Rating: 
Summary: Great camera. Nice features but has some drawbacks.
Review: LIKES
1) Nice compact size. Easy to carry.
2) Great pictures for about 90% of the shots.
3) Great features. Video mode. Manual mode. Sounds and Wallpaper (Themes).
4) Uses Compact Flash which is the cheapest type of memory.
5) Runs on same battery as the S100 (my old camera) so I have spare.
6) Browse/Zoom feature is great when reviewing photos (improved a lot since S100)
7) Decent price (paid about 320$) for 5MP camera back in Dec 04.
DISLIKES
1) Pictures come out a little on the reddish/yellowish side indoors for 10% of the shots, so I use the Manual Tungsten mode and it comes out nice.
2) Video shooting on highest mode is choppy and skips w/ audio playback. I recommend using the middle quality and dont move the scene too much while recording.
3) Video is suppose to shoot only 30 seconds, but I found that using my 1GB fast CF, it can do it longer by separating into chunks then you can stitch together later on your PC.
4) LCD is a little smaller than usual (but its good in a way so it saves batteries)
5) Only comes with 32MB CF. I wish the digital camera industry can just do away without memory cards in the package. Buyers end up buying a bigger faster memory card anyways, so why not save us a few bucks?
Rating: 
Summary: lousy performance
Review: Not convinced about this camera. Using just the default parameters does not allow to take great pictures (contrast, saturation, lighting). You have to play around with it a lot. Under low light, it even performs worse. I had 3 Canon Powershot models before, and they were really great (best the Powershot S40). But this camera is definitely an egg. Worst of all, it seems to have constant memory problems with my high capacity compact flash cards, and as a result erases all the pictures previously taken! I never had this problem with any other digital camera. The camera basically encounters the card problem, and before anything can be done, the camera reformats the CF card, and all photos are gone. Nice.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT CAMERA....but what's that spot on the LCD?
Review: So after exhaustive research and countless hours of trials at Circuit City, Best-buy and Penn Camera we decided the best way to capture those candid moments of our 3 yr old daughter was with the PowerShot S500. We decided to buy the camera from Best-buy for $499.00 and bought their extended 4yr warranty along with it for an additional $79 (because it is sooo small and also because I had read about the E18 errors of the S100.)
We chose the camera mainly because it was the only one that actually gave us clear pictures of our daughter who barely sits still. A side-by-side comparison with the DSC-P10, P92, P72 etc put the Sonys to shame. None of them - could give sharp pictures of moving objects. The Nikon CoolPix 5700 was good but a tad over budget. We did have to use the Quick Shot mode to get the sharp pictures but even without quick shot it consistently gave us good pictures (all these tests were done using the floor models at the 3 stores.) The sales men at the Penn Camera were the best informed and the staff at Circuit City was the worst. The staff at Best-Buy was clueless but very helpful - spending almost an hour with me obliging by supplying me with the necessary memory cards etc. on each visit. The most helpful was my daughter who obliged me by never sitting still so I could do a true side by side comparison.
Huge disappointment when we got the camera home. The moment it was fired up in my comparatively poorly lit home(as compared to Best Buy) I noticed a light blue dot on the right side of the LCD (just sightly of dead center.) It would show up very clearly when I focused on any dark object. The same dot didn't show on my Sony Vega, or when I played back the images. Took it back to Best Buy less then 24 hours purchasing it. First they refused to see the dot. Then they agreed it was there and admitted it was a problem with the Lens and was even showing up on prints and that others had complained about it. Apparently even the first floor model had the same problem. Canon is aware of it and has fixed it on the newer ones. What bugs me is that even though they were aware of the problem they didn't do a recall and Best Buy didn't bother to test the Camera before selling it. They don't have any more in stock but a branch 20 miles from here has ONE but they can put it on hold for us to go and pick up. I called the store and found out they have 5 in stock. Now I am going to pick 1 from there but of course I will be testing it before I bring it home. I'm going to keep it as I have the 4 year warranty from BB. Looks like I may need it.Update: Got the camera exchanged. Have been toying with it since and am amazed with the picture quality. I had read some reviews of Canon cameras not showing correct skin tones - I must say this camera has no such problems. I took the camera to my daughters school and took pictures of her easter parade and all the pictures came out beautifully. Her class is a multi-ethnic class and I can say with 100% certainty - skin tones are not an issue! I would have liked to link to my pictures but am afraid I cannot do so without permission from the rest of her class. Awesome Camera! Only 4 stars because of the problem with the first camera I got.
