Rating: 
Summary: Great deal, great camera
Review: Bought in late november 2003 for a trip to las vegas as my nikon coolpix 775 was getting slow and at 2 MP, a great camer for my wife to use. Dell had a good deal at the time, $500 with $100 in discounts and free shipping, no tax. then around mid-january i checked and the price was $400 with almost $75 in coupons, netting around $325. i was pretty pissed so i called dell and complained, and they issued a reference number. i couldnt believe it - around 3 weeks later i was closing my dell premium account and it had a $100 credit on it. impressed. camera continues to give great battery life.
Rating:
Summary: Canon does it again.
Review: I think I've found the perfect digital camera. Check out the positives and negatives with the PowerShot S50.Positives: (where do I begin?)
* Made of solid, sturdy metal. Feels like a real camera not a cheap plastic toy like other digital cameras.
* Has features galore!!! Has standard features plus some pretty nice extras such as:
-customizable flash-can change the strength of the flash, helping to prevent washed out pictures which is common with most digital cameras when you use the flash.
-flips landscapes pictures that would normally appear sideways. the camera lets you flip these pictures rightside up so you won't have to do it on your computer.
-can take panoramic pictures.
-the camera is customizable! What does this mean? This camera lets you customize the startup screen. You have an option between clear blue water, evening skyline or a sitting bird. You can change the startup sound, your options include a default theme, science fiction and animal sounds(dog barking or bird chirping). These sounds are designed to presumably match the startup screens but they can be mix and matched. The shutter also has various sounds you can choose from. All these sounds can, of course, be turned off.
-this list goes on and on. Check this camera out to see everything.
* Superb true true-to-life daytime and night pictures.
* Pictures come out crisp and sharp with or without the flash, in brightly lit or darky lit areas.
* What you see is what you get. What you see on the LCD screen is usually how the pictures will appear on your computer monitor or when you print them out. The LCD, when you press lightly on the shutter button, will show you actually how the picture will appear once viewed on screen or on paper. So if your LCD has a bright contrast and you are in a dark room, when you press the shutter button lightly, the LCD will adjust itself to the actual lighting of the room. There will be no deception and you won't have to wonder why the pictures look lighter on the LCD than on the computer screen or in print.
* Can record mini movies with sound.
* Uses compact flash card.
* Unbeatable price. There is much, much more that I can add on to this list but you will have get this camera and see for yourself. Negatives:
* Joystick navigator takes some getting used to. Very hard to maneuver through the menus resulting in accidently going to the wrong options.
* There is no power button. You have to shut the lens' lid to turn off the camera. This makes me nervous. I'm always scared that this will somehow damage the lens.
* The macro setting isn't the best. Sometimes the macro pictures can appear blurry.
* Uses the very expensive NB-2L rechargable battery as opposed to inexpensive, more common rechargables such as NiMHs or other types. Plus NB-2Ls can only be used with PowerShot S30, S40, S50 cameras and Elura 40mc camcorders. Get the Canon PowerShot S50 if you want superior quality in a small package.
Rating:
Summary: What Hasn't Been Said
Review: I spent quite a bit of time searching the internet for the perfect digitial camera. I was unsure about making the switch to digital and was also skeptical about spending that much money on something I may or may not use. I got the camera so that it could go with my fiance and I to New Orleans, as well as be used in our private life. So, being a novice I needed something simple to use, with a long battery life and that came with many features. Also, I needed something that would take crystal clear images. This camera has truly done all of that and more. During one week of constant photo taking (over 250 photos), I only changed the battery twice. I was even able to shoot a short video! The camera is versatile in that it's a sophisticated as you need it be. If you don't know a thing about foacl length and proper light, it's a perfect point-and-shoot. If you're a camera wiz, there are plenty of features to let you get just the right shot. I've had the camera now for six months and I'm still discovering new features. It's nearly impossible to take a bad shot with this camera. I will say, however, that some of the camera's modes take a very steady hand to take, so you might need a tripod. Considering how many features are on this camera, the price is wonderful. Especially when compared to similar cameras on the market. So, whether you're a novice or a camera pro looking to switch to digital, the Canon should be your first choice. One thing, the memory that comes with the camera is no where near enough. I bought a 256MB card that I have yet to fill. Other than that, it's the perfect camera.
Rating:
Summary: All in one package
Review: The S50 is for any type of photographer, whether amateur or professional. You have to read the user's guide carefully, it will answer all your questions. You can change settings or modes with the touch of a button. You have complete control of what you need, to get that perfect shot. Just read that user's guide. Do get a larger CF card and extra battery. Once you get to know the camera you will never go back to film (or any other digital camera).
