Customer Reviews

Canon PowerShot S20 3.2MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I love this camera. It is the smallest 3.3mp camera on the market and takes incredible pictures. The best part about this camera is its ability to take both type 1 and type 2 cf cards. This means that the S20 can use the IBM Microdrive (170 or 340 mb). With the 340 mb drive (@$400, with pcmcia card adapter), the camera can hold 379 shots at largest size with medium resolution, or 164 shots at largest size with best resolution. I literally shoot all day and sort the pictures out later. No more asking yourself, "should I take this shot, or will I fill the card too quickly." If you are not going to buy the microdrive, I really don't see the need to pay $800 for this camera. Its like buying a rolls royce and getting bicycle tires. Also, be aware that the S20 takes a proprietary battery (cannot be replaced by regular batteries in a pinch). When you buy the camera, buy at least one extra battery that day. Nothing is worse than having 150 shots left, but a dead battery. I love my S20, but be aware that after the camera, charger, 340mb microdrive and an extra battery, you are talking about $1350.

I have been looking at digital cameras for the past year, The prices just couldn't be justified for me... Until the 3million megapixel camera's came out. This isn't the right camera for professional shooting, as it does not take raw tiff's.. but the large superfine Jpeg's turn out close enough to raw images. This is a high end Point and Shoot camera, you do not need professional photography experience to take great photos. The camera is small and lightweight.. similar to the Canon ELPH camera's design.. so it can slide in your pocket.. And Canon has been known for their optics for years. The software works fine, I just use Adobe Photoshop to get my images though. The photostiching is neat, and works well, I took pictures in a circle around my apartment and stitched them seamlessly together to make a really wide panoramic shot.. using USB to get your images is FAST, I had no problems setting the camera up with USB or Serial. The cons of this camera is that it doesn't come with rechargable batteries (a MUST have) get the recharge/ac adaptor kit, or else you will spend hundreds on batteries. the 16MB CF card will fit about 100 average quality photo's, 34 above average, but only 7 SuperFine quality photo's (time to go buy a bigger CF card).. Digital camera's are going to be expensive, especially if you want quality and features, The higher end Kodak's, Sony's and Olympus's offer about the same features and quality, but the Kodak and Sony are much larger and bulkier. If you've used Canon camera's before, this will be simple to use

It's small, light and easy to use and picture quality is superb. I would agree with the other reviewers on this page with one exception: according to one reviewer you can't check the quality of your photo immediately after shooting - this is not true: keep the shutter button pressed in after shooting and the photo appears on the TFT screen until you release the button. The supplied 16Mb flash card is not enough for efficient use, but it does get you started. You can take 44 photos in medium res (1024 x 768) which is good enough quality for screen viewing. Batteries will last long enough to fill the 16 Mb card but I bought 2 extra rechargables with mine and I keep TFT screen and flash use to a minimum when not near a power supply. My biggest niggle with the Canon is that in Auto mode it only takes pictures in the highest resolution, something like 8 or 9 photo's on the 16 Mb card. With maybe a 170 or 340 Mb IBM micro drive and a couple of extra rechargable batteries this is a brilliant little machine suitable for most users, takes great pictures and fits in your jacket pocket too!

I picked up this camera to do a web catalog photo shoot of flowers. I found it to be an impressive camera for its size. Get the IBM Microdrive because the 3 megapixel images will fill up a memory card fast!

Battery life was good but it uses a proprietary battery. It also takes 2CR5s but eats them up in a hurry.

Very good image quality, works well in macro mode. One thing I wish it had is the ability to review the image right after you took it. You can't do it easily, you have to switch camera modes and the lens closes up. With the microdrive you can afford to take extra shots and weed out the bad ones later.

Good transfer software although the serial cable mode is incredibly slow...go with USB.

All in all, I love this little camera which packs a punch.

after months of research, i finally bought this camera and it is very good. i originally looked into the canon digital elph but eventually bought the s20

pros: 1) it's small size, though the elph is even smaller (the sales person slipped it into his shirt pocket and it fit like a pack of cigarettes) 2) great quality of pics, elph has lower resolution, but you won't be able to tell if you plan on posting your pics on the web...but you'll need the high resolutions for printing 3) the price is reasonable 4) uses rechargable battery (a must) or store bought batteries. the digital elph uses only a specific size of rechargable batteries and can't take any store bought ones. 5) the camera's body is pretty sturdy, it had a minor incident with the sidewalk and it's a little scratched up but still in great shape 6) this isn't unique to the canon s20 alone but all digital cameras in general...digital photo printouts on photo papers don't last as long as pictures developed from traditional films (35mm). don't use it for pictures that you plan on keeping for a long time (i.e. wedding, family portraits, baby pics, etc.)

cons: 1) this thing drains the battery so quickly! must buy rechargable battery & kit, 2) an additional (bigger memory) CF card is a must unless you plan on taking only 11 pictures at high resolutions 3) canon makes this leather case for its powershot cameras that you can buy but it really should just be included with the camera kit b/c you'll end up needing to buy some sort of a case to protect the camera

overall, i love this camera and have had a lot of fun taking pictures but it hasn't completely replaced my 35mm camera.

