Rating: 
Summary: Film wastage no longer a guilt trip
Review: All my life, I've used cameras that require film. Two weeks ago, my wife and I acquired our first digital, the POWERSHOT S45, and last week gave it an initial workout at Bryce, Zion, and Grand Canyon national parks. This review is by no means exhaustive as I've yet to master all of the camera's features; it's a summary of relatively superficial first impressions.The bottom line is that this 4 megapixel device takes impressively good pictures of such high detail resolution that my wife, a graphic designer, expects to use its output in PhotoShop for her professional work. It's small enough to be easily held in one hand, and is so light as to be barely noticeable when carried in a small padded bag hung around the neck. (The old 35 mm was a millstone in comparison.) The silvery finish is smudge resistant, as when handled with fingers made greasy with french fries. You may wish to purchase an extra rechargeable lithium battery. After neglecting to re-energize it overnight after taking some ten snaps, the battery pooped out the next day (in the middle of our Bryce exploration) after taking an additional fifty-eight shots. Of course, being new to the digital experience, we were using up a lot of power constantly reviewing our photo masterpieces on the LCD screen. In any case, the power cell recharges surprisingly quickly. Also, we thought it prudent to purchase the larger 256 MB CompactFlash card (for in-camera image storage) to replace the 32 MB card provided. Speaking of the screen, it's fairly small at1.5 x 1.12 inches, and its display is very difficult to see in bright sunlight. And, if you need glasses to read small print, keep them handy to decipher the system's on-screen icons. While the 3x optical zoom lens is swell as far as it goes, the inability to attach a polarizer filter can be immensely aggravating under certain conditions. The shutter button's surface is smooth and entirely flush with the camera body; I was insecure enough to have to constantly check that my finger was on the button. One of the camera's greatest strong points is its wealth of features. For the digital novice, this versatility is perhaps an initial disadvantage since it'll take effort and time to become knowledgeable and well-practiced in all of them. Indeed, the 181-page user guide is a prodigious read. But, it is, to the extent that I've so far digested it, commendably comprehensive and easy to understand (with a plethora of illustrations). The provided software and transfer cable made uploading of each day's output to our PC laptop completely effortless. (My wife would subsequently transfer the image files to a CD for future manipulation in PhotoShop on her Mac.) My wife takes a lot of pictures that leave me rolling my eyes and shaking my head. Unfortunately, the digital nature of the POWERSHOT S45 leaves me unarmed with the old argument, "You're wasting film!" Isn't technology wonderful?
Rating: 
Summary: Great Camera
Review: I held out for a long time before going digital. It always seemed like the digital cameras that I liked were too expensive, and the ones that I could afford had less than admirable resolution. The S45, however, has a whole lot of features (not to mention a 4MP(!) resolution), and at a great price to boot. The camera has many features for advanced photographers, but is also very easy to use right out of the box, with little or no setup. Downloading images is also a breeze using both the direct-connect USB cable and third party flash memory readers. the built in mic captures sound, and the camera as a whole is solidly built(although I wouldn't want to drop it!).All in all, a great deal from a reputable manufacturer!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Camera
Review: This is an excellent point and shoot camera with many many features. Shooting is smooth and quick, and review and erase are very easy. Changing feature are also very simple. love this camera If there is a "con" is that it is slightly heavy and thick, but it has lots of features.
Rating:
Summary: Good and bad
Review: I bought this camera a few months ago. I really like it but I found some drawbacks on this qonderful camera. (It is impossible for me to find a perfect camera)
1. Zoom control is not easy to use. Unlike S400, zoom is locked in step. The control is ok but not as good as traditional SLR cameras or S400.
2. When you switch to P, A, S, etc mode the 9 points auto focus function is gone. This is not a big deal though if you can use the other auto functions.
3. I wish they change the way len is cover by sliding cover. I don't feel very confident that the len is protected by dust.
4. Macro is not working very well. I guess it must be the same as most digital camera. Ok. Most of these complaint (except the first one) I fully expected when I bought. Why the heck I bought this camera?
