Canon PowerShot S50 5MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

Rating:
Summary: Excellent S50, especially now that the price has come down
Review: Excellent all around. Who needs more than 5MP anyway? Great manual control of shutter speed and apeture (spelling?).

If you want a replacement battery at %50 off of list price, you can buy it from BatterySavings.com.

The only drawback to this camera is that within one month of purchase all of the symbols on the jog dial (feature selector) rubbed off and I was left with a black dial with no indicator of which shooting mode was selected. Fortunately, Canon shows the shooting mode on the LCD screen, so you will be OK.

Rating:
Summary: S50!!!
Review: I have been carrying around dearest Canon Powershot S50 since September of 2003, after tearing myself from an elderly Minolta camera my Father owned about thirty years ago. Prior to purchasing the digital camera, I did a hefty amount of research to ensure myself that I was indeed purchasing a product that would last. After comparing countless cameras to one another through the Internet and shopping centers, I settled on the Powershot S50.

The camera (overall) is incredibly easy to operate, and provides the user with an immense amount of features to explore and expand upon. I quickly learned how to decide on a specific shooting mode for each shot, without much fuss. I also found it very simple to become comfortable and confident while shooting manually with the S50.
This digital camera produces vibrant colors and crisp images with almost every photograph or snapshot taken. The automatic white balance (with or without setting it yourself) compliments each shot, and allows for flexibility. There is rarely a need to adjust anything more than the brightness and contrast of a photograph in Photoshop, which is not the case for many other digital cameras. S50 is also capable of functioning well without a flash in a low-lit environment!

The body of the S50 is a perfect size, sturdy, and survived (with only one small scratch) a dreadful fall on the kitchen ceramic tile. Also, the LED screen placed on the backside of the camera allows the user to see what exactly they are photographing.

There is no need to worry in regards to loading S50s software on a Mac, or PC. Both are "user-friendly" and will not be found troublesome!

Aside from all of the upsides to purchasing the camera, there are, of course, minor (but worth mentioning) issues I was and am not satisfied with. I have not experienced anything negative with the sliding lens cover as other reviewers have, but can agree with its (occasionally) slow reaction time. I have missed a shot I desired to capture on more than one occasion because S50 did not react quickly enough.

Along with this, I have and continue to struggle with the usage of the flash. Photographs either appear too bright or not bright enough. I have yet to settle upon middle ground with S50. However, Photoshop and other photography programs can easily adjust this issue if needed (along with the commonly complained about red eye). The battery life is also an issue to struggle with. It is best to carry another with you, as the camera will not specifically indicate when it will be out of battery power.

I would recommend this camera to anyone in need of a reliable buy, as well as a larger memory card (mine being 256MB). You will have a point-and-shoot camera as well as a semi-pro manual camera combined into one, with a terribly affordable price for all of its functions.

Rating:
Summary: Great compact yet powerful digital camera
Review: I've used my friend's and mine now for 2 years. They are great. We took one backpacking in South America for 2 months and it survived and never gave us any problems. It's great for landscape and taking pictures of friends, etc. But with the limited zoom (applies to all compact cameras) you won't be taking any super wildlife shots from a distance. If you want something more powerful, you're going to have to get something more bulky/heavy/fragile.

This is the best thing on the market (as of 6 months ago or so when I looked at everything) for power/sturdiness in a compact camera. I love mine.

Rating:
Summary: Nice little shooter! I love this camera!
Review: This is a go anywhere, take nearly anything kind of camera. I have had the S50 for a year now and continue to be amazed at what great quality snaps it takes; and an added bonus with 3-minute movies with great sound too! It does have a superpower flash, but you can turn it down and you can turn it off. Outdoor, daylight shots are unbelievable with this camera!

I did have to get used to its macro handling, as I like getting in there close and shooting the wordage off a dime if I need to. Macro shooting did takes some practice and extra finessing to get down, but overall this camera is a true winner.

I am a Canon die hard and have used many cameras in the Canon family, from the AE1 and the Rebel, and A1s to SureShots and now this little PowerShot. This little one is by far my favorite ... the best little camera ever!

