Customer Reviews

Canon Powershot SD500 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

Let me begin by saying that Canon makes exceptional digital cameras; the best in the market right now. This is because they have always used high quality components since they began manufacturing digital cameras. This one is no exception.

Now that I've sold you on a Canon, which one should you choose?

First off, let's see if you really need an SDxxx camera, or would be better suited with a cheaper non ultraportable camera.

The SDxxx Series offers several key advantages over less portable models:
-Beautiful, sleek design and metallic body will wow anyone who sees it.
-Gorgeous 2 inch LCD screens
-The excellent Dig!c 2 processor (other Canons only have dig!c 1)
-Much better movie mode than previous Canons
-Small light, easy pocketability

On the other hand, there are some significant drawbacks due to the components Canon had to use to get the camera so small:
-Few manual controls.
-Pictures are not as sharp as those of similar non ultraportable cameras.
-The flash is very close to the lens (lots of redeye problems)
-More purple fringing issues than other Canons
-Proprietary batteries that are expensive to replace
-The LCD is very fragile. Read the SD200 and SD300 reviews to see lots of unhappy people whose LCDs broke. Canon's warranty does NOT cover this either. My suggestion? Buy using a credit card that offers a warranty in addition to the manufacturer's. If your lcd breaks, many CC companies will replace the camera no questions asked!

If you don't need the ultra portability and flashy looks of the SD cameras, a slightly larger camera with more features might be right for you. I would highly suggest Canon's A510 or A520 if you don't need an SD model.

If you still want an SD model, which one should you choose? The SD200 with 3.2mp, the SD300 with 4mp, the SD400 with 5mp, or the SD500 at a whopping 7.1mp?

Your first instinct may be that more megapixels is better. Today, however megapixel ratings are similar to Ghz ratings in the computer world: They used to mean a lot, but they don't mean as much anymore. More megapixels do NOT mean a better image. They mean a larger printable image. Unless you have to have huge prints, you simply do not more megapixels. In fact, the 3.2mp of the SD200 is enough for anyone who doesn't plan on printing pictures larger than a standard 8.5x11 sheet of paper.

That having been said, there are some differences between each SDxxx model. In order to get the larger 7.1mp sensor in the SD500, Canon had to make the camera larger. Thus, it is around a quarter inch thicker and 30% heavier than the other 3 models. The larger size did enable Canon to pack more features into it, however:

Features unique to the SD500:
-1/4 inch thicker
-30% heavier
-50% longer flash range
-14% more battery life

The SD400 and SD500 also share these benefits over the SD200/SD300:
-New "Night Display" feature which brightens the LCD in low light
-My Colors feature lets you highlight or swap colors right on the camera
-USB 2.0 High Speed support

The following are shared by all the SDxxx Cameras:

Pros:
-Beautiful, eye catching design
-Great image quality, though not as good as non ultraportable models
-New Dig!c 2 image processor
-Excellent Movie Mode
-3x optical zoom is adequate for most people
-Excellent, intuitive manual controls
-Huge 2.0 inch lcd that looks great under various lighting conditions
-Uses widely available and cheap SD cards

Cons (most of these are minor quirks):
-Some purple fringing problems
-Proprietary batteries are expensive to replace and inconvenient at times
-Lots of issues with fragile LCDs
-No RAW support
-Few manual controls

If you do choose this product, the first thing you should buy is a larger SD memory card. The camera comes with a 16mb card (32 in the SD500), which is pretty much useless.

You should also immediately purchase a case and some screen protectors to protect the LCD.

I am probably one of the first people that can now say that they have owned the new Sony DSC P-200 and the new Canon SD-500. In another review, I noted why I was not pleased with the picture quality of the Sony (lots of blurry pictures and unnatural color). I went out and got the Canon today. WOW! Big difference! I've taken about hundred shot with the Canon, in varying lighting situations, all in auto mode, and not one blurry picture!!! The quality, detail and clarity is much better than the Sony in my opinion. I did not conduct a rigorous test, but just took some identical shots in identical lighting with both cameras, and the Canon won hands down. Sharper pictures. More detail. More natural color.

The Canon is very small, definitely pocket sized, but still easy to hold firmly. It powers up quickly, so you won't miss that quick shot. I can't comment on most of the manual features of the camera because I've been shooting in auto mode, but based on my experience so far, manual adjustment, while available, won't be needed for most of the shots I will be taking. Once I have the time, I plan to explore all the high end features of the camera, but for now, I can't comment intelligently or fairly.

