Canon PowerShot S50

Good – We've had this camera for about five years and it's served us well. It's very easy to use but also has great manual control if you need it. It has a few minor short-comings that prevent it getting 5/5. 1) The sliding lens cover is awkward to use. Ours came adrift last year and only by fluke has it managed to properly re-engage. We also had a problem with the LCD panel going blank. I reinstalled the firmware which fixed this problem. The flash is a bit weak. Finally, we've had two batteries with this camera, both go flat very quickly. Turning off the infra-red autofocus beam helps but not enough. Takes great photos, very easy to use. Battery life (not really a fault of the camera), lens cover, weak flash

Excellent – Excellent camera great for family photos and work. The image quality is excellent as a part time photo restorer the quality is great for the exacting work that I have to do to the photos when they have to be altered. Really all you have to do is set it on auto, point and shoot. Easy to use. Quality of photos is great, nice crisp and clear photos Sometime when you try to take a photo fast it takes a few seconds to focus properly and by then the shot has passed

Excellent – With a fast and large capacity compact flash card, and a bit of practice, you got no worries. But if you're not good with computer-style menus or have trouble remembering what buttons do what (focusing capabilities are extensive, but it's sometimes complicated to get excactly what you want) you might not use this camera to it's full capabilities. If this is the case, opt for a cheaper canon. Canon have the best lenses. The most customisable compact camera I've come across. Manual shutter speed and apeture, flash output, effects (eg. sepia tone, vivid, neutral, B&W etc), different res and compression, 1st/2nd curtain flash, customise sounds for executing different functions, portrait, landscape, fast, macro, movie, different drive modes (taking many photos in quick succession), manual focus. GREAT colours. Not much bad about it really. Sometimes I wish it took regular size batteries like some Powershots, because these can be bought cheaper, and emergency batteries can be bought almost anywhere for when you forget/can't recharge.