Canon PowerShot S5 IS

Reviewed by: jsussex

Duration of ownership: 1 Month

Strengths: Quick response especially with HS SD card Fully adjustable for those who like to have creative freedom. Face detection works great 640x480 30 fps works great ( I used 2 GIG HS type III SD memory) Easy to use slide show tool and movie tool direct from camera to TV

Weaknesses: lens covers - after 3 generations Canon should have got a lens cover that stays on. A wider wide angle even a 32 would be much better than the 36mm You need an extension tube and must purchased an expensive wide angle attachment to extend the Wide Angle range.

Overall Evaluation: I purchased the camera and a 2 gig type III HS SD card. I photographed candid shots at an outdoor 35th high school reunion party. The full articulated view finder made it easy to take candid pictures. Kicking up to the auto ISO high speed allowed me to shoot without a flash into the evening under outdoor lighting after sunset. As the speed increased the image did degrade but no different than the old film days. Flash pictures continued to be well exposed when face detection was used. Including dark backgrounds and brightly lit areas. The next day I photographed pictures of my brother in law playing with his grandson. I switched to the 640 x 480 movie mode. During the filming I was able to take a few stills that only created fraction of second blank spots while the audio continued. I bi-passed the USB process and slid the SD card into my computer Card slot to speed the file transfer. Again the HS SD moved the files to the hard drive faster than expected. Note SD HS memory may not read unless you have a very new computer. I've loaded an HP patch to my 3 HP computers running XP and all 3 now read the HS SD card in the computer memory slot.