Canon PowerShot S5 IS

83

Very Good

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6 User Reviews | add yours »

Pros
Sturdy and fully adjustable LCD screen
Top-notch image stabilization
Cons
Poor manual focus
No RAW support

$637.00
From 1 Merchant

Performance: Very Good: 84
Features: Very Good: 83
Design: Very Good: 80

Find out how these scores, and their relative weights, combine to produce the PC World Rating.

Performance
Battery Life (minutes)	144.5
Battery Life Score	Good
Image Quality Score	Very Good
Image Quality, Color	68.1
Image Quality, Color--Adjusted	75.1
Image Quality, Color--Auto	61.2
Image Quality, Distortion	55.1
Image Quality, Distortion--Noise	32.9
Image Quality, Distortion--Noise Reduction	60.6
Image Quality, Distortion--Sharp Interpolation	69
Image Quality, Exposure	57.6
Image Quality, Exposure--Flash	51.5
Image Quality, Exposure--Normal	60.2
Image Quality, Overall	62.9
Image Quality, Sharpness	45.9
Number of Batteries	4
Number of Shots	264

What You Should Know about the PowerShot S5 IS

Larger-Than-Average Optical Zoom Range

The optical zoom range on this camera is sufficiently broad to give you considerable creative control. Your options extend from individual portraits to group shots to wide-angle landscapes. Most point-and-shoots offer a focal length range that’s roughly equivalent to 35mm to 105mm on a 35mm film camera. At the wide end (the 35mm, in this case), they shoot a bit wider than what you see with your eye. At the telephoto end (the 105mm, in this case), they can zoom in a good deal closer than you’d be able to with the naked eye.

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.
Reviewed by: sportfanatic66

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Great quality pictures. Excellent camera for the price.

Weaknesses: Lens cap

Overall Evaluation: This is a excellent digital camera. Have used it alot during sporting events. Love the sport feature. shutter speed excellent. Have own numerous name brand digital cameras and not one of them compare to this Cannon S5 IS.