The only knock I have is that the flash is underpowered. This is a common problem with all ultra compacts, but I think I will probably go out and buy an external flash at some point. A few of my indoor shots could have benefited from a stronger flash, but even those shots were not all that bad.

Perhaps I have a defective Sony camera, but I have seen some other reviews where people had problems with blurry pictures, and it seems to be a known problem with the camera. After playing around with the Canon, I don't even want to take the chance of returning the Sony and getting a replacement. Its getting returned right away.

Before I took the family on a Disney Cruise to the Carribean, I shopped for a digital camera. I spent many nights reading reviews from various sites, compared prices vs features, size, megapix, accessory cost, memory card price,etc. I narrowed it down to a Sony Cybershot vs the Canon. I can say that I am not a pro photographer in any sense, but I enjoy snapping "tourist" photos and ones of the family so one day when I am senile I will remember. THIS CAMERA TOOK FANTASTIC PHOTOS, FOOEY ON THE NAYSAYERS. The only reason their pictures turned out blurry is because they cant hold their hands still!

WHY I'M GLAD I DIDNT BUY THE SONY:
Sony memory cards are a rip off (try pricing their high-speed ones versus regular SD high speed), their spare batts are a cha-ching, and their fragile LCD's are complained about a lot. Even though the Canon camera itself costs more than the Sony camera did, the Sony accessories would have cost me more than a fully loaded Canon w/ accessories! I'm sure the photos would have been nice also, but the features on the Canon are better and I have a higher megapizel camera for an overall cheaper cost of ownership.

CANON'S COOL FEATURES!
1. Besides taking gorgeous, rich, color photos, I spent a few minutes reading the manual. If you set it to SCN scene mode, there are a ton of pre-programmed modes that compensate for every setting, beach, night, indoor, close-up plants, and even fireworks. I played with the various modes and I easily figured out which was best for the picture about to take. The Disney cruise ship did fireworks from it and the pix are awesome. Cant wait until the 4th of July!
2. Super fast 1 second, ready to shoot time from the pocket. Didnt miss a single action moment!
3. Photostich- allows you to take panaramic photos left, right, up and down, then the included software automatically pastes the pictures together! It rocks!
4. Battery life was fantastic. I wasted my money on the spare battery (which was a generic Digipower from Best Buy and it died after 20 shots!) I used the camera all day, took photos and motion video and used up the 1gb storage space and the battery never died that day.
5. I bought a 1GB high-speed SD card for it from Fry's and I took motion videos with this camera! They play back in Windows media player and I emailed those out; people thought it was from a camcorder! I owned a Panasonic D-Snap and promptly sold it after my trip to Australia last fall. Wish I took the Canon there instead! Make sure you buy the high speed SD cards not a super Sunday sale cheap 512 card for $59! A 1gb high speed is about $80-$100. Also, dont forget to do a low level format 1st!
6. Their included software is a little cumbersome to learn, but it works well once figured out. Just wish it had more editing features in it instead of having to use an external software for advanced editing.
7. LCD can be seen at 50% level even in full sunlight & zoom was decent for a compact dig cam.

CONS (IF ANY)
I dont really have any true complaints, but to be fair here are some. Why pack a 32mb SD card? That's worthless, it holds like 7 pictures, Canon ditch it and lower the price instead! Dont like the flappy door thing covering the USB jack, seems cheesy. Camera can get slippery, use the hand strap at all times, thats cheap insurance!

Hope this review helps, I know I appreciate the other reviews people posted here, it helped me make the right decision for an investment that costs over $700 with all the accessories.

I'm going to state it right away, I am a die-hard Canon fan. I have Canon digital and film slr's, flashes, lenses, bags, the whole deal. But, I'm not so blinded by camera love that I can't spot crap when I see it. I have owned three different Canon compact digital cameras, and this is heads above all, the best of them!

I started out with the S400, a camera I had for two years and LOVED. Took about 9000+ images on it. It started to act funny, and I knew it was time for an upgrade so I got the Canon Powershot A95. I never really took to the camera, it was slowwwww to focus, and even though it was step up in megapixel power, the grain was HORRIBLE. The S400 outperformed it in image quality. I especially didn't like the A95 after I took it on a trip with me to Vegas, so two months later I sold it.

I saw the SD500 at a store and on a whim, (since it looked so similar to my dear beloved S400) picked it up to play with it. I accidently had grabbed the shutter when I went to pick it up and BOOM, in the span of a millisecond, it had focused and fired off a shot. Right there, I knew I had my new camera.

