Best Rated Semi-Pro Digital Camera : Canon PowerShot S5 IS
The ultra-powerful 12x optical zoom on the PowerShot S5 IS means you’ll get the shot you want with no compromise, yet that’s only the beginning of what makes this camera so exciting. The S5 IS is loaded with many of Canon’s latest advanced technologies, including the DIGIC III Image Processor, so both still images and movies are rendered with fine detail and luminous clarity. And now ambitious photographers have even greater creative latitude thanks to an included hot shoe adapter that allows you to attach Canon Speedlite EX Series external flashes.
Full-featured, compact 8.0-megapixel digital camera with a 12x optical zoom The PowerShot S5 IS is compact and portable, with streamlined controls and a sure, steady grip. And you’ll want to take it everywhere, because inside is a level of photographic power that’s truly impressive. 8 megapixels ensure deeply detailed images — giving you complete freedom to enlarge an image or any section of an image and crop to your exact specifications. The 12x optical zoom brings this compact digital camera into the realm of serious photography. It has the power to take you right up onto the stage and into the end zone for the shot you really want. Zooming is fast and silent thanks to the ultrasonic motor drive.
Canon Optical Image Stabilizer Technology and ISO 1600 for steady shooting Life doesn’t give you second chances to capture special times. That’s why the elegant PowerShot S5 IS is equipped with Canon’s acclaimed Optical Image Stabilizer Technology that automatically detects and corrects camera shake — one of the leading causes of fuzzy or blurred shots. So now even when you’re zooming in tight, you can get the steady, crisp, brilliant images you’ll be proud to shoot and share. And Canon’s Optical Image Stabilizer Technology is so convenient to use. It functions perfectly with or without a flash.
The PowerShot S5 IS also features new ISO 1600 and High ISO Auto settings that reduce the effects of camera shake and sharpen subjects in low-light situations, giving you greater flexibility for shooting.
DIGIC III Image Processor with improved Face Detection Technology and Red-eye Correction With DIGIC III, you get images of superior quality, the camera functions at top efficiency and battery life is significantly enhanced. What’s more, DIGIC III enables Canon’s newly improved Face Detection Technology and Red-eye Correction to give you better, more true-to-life people shots. Simply press the Shutter Button halfway down, and the PowerShot S5 IS automatically pinpoints the faces in the scene and chooses the ideal focus point. To keep every face looking bright and natural — without scary red eyes — the camera controls exposure settings and flash, so every shot is just what you were shooting for.
DIGIC III features Face Detection AF/AE, which finds multiple faces in the frame and sets the most suitable focus point, when the shutter button is pressed halfway. And an additional new feature, Face Detection FE adjusts the flash, based on a person’s face on the screen. Exposure and flash are controlled to ensure proper illumination of both the faces and the overall scene, eliminating the common problem of darkened or overexposed faces.
Red-eye correction detects and automatically corrects red-eye during playback for both regular and flash photography. In unusual cases where red-eye is not automatically detected, it can easily be corrected manually during playback mode.
iSAPS technology is an entirely original scene-recognition technology developed for digital cameras by Canon. Using an internal database of thousands of different photos, iSAPS works with the fast DIGIC III Image Processor to improve focus speed and accuracy, as well as exposure and white balance.
High-resolution 2.5-inch vari-angle LCD The camera’s 2.5-inch LCD screen gives you the big picture, whether you’re shooting, reviewing or showing off your images. This high-resolution screen offers a crisp, clear picture to make shooting, playback, and using the camera’s menu functions especially convenient. Clear and bright, it also features Night Display for easy viewing in low light.
Hot shoe adapter for the Speedlite EX Series external flashes* Advanced users and anyone looking to expand their photographic repertoire will be excited to find that Canon has integrated the PowerShot S5 IS with a hot shoe adapter. The adapter lets you quickly and easily add one of several high-quality Canon Speedlite EX Series external flashes, including 220EX, 430EX, 580EX and 580EX II. Adding an external flash allows for advanced creative effects and greatly enhances your ability to achieve professional-quality results in many more situations. Flash intensity and other settings are easily accessed and controlled from the camera’s LCD screen.
*Note: External flashes not included
A variety of movie-making options With a highly flexible movie mode, you can create the movie that’s perfect for any application. Select from VGA (640 x 480 pixels) with frame rates of 30 fps and 30 fps LP, also QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) with frame rates of 60 fps and 30 fps for recording up to 1 hour or 4GB. With the S5 IS, seamless movie shooting is easy — just by pressing the Movie button without switching to shooting mode. The PowerShot S5 IS supports the USB 2.0 Hi-Speed standard, so you’ll enjoy the fastest possible data transfer speeds when using a USB 2.0 Hi-Speed compatible computer.
Canon PowerShot S5 review by Amazon.com’s customers
Nice Upgrade by J. Snapp
Got the S5 to upgrade from my S2. The main feature that I wanted was the movie capacity. Instead of a 1gb limit on the S2 (approx 7 minutes at high quality), the limit is now 4gb. They also added an LP mode that is a little less quality but doubles the time. So in 4gb you can get approx 30 minutes of recording without stopping and 1 hour with the LP mode. With SDHC support and bigger cards coming this will replace a camcorder. The rest of the camera are just incremental updates. The black color is nice and the quality feels great. The lens cap clips on now and has an inside clip to hook on the camera strap so it doesn’t just hang and swing in the wind anymore. The bigger screen is nice too.Sweetest of the Mega-Zooms by Rachel Barr
Is anyone else as flummoxed by the negative consumer and expert reviews of this camera as I am? If I were paranoid, I’d think a conspiracy existed to drive down the cost of this remarkable camera.
The range of controls is very broad, their setup is intuitive, and the camera’s performance is exemplary. Not only am I pleased with how the camera handles and what it will do, but I’m WAY pleased with the images it produces. I’ve had my camera for a week now; I’ve played with all the shooting modes and have taken pictures in all sorts of lighting. As long as the camera is set correctly for the shot, images are consistently superb. The ones that have been anything less than stellar were caused by my own hastiness or error.
Movies also are awesome, and stereo sound is a huge plus.
Maybe I just lucked out and got a good copy. Maybe it isn’t really the fantastic piece of photographic wizardry I believe it is. But I am a long-in-the-tooth advanced amateur with perfectionistic tendencies. And in my estimation the S5 IS is an amazing tool.
Minor issues inherent in a camera of this sensor size and lens zoom range do exist. According to the many expert camera reviews, there presently is not a mega-zoom on the market that is completely free of chromatic aberration and some noise at higher ISOs. If you’re planning to print poster-sized images, get a 35mm digital SLR and some very expensive lenses–you’ll be pleased with nothing less. But if you’re looking for a go-anywhere camera that bridges the gap between that big D-SLR and the teensy little super-compact in your photo bag, if most of your prints are average size, and you do the majority of your viewing on a computer, look no further. You can’t go wrong with the S5 IS.
PS. Oh, yeah, one more thing. It’s just plain FUN!
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