Canon Powershot S80 8MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Wide Angle Optical Zoom

by Canon

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 3 inches ; 7 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000AYGD8E
• Item model number: PowerShot S80
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,110 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 24, 2006

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology, today releases the 8.0 Megapixel PowerShot S80--the new flagship to its S-Series PowerShot range. The camera's rich feature set includes a wide-angle 28-100 millimeter f2.8-5.3 (3.6x) optical zoom lens incorporating Canon's UA lens technology, the same DIGIC II processor found in Canon's professional series digital SLRs and an oversize 2.5-inch LCD. A striking, contemporary finish complements the compact body of the camera, which is considerably smaller than its predecessor, the PowerShot S70.

For the first time in a digital compact, an EOS-style Multi Control Dial is introduced to allow quick setting of menu and shooting functions, as well as rapid scroll through images during playback. Advanced features include real-time histogram display, FlexiZone AF/AE with a freely movable focus point and manual focus override, 21 shooting modes, XGA quality video clips up to 1 GB in size, and a new and improved user interface with a newly designed and positioned mode dial.

Quality build, quality optics
The sleek-looking S80 has been redesigned to give it a solid, high quality build and a more ergonomic, compact body that is over 8% smaller than its predecessor--despite the camera's improved performance. Its 28-100mm f2.8-5.3 (3.6x) optical zoom lens features Canon's advanced UA (Ultra High Refractive Index Aspherical) lens technology, which allows for true wide-angle capability without increasing camera size. The focal length range expands to approximately 22.4 to 200 millimeters with the new optional wide and tele-converter lenses.

The power of 8.0 megapixels plus DIGIC II
With a sensor that includes a massive 8.0 megapixels, the camera produces images for photo-quality 16 x 22-inch prints, and gives photographers more freedom to crop images.

Canon's advanced image processor, DIGIC II, has been incorporated to increase the camera's speed and responsiveness, while also improving image quality. Auto focus speeds are now up to 20% faster, and focusing performance in low light has improved by around 1 stop, offering better control in dim conditions. DIGIC II drives a 1.8 frames per second continuous shooting speed, and supports 9-point AiAF for fast, accurate focusing even when subjects are not centerd. FlexiZone AF/AE allows free scrolling anywhere within the frame's auto focus area to select the desired subject, for which exposure is weighted accordingly. Manual focus selection is also possible.

Hi-Speed USB 2.0 compatibility offers faster communication with computers, speeding up file transfers.

High level control and easy to use
The camera's smaller size has not compromised ease of use. A new large 2.5-inch LCD is adjustable to one of 15 brightness levels and has a Quick-bright function to facilitate shooting in sunny conditions. A real-time histogram, which appears on the LCD monitor, has been incorporated to allow the user to evaluate exposure easily when composing. The selectable grid line display helps with composition and levelling horizons.

With a newly designed user interface, the S80 offers faster and more intuitive operation. The Multi Control Dial allows quick setting of menu and shooting functions, as well as rapid scroll through images during playback. Conveniently, the mode dial is now positioned so it can be better viewed when composing shots. The camera's Shortcut function increases flexibility by allowing the Print/Share button to be assigned to any one of a wide range of still image or movie shooting setting functions.

For enhanced image review, the jump to folder button now allows jumping to the first image of specified folders. Folders can be defined to be created automatically as specified by the user, for example on a weekly basis, and now has a capacity of up to 2000 images per folder.

Modes, My Colors...and movies
The S80 incorporates a total of 21 shooting modes: in addition to the full Manual mode and other creative zone modes that photographers would expect on an S-Series camera, nine new special scene modes have been incorporated. Helping the user to effectively handle a wide range of situations, these scene modes include Snow, Portrait, Underwater and Digital Macro, plus others. Custom mode allows users allocate preferred shooting settings.

My Colors--located on the mode dial--allows the expansion of creativity in digital photography. Special effects, such as Color Swap or Custom Colors, which allows users to select their preferred color balance for any given shot, can be performed in-camera and viewed on the LCD while shooting stills and movies. These effects could previously only be achieved using PC software after shooting.

Extended movie shooting functions feature in the S80, including a first for the market: a high-resolution (1024 x 768, 15 frames per second) XGA movie mode, made possible by DIGIC II's processing speed. Movies in this mode can be up to 1GB in size and are ideal for viewing full screen on a PC or TV. High quality VGA (30/15 frames per second) movies with sound or QVGA movies (30/15 frames per second) are also possible, and a compact mode allows short clip capture at 160 x 120 for easy e-mailing.

Advanced printing
When used in combination with Canon's new Compact Photo Printer Selphy CP710 and Ink and Paper Set (KP-108IP), prints can be produced very inexpensively. Printing via a Selphy CP Series Printer also allows the user to print handy ID Photo Prints and Movie Prints.