Rating:
Summary: Everything I wanted
Review: I purchased this camera when it first came out. I have enjoyed every single aspect of it. Matter of fact, even after a year or so, I'm still exploring the different features of the camera. I went to Egypt and used the vidoe mode on the camera. I was very pleased because I know now that I no longer need to carry the camera and a video recorder.

The pictures are beautiful. The digital zoom images are clear and crisps, and the auto mode makes it possible for even the most untrained eye of beginners to use. I would highly recommend this product.

Rating:
Summary: Great product with a few drawbacks
Review: I was given this camera as a gift, and the only other Canon product I owned was the horrible Canon EOS IX. Happily, after playing around with it, I loved this camera.

Pluses:
1. Optics are crisp and sharp.
2. Image quality is great. 5MP is more than any point and shoot casual photographer will ever need.
3. Manual mode is a great addition. You can shoot in aperture priority, shutter priority and full manual exposure modes. Pretty nice when you want to get a long exposure for a nifty waterfall shot or to add a sense of motion to a sports/action shot.
4. Nice finish that doesn't wear away easily like most point and shoot cameras in this class.
5. Great auto-focusing and manual-focus controls.
6. 3 minute movie mode. Lots of cameras in this class cap it at 1 minute.

Minuses:
1. The little sliding door on the front to turn the camera on and off can become flimsy if this camera is used often. I've had 2 friends that have had to get this part of their camera repaired.
2. Great when it came out, but there are many smaller 5MP cameras on the market now. This camera definitely feels bulky, but you can't hold this against the camera. When this came out, it was the smallest 5MP out there.
3. The flash is WAAAAAY TOO POWERFUL. I hate using this camera at night because the pictures always tend to be washed out. You can use photoshop and apply a adjust exposure filter and the images turn out looking great. But that's an extra step. I'm confused as to how Canon overlooked this. I know 4 people with this camera, and this is everyone's major gripe.

Overall, from my experience, my guy friends tend to like this camera. Most of the women I know don't as it feels a bit too big to them. If you can get this camera used, I'd definitely recommend it as it'll serve you well for a couple of years.

Rating:
Summary: Good camera but could be better
Review: I received this camera for Christmas and used it very extensively while travelling through Asia, Australia, New Zealand, etc. for over 4 months in all kind of weather conditions. Unfortunately it didn't cope too well with the damp weather in NZ, or maybe I handled it a bit roughly, but it stopped working (and no camera shop would even look at it - sending it to Canon from abroad wasn't an option so I missed out on lots of pictures for about 1 month of travelling). Apparently the problem was with the CF chamber (one pin got bent by just slotting in the card) and Canon UK charged me €200 for the repair after my return to Ireland.

Anyway, in summary:

Good points:
- great quality pictures
- easy to use
- good movieclips with audio (although limited to 3 mins - why?)
- CF cards are easy to find, relatively cheap (especially in Asia) and compact
- the battery life, compared to other compact digicamera, is excellent (especially compared to the Canon Elph 400, which my travel companion had), but it'd be wise to get a spare battery and keep it charged when taking a lot of pictures in one session
- the sofware supplied is quite good
- the lens is bigger than in most compact digicamera, resulting in better focus and details

Bad points:
- the camera is heavy for its size and a bit bulky
- the sliding door on the front is a bit flimsy and sometimes doesn't slot in at the first attempt; also it takes a while to activate the camera
- the silver-coloured buttons look very worn out (although my camera was used a lot in its first 4 months), but at least the black body stays black (the Delph silver case doesn't stay silver for long!)
- the flash is a bit too strong (hence red eyes and bleached out photos in the dark or semi-darkness), even at the lowest setting
- the LCD screen is ok, but it scratches easily (there seems to be a hard plastic cover over it to protect it which can be good)


Overall, it's a good camera for its price, but I will probably choose a lighter version with the same size lens when upgrading

Rating:
Summary: Canon S50 has Red Eye Issues
Review: The amount of red eyes in my photos is unbelieveable for a camera in this price range. I am very disappointed. I will probably sell this very soon.