1. Canon digital camera has the best picture quality. About the same as Nikon but cheaper. Far superior than Kodak.
2. Compactflash memory is cheaper than other format. Unlike other, high capacity memory card is available.
3. More manual control over S400 but not too much as G serie. I think 4MP is more than enough unless you want pictures more than 8X11. Hope this review helps your purchase decision.
Rating:
Summary: echo the praise
Review: of this camera, I bought it for a amatuer photographer, and she said she loved it ...
Rating:
Summary: Great camera!
Review: A terrific camera for someone of really want to take great pictures. A little confusing at first...as are most digitals, but the photos are great. On my second session, I took a picture worthy of a magazine!
Rating:
Summary: The Canon Powershot S45
Review: I bought this camera right after it came out. It was recommended to me by my dealer, because I was looking for a digital camera with at least 4 mega pixels, that I could use on land and underwater, in a [certain]price range ... This camera has fulfilled all those requirements beautifully. Things I like about the camera: it's compact, easy to use, has a lot of features that you don't even need to know in the beginning to get started. I started taking pictures right away by setting it to Auto. But as you want to learn more, the camera can do more. It's very easy to use underwater. You turn it on, set it so that the it will power down after a minute of disuse, turn off the display to conserve the battery, pop it into its housing, run some silicon around the o-ring, and off you go. On a recent dive trip, I was able to take photos for two dives on a single battery. Then I'd go back to my room for a bit of rest, change the battery, put some more silicon onj the seal and close it up again. I couldn't believe how easy it was. At the end of the day, I'd go through my shots and delete the ones I didn't like. You can also zoom in on your photos in the display mode to take a close up look without having to hook your camera up to a computer. On land, I recently hooked the camera up to my tripod and took a family portrait with the timer setting. It takes action shots, low light shots, panoramic shots (through stitching), hi resolution shots, low resolutions shots, you name it, this camera does it.
Rating:
Summary: Great camera, HUGE instruction manual
Review: This camera does not disappoint -- well, unless you were hoping the features were easy to figure out and use. The camera is awesome and takes excellent quality shots just using the "automatic" setting. (2 months later I am still stuck on the automatic setting!) The manual, however, is the size of Madagascar, and requires an afternoon (or weekend?) of committment to get through it. I am sure this camera has many excellent features and their discovery should provide months of entertainment!!
Rating:
Summary: Nice camera
Review: I wanted a small compact camera with high resolution and compact flash media II compatible which can fit in your pocket. The S45 was the choice for me. If you used a Canon SLR you will see similar shooting modes on the S45, such as Aperture Priorty, Shutter Priority, and Programmed mode. The shutter speeds ranges from 1/4000 to 15 seconds and the aperture range is from f2.8/4.9 to f8. This will give you some exposure range to experiment with, just like an SLR. The image quality is good with 4mega-pixels. It will never match the high quality image of a SLR Lens and SLR Digital camera, but this is the compromise for all compact cameras. The battery life is good but I usually only take about 50 photos per day when on holiday. At the hotel I just recharge it for the next day. I'm using a 340gb microdrive and it can store about 150 high resolution photos. If you get this camera or any compact flash II camera get the 1gb microdrive, they are inexpensive and you can store some 400 photos at the max resoltuion for this camera. Another reason to get the 1gb microdrive is you can copy your favorite photos from your pc to the camera, then when you visit your friends/relatives you can watch then on a big tv. The video mode on the S45 is simple. During recording its only a 320x240. On TV its like an MPEG1 movie and quailty is very poor, really unwatchable. On the PC it looks fine but the screen is small. Also during video mode you cannot use the zoom lens so forget close ups during recording, unless you are physically moving closer. In this camera there is an automatic red eye flash reduction. Unforutnately I'm one of those people who will close their eyes during the pre flash so most of my flash photos of myself are with my eyes closed or squinted. I wish they would just allow regular flash like on the S20. There is a flash exposure control so you can either under/over expose the flash. I will usually under expose the flash when taking a portrait in sunlight to reduce the shadow. All in all this camera and the future Canon S series has SLR features to play with, if you chose, but still can fit in your pocket.
Rating:
Summary: Great Camera
Review: This camera is great for people who want to be able to take easy photos in auto mode, but would like to be able to manually chage the aperature. I got excellent results with this camera. I love it!
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