Starting off, the camera is a thing of beauty for the eyes. Smaller in length then my 20GB iPod, (slightly thicker), the camera is a breeze to carry with you at all times. THAT BEING SAID, I've read what other reviewers have written about the camera's durability and rated it badly because the lcd cracked. Just because the camera is 'pocket sized', doesn't mean in any way that you should stick it in your pants pocket. And then sit down with it in there, no less. Anything is bound to break if you do that! Get a sturdy case. It needs to be protected.

The camera is so much wuicker to focus then the previous powershot elph models. That strange, slow clicking sound is gone, it focuses in under half a second and fires. The flash recycle time is much quicker as well. No morewaiting (provided you have a properly charged battery in the camera)

Regarding battery life, it's pretty average for a rechargeable lithium battery. Alot of people do not like propriety batteries, I don't mind them, I have three for the camera in case I'm on a long trip. There's no reason not to have an extra, you don't want to be caught in the perfect moment to capture a photo and realize you have a dead battery with no alternative.

This camera does not have full manual controls, like the A95 does. You cannot adjust the aperture or the shutter speed. This doesn't bother me, as I own a digital slr with full manual controls, but if you do not own an slr and are looking for a compact with manual contorls, this would NOT be the camera for you. Check out the Canon Powertshot A series.

The image viewfinder is large enough, at 2 inches. I find myself sometimes getting finger prints on it easily when I go tograb the camera, but those are easily removed. The brightness of the lcd is also user adjustable, which is something you take for granted. I was going crazy when I had the A95 because I couldn't make the screen darker. It was so bright, everything looked blown out and the images looked COMPLETELY different exposure wise once you got them on the computer.

This powershot elph camera introduces a few new features that are incredibly neat and worth mentioning.

My colors has several user editable functions, like color swap, (two colors that you define that can be exchanged to make a really cool effect) and one of my personal favorites, color accent which lets you define one color, say, a pink shirt a friend is wearing (you point the camera and the color and hit the arrow button and it copies the color data) and it turns everything else in the picture black and white except for that one color so that it stands out. You can acheive this effect in photoshop, but being able to do it this easily in a camer is VERY cool.

I also like the option of shooting with positive film color effects. Blues are bluer, greens are greens, and reds are, well, you get the idea. It's different from the vivid mode because it just doesn't blast everything out, it makes the colors pop, but keeps them rich and true looking at the same time. The only gripe I have with this and the color accent features is that you cannot change the iso setting when you are in this mode, which to me, is a gross oversight. These functions are only accessible in the manual section of the camera, you should be able to change the ISO! I mean, you can change the white balance, why not let us be able to change the iso?! The camera would be perfect if you were able to do that...

Digital Macro is another really cool feature. You can take macros photos, but much further. It utilizes the digital, not optical zoom on the camera to bring the object closer while still keeping it clear. It works amazingly well, but at 4x, grain starts to become very apparent.

The stitch assist (panoramic) mode is still here, but this time you have to click through the menu to find it instead of having it readily avialible on the selection knob. I noticed that you cannot shoot a panoramic sequence in macro mode, which dissapointed me bcause I wanted to try some flower panos. Again, this is an oversight that really would've made the camera sing even more had it been included.

The movie mode! Oh my gosh, the movie mode. Best move mode on a canon compact, I believe. Double the FPS. The little movies look great. And unlink the A95, which would cut out after 30 seconds no matter how much room you had on your card, this'll let you keep going.

All in all, this is the best compact digital I've owned so far. I didn't think I'd ever be able to find a compact that I've loved like my S400, but I have. And it's better.

To sum it up:

Pros:
Near instant start-up (under .5 seconds)
lightning fast focus
lightning fast flash
Improved color modes
Amazing macro funtion
sleek design
image quality A-MAZING!
lcd screen brightness user adjustible
best movie mode on a compact!

Cons:
No iso control in my colors mode
no macro in pano mode

In the end, buy a sturdy case, and for goodness sake, have some sense and don't stick it in your pocket and sit on it! You will be happy with this camera if you can follow those rules. If you want a high qaulity compact digital camera with limited manual controls, this is it for you!

