Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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 stolen with every single digital photo that I had ever taken on it, none of which were backed up anywhere. The laptop was probably worth 500$, but all of my pictures of the vacation of a lifetime and everything before that(about 8,000 pictures or so) were priceless in the most literal sense. Just so I dont make New Zealand sound bad; It does have one of the lowest "violent" crime rates in the world and I have decided to move there for a year, It's actually the reason that I purchased my Powershot S80. Steal my pictures and I will just go back and take more, heh.

Thanks for reading,
Matt

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.

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.

I have owed many digital cameras over the past 8 years (at least 6), plus fancy Nikon SLRs before digital. I concider myself an amateur photographer. My last camera was a Canon SD500 (i carelessly dropped it hard and it died, it took other drops and was fine) I used it very often for about a year. I loved it!!! But it did not have the manual features I really like, but overall it did do most artistic type shots that I wanted. I personnaly prefer a quality small camera over any larger camera. I have also compared other brands use and prints, and nothing beats a Canon, IMHO. Canon's just seem to print out what you original saw on camera without having to make any changes on the computer.

The s80 is amazing! You just can't go wrong! It Canon's latest evolution as of Spring 2006. Its everything the SD500/550 is plus a lot more, although it is a bit heaver and larger, but not too much so. It is so easy to use and has a scroll wheel that is really effective. It has so many features and options, but the s80 still manages to keeps them fairly usable.

Please ignore other reviewers argument over RAW. Snobby purists insist on RAW. RAW takes hours of work for marginal improvements. JPEG is better for almost all applications.

Pros:
- Does everything possible short of being an SLR!
- Nice intuitive controls
- Great picures with superb resolution and lighting
- Really, it has everything!
- Could be used as a web cam (with additional software)
- Does higher res movies with audio (works great)
- Does time lapse; braketing (three shots in one); flash offset

Cons:
- Besides personal opinions of style, comfort, and
minors issues of SD vs. CF cards - NO major Cons. I much
prefer SD cards (smaller, cheaper, more standard)
- It has a slightly noisy zoom (not too bad)
- If you have big fingers, it would be harder to use.


OVERALL, if you really just want point a shot camera, the s80 can do that, but is really more than you need, get the SD550 or A95 instead. Just about any 5-6mp camera will do most family snapshots.

If the 5-6mp camera can print 8x10s, why would anyone need a >6mp camera? A: Cropping, cropping lets a novice take about any picture that has way too much space over people's heads and frame it more professionally (according to books). Cropping can create better eye flow and more detail. Even cropped you can print great pics. Also, if you really want to print good poster size prints then 8mp will do the trick.

--------------------

*** Digital SLR vs. Digital Compact/Snapshot Cameras:

I have had many types of cameras and lenses. Overall each has its purpose and target user. But, I feal that a compact like the s80 has as many or more features and abilities as larger good SLRs.

I think that SLRs main current strength is that they have:
1) Easily changable lenses
2) Perhaps better f-stop ranges (greater depth of field)
3) Longer battery time
4) More shots per second

These SLR advantages do not outweight the large bulky form factor and high cost when compared to a good compact. The s80 is the first really good compact that meets or exceeds a good SLR in terms of features and resolution. The s80 meets 98% of my needs. I value being able to pull it out of my pocket for a quick candid type shot over having an obvious bulhy camera that it all too often stuffed in a camera bag. And when I need full manual setup with tripod and lighting and remote triggering the s80 is full cabable and its printed photos are as good or better that other SLRs I've used. Plus, it is much easier/cheaper to use underwater with special case (I dive - it works great). Woefully, a compact camera just doesn't look very professional, but that is psychcological.

I have had several different digital Camera's since 1998. I have generally stuck to the Sony Brand because I love the Carl Zeiss Lenses, but I have also had Casio and used Nikon quite a bit. as far as smaller non SLR camera's go this one is awesome! It does take a little getting used to because there are a lot of options to choose from but once you get the hang of it, its really an impressive camera. The picture quality is very good, I also own the Canon i9900 printer and both the color and B&W prints are excellent with this. I used to get a bluish tint with my Sony when I tried to print black and whites.

