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

by Canon

Product Details

Product Manual [1.53mb 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: B00005LDQH
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,775 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 8, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Canon PowerShot S20 has long been considered one of the highest-quality point-and-shoot digital cameras on the market. For a limited time, we're offering this top performer with an extra 32 MB CompactFlash card and a high-quality Canon PowerShot camera case, in addition to the regular items included. That means you get a total of 48 MB of memory, and the durable padded-nylon PSC-20 case, which features an extra zippered pocket for batteries and memory cards.

The S20 is one of the smaller 3.3-megapixel digital cameras on the market. Its half-inch 3.34-megapixel charge-coupled device (CCD) creates full-color and B&W high-resolution images up to 2,048 x 1,436 pixels. It offers a 2x optical zoom lens and a range of shooting modes. The zoom can be enhanced at the touch of a button with a digital teleconverter (2x/4x) for seamless zooming up to 8x.

The PowerShot S20 features an extremely compact design that is only 4.1 inches long, 2.7 inches high, and 1.3 inches wide. In addition, the PowerShot S20 weighs just 9.5 ounces. Despite its small size, this camera features large easy-to-control buttons. You can take one digital picture after another. With IC signal processing, the camera speeds up the interval between shots to 2 seconds. It also stores and plays back images eight times faster than previous digital cameras. It has complete USB compatibility. Cables are supplied for transferring images to your Mac or PC with either a serial or USB port. You can record at three levels of JPEG compression: superfine, fine, and normal. The camera is compatible with JFIF and CIFF file formats.

The centrally located mode dial makes perfect shots easy. It offers five shooting modes--auto, manual, image (landscape, night scene, B&W, slow shutter, and high-speed shutter), stitch assist, and flash. With these modes you have the flexibility to get great shots at any time of day and in any kind of weather. The PowerShot S20 also offers red-eye reduction, a self-timer, and continuous shooting.

The Canon PowerShot S20 uses CompactFlash type I and II memory cards and also supports IBM's 340 MB Microdrive, capable of storing the equivalent of 10 rolls of pictures at a time. The PowerShot S20 comes with a comprehensive software package that is fully compatible with PC and Macintosh computers. It includes Adobe PhotoDeluxe ZoomBrowser EX, PowerShot Browser, Time Tunnel, SlideShowMaker, PhotoStitch, PhotoRecord, and PhotoAlbum for both Mac OS and Windows. The package includes a wrist strap, a video cable, interface cables, a lithium battery, a 16 MB and a 32 MB CompactFlash card, a case for the CompactFlash card, and high-quality Canon PowerShot camera case, and a user's manual.

Product Description

The SCC14 number for the S20 is 10750845803614

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars S20 nice little package, not the best..., June 30, 2001

By 

George Cole (Austin, Tx United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canon PowerShot S20 3.2MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom Value Package (Electronics)

I "upgraded" from a Nikon 950 digital camera to the S20 for 2 reasons, longer battery life and smaller form factor. However I wish I would have stuck with the Nikon. This picture quality of the S20 is good, but not great. The Nikon 950 beats it easily as the jpeg compression seems to be much better.

Looking back I probably should have invested in some rechargable batteries for my Nikon as the S20 is better but not that much on battery life. I ended up having to buy the rechargable battery kit from Amazon as the replacements for the S20 are super expensive while the Nikon used standard AA batteries.

My other problem I have had is after 3-4 days of extensive use, the camera has become scratched and nicked very easily. I was carrying it in my pocket with keys (ouch), and I did set it on several different surfaces to take "timer" pictures with my wife, but is seems that is was way to easy to nick up. So be careful with it and always keep it in the case if possible. I wanted the smaller form factor so I could carry it around with ease!

So in summary: 1.) Picture quality is good, but not great 2.) I love the smaller form factor (major buying decision base on this fact) 3.) Semi nice deal from Amazon on this package 4.) Case is nice, but should be included for free standard 5.) 16MB card at high resolutiuon and high quality holds only 6-7 pictures! 6.) Get the Viking 128MB CF card from Amazon... because you will ned the space

If I had it to do over again, I would have kept the Nikon...happy with Amazon service and product none the less.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great close-ups, easy to work with., July 11, 2001

By 

"cyw4" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canon PowerShot S20 3.2MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom Value Package (Electronics)

I have this Canon S20 and the Kodak DC4800, and I've also tried the Canon S300. I like the fact that S20 smaller and less bulkier than the Kodak, although not quite as small as the Canon S300. S20 doesn't take short mpeg like S300, but the megapixel and macro lens is far better than the S300. I usually use the S20 for close-up stilllife photos, and the quality came out much better than the Kodak DC4800. You can take photos with the S20 as close as 12cm (4.7 inches) from the object. The Kodak also boasted about its professional features such as the capability of changing f/stops and over- and under-exposure. I thought they were all unnecessary, and the Canon S20 is great as it is. It's simple, intuitive (I never looked at the manual.), and it takes clear, sharp photos. About uploading photos onto the computer: once you install the software and plug the S20 to the computer, you need to download your photos from the camera onto the computer first before working with them. That's unlike the Kodak DC4800, where the computer recognizes the Kodak as an additional driver and you can work with the photos straight from the camera. That's a minor drawback of the S20, but for the quality of the output, I'm willing to bear with it!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great camera, no complaint, July 25, 2001

By 

Alex Ho (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canon PowerShot S20 3.2MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom Value Package (Electronics)

It is just more than a year I have bought this camera, it is great especially it is very handy for taking daily family pictures, the quality is good and I've also tried to make prints using printers and through print shop, both are good. Of course, it depends very much on your printer quality as well.

Besides, I have bought IBM 1GB microdrive, very good price performance on storage, I use this when my family went to vacation, such that all photos could be put on the microdrive without taking a notebook with me. With the highest resolution, 1GB microdrive can store more than 1000 pictures. Not bad for even a two-week trip.

I would suggest to buy one to two more rechargable batteries, since one battery would roughly take 50 pictures. Three batteries allow you to take 150 picture a day.

Though it is over a year, I may still very satisfy with it....