» Canon PowerShot Pro Series S5 IS 8.0MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Canon PowerShot Pro Series S5 IS 8.0MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: So Simple a Child Could Use It (and really did)
Comment: I gave this camera to my 11 year-old grandson two days before he and his family embarked on a five week tour of Morocco and France in the summer of 2008. He had zero experience in photography, and I had low expectations. I put a 4Gb memory card in it and told him to bring me back 400 pictures.
He brought back 950 pictures, 900 of which are precious keepers! Some we are putting on Google Maps Panoramio. He gets a kick out of seeing that 1,572 people have viewed his photographs of a lighthouse in Tangier, the Louvre in Paris, and the bullet train to Brussels.

Is this a computer with a camera built around it or is it the other way around? I don't know, but if I were advising NASA for a robotic landing to a distant world, the features in this camera are what I would recommend for trouble-free ease of operation sending high-grade pictures back home.

With 40 years of experience in a branch of photography (TV news video and film) I could write at length about ISO settings, automatic white balance and chromatic aberration, but would rather leave such discussions to the geek-speakers and let them grumble among themselves. Unless it involves a microscope or a telescope, photography is not a science it is an art. A compelling picture is the result of the photographer's interest in the subject, and more expensive gear can do little to add to its intrinsic beauty.

Any technical flaws that appear can be cured post-production ("photoshopped") with programs that are easy to use, inexpensive and sometimes even free.

Some technocrats have openly complained about 8 megapixels being extremely high and completely unnecessary. They are thinking 5x7 or 8x10 prints. I would like to point out that the 950 pictures my grandson took were all viewed as a camera-generated slideshow on a 52-inch HDTV screen. While all 8 megapixels weren't visible even at that size, if we want to re-size or crop a picture using the digital zoom feature we have the latitude to do so that wouldn't be possible with a lower megapixel camera.

I did months of research before choosing the Canon S5 IS digital camera and it has surpassed every expectation.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Horrible Pictures
Comment: Takes horrible pictures. My old tiny olympus took better pictures. Flash takes forever to recharge between shots. I can't stand this camera and can't wait to get a different one.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great camera, but why get ripped off here???
Comment: The ridiculous prices here aren't even CLOSE! I just LOVE the clowns selling it over MSRP. What a joke. Please, don't waste your time with these fools. Buy it elsewhere. I've seen it for $299. The camera is great. I had the S3, and am about to buy this one. Takes wonderful pictures. I've taken great shots from the nosebleeds at a hockey game of the puck at faceoff. Unreal how well they came out. Canon makes great stuff. Nicely put together, easy to use. Awesome Zoom and good quality shots.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Canon S5 IS-Excellent Camera
Comment: I was debating between the Olympus SP570 UZ and the Canon but after comparing them I chose the Canon primarily because it was quicker focusing,less expensive, and the picture quality was as good or better. The extra zoom was enticing but did not make up for the slower response. Have had the camera for a month and extremely pleased.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Love It!
Comment: I love my camera. The pictures are sharp and vivid. There are a lot of features to use. I am still learning them of course, but I will have plenty of opportunities to utilize them. I can zoom in on an object and see it with such clarity. The only draw back is the lens cover. It continuously falls off , but compared to the picture quality and the relatively easiness of using this camera it's a minor issue.

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