Rating: 
Summary: Quality
Review: I've had this camera for over a year now. I bought it intending to keep it as my #1 active camera for several years, and I'm very happy with it. I paid a lot of it, as I got it as soon as it was available, but I have no regrets going the extra mile. Very very nice image quality, good manual controls, and very sturdy. I have dropped this thing on paved bricks and it survived (albeit with a couple of dents). I have fallen into love with digital photography thanks to this camera.The only minor gripes of mine are: It's a little heavy. Does not have a few features such as flash hotshoe... (look into the G3 or G5 for that). The included Canon ZoomBrowser software is bulky and fairly crappy and you only get USB 1.1 transfer speeds (I'd prefer using a plain CF card reader). Optical zoom is modest (but then what do you expect from this lens.) Video mode is limited to 3 mins regardless of how big your CompactFlash card is. As for Canon themselves - my manager at work got himself a S50 after my recommendation, and my brother also got a S50 afterwards. Two of my friends also own IXUS400s... from what I've seen, Canon are definitely one of the best digital cameras makers.
Rating: 
Summary: What's wrong with my S45??!!
Review: After all my research, and after using my S45 successfully for almost five months, I have to give it the lowest possible rating of 1 star because it is DEAD. Something has happened to make it absolutely inoperable. I open the lens cover: the lens doesn't move. I try to turn it on by sliding the power lever: nothing. I searched through all the reviews to find a clue to the problem: nothing. I am left with sending it back to "Customer Support". (Do you think I'll ever see my S45 again????) I have taken special care of my S45, and protected it in a camera bag inside an insulated bag. I have two batteries (a backup, to provide power for extended use), and three cards of varying storage quantities. I have a card reader, so the camera itself has never been connected to my computer. I emailed a friend who also has an S45, and he said he has no explanation for the failure of my S45, and he has none for the failure of HIS. (Though he gloats that he used his longer than I used mine!) I am sad that my $450-plus camera served me for only five months. If you have any suggestions for me, I would appreciate it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great camera
Review: I spent weeks looking for the right digital camera to replace my old Canon digital camera. I finally settled on the Canon S45 due to it's features, quality and the deal I was able to get. So far I am very pleased with the camera and the quality of the photos. I recently took the camera with me out of state to visit family and upon returning I plugged the usb cable into my Apple powerbook and loaded the pictures into iphoto. All the pictures came out very well, only needed to enhance the image on a few photos. All the photos I took were through the automatic setting. I'm sure once I'm comfortable with the manual controls the picture quality will be even better. I was worried about my choice after reading some of the reviews online about the lens cover that is also used to turn the camera on/off. To my relief this turned out to not be a issue at all. Some reviewers stated that the cover was cheap and came off easily. Not sure what they mean as my S45 lens cover seems very sturdy at this point. I almost went with the S400 due to it's size and features but after seeing one in person it just felt too small to me. Although heavier, the S45 size does feel nice and doesn't seem to be an issue as far as carrying around in a small case.
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre indoor pics, too big, too expensive.
Review: First of all, I think too many people shopping for digital cameras get obsessed with megapixels and forget what really make the pictures look good. What is important when buying a digital camera is the lens, and the CCD (charge-coupled device) that detects the light. This is particularly important since almost all digital cameras don't do well in low light conditions, including this one. The are lots of chips inside that determine how the picture will look that you can't compare with other cameras unless you use the other cameras. For more information on how digital cameras work go to www.howstuffworks.com I have used this camera extensively, mostly in auto mode where I made little adjustments, and I have noticed that the indoor pictures and outdoor night shots are mediocre if not poor. This is especially apparently when compared with the Sony DSC P10, which I also own. The Canon S45 outdoor pics are spectacular, but I am truely disappointed with the indoor shots. In fact, the Sony P10 is a 5 megapixel and it is smaller and lighter. In addition, you have to slide a cover open to turn on the camera, and eventually the cover gets loose after frequent use and just sort of slides open on its own.
Also for some reason, this camera gets a little bit too warm after using it for extended periods of time, I don't know why. I also think it's awkward how the play back button is more of a sliding button you hold down instead of on the dial, I think it is a bit more intutive on the Sony. Canon may have a great history of making good lenses, but the electronics in the Sony outdo this Canon. Overall, the Sony takes better indoor pictures, is smaller, lighter, 5 megapixel and cheaper. This isn't a bad camera, it's just the Sony outdoes it in almost every way.
Rating:
Summary: The Best 4MP Digital Camera For It's Price!
