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Digital Camera Reviews and Ratings By manufacturer:
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The Canon PowerShot S80 is an 8 megapixel digital camera that will be priced at around the $550 (USD) mark. It is based upon the Powershot S70. It features a 2.5 inch LCD, 3.6x Optical Zoom lens and 1024 x 768 pixel movies at 15 frames per second movie mode (or 30 fps at VGA, 60fps at QVGA quality).
Expect to see the Canon Powershot S80 in stores in October 2005.
Get the Latest Price on the Canon Powershot S80 8MP Digital Camera with 6x Wide Angle Optical Zoom
CNET reviews the Canon PowerShot S80 and gives it a rating of 8.0 out of 10 (excellent). They write - 'Canon's latest PowerShot S-series flagship, the 8-megapixel PowerShot S80, stands out just about every way you look at it. It's a fun little camera that packs a wallop in terms of features, performance, and photo quality. Its automatic-exposure modes and intelligent processing will impress casual shooters who want good images without a lot of fuss. Its manual controls and advanced features will provide enjoyment for fiddling amateurs. And its big 2.5-inch LCD, elegant good looks, and excellent build quality will please any shooter.'
DP Review has posted an excellent review of the Canon PowerShot S80 where they give it a rating of highly recommended and write - 'So then, the S80 is a camera that proves there is hope for the new generation of 8 megapixel compacts. I was ready to blast Canon for another pointless upgrade, but as the review progressed I started to appreciate that this was not just a worthwhile upgrade, it was probably the first time I've found a PowerShot I'd actually lay out my own money for. I toyed with the idea of a recommended simply due to the lack of raw support, but given that - with careful exposure - the JPEGs are so good, I felt that would be unnecessarily harsh.'
Trusted Reviews has just posted a review of the Canon Powershot S80 digital camera where they write - 'Although it is scarily expensive, the PowerShot S80 really delivers. It has enough creative options to satisfy any keen photographer, and delivers results that are among the best I�ve seen. Performance, design and build quality are all of the high standard we�ve come to expect from Canon. If you got the money, it�s one of the best compact cameras you can buy.'
Steves Digicams reviews the Canon Powershot S80 and writes - 'With an MSRP of under $550, the Canon S80 presents an excellent value among high-end consumer digicams. With 8 megapixels of resolution, a versatile optical zoom range of 28-100mm, excellent image quality and a stylish pocketable design, it has broad appeal for recording family events and travel. It is capable of being used by photographers of every experience level, providing plenty of automation for the beginner and ample controls for the advanced user. The average size of a 8-megapixel Superfine image is nearly 5-megabytes, so make sure that you get an SD memory card large enough for a days worth of shots. And because the S80 can not be powered by common batteries, make sure that you get a spare NB-2LH battery, keeping it fully charged so that you don't miss that once in a lifetime photo op. The S80, like its S70 predecessor, is an excellent camera, one that I can again highly recommend. '
Imaging Resource reviews the Canon Powershot S80 Digital Camera and writes - 'Like Canon's other mid-size PowerShots, the S80 presents itself as a well-built, high-quality instrument. The size and style are reminiscent of a point-and-shoot model, even though it offers an eight megapixel sensor and a wide range of shooting options -- from fully manual operation to programmed, automatic, and a wide range of preset exposures. Its interface is quite a bit different from past models in the line, with several new ideas, and a few borrowed from the Canon G6. The telescoping 3.6x zoom lens is made with Canon's UA optical glass, which stands for Ultra-high refractive index Aspherical Lens, providing a physically shorter lens with a wider angle of view than cameras earlier than the S60 and S70 in this line. The lens is protected by a sliding lens cover that blends well into the camera's front panel. As with the majority of Canon's high-end digicams, primary functions are accessed via external controls, providing quick and easy adjustments to flash, exposure compensation, manual focus, and light metering modes. This combination of compact design, sturdy construction, and flexible exposure options makes this camera a real pleasure to work with, and a good value for the $549 list price, occupying as it does the higher end of the category.'
Lets Go Digital Reviews the Canon Powershot S80 Digital Camera and writes - 'All in all the Canon PowerShot S80 is an extremely interesting digital camera. It seems a rather stubborn one, but definitely one that proves itself worthy. The PowerShot S80 is found on the top in its price range. Most changes compared to the S70 are for the user's benefit. A few minor changes (like the return of RAW format!) and the Canon PowerShot S80 will be one of the best versatile digital cameras currently available; it's absolutely a recommendable camera!'
Megapixel reviews the Canon Powershot S80 and writes - 'In summary, the PowerShot S80 offers the high-quality build of the S-series cameras are known for, and adds some new and interesting controls. But its image quality, albeit very good, is not as high as we hoped to see, and in our opinion, has not surpassed that of the S70, its predecessor.'
PC Mag reviews the Canon PowerShot S80 and gives it a rating of 4 stars. They write - 'The sturdy, solid, 8-megapixel PowerShot S80 is the update to the PowerShot S70, last year's Editor's Choice winner. The camera is pricey ($549.95 list), but most features are improved, and only a couple have been dropped. As such, the S80 becomes our Editor's Choice for full-featured, compact digital cameras....The Canon PowerShot S80 is a solid compact camera that takes excellent photos. It may be a bit expensive, but as versatile compact digital cameras go, you'll be hard-pressed to find something better.'
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 mm f/2.8-5.3 (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“ 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.
“The PowerShot S80 provides those serious about photography with uncompromising specifications,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. “Its futuristic and compact design symbolises Canon’s commitment to pushing the limits of what is possible in this important segment.”
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 - 100 mm f/2.8-5.3 (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 – 200 mm 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 detailed A3+ size 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 centred. 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“ 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, 9 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 colour 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 fps) 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 fps) movies with sound or QVGA movies (30/15 fps) are also possible, and a compact mode allows short clip capture at 160 x 120 for easy emailing.
Wide range of accessories
A complete range of optional accessories is available to extend the functionality of the S80, including a new Tele-converter 2.0x lens (TC-DC10) and new Wide-converter 0.8x lens (WC-DC10). Other accessories include:
* Conversion Lens Adapter (LA-DC20)
* Waterproof Case WP-DC1 – allowing the camera to be taken to 40 m
* High Power Flash HF-DC1
* A new, more compact Battery Charger (CB-2LWE)
* Convenient Car Battery Charger (CBC-NB2)
* AC Adapter kit ACK-DC20 for mains power
The camera is compatible with MMC/SD cards, and comes supplied with a 32 MB Canon SD card.
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 for just 30 euro cents each. 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 100MB 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.
Posted by Darren in our Canon category on August 22, 2005