. It makes handheld shots at slow shutter speeds possible.

* Electronic viewfinder means "what you see is what you get", just like an SLR. While not as sharp as an optical viewfinder, the ability to frame the picture without worrying about parallax more than makes up for it. In fact, one advantage over an SLR is that there is no mirror for it to move out of the way, therefore there is no mirror noise when taking a picture; if you turn off the electronic sound effects, it is very quiet indeed (although not completely silent).

* The screen moves and rotates. I like that it can be closed (turned in toward the camera) and thus protected from scratches. I have used it folded out and rotated forward in order to see myself in a self-timer photo. I have used it to take "clandestine" pictures--holding the camera down near my waist, I can still see the screen if I rotate it towards me. I have also used it to take pictures while holding the camera above my head--above a crowd, for instance, or over a wall.

* Multiple-picture mode. Similar to a motor drive in film cameras, this allows me to take several pictures in quick succession by holding down the shutter release button--about 2 pictures per second. And unlike some cameras, the only limit to the number of pictures is the amount of available memory.

* It can be used in all-automatic mode, all-manual mode, or just about any combination in between. Even in near-automatic mode, several exposure settings can be adjusted.

* Very good movie mode. It will shoot a VGA-quality picture (640x480) at 30fps. While the results are not as good as my 3-CCD DV video camera, I am much more likely to have this camera with me than the video camera, and I really like the option of taking a reasonably high quality video. I have used it several times.

* Stereo microphones. Decent sound for video. Can also be used for adding a sound memo to a still picture (e.g. "this is at such-and-such a place, blah blah blah"), or just for recording sounds unrelated to any picture. I have used this a couple of times to record a "sound memory" of a place; one was at a botanical garden at a spot where the scenery wasn't especially pretty, but the sounds the frogs made were like nothing we had heard before!

* Separate buttons for still pictures and movies. Easy to remember which is which.

* Manual pop-up flash. Some people don't like that the flash doesn't pop up automatically when needed. I actually like this feature, because often I want to shoot without a flash when the camera thinks I need to use the flash. And of course I can force the flash to fire even in bright daylight when the camera thinks it is not necessary--although for a while I kept forgetting how to turn on that feature on, even though it's pretty obvious (there's a button right next to the flash!).


Things I don't like about it:

* Poor low-light performance. More precisely, poor performance at high ISO settings. The camera will do fine in low light if you leave the shutter open long enough, or use a flash. But if you kick up the ISO to 200 or 400 (equivalent to a "fast" film) so that you can take indoor shots without a flash, you end up with very noticeable graininess in the pictures. This is my number one disappointment with the camera. However, I don't know of a comparable camera that does better (and from the sample pictures I have seen, the S3 isn't any better; I don't know why they bothered to add an ISO 800 setting--it seems completely useless to me). I know there are cameras that do, but they cost a lot more. I saw pictures taken indoors with a Canon 20D SLR that were phenomenal. But besides the added expense, a camera like that is also bigger and heavier, and therefore less convenient.

* The camera is too big for a pocket. I would love to have a camera as capable as this that would fit in my shirt pocket, or at least my coat pocket or a smallish holster. I would take it more places if it wasn't so big.

* And yet, at the same time, it's a little too small for my hand. The grip just doesn't feel right. The grip on the 20D felt GREAT! However, it's just about right for a woman's hand--my wife likes it fine.

* No filter threads in the standard configuration. A big lens like that is practically begging for fingerprints or scratches. I solved that by adding the conversion lens adapter, which does have filter threads (more about this below).

* Lens cap is held on by friction. This is both a pro and a con. It's good because the lens extends when the camera is turned on; if the lens cap is attached the lens will simply push it off. It's bad because the cap could come off when you don't want it to. This is a moot point with the conversion lens adapter, as the standard lens cap will no longer fit.

* The default exposure is too bright. Not every review mentions this, but apparently it is fairly common for Canon cameras. Fortunately, this is easily fixed by setting the exposure adjustment (I set mine to -2/3 stop). I haven't figured out how to adjust the exposure for movies, though. I need to look in the manual to see if it's possible!


If you buy the S2 (or S3), I'd suggest also considering:

* Canon LAH-DC20 Lens Adapter and Hood Set. As I mentioned above, this allows you to add a filter to protect the lens. Currently $37.10 at Amazon.

* A 58mm skylight or UV filter to screw on to the lens adapter.

* A 58mm lens cap to cover the adapter/filter. Canon's 58mm Snap-On Lens Cap is currently $9.99 at Amazon.

* A high-speed SD card, at least 512MB, but 1GB or 2GB would give more space for movies. (I use a SanDisk Ultra II Plus, which has the added benefit of being able to directly plug into a standard USB port without an adapter.)