The fact that you can store multiple profiles on the camera is awesome. all you have to do is turn the wheel and choose which profile you would like to use, once its set up its easy. The manual option is great, but does take a bit of getting used to, although you cant beat it for portrait shots, the depth of field can be manually adjusted. the movies are great quality, I have a 42 inch plasma TV and the movies it produces are as sharp as from my camcorder (to be fair the camcorder is 5 years old, but still impressive video for such a small camera.

Another cool feature is the color swap. You can do the same thing after the fact in Adobe, but nothing beats looking at the new colors live right after you take a picture.

The only thing I will ding the camera on is that it has no battery indicator on the screen, you kind of have to guess how much you have left, it's not enough for me to give it less than 5 stars. The picture quality is excellent and on the highest settings you can crop a picture a lot and still get an excellent 8 x 10 or 13 x 19.

Everyone has already written about the features of this product. I agree with them completely. This is the best point and shoot you could ask for. I just want to warn those of you looking to purchase...

I love this camera. I do not regret buying it. I travel all over the world as I currently work on a cruise ship. My old point and shoot was compact and convenient but took horrible low light pictures (low light meaning anything that was not outside). It was stolen so I needed to buy a new one.

I am a bit of a tech head and love gadgets. If I had my choice I would have bought the Canon 20D as I have been drooling over it for some time. But, the 20D is not always convenient for going to the beach, etc... So I bought the best point and shoot I could find. This camera is awesome.

That being said it also broken now. I only got about a month of use out of it. The problem starts with its size. Sure it fits in your pocket but is definately bulky. Basically what happened is that while it was in my pocket the slide cover slipped up and the telezoom lens tried to go out (this happens everytime you turn it on). It being in my pocket kept it from doing so and now the motor is broken and I have to send it for repair.

This was completely my fault as I was a bit careless.

I just want to warn those of you who want to be able to put this point in shoot in their pocket... DON'T DO IT!!!! Buy a case!

Otherwise, by all means, buy this camera. I love it and can't wait to get it fixed.

I would not recommend it for your aging parents or in-laws, unless they happen to be professional photographers The Powershot S80's advanced features are more likely to appeal to folks with more photographic experience.

Cons:
1. Slightly larger than the Canon Elph series, although it still fits in my pocket.
2. Shutter can stay open only 15 seconds maximum (I would of liked at least 30 seconds for nighttime exporsures).
3. The provided 32Mb SD memory card is only big enough for about 9 images at full resolution, so you'll want to add a 1 Gig SD memory.
4. You can buy one for less than four hundred dollars (check out some NYC camera stores).
5. The camera does not come with a leather camera case. However, you can purchase the Canon S80 kit to get an extra Li-ion battery, a nice leather camera case, and neckstrap for about US$60.

Pros:
1. Controls are very intuitive.
2. Large LCD makes reading the menus easier, even without my reading glasses.
3. Advanced user manual is straightforward.
4. The ease of reading the large (2.5 inch) LCD makes learning dozens of powerful features much easier than the labryinthinan Fuji FinePix point control system.
5. Downloads via the Canon suite of Ulead Zoombrowser tools is much easier than the earlier versions of Zoombrowser I had used with my other Canon Photoshot digital cameras
6. Althogh I have not purchased a water-tight case for underwater photography yet, Canon makes one and it is reasonably priced (about US$150).
7. The movie mode (640 x 480, 30 frames per second) is handy, especially with a Gig of memory to store long movie clips.
8. The software includes Photostitch 3.1, one of the better tools for creating panoramas.

I currently own a Canon 20D so I was looking for a high quality pocketable camera as a compliment to my "big rig".

The S80 is a nice size, although maybe a little heavier than expected, but still pocketable.

The manual itself is not up to the usual Canon standards, in my opinion. I found it difficult to understand the manual, which is kind of strange, since I was able to easily follow the manual for the 20D which is theoretcially a much more complicated camera.

The S80 powers up quickly, and has a very nice rear LCD screen. The viewfinder is sort of rangefinder like. The viewfinder follows the zoom, making objects appear larger and smaller as the lens is zoomed in and out.

Image quality is very good, however not truly stupendous as compared to images you might see on some professional review websites. I think the professionals find all the best light/photo situations to portray the camera in the best possible light.

A slight disappointment is the max ISO400 sensitivity. Already at ISO400 the image is somewhat noisy, which I would have expected more from Canon.

The controls and overall usability, however, is a class act from Canon, which is known for class acts.

