Cheap Canon Powershot SD500 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and Digital Camera Reviews

Canon Powershot SD500 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Worked beautifully for 2 years 2007-11-18

Bought my camera in November 2005. For 2 years, it took great pictures indoors (and outdoors in good light) Evreyone loved its sleek construction. Last month...the zoom lever completely jammed, and the mode selector is also nearly jammed...completely disappointing, and what was worse was the price quote from Canon to repair (good customer service in calling to report the problem...emailed the link to me immediately and got back to me with the price quote quickly after I shipped it to them) but the price quote - 130$! I can get the new sd1000 for 166 (today, hopefully less on black friday) not sure if this is a flaw that others experienced, but the camera worked very well during the 2 years I had it. Looking at the SD1000 now, only because it was reviewed very well...but I hope it doesnt die in 2 years as well!

Why won't Canon stand behind their product? 2007-08-24

While the camera looks great, the pictures are sharp and ease of use is attractive....beware the E18 error.

After buying this camera I experienced the E18 error out of the box. The E18 is when the lens locks in the open position for any number of reasons; misuse, sand or dirt, touching the lens while moving and, from what I can tell, no reason at all. I returned the camera for a replacement. The second camera worked for 6 months then, to my surprise...E18 error. I called Canon, sent it back and within a few weeks they repaired it under warranty. Flash forward about a year...E18 error. However, now I have no warranty and Canon wants to charge me $195 to fix what can only be a product defect, not my fault, as I take care of this camera very well.

So instead of sending it in for the price of buying a new camera, I google "E18 error" to see if it is fixable on my own. Surprise! There are entire web pages dedicated to the E18. Wikipedia has a page for the E18 error. There have been thousands of accounts and emails posted from inept and rude Canon service reps and managment (although most people I dealt with were kind, but unhelpful).

After unsuccessfully convincing Canon the onus is on their poor product quality and they should at least fix the camera for me, I gave up my quest and bought a new camera...a Sony, so far so good.

Bottom line: Canon will not stand behind its product. This defect, while not experienced by all, has been experienced by tens of thousands (this fact is from Canon itself). After the warranty is out, they will not help you. They will sell you a refurbished camera for $175....no thanks.

I didn't buy a "disposable" camera, however, that is what Canon is selling. Which is only emphasized by their very established policies in dealing with E18 errors. Buyer beware, and at least do your research.

canon powershot SD500 2007-08-23

This is my second identical camera that I've ordered. It's really a great camera, that's why I got a second one for my son.
Even though both are refurbished, no one can tell: they look brand new!
And the price is unbeatable.

big step up for underwater pictures 2007-06-18

searched for weeks for appropriate camera. settled for the canon sd500 when came available locally as never turned on display model at local office supply store. what a great camera. forget all the professional comments about picture edges blurring, color reproduction ablity,etc...this is an excellent, easy to use camera with excellent video capability. it takes excellent regular pictures and videos, but really shines when combined with its underwater casing that worked flawlessly. the clarity of the pictures is easily 200% improved and the ability to take videos that show the fish in motion was incredible. we had another family with us at st. martin and they are buying an sd500 as soon as possible. what a step above any camera i have owned, and the people who market and sell disposable underwater cameras should be run out of business.
pros: size and weight
easy to use
great video capability (paired with 2gb ultra II sd)
optional underwater case works flawlessly
beautiful pictures even blown up on 17 inch screen
cons: everyone wanted to use it at the same time
after seeing the pictures from the first day

40,000 images later... 2007-04-30

I bought this model when they came out.
The best camera I have.
No longer use my camcorder... this will do just fine for DVD or web view.

Don't even hesitate to select this sd-500 model.
You will find the pictures amazingly sharp.
What more can you ask for a small wonder like this?

'Am adding a few more words to this superb camera.( aug.2007)
I use this as my main movie recorder, it's that good.
I do have an expensive Sony camcorder that hardly get used because this baby will do everything I need for internet movies on the website.
It's sharp and bright images will dazzle you.

