Canon PowerShot S2 IS

Good – Whilst I listed 2GB memory card as a "Con" (was disappointed after buying a 4GB SD card to find out it didn't work!) 2GB still allows quite a lot of photos at the highest quality setting. 5 megapixel may seem very small by todays standards, but a 5MP photo taken with the lens on this camera is still superior to a modern compact with 12MP and a… Read more

tiny lens.

Now that I've also got a recent 12MP compact point and shoot camera, I've come to appreciate the functions and quality of the S2 even more. I've shot quite a few nice portraits zooming in with a reasonably wide aperture to produce that nice blurred background effect, and taken macro shots of products to display online from within a couple of centimetres in front of the lens.

The zoom has also been extremely handy at stage events or even kid's school events where I was sitting in the audience, and needed to get up close. The swivel screen has allowed ease of self-portraits as well as filming and shooting at all sorts of angles (eg. holding the camera high above a crowd!)

Only problem was that there were several dead pixels which were quite noticeable, especially if I shot a dark low-key photo. That was fixed under warranty but a similar problem emerged a year later where there are a few dead pixels on the sensor.

Other than that, it has well laid-out controls which allow the more advanced enthusiast to be more creative if they aren't ready for an SLR just yet. powerful optical zoom, image stabiliser, extreme closeup macro, uses regular AA batteries, SD memory card (not CompactFlash), good workhorse, swivel screen allows awkward angles and self-portraits, good video quality even only 640x480 2GB SD card limit (doesn't work with SDHC above 2GB), dead pixels on sensor, battery terminals bend easily, battery dies without too much warning,

Good – I bushwalk a lot and this camera is a great compromise between size and weight on the one side, and zoom, picture quality etc on the other. The swivel screen is a great feature for me, and the ability to take AA batteries is handy. The menu system is easy to navigate The zoom and the megapexels were leading edge when I got it, although now… Read more

superceded. The swivel screen is great for setting up timershots of yourself, and the capacity to use standard AA bateries is good The abilty to take larger capacity cards would be handy for movie mode.

OK – Overall and excellent camera to use, except when kept in a moist environment, can cause problems with screen. Takes very good quality photographs if stored properly when not in use. Ease of use, good quality photos Lack of customer service from Canon

Excellent – Has served me very well - thousand of photos. Very few poor ones (user error of course). Takes pretty good movie footage as well. Probably a mid size camera so no good if you want to put it in your pocket. Easy to download photos. Easy to view on TV screen. Should keep me going for a few more years. Had one 12 months and still love it. So easy to… Read more

use - child's play. Shoots good movies too. Hard to get good really low light photos. Memory hungry on movies.

Excellent – Fantastic camera for the rookie looking to head a little further into the lands of a professional. Whilst no SLR, for it's price, this camerea will knock the socks of anything you have evre owned before (as long as you havenm't owned an SLR...) Top quality video (some people label tis camera a hybrid digital camera/camcorder) great quality… Read more

photos, fantastic battery life and a macro mode that is simply insane, if you are looking for a great camera for under $1000 this is your machine. Fantastic picture quality, amazing versatility, where does one start?

This camera has such a plethora of shooting modes it will seriously take you a good 6 months to really come to terms with the complete capabilities of this camera. Most aspects of this camera are able to be manually adjusted, however I find it takes perfectly good photo's on the automatic settings. The special shooting modes, auch as Sepia, colour contrast e.t.c... may seem gimick to some people, however they are certainly fun to play around with and allow a large degree of artistic scope for the would-be visual artist.

The video mode is truly amazing, although it does require good lighting to get the msot out of this camera, the ensuing footage is always rewarding and the stereo sound is to die for! I have taken footage where music from a radio in the background sounds crisper and cleaner than it did in real life!

The viewfinder on this camera is fantastic, I hardly bother with utilising the multi-angle rear mounted LCD screen, the viewfinder really is that good, and a nice change in a digital camera.

Whilst on the LCd screen, the multi-angle screen is fantastic, allowing you to take self portraits whilst holding the camera, you can also hold the camera above a crowd and angle the view screen so you can look above people and take photo's!

