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Canon PowerShot S45 4MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom | List Price: $599.99
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Brand: Canon
Binding: Electronics
Release Date: 2002-12-14
Warranty: 1 Year Limited
Features: - 4-megapixel sensor captures 2,272 x 1,704 images for photo-quality prints up to 11 x 14 inches
- 3x optical (plus 3.6x digital) zoom lens with autofocus
- Included 32 MB CompactFlash card holds approximately 27 images at default resolution; camera is Microdrive compatible
- Connects with Macs and PCs via USB port
- Uses proprietary NB-2L lithium-ion rechargeable battery (included)
Poor Quality [Posted on 2004-06-29]
My S45 has broke twice in the 6 months I have had it. I am very disapionted. I've always bought Canon but will look somewhere else next time! Very poor quality.
For snapshooters only! [Posted on 2004-07-26]
I use this camera mainly to shoot small art objects, since I'm an art dealer.
On average the quality of photos you can take with this camera is pretty good considering the price. It has a good array of advanced options as well, like RAW format, that later you can convert to a 11MB TIFF file (on average, for 8 bits) or a 22MB TIFF (on average, for 16 bits). Tiff's are uncompressed files, and are the best option if you want to use Photoshop to manipulate your shots.
Very well built metallic case. I drop it from 4 feet twice and not even a dent occurred. Well done Canon!
The custom option in the shooting menu is also very welcome. You can store all your shooting parameter, like aperture, speed, colour balance, bracketing options, ISO and etc. Very handy!
In good light conditions the quality of photos is excellent for a 4 Mpixels camera. Both colour balance and sharpness are excellent. Better stick to ISO 50 or 100 or you will get above average noise though.
So far so good. But ...
Below average flash. If you use it outdoors as a fill in flash be prepared to get your main subject washed out and overexposed. If you use it indoors, on a birthday party for instance, the flash is not powerful enough even for small ambients. Be prepared to get underexposed photos with excess noise when you blow them up. But I have to be fair, if you take snapshots only, you would not notice it probably.
And now about the software that comes bundled with the camera. Remember that in digital photography the software to manipulate your shots is almost as important as the camera itself. And that's the point were the S45 fails to my requirements.
The File Viewer Utility does what it should do, but will present to you an interface that would be outdated when Windows 3.1 was the king. Zoom Browser has a better interface but is a jack of all trades and master of none sort of software, not integrated at all with the rest of the bunch. But I could live with both and still rate this camera well.
But then there is Remote Capture, which was one of the reasons I bought this camera. As I take pictures of small art objects, light control is top priority and the possibility of connecting the camera to a computer using this software and get a bigger image with all the control options of the camera was really appealing. Forget it! Remote Capture is a prehistoric, poorly designed, not properly tested and buggy piece of software. I do not understand how a company with the reputation like Canon supplies this sort of software with one of their products. I am sure it is only damaging the confidence the customers have in the brand.
Remote Capture is ridiculous. You can not save your shooting preferences, so every time you connect the camera you are back to the auto everything default. When you connect the camera, Remote Capture takes total control control, bypassing the camera controls, but without presenting the information that you usually get on the camera's LCD. There is no on-line information of speed, aperture, the focusing area marks, the auto-focus options, nothing! To know if a photo will come out in focus is a lottery. You can only trust in your visual perception from what you see on your monitor.
There are so many limitations that I would need too much space to describe. So I will only mention one more: Remote Capture freezes very easily (and I am using XP-Pro!), mainly if you use it in conjunction with a photo manipulation software, like Photoshop or PhotoImpact.
Final conclusion: This camera is adequate and a good value for money if you are a casual snapshooter. For this purpose I would rate it as 4 stars camera. But for semi-professional use I can only rate it 3 stars at the most.
We tested the durability [Posted on 2005-03-29]
We are a clutzy family and this camera has been dropped multiple times onto concrete or asphalt pavement. The camera is covered in dents and scratches. The shutter cover barely slides closed because it's so bent, but THE CAMERA STILL WORKS PERFECTLY. We've had it for about 2 years. Of course I wouldn't guarantee the same luck to others. Best wishes!
A Good first time digital camera [Posted on 2007-03-12]
This has been a great 1st camera - easy to use but the biggest complaint is that no matter what setting you use - it is not good at removing red eye. The other feature it lacks is that you cannot print the date on the photo, that has to be done by a printer with that option. If you don't want to have to edit every photo and have the date stamped on it, this is not the camera for you. Otherwise, it takes nice clear shot and it's great to travel with as it has a good zoom. I have had it 3 years and no mechanical problems at all even though it has been dropped a couple times.
great camera at a low price [Posted on 2008-05-04]
This was my first digital camera, I've had it for a little over five years now and it's still going strong, even after I dropped and dented it the first week that I got it; this thing is build to last! After researching so many different cameras, I decided on this one based on the many stellar reviews it had. The picture quality is great even while comparing it to my newer (higher mega pixel) camera for regular, medium to small prints. The only problem I have with this camera is, while it's not as bulky as a SLR, it's still not as compact as I would like my everyday camera to be, and hence why I recently picked up a Canon sd1000.
If you could find this camera at a low price I would recommend it, otherwise I'd look into one of canon's newer smaller cameras, though I don't know if they are as durable as this thing.
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