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch Camera
Review: It's simple. This is the best digital camera I've ever owned, with the best image quality that I have seen. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants 5MPs and the manual controls. As always, Canon has made another top-performing model. It was highly recommended at CNET, and has been a top product of 2003 in many magazines and camera-related websites. You can't go wrong with this camera. With the price just under 400 dollars, it's the best deal around! Make no mistake, Canon is the best at digital cameras! 10 stars if amazon had that!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Camera
Review: This Camera is a top premium buy! I am 100% satisfied after having used the camera for six months!
The images are of the greatest quality allowing for wonderful printouts.
You will need a larger memory card - I recommend 256mb and a spare battery might be good even though I have managed fairly well with only one! But This is not something negative cause the supreme quality of the camera compensates for all of this!
Buy it!!!
And, of course Amazon.com never lets you down! Count on amazon for good priceing, fast shipment and reliability!
Rating:
Summary: Solid Performer at a Bargain Price
Review: A friend of mine recently bought an S50 and brought it over to our home when he visited. We played around with them and our own cameras and made some comparisons. First a few comments about F&F (features and feel). The S50 has a very solid, well made feel to it, especially considering the very reasonable price - you can get it for well under the $600 retail pricetag. Second, this guy has many features you won't get without spending quite a bit more money. For example, the integration of the exposure mode controls are very logical and functional, with a very usable manual exposure mode and wide exposure compensation. The included software has an image stitching capability for assembling panoramas and it works fine. The autofocus system works well and has some interesting options for shooting difficult subjects, such as when the object of interest is off-center. The image processor is called DiG!C and supposedly enhances the image quality beyond what you'd expect from a 5 MB CCD. We compared images from the S50 to our Olympus C-50 and our Sony F707. The S50 did quite well, in some cases looking slightly sharper than the C-50, but in general falling short of the F707. Note that the F707 retailed for over $1000 and has a large Zeiss lens which I expect is a significant contributing factor. One more thing - the C50 is easy to use - I picked up on most of the controls intuitively.
Rating:
Summary: Fully featured with great results
Review: This camera is very easy to use, and has many great features. I love it and I will never go back to film.
Rating:
Summary: The longer I own it, the more I appreciate it
Review: I never took the idea of digital photography seriously until I visited with a friend and saw some of his amazing photographs. Since then, I felt the need to try my hand at it. The old saying goes that it's not the camera, but the photographer that makes the pictures - but when you're starting from scratch, and especially in digital, you'll want something you can grow into. After doing a lot of homework I decided that the S50 was the camera for me. My biggest concerns when deciding on a camera were it's megapixels, features, and portability. 5MP is enough to do enlargements up to a reasonable size with cropping, and even though I haven't made prints as large as I possibly could, I like having the option for when I will eventually need it. The detail in the pictures really stands out when you have them displayed at full size on your computer. All the camera's settings and modes are top notch and as a photographic novice I found it very easy to use all the advanced features without having read the manual. And as far as portability goes, handling it at the store made me appreciate the solid construction that went into it. It fits well in pockets too, though not as well as other cameras. So, why not the flip screen on the A80? The S50 felt much more well built to me. Why not the full fledged features on the G5? The S50 is small enough that I'm willing to take it with me wherever I go, rather than "when I'm in the mood." Why not a comparable Nikon or such? Again, I felt like I got everything I needed in one package with the S50. Do I have any regrets? Not really, though now that I've "grown into" the camera, I wish the aperture range was not so limited on full telephoto, but you won't get much out of any of the prosumer cameras in that respect. On camera flash is bad in every way. And I carry a spare battery with me when I'm out - factor that into the cost of your purchase; the battery life is decent, but not great. On the whole, I'm more than satisfied with the camera, but do your research before you settle down on any camera that you feel is right for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Buyers Beware! Defects and void warranty
Review: This review refers to Canon digital cameras at large. My experience is with the G5 not the S50. Both are more or less the same camera only the G5 has better zoom and flash shoe. I got my G5 in August through Amazon. In December the LCD has stopped working, and a few days later the Camera completely stopped functioning.
At the time I was travelling with my wife to Europe and Canon refused to service the Camera. Apparently you can only get US local service to it (they even don't allow shipping back to the States) and get this - I took this to Amazon customer service which warned me that by taking this Camera outside the United States, "you void the manufacturer's warranty on this item. This could make any future servicing of the item difficult and costly."
Since we are due to get back to the States only in 3 months, and I need a WORKING camera to shoot while on vacation, not when I am home, I had to pay today $350 to fix it and replace the "Optical Unit". I will never buy a Canon product again. Sony gives you worldwide walk-in warranty, no matter where you are you in the world you go or call a local Sony service center and get your Camera fixed.
Now, that Sony offers CF and not just MemoryStick and with the excellent reviews it gets from the user community, there is really no reason to take the risk with Canon. Their Cameras ship with defects and the service is the worst I came across so far.
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