When connected to the latest range of PictBridge compatible PIXMA printers, users can take advantage of image enhancement features such as Noise Reduction, Vivid Photo, Face Brightener and Captured Info print, which prints shooting data such as shutter speed, aperture and shooting mode within the photo border.

Printing images without having to connect to a PC is kept simple with the Print/Share button, which also acts as an easy upload button for Windows XP and Mac OS X.

Software
The S80 comes bundled with a comprehensive software suite, including Canon's browsing and image management software ZoomBrowser EX 5.5 (Windows) and ImageBrowser 5.5 (Mac), easy printing software PhotoRecord 2.2, and PhotoStitch 3.1 for creating stunning panoramas. Also included is the photo manipulation software, ArcSoft PhotoStudio.

Purchasers of the cameras are eligible for membership of Canon iMAGE Gateway, which offers 100 MB of online space for uploading and sharing images.

Supported operating systems are Windows 98 (SE), Me, 2000 (SP4), XP (SP1/2) and Mac OS X v10.2-v10.3. The cameras support PTP for driverless transfer to supported Windows XP or Mac OS X systems.

What's in the box
PowerShot S80 body, Lithium battery pack NB-2LH, battery charger CB-2LW, 32 MB SD memory card SDC-32M, wrist strap WS-300, Digital Camera Solution CD-ROM, USB interface cable IFC-400PCU, audio-video cable AVC-DC300

Product Description

PowerShot S80 perfectly embodies the compact design and superior handling that are the hallmarks of the S-series, and as the top model in the line, it's equipped to impress. The 8.0 Megapixel CCD and wide-angle, high performance lens ensure spectacular images, while the extra-large LCD screen makes shooting and playback easy and fun.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

472 of 491 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My massive review!, October 27, 2005

By 

L. Wilmot "FireFighter" (New Hampshire, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon Powershot S80 8MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Wide Angle Optical Zoom (Electronics)

When I was looking at which camera to buy I found an extreme shortage of reviews on the Canon Powershot S80. So I hope that my addition to the growing number of reviews helps.

The following format for my review will start with the Pros, then the Cons, and finally a small summary blurb about the camera...

PROS:

-Appearance
~The Powershot S80 is surprisingly small for the power it packs, which helps make it a suitable pick for anyone who travels.
~Style... I wouldn't be surprised if famous personalities started wearing this camera on their neck chains as "Bling". It is very sharp looking, though one can determine what they think of it by looking at pictures I suppose.

-Operation
~You can find out most of the information regarding this camera's operation and statistics on various websites, but I have a few things to mention that I was not able to find online, or didn't think of looking for.
~After using this camera it is easy to see that a significant amount of effort went into gearing it for point and shoot photographers. Have no fear though, it does offer advanced settings that I have not actually been able to play with yet on my S80.
~8.0 effective mega pixels (8,000,000 pixels) worth of resolution means for example, if you turn on the Macro setting (at least 4 CM or 1.6 inches from the subject) and take a picture of your index finger, then, upload it to your computer and zoom in on your fingerprint you will actually be able to see the tiny particles or dirt stuck between the many crevices that make up your fingerprint. It is really amazing. The resolution has been incredible for every photograph and video that I have taken thus far.
~The video recording capability of the S80 is unmatched for any other camera in its size or price range for that matter. One of the important factors that I was looking for when shopping for my camera was that the video format was basically anything but ".mov". The S80 uses .avi which means that you can use windows media player to watch the video that you record and more video editing tools to manipulate footage that you record. The video resolution of the S80 goes up to 1024 x 768 at 15 until you consume up to 1 Gigabyte of memory. I recorded a video last night and watched it (with the cables provided in the box) on my 32'' television. I am still amazed at how clear the image was. I will even go so far as to say that this camera will second as a camcorder for certain purposes, which would then imply that I think that it is a good 2 for 1 buy. Which it is ;-). You can also record in lower video resolution up to 1 Gigabyte too. If you are planning on using the highest quality picture and video settings, buy a SD memory card with lots of memory, I bought a 2 Gigabyte card myself. Ah, and I took a 48 second video on the highest resolution and the file was 87.8 Megabytes, which will give you some rough idea of how much footage you will be able to shoot on the memory card of your choosing.
~The battery and charger that come with the camera are great, the prongs on the charger can fold inwards when it's not plugged in (obviously). Which is good for travel. I have had my camera for 2 days now and I have not needed to recharge the battery yet, which is nice that I have been using it constantly to play with the settings and have taken almost 100 pictures or videos. Another reason that you might want a camera like the S80 is that it does not use AA batteries, or any disposable batteries for that matter. My old camera was A Kodak Easyshare 3.1 Mega pixel camera. I got about 8,000 pictures out of it before it died in a very irritating manner. It gradually got less and less use time out of new batteries until it would literally take 2 pictures and then turn itself off. Now it totally refuses to function. Also, my friend had his camera die due to a simple mistake in battery purchase, he put Lithium AA batteries in his camera (I forget the make and model, it was a 3.2 MP though) instead of the Alkaline batteries he was supposed to be using and it totally broke. I was amazed that such a simple mix up could kill a 200$ purchase. When I helped him bury his camera (in the trash) I swore to myself that I would only go with rechargeable in the future.
~For its size the S80 offers just a little more than the norm with a 3.6x optical zoom. Which is really cool. Don't even turn on the digital zoom. It's worthless and probably one of the worst ideas ever conceived. You might as well take a magnifying glass and hold it up to the picture, the quality suffers when you zoom in with the digital.
~The LCD screen is massive (2.5 inches) which is good for video playback and reviewing your photos before downloading them to your computer. It also appears to be very strong, which is a definite plus.

