Adding megapixel power to the popular S400 Digital Elph, Canon's PowerShot S500 bumps up the resolution to 5 megapixels--providing richer details and improved clarity. Elegantly designed and super compact, the S500 has a protective stainless steel shell with a celabrite finish, which mixes metals and ceramics to produce a tough cool-toned exterior that is visually stunning. It also features a 3x optical zoom, high-resolution video capture, and Canon's new Print/Share button, which helps you quickly connect directly to a printer or send an image via e-mail. The S500's 5-megapixel sensor captures a wealth of detail.Optics and Resolution
The 5-megapixel PowerShot S500 can capture 2592 x 1944 images for poster-size prints. It also has 1600 x 1200, 1024 x 768, and 640 x 480 resolution modes. The 3x optical zoom lens has a focal length of 7.4-22.2mm (35mm equivalent: 36-108mm). It also has a 4.1x digital zoom.
Movie Mode
The PowerShot S500 lets you capture high-resolution 30-second video clips with sound at 640 x 480 (10 frames per second). You can also capture 3-minute movies at lower resolution settings: 320 x 240 and 160 x 120 (both at 15 frames per second Amazon.com Product Description

Digic Imaging Processor: While much technical discussion of digital cameras centers around the optics and the CCD sensor, the complex task of image rendering is the job of the image processor--the "brains" of a digital camera. Canon's latest, exclusive DIGIC Imaging Processor significantly enhances digital camera performance in numerous areas. DIGIC's high-speed signal processing is combined with high-capacity buffering to give Canon digital cameras fast response and continuous shooting capability unmatched by other digital cameras. DIGIC delivers longer battery life and beautiful, rich color rendition with far fewer white saturation problems. And DIGIC's unequaled precision delivers clear, noise-free images that are demonstrably superior.

Canon's 9-point AiAF makes it easier to focus even when your subject is off-center in the frame.iSAPS Technology: Canon iSAPS (Intelligent Scene Analysis based on Photographic Space) technology dramatically improves the performance of AF (Autofocus), AE (Auto Exposure), and AWB (Auto White Balance). By analyzing a huge volume of photography data, accumulated over 60 years and the manufacture of over 150 million cameras, Canon engineers arrived at statistical relationships among focal length, focus distance, scene brightness, and other factors. Equipped with this "fore knowledge" Canon PowerShot cameras can optimize AF/AE/AWB settings for any given scene more rapidly and more effectively. Multi-point AiAF: Canon's wide-area, multi-point AiAF (artificial intelligence autofocus) automatically selects one or more focusing points based on factors, such as subject position and motion. AiAF works in conjunction with iSAPS Technology to more quickly and accurately achieve autofocus under a wide variety of shooting conditions. You get fast, accurate AF whether you hold the camera horizontally or vertically, with stationary or moving subjects, with off-center subjects, and even in low-light/low-contrast lighting.

Direct Printing/Sharing
The PowerShot S500 introduces a new Print/Share button that speeds and simplifies printing to compatible Canon and PictBridge enabled printers and one-touch image transfer to Windows XP, Me, 2000, and 98 computers for use with image processing programs, uploading to the Internet, or placement in e-mail. When connected to a Canon Compact Photo printer, a Movie Print mode divides the selected clip into equal parts and prints thumbnails of a maximum 63 equally spaced frames onto a single sheet of Postcard Size Paper.

Test Report

This is one to get if you want 5MP, April 14, 2004 Reviewer: Gadgester (New York) - See all my reviews The new Canon PowerShot S500 is a 5MP upgrade to the immensely popular S400 model, which was a 4MP digital camera. The S500 produces excellent images, is easy to use, and is compact enough to carry in a pocket. 3X optical zoom is standard on these cameras. Besides shooting still photos, you can record low-res video clips as well as audio clips, but don't expect high quality on either.
For a hundred bux less, you can get the 4MP S410 model which is otherwise identical to the S500. Should you go for this or the S410? I think for most consumers 4MP is plenty enough, with room for cropping and enlargements. 5MP is only necessary if you really crop a lot *and* plan to blow up the cropped images. The S410 strikes a great balance between pixel count and price -- it's a better value.


I love this ultracompact camera
A wonderful small camera, March 23, 2004 Reviewer: DrEDG "gynetix" (San Diego, CA United States) - Canon have done it again and produced this year another great ultracompact camera. The Powershot S500 really hits the mark for me. Small, and well designed it is also a well-rounded performer in the digital camera world. At 5 megapixel resolutions you can take very good quality pictures. The camera itself is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use. It comes with 32 MB compact flash, so you may well want to upgrade this capacity. Also, a case is not supplied in the box. Still these are small minuses. Like a lot of the newer ultracompact digital cameras the S500 has a movie mode, and can capture 2-3 minutes. Outdoors it takes some very nice pictures, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by its indoor performance with flash. It is possible to take some good photos without red eye problems. You cannot really go wrong with this camera if you want a good high performance compact.



disgruntled, and embarrassed, January 4, 2005
Reviewer:
Tony Dorsett "Tony" (Georgia) - See all my reviews
I love Canon products. I love the zoombrowser software. I LOVED my S200 digital elph. So I upgraded..

I bought 2 S500's, and had 3 friends buy one with me, (including my girlfriend). I am embarrased to say, the pics aren't very good. I am a photographer, and have tried every manual feature on this camera to try and improve the pictures. They rarily turn out sharp, and it is very hard NOT to wash the pics out with the flash (even with the pre-flash feature). The 5MP doesn't seem to matter. BTW, turn off the zone focus and go center weighted, the zone focus will drive you nuts picking the wrong subjects. I called canon, and they think I'm wrong, but I'm not. I have defended it to my unhappy friends- but not anymore. E-bay here I come... Anyone know of a good, compact digital camera?
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