I looked at many models. I really liked the 3.34MPixel resolution. It is easy to turn out some really nice photos. I haven't owned another digital camera, so it is difficult to judge battery life, however, many of the digitals do not have a way to turn off the LCD. Doing so greatly enhances battery life. Also, instead of the IBM 340Mb micro drive, try the SANS 256MB flash card. It has much lower battery consumption and still holds 100-300 (in hi-res mode) photos depending upon compression settings.

Also, GET the battery charger kit! It has a NiCad included. I saved the original lithium as an emergency battery, plus I bought an additional NiCad. It adds slightly to the price, but you get a really light weight camera that is difficult to top at any price.

I echo the prior statements -- a fabulous midget-sized camera whose 3.3 megapixel photos allow you to trust all of your memories to it. So-so battery life.

In addition, I found that the camera was fairly easy to use. I was able to do the basic things -- take photos, change the resolution, erase, etc. -- on a first or second try. (Then I read the manual to figure out the advanced stuff.)

My only dislike of this camera is that its automatic whiteness settings aren't true to life: it's too blue. For example, light-skinned (caucasian and some asians) people's skin has a bluish tint to it. You can play around with the manual settings to get accurately colored photos, but it's a pain to adjust the whiteness for every single snapshot you want to take. The resulting discolorations can generally be fixed in Photoshop, of course, but having to do this for every photo is not ideal.

I had heard about the whiteness issues before I bought the camera and purchased it anyway. I'm glad I did; the resolution, its size, and overall quality are worth the slightly disappointing optical issues.

Great optics, nice list of options. Takes great pictures. software bundle is good. Problem is the battery. You get one of the ... throw-aways, which lasts about 45 minutes. The rechargeable battery pack is ..., which is ABSOLUTELY NECCESSARY for this camera, so consider the price to be ... more than the going price. Also, the rechargeable batteries last a bit under an hour. You'll also want to get a bigger memory card. Using the highest resolution, lowest compression takes some great pictures, and you'll want a big card to take lots of pictures.

I purchased this camara after thoroughly studying the available digital camaras available. It performs outstandingly, and its small size is excellent for carrying in a pocket or purse. The images, at full 8X10 size when printed on photo paper by a decent printer (HP 932C in my case, about $200), were SO GOOD that people came from all over work to view them in my cubicle. The zoom is outstanding, the macro is easily as good, the ease of use makes it perfect for the novice, while the flexibility and carriability make it excellent for the most professional (or addicted) photographer around.

The ONLY problem I have is that the camara is EXTREMELY sensitive to moisture. The instruction manual does not make that clear enough, and my camara was ruined after three months by a humid environment. I can only say excellent camara, EXTREMELY POOR CUSTOMER RELATIONS BY CANON. Fortunately for me, Amazon went to bat for me on this purchase, and I highly recommend ANY Amazon purchase.

In summation, GREAT camara (even at the $600 I paid, and the $400 price now), crappy customer service by Canon, and truely proffesional sales and support practices by Amazon.

JUST DON'T EVER LET THE CAMARA EXPERIENCE EVEN SLIGHT LEVELS OF HUMIDITY!!!!!!!!

The Canon S20 is the perfect combination of simplicity, function, and high technology. The camera takes fantastic pictures that are consistently clear, ungrainy, and in focus, even in odd lighting conditions. The metering system is great, as is the autofocus and the telephoto; all work near-flawlessly.

The S20's greatest strengths is its simplicity and its size. Although it does not offer advanced features (such shutter-speed priority, full manual, etc.) that some of the Nikons and more expensive Canons do, even an inexperienced camera user (digital or not) will have no problem taking great photographs. All of the moderately complicated features on the Canon such as macro-mode, toggling the flash, and red-eye reduction are as easy as hitting a clearly labelled, obvious button. Additionally, the S20 is just like a "regular old camera." There are no bizare swivling things like on the Nikons, and more importantly, the camera is small enough to fit easily in a small bag or large pocket.

Please note that in addition to the camera itself, you will have to buy the battery recharger and, unless you want to be limited to a few megs, an extra PC card which will both add some money to your purchase. Still, for the camera you get, the extra purchases are not a big deal.

Overall, a fantastic little camera. Look no further.