Canon Powershot S60 Digital Camera

Canon PowerShot S60

Powershot S60 Digital Camera Review, by Alan Stafford August 27, 2004

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• Reviewed by: fisher123

  Strengths: Takes great photos, fun to use and easy to use. The battery lasts a long time and the zoom covers almost everything I would need.

  Weaknesses: In some modes does not focus on what I want and I have to play with it a bit to make that happen. Not able to put filters on the lense. Only 30 second videos. Nighttime pictures require a tripod!!

  Overall: I bought this camera after a friend recommended it to me. I had just lost my camera and was going on vacation. It turned out to be great and took amazing photos with great detail. I have been able to blow up many of my photos without loosing any detail. The camera is small enough that you can take photos without being annoying.This camera is a step up from the A series and you can see the difference in the photos when I have compaired with friends. The camera is easy to carry and has not let me down. I take it snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking, camping, traveling and carry it daily in my purse. The picture quality has not diminished over time.

• Reviewed by: AzNassAsin

  Strengths: above average zoom lenses, well built metal casing, and multifunction modes. can be used by both beginner and advanced photographers.

  Weaknesses: some of the modes are difficult to use, but this is because it is an advanced camera.

  Overall: I was looking for a new digital camera that had more features, but was not too difficult to use to replace my old 3.2 megapixel toshiba pdr 3310. I was contemplating on buying either the sony dsc p100, canon sd 300, and this camera. I realized that the former two are good cameras for those who like subcompact cameras that fit in your shirt pockets. The canon s60, however, is not all that bulkier but has much more features than point-and-shoot such as portrait, a white balance/ underwater mode, and stitch. This camera is well worth the money for all the features you get and the results you get when you print the pics.

• Reviewed by: kfderose

  Strengths: 28mm wide angle lens, AIAF auto focus, excellent picture quality/color accuracy, good macro focus, quick/easy to use, 35mm type modes/settings, good battery life, sturdy build, robust performance.

  Weaknesses: Some F-stop settings are not available at certain focal lengths, 100mm zoom could be longer, included compact flash only 32 MB, AIAF autofocus is very good but can be fooled at times.

  Overall: I exhaustively reviewed many different websites that published the same pictures taken with each camera that was reviewed and read just as many photography and media magazine reviews on every 5 and 6 megapixel camera on the market for two months, yes, two months before making a digital camera purchase. I probably spent far too much time, but knowing very little about digital cameras before I started I had to know what was available and for what cost. Needless to say that I was quite surprised to find that many of the camera brands that I stereotyped to be the best turned out to be some of the worst performers while some of the brands that I turned my nose up at were some of the best performers. It was also surprising to find out who the top performers were in the digital camera market compared to the top performers in the film camera market. After two months of eye burning side by side comparisons, I found all of the cameras to be of good to excellent quality. I think you would be happy with any of the 5 or 6 megapixel cameras offered today. However, being employed in the media business for over 10 years I am naturally going to be a lot more critical than the average buyer. Many of the differences that I saw were subtle while a few were surprisingly significant. I even felt some models took pictures that were as good or better than some of the digital SLR's that I reviewed! Of all the strengths I mentioned, picture quality was #1 on the top of my list of priorities, period. To my eye, picture quality was the most noticeable difference between all the digital cameras I reviewed. I felt that the Canon S60 had the best picture quality in the 5 and 6 megapixel range, regardless of price. I also chose this camera because I wanted a camera that would be quick, easy and convenient for my wife and family to use, but would also offer enough flexibility and control for me as well as I am 35mm spoiled. I especially liked the quality and solidness of the construction of this camera as it has a metal case instead of the plastic case found on so many digital cameras today. All those features do have a downside however; this camera (while small and compact)is not as small, compact or as light in weight as many others on the market that will comfortably fit into a shirt pocket (not that I would recommend it). If you like to shoot in hi-res mode, you will need to buy an optional larger compact flash media storage card as the 32 MB card that comes with the camera will only store around 14 pictures in hi-res mode. I opted for the 512 MB card and it stores around 200 pictures in hi-res mode. Investing the time that I did researching prior to purchasing was well worth it. After 4 months of ownership, I really enjoy using this camera daily. Happy shopping!

• Reviewed by: georgegannaway

  Strengths: Easy to use, makes great pictures,colors are true, 28mm wide angle is great for scenery and family group shots. Makes great pictures in weak light . . . must use a tripod.

  Weaknesses: The combination lens cover on-off switch does not function well. Has a tendancy to override the track and requires a 2nd "turn-on" of camera. The memory card supplied is joke must buy bigger card

  Overall: Other than the off-on switch . . I have been on a couple of vacations and the quality of the pictures are just great . . the 5 M permits cropping if required and still get a high quailty shot.

• Reviewed by: kyk1835

  Strengths: The phone is very user friendly even for the novice users. The phone has a very fast start-up and shut-down time and great image quality.

  Weaknesses: No on-screen battery indicator.

  Overall: If you're considering a 5MP camera that is semi-compact (not as small as the Digital Ixy [digital elph in the US], with more functions than most point-and-shoots and superb image quality canon gives, the S60 is the camera for you. I've always preferred manufacturers such as Canon, Minolta and Nikon over Sony.