* Rechargeable NiMH batteries. I don't have any yet, but this is the next thing on my list. I've gone through way too many AA batteries!


A nice option available for this camera is the TC-DC58B Tele Converter Lens. This gives you a maximum zoom equivalent to 648mm on a 35mm camera. Amazing! I have not purchased it yet because so far the built-in zoom has been sufficient for my needs. There is also the WC-DC58A Wide Converter Lens for taking extra-wide-angle pictures.

After you get the camera, you'll probably want a case of some type for it. There are *lots* of cases to choose from. After trying a few and looking at a lot more, I finally settled on the Tamrac Velocity 4. It may or may not be what you need in a case, but there it is FYI.

I love this Camera!
I got this Canon camera back in May for my birthday from my husband. Once I got it home it was very easy to learn and use. I have actually not even used all the features yet...because there are so many. This is my 3rd digital camera and 1st canon...I have to say that I will stick with canon for now on...I use to always like Kodak but canon is much better. I print off the pictures using my Kodak printer and everything still looks great!


I love canon so much that I just bought a Canon Camcorder ...and I hope that it is just as nice as their digital cameras.


I highly recommend this camera for families...I have used it in live action and after you get the hang of the image stabilizer everything turns out well.....I feel that I will use this camera for a while and when it's time to upgrade to another camera I will stick w/ Canon...

Last Camera You'll Need
When I first got the camera I was nervous about whether or not I'd be able to use & understand it well since I usually buy point & shoot type camera. I was pleasantly surprised on how easy it is to use & all the functions it really has.
The pictures are really high quality & the video is crystal clear.
The camera's lightweight & perfect to grab on the go or to capture any occasion. I like the design of it & I love the fact that I can get professional looking pictures time & time again...

Photos Sold Me
I had viewed concert photos taken with the S2 from a number of different photographers and they absolutely took my breath away. Saw the output of other cameras in comparison and they didn't even come close.

I was using the Canon A80 prior and while I was happy with it, my first round of photos with the S2 proved to be most impressive. While you can use this as a point and shoot, this is a camera that you should spend some time learning so that you can get the most from it. And although the S3 is the latest version of the camera, I'm not sure you get that much more for the money.

Love this camera !
This is a great camera, easy to use, love the quality and even best, got this quick as can be with Amazon PRime. HIghly recommend

Great camera - good pics!
This camera has lot of modes that you can use. It has very good resolution and optical zoom. With 12x optical zoom you can click awesome pictures, specially in live performances and sightseeing trips. 5 MP resolution is more than enough, otherwise the pics become just too big to fit in one screenshot. You can also panoramic pictures with it. Another big advantage is that Windows recognized this camera as soon as I connected it using the USB cable that comes with it, transferring pics to PC becomes very simple. The only two complaints are - flash recycling time should have been lesser, and the SD card that comes with it is only 16 MB, which is hardly enough for 7-8 pics. You will have to buy a 512 MB or 1 GB SD card separately. Also, the batteries that come with it are not rechargeable, so you will have to buy charger and batteries as well, which are not so expensive. But these drawbacks are there in S3IS also. Overall, this camera gives very clear pictures and is worth buying if you happen to get it at a decent price.

Great Camera for the Novice Photog.
I'm still learning to use this camera and all the features. So far it is amazing. I've been taking pictures of the kids and it looks like a pro did the shots. I use the auto mode a lot and it works great. The zoom is amazing. I love that it tells me when I am focused. Also it has great battery life. I'm very happy with this camera.

Great camera for the money
I've had this camera for about 1 1/2 years now and it's been a tried and true companion. I've easily taken over 10,000 shots with it and produced some really exceptional photographs. The features that really set this camera apart are the 12X zoom, the image stabilization (a must with such a large zoom), and the rotating screen (great if you want to take a picture of yourself :)). I also love the macro mode, I've gotten some great quality close-ups. For most situations you can just stick it in auto mode and get great results, but the different scene modes are fun to play with as well. Performs extremely well outdoors -- wildlife, sports, landscape, beach, etc.

My only real complaint is its performance in low-light situations. Pictures are grainy and the camera is very slow to respond, sometimes not responding at all. Also it can eat through batteries fairly quickly -- regular AA batteries lasted me about 2.5 hours of continuous shooting (around 200 pictures) or less if I was shooting in cold weather. I would definately recommend rechargable batteries.

Overall I've really enjoyed this camera. I've used and abused it and apart from low-light situations (which I was rarely in anyway) it never let me down. Both my grandmother and my great aunt bought one within the past 6 months and they rave about it.

