Canon PowerShot S10 2MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom Value Package

by Canon

Product Details

Product Manual [1.93mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 1.3 x 4.1 x 2.7 inches ; 11.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005ATZU
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,330 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 23, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com's exclusive bundle combines the standard Canon PowerShot S10 camera kit with a carrying case, an extra 32 MB memory card, and a spare 2CR5 disposable lithium battery.

The Canon PowerShot S10 is one of the smallest 2.1-megapixel zoom cameras available, beaten in size only by the newer Elph, also made by Canon. At its highest-quality setting, the charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor captures 24-bit full-color high-resolution images with enough detail for photo-quality prints at sizes up to 8 by 10 inches. The lens zooms from 35 to 70 mm (35mm film camera equivalent), and its autofocus system even includes an assist light for dimly lit situations. The camera features an extremely compact design that is only 4.1 inches long, 2.7 inches high, and 1.3 inches wide (with lens retracted). In addition, the PowerShot S10 weighs just 9.5 ounces, excluding battery and CompactFlash card. Despite its small size, this camera offers large, easy-to-use control buttons placed just where you'd expect to find them. The Omni Selector centralized button offers advanced functions logically arranged in one place. For storage, the camera uses CompactFlash type I and II memory cards, including IBM's 340 MB Microdrive, a matchbook-size hard disk with great storage capacity.

Another user-friendly feature of this camera is its USB (universal serial bus) connectivity, which allows the PowerShot S10 to communicate with your computer 20 times faster than standard serial port connectors. You can connect directly to USB or use the RS-232C serial port.

Our biggest problem with this camera is its battery situation. The camera uses a single lithium 2CR5 battery (two come with the bundle). Though these batteries do last for a long time, they're not cheap ($10 to $12 at most drugstores) and not as widely available as traditional AA batteries. If you're an occasional photographer, the disposables should work fine. However, we've found that most people end up purchasing the Canon rechargeable battery kit as a long-term solution.

The Canon PowerShot S10 bundle comes with a comprehensive software package that is fully compatible with PC and Macintosh computers and includes Adobe PhotoDeluxe and PhotoStitch for both Mac OS and Windows. It also provides a soft carrying case, wrist strap, video cable, serial and USB interface cables, two lithium batteries, 8 MB and 32 MB CompactFlash cards, a CompactFlash card case, and a user's manual.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic Camera, A Great Value, March 31, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Canon PowerShot S10 2MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom Value Package (Electronics)

The Canon S-10 is perhaps one of the best compact digital cameras out there. Everything about this camera says canon quality. The body, except for the battery and flash storage doors is all around metal. Front plate, top, back plate, lens bezel, all magnesium and aluminum. Another reviewer talked about breaking one of the doors, I'm not quite sure what sort of torture test he was putting his camera through. It's a camera people. Not a hammer, or a brick. Dont drop it.

The next great thing about this camera is, well the lens and the CCD. Canon gained alot of experience in building small optics with their hit Elph Cameras, it is employed here. While small, the lens is a fast f 2.8 giving you an edge over most digital cameras, as you can better utilize existing light, without having to resort to flash. The CCD, image sensor is bar none. I think it may be the best 2.1 megapixel sensor made. This camera produces great images that unlike on other digital cameras, dont need to be sampled down. They're very low noise, and when printed produce good 8x10"s. I would say that the S-10's practical resolution is on par with most point and shoot APS cameras. Another plus is the Low-Glare Color LCD on the back of the camera. Best of any digital camera I've used, and I use it alot to frame pictures. For the more experienced photographers, the S-10 has some manual controls, Exposure compensation +/- 2 stops in 1/3 increments, Selectable White Balance, Spot Metering (with real time preview through the LCD screen) and Variable ISO 100-400.

Downside: This camera uses 2CR5 Lithium photo batteries which are expensive.. Canon does make a rechargeable battery, and a charger (Kit DK10) but it dosent come with the camera in the US. So you will probably want to spend a bit extra on one of these. My only other nag, is the lack of a PC connector for an external flash. But this camera is more of a point and shoot, so that's a little superflous.