Review: I recently purchased this camera after having previously owned a Fuji Finepix 2600. After owning the 2600 for just over a year the lens mechanism got stuck and the camera completely broke. It had a 1 year warrenty which had just expired, and there's no use paying to fix it. I figured it was time to upgrade, so I spent hours and hours searching CNET and other review sites for 4MP digital cameras and I finally found this one. I would have gone with the Nikon Coolpix 4300, except Canon had their Digic chip which was supposed to allow the camera to go from shot-to-shot faster. Also I own an old Canon SLR camera, and I trusted the brand. This camera is a very good transition from my SLR, much better than my old Fuji. I wanted something with image quality close to that of my film SLR, without the bulkiness or price of a digital SLR. So far this camera has done that, producing some wonderful shots. It has plenty of features ranging from customizable shutter speeds and lens aperture to exposure compensation and 12 scene modes, making it great for shooting in any condition. One of the great features is the AF lamp, a breif light that goes off before the picture is taken that helps focus the image. It works great for low light shots. Another astounding feature is the ability to set ISO speed, just like you would on a film camera. My last camera was almost the same price as this one and has none of these features. I guess that shows how much prices have come down in the past year. There are not many cons about this camera. It's amaller than most cameras with the same amount of megapixels, but it's still not as lightweight as some of the Casio models or Canon's digital Elph. The pictures on ISO 200+ have significant noise, even with noise reduction, and the optical zoom could be larger, and the macro is sub-par, but that's really all that is bad about this camera. Battery life is great, although it uses a proprietary lithium battery. Here is a list of pros and cons: Pros:
- Digic image processer.
- Large array of features.
- Great quality photos.
- Panorama stitch mode.
- Great battery life.
- Movie mode with sound. Cons:
- ISO 200+ has significant noise.
- Poor macro mode.
- Lithium battery instead of AA.
- Optical zoom could be larger. Overall this is a great camera and many other reviewers agree with me. It's not too expensive but has features of cameras almost twice as expensive. If you're a beginner photographer you might want to stick to someing simpler, as the features are more than you need you, but if you're looking to move up from an old digital camera I guarentee this is the best deal you're going to find.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the Canon I've come to expect
Review: The overall picture quality is good. However, picture quality in dark or poorly lighted environment is not consistent. Major disappointment is Canon support. I was unable to upgrade the camera with the latest firmware from Canon website. When contacted, Canon replied with "sorry, we do not offer any support with firmware upgrade". Definitely not the Canon support nor product quality I expected.
Rating:
Summary: Too big, too heavy, and mediocre quality
Review: For the price of this bulky camera, you could get a much smaller 5 megapixel Sony camera. Not only is it bulky, but it is heavy, and far too awkward to fit into a pocket. As far as the image quality goes, the outdoor pictures are beautiful as I had high expectations for this camera, BUT the indoor pictures were mediocre and somewhat unsatisfactory. The pictures I took in decently well-lit conditions didn't even match my 4 year old Kodak DC240. I used the Canon S45 at a birthday party and the faces of the people were often dark, slightly fuzzy, and not clear. With the old kodak the faces of the people were still bright even outdoors at night. That is why I am so disappointed with the Canon, because under low level light conditions, it doesn't even perform better than a 4 year old Kodak digital camera. Also, I found the controls less intuitive than on Sony and Kodak cameras. Overall, a big disappointment when indoors.
Rating:
Summary: Overpriced, too big, mediocre quality
Review: (...) Not only is it bulky, but it is heavy, and far too awkward to fit into a pocket. As far as the image quality goes, the outdoor pictures are beautiful as I had high expectations for this camera, BUT the indoor pictures were mediocre and somewhat unsatisfactory. (...) I used the Canon S45 at a birthday party and the faces of the people were often dark, slightly fuzzy, and not clear. (...) That is why I am so disappointed with the Canon, because under low level light conditions, it doesn't even perform better than a (...) Overall, a big disappointment when indoors.
Rating:
Summary: Good for most people
Review: I bought this a few weeks ago. It is a very good machine in terms of creativity it offers. It has 8 preset modes (auto, portrait, landscape, night, fast shutter, slow shutter, stitching and movie) and 5 others...
The thing with this camera is: bad flash and a bit weight. May be that is my stupidity but I can get no good pictures with the flash. So if you plan to take photo in the middle of the night with the auto feature (one touch shot), think again. But if you plan to spend some time photographing without the flash (which requires most of the time finding something to place the camera on), then buy it (no garantee though :).
And, buy a carrying case along with this camera, there is not one in the kit.
Rating:
Summary: Might buy a second.
Review: A friend and I bought this for a trip to New Mexico and Arizona, a great decision. The painted desert. The Grand Canyon. What better place to try out a camera? And we certainly tried it out. We took hundreds of pictures and were very happy with the results. We couldn't get over how good the pictures looked and how easy the camera was to operate. I thought it would be neat,digital pictures, but as a long devotee to film, I didn't take them very seriously. I do now. The camera well designed and the pictures quite often are just what you'd hoped for--a rare thing with my old 35mms SLRs. The camera might have paid for itself just in film and developing costs on that one trip. And the printouts look good and you can also easily email them, which we did from the road and was much fun. I would recommend highly using a laptop on a trip, since we filled up the 128 MB card (bought separately and also highly recommended) almost every day and then emptied the card onto the computer in order to have a fresh 128mb for the next day. I've just bought a new Apple laptop and one of the deciding things was portability and storage for the next trip with the camera. One of the best things I've ever bought. A superb piece of equipment. I've seen the future of pictures and it's digital.
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