-Price

~Let me just put it this way, for what you are getting this camera is a bargain buy compared to most of the other cameras in its price range on the market right now.

-Accessories

~I bought the waterproof case for the Powershot S80, though I have yet to actually take it underwater I can say that It offers almost 100% use over the cameras controls. There is a way to rotate the dial (which is one of the controls on the back of the camera) by pressing the "share" button apparently, but I have yet to figure that out. The only thing that you cant do, well as far as I know, is turn off the camera wile underwater, though you can turn off the LCD screen which will save your battery life for ages. Oh, and something that I was concerned about because I couldn't find information about it online was whether or not I would be able to use the optical zoom and flash easily underwater. Well, you can, the case leaves room for the lens to extend as far as it can and the waterproof case comes with a flash diffuser that snaps onto the case in front of the camera for good underwater lighting. The case also comes with a... Well, I don't know what to call it but I guess I could say that its an "open ended chamber" (there is a real word for it but I guess that its just not in my vocabulary today) that snaps onto the exterior of the case for easy viewing of the LCD screen underwater, though it doesn't really seem necessary. There is also a nice underwater neck strap and wrist strap included in the package. The waterproof case comes totally assembled, and it's pretty easy to open and close. There are no good pictures of the case online that I could find at the moment unfortunately (well, ones that show the back where all of the controls are). But its very well put together and looks far more high-tech than I thought it would. As they say, engineers are the underappreciated (except monetarily) inventors of today's society. To summarize about the case; It supposedly goes up to 40 meters or 130 Feet underwater and remains watertight. Take care though, not all people are rated for that depth ;-). Oh and be sure to use the silicone lubricant for the rubber seal that is provided before you use the camera underwater. Just to be same make sure that you test your case underwater as a reasonable depth FIRST without the camera in it. Juuuuuust incase. I'm not sure if the Waterproof case is made for use in salt water, but I'm assuming that it is, I mean, who dives for and takes pictures of Trout that isn't either making a television documentary, or documenting their ventures in illegal freshwater harpoon fishing, hehe.
~The accessory kit for the Powershot S80 is a good buy if you are looking for a spare battery (which I recommend for trips without wall sockets (which of course, are the best kind of trips). It also includes a large, rugged, steel chain neck strap (which is much more convenient than the wrist strap that comes in the box with the S80. The steel neck strap is coated in plastic to prevent possible scratching on parts of the camera. You get a nice little carrying case that the camera will barely fit in, the carrying case has a strong belt loop on the back if you want to wear your camera on your hip with a belt.

CONS:
(The cons will need less explaining)

-I would have liked the Macro setting to be a little closer than 4 CM.

-The camera offers digital zoom (which virtually all digital cameras offer unfortunately).

-The lens is surprisingly noisy on camera startup and when you change the zoom. This isn't really as much as a problem as it's just that I take lots of wildlife photos and it might someday ruin a great photo opportunity if I have a close encounter with a frantic creature.



That's about it, I took a good long amount of time to try and think of more negatives but couldn't. I could probably add more pros but I think that this review is long enough. I have only seen 2 negative reviews for this camera and they were on different websites, one was because the person who bought the camera disliked the fact that the Powershot S80 changed to SD memory cards. That was the only reason in that review that I could find. And the other negative review was because the S80 does not give you the ability to shoot in the "RAW" format. Which could be a drawback for some of the more advanced photographers, but it didn't bother me that much. Anyways, that was my lengthy review. I tried to keep it from being dry which is tough when you're writing a review on something so technical, hah.

