Canon Powershot S80 Review

The Canon Powershot S80 is an eight megapixel digital camera. Its main feature is its wide angle lens. Very few digital cameras have a true wide angle lens. They are extremely useful for photographing landscapes, interiors and groups of people. As well as its wide angle lens the Powershot S80 also has a wide range of features including fully manual exposure.

Although this digital camera can be used as a simple point and shoot model it is most likely to appeal to someone who is looking to do more than just take great holiday snaps.

The day before I reviewed this camera I reviewed the Sony DSC N1. The DSC N1 is also an eight megapixel digital camera. There is a clear difference in the picture quality and it is the Powershot S80 that comes out on top. The images are strikingly sharp and it also handles other known problems such as areas of high contrast particularly well.

My first test photo tells me a lot about this camera. Looking at the brickwork on the building I can see how well the camera is able to focus although this is an area where the camera's high resolution also helps. There is an area of white wood on the building where other cameras regularly struggle to show any detail at all. The Powershot S80 manages to show all the detail and handles this better than any other camera I have tested. The colours also look natural and vibrant.

The second test shot looking down the river highlights the wide angle capability of the lens. Here you will be able to see more of the scene packed into the photograph than a typical digital camera can manage. There is a slight falloff in sharpness towards the edges of each picture. This happens with the vast majority of cameras and is nowhere near bad enough to ring any alarm bells with this camera.

Moving indoors the camera handles low light very well indeed. The indoor portrait shows a level of detail especially in the hair and on the blouse that I am not used to seeing. Despite the imperfect light the camera does a truly excellent job of focusing. The only downside to the indoor portrait is a touch of red eye.

The other indoor test shot is of some beer bottles taken in almost complete darkness. Again that the Powershot S80 manages to produce a clear, sharply focused image that is also well lit. This suggests the camera will perform well in low light conditions in general.

The outdoor portrait is fairly standard in terms of quality. I like the skin tones and again the detail shows up well.

The dedicated test for colours is another photo producing a good result. The camera appears to cope well with all colours. This is good news for any photo you will take.

Finishing off with the macro shot this is the sharpest macro shot I have ever taken. The only reason that stops me giving it 10 out of 10 is the fact there is some blue fringing and also a blue tinge around some of the numbers on the watch face.

All in all I am extremely impressed with the entire group of test shots. The camera has made a good fist in all areas and the overall quality compares very well with all the digital cameras I have tested to date.

The Powershot S80 managed to take a single shot in 1.68 seconds. This is very slow time and is a big disappointment. It took 9.59 seconds to take five consecutive shots. Any time under 10 seconds is good for the five photo test. This does not make up for the time it takes to take a single shot though. Looking at all the other good points this camera has only seems to underline this weakness.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

The 3.6x optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 28 - 100mm in 35mm format. Standard digital camera focal lengths normally start around 35mm so you can see the difference with this lens. The maximum aperture for the lens is f/2.8 to f/5.3. The camera also has a 4x digital zoom feature. For close up photography the macro mode can get you in as close as 4cms from the subject.

For composing images and accessing the menu system there is a large 2.5" LCD screen. This is made up of around 115,000 pixels. The brightness of the screen can be adjusted to suit the lighting conditions. If you prefer there is an optical viewfinder to help you line up your photos.

There are three flash modes you can use. These are automatic, always on and always off. In addition you can set red eye reduction and slow sync speed on. Second curtain synchronisation is available too. The power of the flash unit can be adjusted. This is always a worthwhile feature. Both flash exposure compensation and flash exposure lock area available.

The maximum range of the flash unit is 4.2m. This falls to 2m when the zoom lens is in use. If you would like to boost the power of the built in flash you can buy Canon's High Power Flash to work with the camera.

There is a selection of preset scene modes you can use. Scene modes are easy to use. All you need to do is select the scene that most closely matches the type of photo you are about to take. The camera will then use the optimum settings for the type of photo. The scene modes available are: Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater, Indoor, Kids&Pets and Night Snapshot.

Stitch Assist is also available to help you set up panoramic type shots. My Colours provides you with an assortment of colour controls. For example you can swap colours in a photo or create a black and white shot with a single colour appearing. This technique is often used when photographing a flower. The flower will then stand out against a black and white background.

Further features on similar lines let you use Vivid and Neutral colours, Low Sharpening, Sepia and Black and White.

There are a number of focusing options to choose from. These are multi point and spot auto focusing and manual focusing. I like the fact the manual focusing is controlled through the dial on the back of the camera in the same way you can control the shutter speed and aperture settings. Focus bracketing is also available.

Other features worth a mention are a self timer, sound memo and histogram. The self timer can be set at a two or ten second delay. There is also a setting that lets you set a delay time of your own choice. This can be between one and thirty seconds. It can fire off up to ten shots at the end of the delay period. The sound memo lets you add up to 60 seconds of commentary to a still photo you have already taken.

You can work with a number of more advanced settings. This include three types of metering (Evaluative, Centre-weighted average, Spot), exposure compensation (+/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments), exposure bracketing (1/3 - 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments), ISO sensitivity AUTO, 50, 100, 200, 400) and shutter speeds between 15 seconds and 1/2000 seconds. There are white balance settings for Automatic, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash and Underwater. There is also a Custom white balance setting.

For anyone looking to take complete control over how the final image looks fully manual exposure is possible. You can also use shutter and aperture priority. You can also take advantage of continuous shooting. The camera can shoot at a maximum speed of 1.8 frames per second until your memory card is full.

The maximum resolution for shooting a movie is 1024x768. This is larger than standard. The maximum speed you can shoot at this resolution is 15 frames per second. There are also lower resolutions you can select including 640x480. For that resolution for can shoot at 30 frames per second. Each movie can record up to 1GB of footage.

You can also record time lapse movies. This type of movie is where shots are taken at intervals of between 1 and 60 minutes. Typical uses are of a flower opening or plotting the movement of clouds across the sky. Up to 100 shots can be recorded for any time lapse movie.

Canon supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the Powershot S80 to a computer, television set and a PictBridge compatible printer.

To further enhance the camera a 2x tele-converter lens and a 0.8x wide-converter lens are available. If you would like to use this camera underwater you can pick up the WP-DC1 case. This is waterproof to a depth of 40m.

it is perhaps not surprising that with all the features the Powershot S80 has it will take you a little while to get to grips with the camera and take advantage of all it offers. There are a number of buttons and dials on the back of the camera and even these can take some getting used to. I really do appreciate one of the dials. This makes it very easy to quickly adjust the shutter speed or aperture that you wish to shoot at.

The menu system Canon uses is not the most intuitive but spending a little time getting used to it will pay dividends and it should not take you that long to master it. To be fair it would be impossible to create a digital camera with this number of features and make it a simple to use. There is also nothing to stop you from easing your way into the camera by using the fully automatic mode.

You can pick up a Canon Powershot S80 for around £325. This compares to around £320 for a Sony DSC N1, £235 for an Olympus MJU 800 and £260 for a Fuji Finepix E900.

Although there are not that many 8 megapixel digital cameras available you do have some choice with the models that are. Of the ones listed here the Powershot S80 is the most advanced in terms of features and it also offers an ultra wide angle lens.

The point that struck me when the Powershot S80 arrived was that it was bulkier than I was expecting and it is also a fair bit heavier. It has dimensions of 104.0 x 57.0 x 38.8 mm and weighs 225g. The front of the camera is black and the back is silver. It is a typical rectangular shape with rounded edges.

Power is supplied to the camera by a lithium ion battery. The battery is rechargeable and both a battery and charger is supplied with the camera. Canon estimates that around 200 shots can be taken before the battery needs recharging.

Images are stored on an SD card. Canon supplies a 32mb card with the Powershot S80. I was able to take shots before the memory card became a full. Therefore it is advisable to pick up a high-capacity memory card to go with your camera. Click here to save money on SD cards.

Image quality
Wide angle lens
Sharp images
Manual exposure features

Shutter Lag
ISO equivalents limited to a maximum of 400

I am a big fan of the Canon Powershot S80. The picture quality is always the most important feature of a digital camera. This camera excels in this area. When you add in the wide angle lens and all the features this camera has it should be a real winner. The downside is the shutter lag times and this means this camera will not be suited to all types of photography and therefore not to all people. Canon Powershot S80 Front View

Canon Powershot S80 Back View

Canon Powershot S80 Top View

Sample Menus

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Canon Powershot S80