Other nice things: USB suppourt, and suppourt for IBM's microdrive cards, so you can cram 1GB worth of picture storage memory into this little silver camera.

It dosent come much better than this.

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Value, So Far, April 20, 2001

By 

J. G. Hancock "Idiot Consumer" (PNS, FL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Canon PowerShot S10 2MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom Value Package (Electronics)

First, a disclaimer: I've only been using the Canon S10 for about 10 hours after receiving the "value package". So, this review is based on first impressions, and not heavy usage.

That being said, I have to commend Amazon.com yet again for an extraordinarily quick delivery, and I appreciated the "digital camera phone help" line, since I used it, and enjoyed the conversation. I highly recommend the phone line if you're shopping for a digital camera, since the Amazon.com online resources are fairly thin.

The S10 value pack seems to be a great buy, in that the camera resolution, ease of use, quality of images, and peripherals are all very good to excellent. First of all, the extra 32Mb flashcard is de rigueur, since the capacity of the included 8Mb with the stand-alone camera has only enough onboard storage for a small roll of film. Second, the extra battery pack is welcome, since the battery life for this camera is quite short if you use the LCD display constantly. Third, the extra memory and battery pretty much make up the "value pack", since the carrying case is a nice but quite cheaply made nylon sheath that isn't large enough for the manual and camera together.

That being said, image resolution is excellent, both on the viewfinder screen AND in the finished product. Just for the hell of it, out of the box, I took a few shots using the AUTO setting, in the dark, with low incandescent lighting, and expected to see nothing. The shots were vibrant, bright, and quite clear, much more so than my eyes. After that joyride, I've been snapping various things between the hours of 8:00 PM and 1:00 AM, and the results are fun--the damned camera gets a good picture even when it shouldn't, and I'm left with having to decide how to deal with the downloaded picture.

Canon did a nice job with peripherals and software. Cables for USB connection, video connection, and serial connection are included in the box. The software includes Canon's own photo download and treatment software, as well as a version of Adobe PhotoWorks Home, which can be used together or separately for image storage, treatment, modification, or whatnot. Further, the Canon "Camera User Guide" and "Digital Software Starter Guide" (i.e. the manuals included with the camera) are concise, informative, and easy to read--quite unlike many electronic toy manuals which seem to have been translated by aliens.

Incidentally, I've only read the above manuals after setting up (in about 3 minutes) and using the camera for about 3 hours. If you have half a brain, you can set up the camera and get impressive shots in about 5 minutes after tearing off the Amazon.com tape from the outer box--that's what I did.

PROS: Easy to use, excellent quality shots at any resolution, onboard splicing features (for panoramas and conjugated shots including several combined photos), extremely clear viewfinder screen, understandable controls and input/output links. Camera can be set for different lighting and "image" situations, most of which are right on the mark. Images can be viewed and photographed in black and white. 2.1 megapixels provides photo results that are very good at 8x10 on a 19" monitor.

CONS: Battery hog--I just ordered the battery charger/AC unit, since the battery I installed 8 hours ago is quite low after only 50 shots. Then again, I've kept the viewfinder on for some time, so my stupidity might not reflect yours. The other con: though the camera body is for the most part metal, the cover for "digital" communication (i.e. USB or serial port) is a flimsy piece of rubber, and I'm sure it's going to drop off after a few uses.

54 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Digital Camera, April 4, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Canon PowerShot S10 2MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom Value Package (Electronics)

This is the best digital camera that I have used. I have had the camera now for 14 months with great success. We purchased the camera when our child was born. We have taken around 600 pictures so far. We put the pictures on the web and email them to friends. I think the real advantage of the camera is the quality of the photos. We have printed alot using our color printer and they come out pretty good even at 8X10 size(very old printer). We have also had alot developed through Shutterfly and other developers that you cannot tell the difference between those and other 35mm photos. We even compared pictures with a friend who had a 35mm photo of basically the same shot and ours was better....Buy the camera you won't regret it.....