One Week and Done
The camera worked perfectly for one week and then stopped working permanently. I just sent it off for repairs and have not received a diagnosis as to the root of the problem.

Ideal! flash with close ups a bit of a problem
A+ camera tested by my pro photographer friend. My only issue is that I do a lot of micro shots. The flash is angled such that it creates a shadow on my objects at close up range. BUT I could never get quite as good a focused close up with my last digital like I can with this camera.

I'm thrilled over-all. It's incredibly versitile

Sooo easy to learn. I'd buy it all over again after one year of heavy use. Just make sure if your usage is for macro that you have a major light source other than the shadowy flash.

No more Sony lithium batteries
Have had this for about 2 weeks and running it hard to make sure it works before our holiday trip. This replaces 2 Sony digitals that use the lithium-ion EXPENSIVE $50 batteries, and all four are dead and won't hold a charge. That and the Memory sticks have turned me off.
I use a polarizer and bought that and a silver adapter from Lensmate and received them in 3 days. You can't go wrong with this camera and I grabbed one before they sell out to the S3 model.

Great SLR Alternative
I've had this camera for a little over a year now and I still love it! It was easy enough to use right out of the box to start taking pictures but a year later I am still figuring out cool stuff that it does. (I could've read the manual carefully and figured it out earlier but I didn't).

I bought it because my first digital (an Olympus 550) was nearing it's demise and I had enough experience to justify spending the extra money for a nicer more advanced camera. As much as I would've loved to buy an SLR, I couldn't afford one at the time. This camera has plenty of features to keep you busy and the 12x zoom is great. Even though it's only a 5.0 megapixel camera, I haven't had many problems making large prints from the photos I've taken. Some people don't like the fact that you have to manually control the flash, but I like having the option to put it up or leave it down when I want, without having to push buttons in the middle of composing a shot.

While most of the camera is pretty self explanatory and easy to use, I have had a little trouble figuring out the shutter priority mode and as a result, a lot of action shots have come out quite blurry, and I'm also trying to get better at night pictures. A tripod would help and I've found that the P setting takes better night shots than the Night Snapshot scene mode. Yes it takes up more battery and storage space, but the picture results are worth it.

The only other complaint that I've seen is that the lens cap doesn't like to stay on very snugly. Another reviewer a year ago wrote that if you stick the string under the cap before putting it on, the cap won't fall off. I've used this little trick and it's worked great.

This camera also seems to be pretty durable. It's survived quite a few falls on concrete and has a few small scratches, but nothing that's affected the picture quality. I also banged the back edge of the display (the hard part) into a metal railing, and while it left quite a dent, the actual display screen is still perfect.

Overall, this camera gives you great control but has plenty of auto features and cool extras. I've purchased additional filters and have enjoyed experimenting wtih them as well. If you can't afford an SLR, this is a great alternative to learn with until you can.

A GREAT CAMERA
I own a Canon 20D SLR as well as a Canon G5 and a Nikon S1. I bought the S2 IS for the zoom as well as Canon's quality. We ride ATVs a lot and I don't like taking the SLR with all the dust generated along the trail. This little camera gives me the zoom that I didn't have with the other portable cameras and the IS is a great addition. I have taken pictures and movies with the camera and the shots come out very nice. I like the fact that it uses 4 AA batteries so even if my rechargeables fade I can always pick up replacements.

fantastic camera & dollar value
I've had this camera for over a year and absolutely love it. I frequently have 8" x 10" and 11" x 14" enlargements made and the quality of the prints is fantastic -- tack sharp and wonderful color. They look as good as the 8 x 10's and 11 x 14's I get from my SLR -- no visible difference! Add to that the fact that the S2 IS lens covers and extremely long zoom range WITH image stabilization and buying this camera becomes a no-brainer! The "IS" feature really works -- I can shoot 3 stops slower than without IS and still get no image blur -- amazing! This is important if you do a lot of handheld shooting at full telephoto and/or in low light situations.

Like to shoot extreme close-ups of flowers, insects, ebay items, etc? The macro capabilities of this camera are outstanding. I've never shot much in the way of close-ups with my other cameras because I don't have any macro lenses. With the S2 IS, I've discovered a whole new area of photography -- the world of macro -- and it's a blast!

For those who are techno-phobic, you can shoot this camera in fully automatic mode and consistently get very accurate exposures. When I do this, I'd say the exposures are accurate at least 90% of the time. If you want or need more creative control, the S2 IS can be shot in manual mode, aperature-priority, shutter-priority, etc. You call the shots (no pun intended) -- all the control you could want (or not want) is there for your convenience.