The Canon SD500 and Canon SD550 are both very capable digital cameras. While they are similar in many respects, the list price is not one. With the SD500's list price at $499.99 and the SD550's at $549.99, you might wonder what you are getting on the SD550 for that extra fifty dollars. Hopefully this comparison will help you find out.
The Similarities begin with the image processor. Both cameras utilize the DIGIC II image processor. According to the manufacturer this allows for "superb image quality through improved colour gradation and white balance accuracy". Since both cameras have this processor it affords an advantage to neither when deciding which camera to buy.
The similarities continue with the amount of mega pixels. The SD500 and SD550 each have 7.1 mega pixels. This means that pictures taken with these cameras will still be detailed when enlarged.
There are only really two differences between the SD500 and the SD550. The first difference is the size of the LCD screen. The SD500 has a two inch display. It may not be the biggest on the market, but it works well. On the other hand the SD550 has a two and a half inch display. The extra half inch on the SD550 does make it a little easier to make out details than on the SD500.
The second difference is the number of shooting modes. The SD500 has 13 shooting modes, which in my opinion is more than enough if someone was just looking to buy a camera to take on vacations or to family outings. The SD550 on the other hand has 16 shooting modes. Those extra shooting modes may come in handy for the more serious photographer.
I think it is safe to say that both the SD500 and the SD550 are good cameras. If you have the extra fifty dollars to spend I would suggest the SD550 with its half inch more screen and 3 extra shooting modes.

I've been a user of a Canon G3 for 3 years now, but I wanted a high quality/ very compact point and shoot camera for travel. The key here was buying something I or my wife could put into a pocket to carry and not have the quality of the results suffer due to size.

Being a reseach psycho before buying anything, I narrowed the field down to 3: Sony DCXT7, Casio Exilim z750, and the Canon SD500. Then I went to the store to try them out (I can not stress this enough...it is worth the trip to a store to play with these), and the number of cameras being considered went to two. The Sony, the sexiest camera of the group, was so thin it was nearly impossible for me to get a firm hold on (camera shake and red eye are the main problems with small cameras, all three of which have these issues to an extent, but Sony's camera was overly hard to hold, making it by far the worst for camera shake ), so I removed it from consideration...really too compact...plus it was 5 mp vs. 7 on the other two...for the same price. That left the Exilim and Canon.

One note on megapixels...more is better if you like to digitally play with photos on photoshop elements or another program (crop pieces out, etc) or want a 13 X 19 blow up ability should you capture the perfect picture. If neither apply's to you, the SD400 (same feature set, lens, processor) or another 5 mp would work just as well for less money...and give you the highest quality results needed up to 8X10 and a little bigger. Me, I like to play with photos after the shoot, which is why I wanted the extra resolution.

Just picking up and shooting with the SD500 produced great results (easy and mindless), and it was small, but not too small, to work with. My wife does not care about F stops or shutter priority (which it does not have). She wants to pick a subject, snap, and have amazing, mindless 7 mp results that rival the leading current prosumer G6 from Canon. I suspect that a large number of people buying digital camreas want the same thing.

If this is what you want, along with a great movie mode, useful scene modes, longer flash range than any camera this size, and a few fun fuctions (though you can do it on Photoshop, I enjoy the "color swap" (easily swap colors in a picture), & "color accent" (neat with B&W photo, think "Sin City" for a camera)) this is the camera you want. Mindless, stunning, professional results. You really can't go wrong picking this camera.

If you want or need full manual controls on a camrea this size, check out the Casio Exilim Z750, which came in a close second.

And speaking of manual, thank you Canon, for including a compact printed manual for the SD500. I've become tired of having to print manuals out on my computer for many new products.

I purchased this camera a few months ago, and was torn between the SD500 and SD550. After what seemed like weeks of painful research, I went with the SD500, and have been delighted.

Coming from Canon's Powershot A-series, I was a bit skeptical about the SD's being able to produce decent quality. After uploading a weekend of shots in Northern Michigan to my Mac (which was flawless without ever touching the included disc), I was floored by the quality of the shots -- and I'm not even a good photographer.

As a simple point-and-shoot camera, the SD500 is great. But when you get in to the color enhancement / replacement features, it really shines. I took a few comparison shots of the lakeshore; some with the blue enhanced, and some normal. They all came out great, but the enhanced ones really popped. The most impressive thing was that you couldn't see any obvious signs of enhancement -- the colors were still balanced properly, and the beach / grass / cars all had true color.

If you're looking for something pocketable with legendary Canon quality, look no further.

I have owned 5 canon cameras before I purchased the SD500.
I Owned two Powershot s50's Both of which I loved. I lost the first S50 after two years of use. It had been taken to Europe and all over the world dropped many times and was beat up pretty bad but the LCD was always fine . I replaced that with another S50 after I left it in a restaurant. It was great too had it for almost a year and it was stolen from my bag at a beach. I bought the SD500 and after TWO weeks of normal use (Never dropped) the LCD is broken. I wish I had read all the reviews of the LCD issues. Do not buy this or any other Canon elph type camera until they fix this obvious Camera FLAW. I suggest that everyone whom this flaw has affected should write Canon and ask them to correct this Flaw or cover it under the warranty. For this to be happening to this many people is ridiculous to say the least! Very dissapointed and will probably never buy another canon ever. It is too bad because other than the LCD the camera is very good. However it is pointless to buy a camera you can no longer use because of poor design. Extremely dissatisfied!