Battery life is amazing, I have managed to take around 500 photo's on one set of 4 x AA NiMh batteries (rechargeable of course) inclduing flash and reviewing photos on the LCD screen!

Oh another great thing about this camera is that it utilises AA sized batteries, meaning if you are out and about and run out of baettery power you can alwasy grab some AA batteries to allow you to finish your happy memories capture before getting home and recharging your batteries (I suggest buying 2 sets)

The 12 x Zoom is simply crazy, I have taken photo's of the moon and managed to pick out craters on a clear night! The macro mode is also magic, allowing you to photograph your subject with the lens less than 2cm away from the subject you are shooting...no I am NOT making this up, head into a camera store and see for yourself. This little camera can certainly be memory intensive, with the average high quality maximum size and image quality settings taking a minnimum of 2 meg per photo, you will certainly need to invest in a large memory card (it take the smaller SD memory cards) although I managed to pick up a 2 Gig high speed card for around $100. Video footage, unfortunately is recorded in mpeg2 and therefore is also very memory intensive - 30 minutes of footage taking up 1 Gig of space.

OK – This is a good camera, but the failure of the detector chip is apparently common and well known. Even so, Canon refuse to aknowledge the problem and charged abut $200 to fix the camera. For this much money I can buy a new camera that will take great pictures. Next time it fails, it will end up in the trash and I will not be buying another… Read more

Canon. For the price of this camera it should last longer than it did. There seems to be a systemic problem, going by the number of other cases of detector chip failure I have been able to find. In short, a good camera spoilt by poor reliability and poor service. Ease of use, great picture quality. Failure of optical detector - the heart of the camera after less than 3 yrs normal use. This was compounded by poor service from Canon Australia and the the fact that the camera did not work after I paid for it to be repaired. It was repaired a second time with better results!

Bad – i was really impressed and toatally happy with my camera and they quality of the photos it took, untill it died after only 2 years. it was the main 'brain' in it so was not worth fixing. i thought it was very poor that the money spent on it was wasted. maybe i would prefer a more simpler camer that was built to last. i thought that i wanted all… Read more

the functions. but other than the macro selling. i pretty much didnt use may of the others very regularly. had high hopes but was dissapointed with the life span of this.... easy to use, and great picture quality. it died too early.....

OK – In general its good and overall performances are very good and it handle the photography needs, also the video shooting can be achieved with good technique and I like the video transitions functions. The picture's resolution is high, the camera has features available to all people to use, I can take nice shots with it using wide built in… Read more

functions, this camera keeps the traditions of first generation of Canon power shot weak points are clear in dark area shot though using Flash

Good – Wonderful, most uses are ok it is the few which matters, but overall the performance of this product is excellent. Wonderful camera produces high quality results after a years worth of using it. The shots are fantastic and the modes you can get are fabulous. With the swivel screen you can take pictures of yourself with not much of a problem.… Read more

Excellent in all kinds of conditions except for the wet. The multiple modes mean that you can take pictures of things in all kind of scenarios. They should make things more better so that it can go in all kinds of places in the dark in the water etc.

Excellent – Great digital camera, a great cust benefit, cheap but very good camera, but the noise in great iso are bad Good lcd, cheap, good Optical Image Stabilizer, great zoom optical, this camera rulez Noise on high ISO, somenthing this.

Good – overall a very good camera,easy to use and takes very good pictures all the time. Im waiting for a review of the new powershot S5is an 8mp camera due soon.Hopefully it will be as good as the S3 or better.Canon make good cameras,they have been at it a long time. Have had this camera for over a year now and still get a kick out of using it.The… Read more

camera has all the features that the average person would want or ever need and very easy to use, from point and shoot to full manual mode,really i've never had a bad picture. The video mode is terrific,great pixs with stereo sound,who needs a video camera.The camera is a good size and easy to handle. The only thing that i dont like is that the LCD is difficult to see in bright light but i rearly use the LCD prefering the viewfinder which has all the information you need as would be on the LCD, also helps the battery life.