Should you buy this camera or the S3 IS? If you just have to have the S3 IS's black body-color and money is no object, go for it. If however, you simply want a camera that is just as capable, save yourself some $$$ and buy the cheaper S2 IS. You won't be disappointed and that extra megapixel of resolution you get with the S3 IS is something you will never see in your prints anyway. OK, if you want enlargements of 20 x 30 or larger you might notice a slight difference in sharpness, but come on, most people never print anywhere near that large! If you are happy with your 4 x 6's up to 11 x 14's (or even 16 x 20's): BUY THE CHEAPER AND JUST AS GOOD S2 IS -- it's one heck of a camera and significantly less expensive than the S3 IS.

Remember: no camera, no matter how expensive, will make you a better photographer. Photography is in your eye, your ability to visualize and transfer a dynamic or highly emotional moment onto paper. The camera is only a tool; a means to an end. If you want to improve your photography skills, shoot a lot of pics; learn from you mistakes as well as you sucesses and READ as many good books about photography as you can get your hands on. Don't be afraid to experiment or take risks with your shooting -- you will develop your eye and your own personal style with time and practice. I've seen plenty of excellent photos shot with inexpensive point & shoot cameras and lots of bad ones shot with $5,000 worth of equipment. It's YOUR EYE that makes or breaks a photo! Sure, a more expensive camera may offer some technical advantages in certain situations, but all the technology in the world can't save a lousy composition!

Some books worth reading if you are serious about improving your photographic skills:

*Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography, by Brenda Tharpe

*anything by Ansel Adams (most of his books are available in libraries)

*Understanding Exposure, by Bryan Peterson

*Designing a Photograph, by Bill Smith

*Photographic Compostion, by Grill and Scanlon

Meant for great shots...
I had been hunting for a digital camera that offered 5+ MP, 10-12X optical zoom with image stabalization and was under $400. I spent weeks hunting through stores in U.S. Reviewed Sony, Kodak, Nikon cameras offering similar features. I must say, Canon outperformed them all in terms of shoot-modes, picture quality, ease-of-operation, print features, ergonomics etc. It is sleek, stylish and a good performer. Where it took the candy from me, is in it's vari-angle LCD and impressive shutter speed. Someone complained about pooor performance in low-light. Please re-read the manual carefully and try again. I chose S3 IS blind-folded after seeing how S2 IS performed.

MY VERDICT: If you own it, you WILL adore it.

Questions - need suggestions
I am ordering this camera and I haven't found whether there is a bag associated. Could anybody help me? Thanks a lot.

Wenjia

Absolutely a no-brainer
I bought this Camera from Amazon directly. Great price, paid $279. It arrived in 4 days flat.

An awesome camera and a great deal. For someone who wants to take regular pictures, you cannot go wrong with the auto mode. For people who want a slightly better camera but are not quite there for an SLR, this is the best buy.

I researched extensively and read hundreds of reviews myself before buying this camera and I'm yet to find a serious bad review for it.

An absolute no brainer. Buy it as long as it lasts.

Best feature set for price - burst mode like the SLRs
You cannot beat the feature/price ratio this camera offers. An amazing optical zoom and the burst mode are by far the best features on this baby. Everyday I use the camera I end up finding something new about it (of course thats due to the fact that I never read the manual till date). But that takes away the fun part when you know that "it does that too".

The latest find was the burst mode clicking. Use a high speed SD Card for better results and once you set up the burst mode just keep the trigger down and click away. You can find cheaper high speed SD cards right here on Amazon from Kingston.

Shopped around - this is a good buy for a good camera
I bought this for my husband for his birthday and he loves it. It takes great photos and has a lot of features for the price. We looked at many cameras and were holding out until we could afford an SLR until we saw all the good reviews for this one. Also, it arrived in just 4 days from Amazon - great service!

So so...
camera is great, however didn't realize the screen was really gonna be so small, also it's kinda troublesome to always have to flip open the screen everythime unless u want to use the viewfinder

canon does not support their products
I purchased a Canon SI IS and have sent it to their Factory Service center twice, it is still not working right. Now that it is off warranty their answer is for me to purchase a "refurbished" S2 IS for $199...
Their support of their products is terrible, this camera has not worked right since I bought it and they dont care! Do yourself a favor and buy a Panasonic product, they make great products and they support them, unlike Canon

This is a great camera that we loved
This is a great camera that we loved. I have to say loved because it just broke after only 2 years of use. Some sort of wiring/short out issue and we have been told to stop using the camera immediately. Other than this issue we had really liked this camera. It takes great pictures and is very easy to operate. We had researched a number of mid-level cameras in the price range and went with Canon due to the reputation. I think we are going to go with a Fuji this time to try it out.