I bought this camera because my old camera (a Sony) fell victim to discontinued Sony technology. Sony stopped selling the Memory Sticks that my camera supported (and a lot of other Sony products supported), and they chose to make their new memory sticks such that they were not compatible with the old ones. Essentially, they purposely outdated their older merchandise, so that you could not longer buy accessories for them and would have to buy new ones. So I got upset with Sony and turned to Canon for my new digital camera, and I couldn't be happier. I was going on a one month trip, and knew I would need more memory than I had to get me through b/c I wouldn't have computer access, so I bought this little gem. It's a great camera and is very well made - strong construction. And I can also say that Canon has excellent customer service - the camera stopped working during my trip (probably due to a spill I took hiking, when I had my camera in my hand), and Canon fixed the camera under the warranty, no questions asked. The camera is very user friendly - it has tons of advanced features if you want them, but if you're not that technologically advanced or are feeling lazy and don't want to take the time to adjust the settings, the point and click settings still make it really easy to take great pictures. Oh, and I love that you can charge the batteries without having to plug in the camera itself - if you buy an extra battery, you can leave one charging at home or in your hotel, while you are out using your camera, unlike my old Sony camera that you had to plug in to charge its battery. The canon external battery charger is great! I've been converted to Canon for life!

Oh, and I also bought the underwater camera case because I knew I was going to be going on a kayak trip and swimming with dolphins, and that thing works wonderfully! It's constructed so that you can still access every feature of the camera while it's in the underwater housing. I took some great films of the dolphins under water. I didn't take it to great depths because I was snorkling, not scuba diving, but for my purposes it was great! If you're into scuba diving, I would imagine you'd want to buy the weight for the underwater case too, but for my purposes, that wasn't necessary - without the diving gear on, the fact that the case floats without the weight is a good thing!

First off, my qualifications. I am not a photography professional, however I am a software engineer in the digital media field, an amateur photographer and... well a gadget freak. I have owned a digital camera since they first came out. Everything from a 1 megapixel plain-vanilla to a DSLR. I still have my "prosumer" Fuji, which is not a full blown professional SLR but it has a lot of manual features and costs something that would let you sleep at night. With the demise of film, taking hundreds of photos a day is no longer an unlikely event even for those who don't get paid by the hour to do so. My normal camera is just too big to haul around so I've been trying out everything under the sun to get THE best compact camera that I could always have with me, that would satisfy my gadget desire, work FAST, and never make me look at the resulting photos and say "I wish I had my DSLR for that shot...". I thought it was an unrealistic task but I was wrong. Before this cam, I tried many cams and one notable example is the Sony T7. It is the epitome of form over function. It's the size of a few credit cards stacked and it is about as useful. I won't go into too much detail other than mention one funny fact, that 60% of your photos will have your left middle finger in the top left corner due to the location of the lens (and the natural way any human being would hold a camera). So enter the SD500. You can't take a blurry photo with this camera... you just can't. A Ferrari was flying up to me on the highway this morning, I whipped out the camera, it sprung to life in under a second, I snapped the photo with the car flying past and my car moving around on the bumps, and the picture is clear as day. I have N E V E R had a camera that could do this. It doesn't make me miss the manual features of the SLR or even my "pro-sumer", the automatic systems are so intelligent and fast that it just doesn't leave you wanting. Oh and it's a 7.1 mpx, so zoom in optically, then crop it later in Photoshop, and you can have a clear 4x6 of an ant's bum if you want... So yeah I like it. :) One pet peeve though... WHY DO THEY INCLUDE A 32 MEG CARD WITH A CAMERA THAT TAKES 3.6 MB IMAGES??? Why not just include NOTHING and reduce the sticker price. A 1 gig card for this cam is a minimum. The 2 gig is perfect. Also, the battery is great, lasts much longer than all the compacts out there except Casio (those cams btw, I also tried, but they are basically a poor execution of a great idea [the idea that Canon has executed perfectly here]... wonderful on paper, but gimpy in reality) but get a backup cause digi cam batteries die when you need them most and you can't stop at a 7/11 to get some alkalines that will work, there's an Energizer that'll fit. Anyway, now go 'n' git it! If you regret it you can blame it on me.