Oh, and if you were thinking about buying this camera, the only reason that you shouldn't is if you absolutely need the RAW format or higher optical zoom.

***RANDOM TIP: Remember to always BACK UP YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOS and other information. I was vacationing in New Zealand about 9 months ago and had my laptop... Read more ›

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Compact That Tries To Be a DSLR (and Almost Succeeds), December 3, 2005

By 

J. Wong (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon Powershot S80 8MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Wide Angle Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I bought my S80 on the recommendation of those fine people at dpreview, who describe this camera as suitable for a serious photographer wanting DSLR capability in a compact. After a week of fiddling and testing in various conditions, I'm really impressed with both the camera and the accuracy of the dpreview.

No, this tiny little box will not replace your DSLR. It's small sensor and lens handicap it in medium and low light. Faint noise begins appearing in shadows at ISO 100, noise is visible at ISO 200, and very visible at ISO 400. You probably won't go beyond 4X6 size at ISO 200 with "good" results. Zoom is restricted, and there are some corner problems when the lens is wide. I've found it tricky not shaking this tiny, light machine when I press the trigger without support. Autofocus is reliable and efficient, but not "fast" by DSLR standards.

But at ISO 50 (and sometimes 100), this camera can shoot smooth, clean pictures with rich, accurate colors and resolution good enough for 8X10 prints (maybe even larger) that could be suitable for framing. For a compact, I think this camera's dynamic range is terrific---it can capture small tonal and color differences in both the light and dark areas of a picture almost as well as my Canon DSLR, and that's saying a lot. Even at ISO 200 and 400, when noise begins to mar the picture, you still get an admirable amount of detail and color.

And, wow, who ever heard of a compact non-DSLR that can fill an entire 1 gig card with continuous full size fine jpegs? In shutter priority mode, my S80 has shot 17 frames in ten seconds (7 frames in ten seconds in aperture priority) without having to come up for air! I used both SanDisk Extreme and Ultra II SD cards, and the little guy just didn't stop clicking.

There is no raw mode, but if you enjoy fiddling with your pics in Photoshop, take the sage advice from the dpreview people and turn down the constrast, saturation, and sharpness. You will get a raw-er jpeg image out of the camera, that can be custom tweaked in post-processing. I've been amazed at some of the results.

If you're accustomed to DSLR performance, you'll be giving up a lot when you put the S80 in your pocket and leave your camera bag at home. But I've been having a blast just exploring the limits of this camera, and am convinced it will capture some great impromptu pictures over the next year. The flaws I've noted tempted me to rate this camera a 4, but that just wouldn't be fair. The S80 is made to go in your pocket, and you just can't expect a cigarette box sized camera to perform like a two pound DSLR with an L lens. There are 8X10's I've shot with my S80 that look like they were shot with a DSLR, and that's why I'm impressed (again) with those guys at Canon. My S80 is going a lot of places with me. It is the best compact I've ever owned.

55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This camera is simply amazing, packed with features, and perfect for the serious amatuer, January 19, 2006

By 

Phoenix Rising - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Canon Powershot S80 8MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Wide Angle Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I had been extremely reluctant to forgo my beloved 35mm cameras and go digital. I own a Canon 7E SLR and an Olympus 28mm-80mm point-and-shoot. When I finally decided to go digital, I planned to replace both 35mm cameras, starting with the Olympus point-and-shoot. After much research, I decided to go with the Canon S80.

I have just returned from a 3 week trip to India. The S80 blew me away! I am so impressed with the camera's features that I have decided not to buy the Canon 20D digital SLR! For starters, the S80 packs a mind boggling amount of features. Just like Canon's SLRs, the S80 goes from fully automatic to fully manual. I have never before owned a point-and-shoot that allowed me to fully control the shutter speed and aperture. Sure, the S80 does have limitations vis-à-vis Canon's $1,000+ digital SLRs (for example, the shutter will only stay open for 15 seconds max). However, for the serious amateur (or a photo novice who seeks to improve his/her photo taking skills), I think this camera is perfect. It is surprisingly easy to use with intuitive features, especially if you are used to Canon's mode settings. I was pleasantly surprised with its flash. I can increase and decrease the megapixels of my pictures with the push of a button. The S80 is a bit thicker, and heavier than other 8 megapixel cameras. But the slightly increased size and weight is well worth the added features packed into the S80. I bought a CaseLogic pouch and carried the camera around my belt for three weeks, no problem at all. Finally, the zoom is "noisy." But seriously, who cares.

Oh, one more thing...be sure to buy a 1 gigabyte SD card that has at least 133X speed. The 32MB card that comes with the S80 is woefully inadequate considering that (a) you can only fit about 8 pictures at the 8 megapixel setting and (b) the card is extremely slow as compared to 133X speed cards.