All told it's a very good cam, but not truly an excellent one, in my opinion, so I only gave it four stars.

To be a top cam, it would need to give 800 or 1600 max ISO, even better image quality and a better manual.

Being able to shoot in RAW format would have been nice too.

I think Canon hit a nice level with the S80, but maybe didn't reach enough to call this a professional's second cam.

-- Terry

I got this one to replace my S110 and also to take to places where I cant take my D70. Overall, the camera takes good pictures. I will focus on the cons. For this much price, I would like to see following improvements:

1) Thinner and slightly smaller than what it is so that I can fit it into my pocket (its not a big deal but a wish list)
2) The LCD resolution is _BAD_ for a camera in this price range. I seriously seriously wish that Canon fixes it. Some people may not mind, but for me, reviewing the picture is important and low resolution LCD just doesnt cut it for me
3) The dial wheel on the right should have a mechanism to "lock it". Whenever I take my S80 out of its case, the wheel has turned to another mode. I always have to remember to reset it. Bad mechanical design. The least they could have done is "provide a way to lock it"
4) Ditto for lens cover. Sometimes, the lens cover moves too easily (while sliding the camera into its case). I could buy a bigger case but that loses the point of buying a small camera !
5) The flash shouldnt have been a pop-up flash to reduce red-eye.

A week before out trip to Australia I bought the S80, so I did not have much time experimenting with the camera.

Having already a Canon 20D, I bought this camera for two specific reasons:

1) Underwater Photography
2) City & familie pictures (the 20D is just too large to take inconspicious with you).

First off, the pictures taken with the 20D are better then the S80 but not by much in bright light. Part of the reason could be that we just were more used to the 20D, tried mostly the auto mode with the S80 and the build in flash is just not powerfull enough.
Before buying this camera I complained to Canon thet they switched to SD type memory for this camera, but during my trip my dedicated CF reader broke because one of the pins bend. Hense, I wish now that Canon would move everything over to SD flash cards.

One of the fun features of the S80 is the different modes and Video you can shoot with it. The different modes like beach, night etc are a bit troublesome since the S80 has similar features as the 20D so it can change the shutter speed to less then 1/60 and it does not let the user know (as far as I can tell that is what is happening). This gave me some major shake (blurry pictures) when shooting in dark complex settings like a forest or at night, but then what do you expect with automatic mode.

Using the TV/AC/M/P mode prevent this shake since you are more in control of shutter speed.

The manual settings on the S80 are extremely good, it is litterly an SLR in a very small body. You can change almost every aspect of taking pictures.

The video mode surprised me in a positive way. It is VERY clear and sometimes the S80 takes better video then our dedicated Digitial Sony Camcorder. There is some noise when it is quiet around you from the camera, but then I overlay my sound most of the time anyway so this is not an issue. In 640x480 mode the camera can take around 7 minutes non stop which is often more then enough for insidental video moments.

One of the greatest features for all people interested in underwater photography is the underwater mode. The S80 compensates very well for the reduction in red light.

We took 100s of pictures and they are comparable to those made by professionals as long as the pictures are taken above ~10m (30 feet) in good light conditions. Below that point the build in flash just does not perform well enough and everything turns a bit more gray. A dedicated strobe light would take care of that problem.

One feature I just loved underwater is that this camera can also take video in underwater mode with sound. It sounds a bit like Darth Vader breathing from your second stage, but the video is very crisp and allows you to bring back one of the greatest souveneirs possible. How often can you actually show people how it feels to Scuba dive, show coral waving in the current and see a turtle swimming up for air?

I compared the pictures and video against those made by a Sony and Olympus compact camera and there is no comparison. The S80 outperforms these head over heel.

Overall, the S80 is one of the best compact cameras you can buy on the market at this time. The pictures are great, the flexibility because of the manual mode settings is increadable and you get a full video/picture system to dive with up to 130 feet for less then $1000 (camera, 2x1GB SD cards, underwater case, underwater weights, 2 year extra warranty).

Four changes I would recomend:

1) Dedicated battery power indicator, now it is hard to figure this out
2) Display the shutter speed for ALL modes so shake can be prevented.
3) Underwater case should have a means to rotate the dial (not possible with current case restricting manual mode underwater, but you can pre-program the camera)
4) When changing the flash or Macro setting in the SCN mode, the user needs to reset them each time the camera is turned on.