Help! Stop me from upgrading further (Canon Powershot S50)

Member Name: mgoldman

Product:	Canon Powershot S50
Date:	15/03/04 (196 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good results , can be simple to use, feels tough

Disadvantages: not ergonomic, not intuitive enough, a little too heavy

Well, after only a year of good use from my A40 (see my previous review), without warning, I walked into a shop off Oxford Street, and there it was at a bargain price. I did this just after Christmas, and my wife has not noticed yet. I did not mean to spend the money, but the price was so good, I could not walk away.

By the time you read this, the Powershot S50 will probably be an obsolete model: it has been out since 2003, and things move quickly. But the thing that I was interested in - the 5 megapixel resolution has not overtaken me, and people are still happily snapping away with 2 and 3 megapixel jobs, and seem happy.

So why did I do it? Well, blame it on Photoshop elements. I have really got into this software, and I needed to have a bit more slack when I was messing around with images. This does the business, and there is room to move around, and use that magic lassoo.

But what about the camera. It is very rectangular. It does not feel ergonomic, like the A40 which has the nice bulky bit to hold on to. However it is aesthetically pleasing, and the metallic black case looks and feels good. Some shops have been makiing an apology about only having the black (rather than silver model) in stock, but forget the silver. Black is the new silver, and it looks cool. It also may attract less attention in the street, and looks a bit like a cheaper plastic black 35mm camera. Given that cost of digital cameras, and the low moral climate on the streets, I am amazed that people flash their assets so eagerly like saying " hey, come and thump me"

The camera is switched on by sliding the lens cover, and vice versa. It looks as if should be a problem, but it is not. Three months of use have made it a clear non-problem. There is a very generous LCD screen on the rear, and it is difficult to criticise the screen. Lots of data is available, and I am continually having to go back to the instruction manual to refine the data that I show.
. There is the classic Canon twisty selector, and most of the time is spent on green, which is auto everything. There are lots of buttons on the back which control things like the flash and macro control. The menu button brings up the selection from hell. and there are so many options that I would guess that no two users have exactly the same options. You can even choose a sound that the camera will make when the shutter goes - I have mine set to sound like a film camera.

What about the pictures: bloody good. Better than the A40. More definition and detail (what you would expect). What I did not expect was that the low light capability is better, and because of the smaller size, it is easier to hug the cameral closely to the face,and steady it. It is just as well,because the flash is a bit weak and watery, and often shows an underexposed edge round the pictures. I am really into this available light thing, and would recommend that. Pictures use up a lot of memory. Using my standard 128megabite compact flash card, I can get about 90 pictures per card. Obviously this means that the JPEGs are about just over a megabite each when you download and store. Another brill feature is that when you take a picture in portrait orientation, the displayed picture is not on its side. Cool. There is also a mode where you can show the histogram, and thus get a better idea of how good your exposure really was. I have been very impressed by both the autofocus and autoexposure, and there is plenty of information given on the screen to help you know what you are doing.

Unlike the A40 this one uses a proprietary lithium ion battery, and not the standard AA's. That is a pity, but of course saves on weight and space. The spare batteries are expensive, and I immediately bought one, lessening the impact of the bargain. There is a natty little charger, that seems as if it will work anywhere in the world. The lack of a case in the box (you would have to buy it separately)
is pennypinching of the worst kind, but most of the camera makers do it these days. Shame on them. I use my old generic case from my A40. It rattles around a bit in the padding, but there is room for the memory cards and spare battery. I also wish that camera makers would supply a neck strap.

Overall I have been delighted with my purchase, and would recommend any keen digital photographer to upgrade to this one.

Summary: