Digital Trends

Canon PowerShot S80

January 2nd, 2006 | by David Elrich

Features and Design

The S80 has an attractive faceplate with a piano-black finish. This finish is a real finger-print magnet so prepare to buff it up if you want to impress your friends. To power it up, you simply slide a panel to the left and the lens extends out. Although it's fairly compact it's no Canon Digital ELPH or Sony T series so forget about putting it in your shirt pocket. It measures 4.1 x 2.2 x 1.5 (WHD, in inches) and tips the scales at 9.6 ounces with battery and SD card. The camera does have a nice solid feel but it's a bit narrow.

When you slide the panel, the lens pops out and stares you in the face. It's an f/2.8 28-100mm 3.6x optical zoom using Canon's UA lens technology found on many of its PowerShots. I like the wider focal length compared the typical point and shoot but you definitely lose something on the telephoto end. Canon's A620 4x optical zoom is more typical at 35-140mm. I prefer the wider option for portraits, group shots and landscapes but that's my preference. The camera accepts conversion lenses that let you take even wider and more  zoomed shots but these options cost a tidy sum (around $250). Surrounding the lens is the built-in flash, an AF Assist lamp (one of my favorite features), and the window for the viewfinder. As always we urge you to handle a camera before you buy, trying out the zoom and general feel. What I like and your taste can be miles apart. Diff'rent Strokes as they say in TV Land.

The rear of the S80 has a silver finish and is dominated by a 2.5-inch LCD rated a so-so 115K pixels. Above it is the viewfinder peep hole to use in case the screen wipes out in bright sunshine or it's too dark. Unfortunately, there's no diopter adjustment. The placement of the wide/tele switch and mode dial is a bit different on this one. The zoom toggle rests under your thumb as your index finger is on the shutter. Also the mode dial is on the right hand side of camera rather than on top and it too can be adjusted with your thumb. These aren't negatives, just different ways of doing business. The controller is also a bit unusual. Instead of the typical four keys and OK button, it's a jog wheel for scrolling through the onscreen menus. By pressing the four points of the compass get you to the flash, macro, ISO and manual focus adjustments. There are also keys for Menu, Display, Delete, Exposure compensation, burst mode, playback and so on...nothing a digicam owner hasn't seen zillions of times. One negative is the flimsy door on the right side for the A/V out and USB 2.0 Hi-Speed ports.

The camera comes with a solid kit. The Canon Digital Camera Solution disk V26.0 has an extensive software bundle for the PC and Mac including ArcSoft PhotoStudio. You'll find a small 32MB SD card so expect to budget for a 512MB high-speed card for around $60. There's also all the usual stuff such as wrist strap, battery/charger and cables. There's no separate Quick Start sheet but Canon supplies a Basic Camera User's Guide to get you started along with a 162-page Advanced User Guide as well as 104-page Software Starter Guide to turn those 8MP files into prints. And if you buy a Canon printer with Direct Print capability, a 72-page manual (in English) helps you there. The manuals are decent but they aren't Pulitzer Prize winners.

After charging the battery, which is rated an O.K. 200 shots with the LCD on, loading it and a 2GB Kingston high-speed card, it was time to start using this baby. 

Image Courtesy of Canon