Rating: 
Summary: This is one to get if you want 5MP
Review: The new Canon PowerShot S500 is a 5MP upgrade to the immensely popular S400 model, which was a 4MP digital camera. The S500 produces excellent images, is easy to use, and is compact enough to carry in a pocket. 3X optical zoom is standard on these cameras. Besides shooting still photos, you can record low-res video clips as well as audio clips, but don't expect high quality on either. For a hundred bux less, you can get the 4MP S410 model which is otherwise identical to the S500. Should you go for this or the S410? I think for most consumers 4MP is plenty enough, with room for cropping and enlargements. 5MP is only necessary if you really crop a lot *and* plan to blow up the cropped images. The S410 strikes a great balance between pixel count and price -- it's a better value.
Rating:
Summary: compact, easy to use
Review: this camera is compact, easy to use, a tad bit thicker than the sd100, which has a darker gray sliverish surface. this camera has a lot of options/fuctions, the best part i think is the 640x480 video option. the 30 sec limit means about 18 mb videos un compressed. it's great quality. and the picture's "smart focus" is great.
Rating:
Summary: Great Small Point & Shoot Camera
Review: This camera is perfect for taking on outings with friends or going on vacation. Stick in your pocket and whip it out when you want to take a snap shop of your buddies acting silly. Only thing it lacks is the ability to manually focus your picture. When you point and shoot you don't want to spend time fiddling around with the manual focus, autofocus does an good job of giving you a crisp clear picture. Canon has done it again with the S500.
Rating:
Summary: Drool ummmm good camera
Review: This is an outstanding camera, excellent enlargements, and very compact, not a hassle at all to take with you in any line of work or vacation. Get a monster flash card, though, top line pictures fill up included 32MB memory card after 15-20 shots.
Rating:
Summary: Point-and-shoot at its best
Review: This is my first digital camera, and I have no regrets. It's a damn fine point-and-shoot with very intuitive controls and can be used virtually right out of the box (just charge the battery a bit). The video capture feature is just fine; afterall, if you wanted a video camera, you would have purchased one. I considered the Sony DSC-T1, but with Sony's proprietary memory requirements, the cost/benefit just didn't add up. The S500 is a sturdy camera, and should satisfy the casual photo enthusiast for quite some time. The included software is also user-friendly and easy to use. My Canon Elan 7E and Canon Elph 2 kept me content for quite some time. With hundreds if not thousands of dollars spent on photo-processing however, it was simply time to get into the digital age. For accessories, you'll want to get a case for it (such as the PSC-50) as it only comes with a wrist strap. In addition, consider purchasing a larger CF card (256MB or 512MB... I purchased the SanDisk Ultra II 256MB). Once you buy a card, you'll be able to use it in digital SLRs if you go that route; the included 32MB card will quickly run out of space if you are taking full resolution photos. Anyone interested in taking the leap into digital photography and wanting unbiased reviews should take a look at Steve's Digicams at www.steves-digicams.com. Choosing a digital camera is very much a function of lifestyle. If you are used to SLRs and like being able to bring multiple lenses for special photography opportunities, then consider the Digital Rebel or EOS 10D; you won't find better cameras on the market. If however, you want a compact camera that you can easily take anywhere, consider the S500 as a happy travel partner to capture those moments, and never process film again!
Rating:
Summary: this cracks me up...
Review: to hear the few reviewers saying the S500 takes "blurry" pics is pretty funny in my opinion. Yes, I've only owned this camera for a few weeks and I haven't experienced an E18 error or any other negative things which were written in these reviews. But, I do have a response to all those who say their pics turn out blurry...KEEP THE CAMERA STILL when taking pictures! Camera shake is THE leading cause of blurry pics. So next time you get "blurry" pics, try using a tripod or some other type of support (wall, table, etc) and then form your opinon on how sharp the pics turn out.
I guess you could say I'm a hobbyist of a photographer and all my gear is Canon, with the exception of a FujiFilm 4900Z "prosumer" digicam. The S500's picture quality is comparable to, or even better than that of the 4900Z at half the size. I've had many pics developed from my lab and the color and sharpness are simply amazing for a "point & shoot" compact camera. The thing you have to realize is that this is a "consumer" camera and not professional by any means. So, if you're looking for THE best picture quality, look at the professional line of cameras in the $0,000's and stear clear of this one. Other than that, if you want a very good consumer (probably the best in it's class) camera, pick this puppy up and you will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointed in product durability
Review: Within the first month of owning this camera, complete with the Canon case designed for it, I had to send the camera in for service. I carried my camera in a computer backpack that was well paded, assuming the combination would adequately protect the camera. The 3rd time I used the camera I found the LCD to be cracked and non-functional.
I had a similar experience with warranty service that another write up mentioned; problems are always the fault of users and standard $150 charge for repair. I spoke with warranty service and customer repair concerning the matter with a fairly callous response.
Nice features and functions but very fragile piece of equipment in my mind.
|