One thing is strange... The price of this model went up since a few years and the newer models may have more resolution and other features, but this one still beats them all for clarity and color.
Canon don't produce this model anymore (?) and seems like people in the know realize how much better this model was then the new ones.
You can buy a new canon with more resolutions for half price then this older model.
See?

Please note:
When you read user's opinion and they trash some product, sometimes they don;t know how to use it or they're abuse it, blaming the manufacturer.

October, 2007
I bought the new canon SD-800 IS model.
Same resolutions as the SD-500 but larger LCD and maybe a few more functions. I still say the old SD-500 is better and sharper.
It's nice to see larger LCD and pristine clear image on it, but am not sure the movie aspect of it is better. The image stabilisation is good and will be very useful for movies.

I have both cameras and old SD500 still ticking after all these years and gives superb images... thousands of them.

Great Camera 2007-04-13

This is a very good camera and very easy to use. I have a Nikon D70 and this thing takes night pictures better than my Nikon (I am not a pro hence I may not knwo all my settings). This is also good to capture video, its more compact than your video camera and when you check in, you do not have to take it out like a video camera.

Solid, very decent camera 2007-03-01

I purchased this camera a little over a year ago. It is a solid and pretty well-built camera, compared to a CanonA530 that I also own. The SD500 is more expensive and of higher quality than the A530, as would be expected. The A530 is actually lighter than the SD500, although bulkier.

PROS:
The pictures taken by the SD500 are of excellent quality, and there are options to change the quality and size of the pictures taken to maximize memory card space.
Macro is excellent.
Not extremely heavy, and very portable; sleek design.
Overall, a very fine camera.

CONS:
Not many manual controls.
It has a bit of a delay between when you press the shutter button and when the picture actually is taken, which makes photographing moving objects difficult.
Not very good in low-light situations without flash. It has to be pretty bright to take a really sharp picture without the flash.

I'm not sure if many people would notice this though - I am very picky about sharpness and clarity in my pictures, more so than most people. If you are buying this camera simply to take pictures of friends and loved ones and not for serious photography, I highly recommend this camera.

Note: Repair for the camera is quite expensive. I'm sure this is the case with most cameras, though. [...].

Graat colors, good speed, its a nice camera 2007-02-12

This camera is a really best buy.
If you can, you must have one of these...
It has good resolution, good colors, good Macro mode... its all you need to go a trip...

Fantastic point-and-shoot digital w/ movie feature 2007-01-25

After owning several Canon Powershot products (and after extensive web research), I am continual impressed with the features, versatility, and robust build of Canon's digital cameras. The SD500 was my first SD (secure digital/MMC) camera after owning several Canon CF (compact flash) cameras (including S40, S400, and S500). The movie capture feature is fantastic with great color balance. Shooting with the SD500 is great when using a high capacity high speed SD card (I highly recommend the SanDisk Ultra II 2 Gig SD card, as well as the SanDisk Extreme III series 1 Gig SD card). This camera has traveled to Europe, Middle East, Canada, Mexico, and thru out the US... my next purchase is the water casing for the unit (WP-DC70 and weight kit). After diving in Australia, I wish I had this underwater kit with my camera, as I missed out on several great opportunities to photograph sharks, reef, and lots of aquatic life.

PROS: Small, long battery life, quick continuous photos shooting, movie mode. Fantastic quality for prints as large as 8 x 10.

CONS: Can not automatically "Photo stitch" in a vertical shooting position, but can edit vertical shots to be panoramic photos in "Photo Stitch" PC software. Occasionally purple fringing effect occurs along bright white edges in shots.

Great Deal - Great Camera 2007-01-12

Pros:
-battery
-LCD screen
-megapixels!
-picture quality!
-ease of use
-features
-size!

Cons:
there might be newer models with more to offer - not sure - it's worth researching

Nice camera, maybe not so great durability 2007-01-12

I bought the Cannon Elph for it's small size and Canon's reputation. About a month later I went on a trip to Europe and after my second use - TOTAL- of the camera up to that point, the LCD screen broke. This would not have been so bad if I had actually dropped it, but I kept the camera in a case and in my purse the whole evening. I went to look at my pictures the next day to find the screen totally busted! I sent it back to the factory and they fixed the problem in less than 2 weeks. I have used it since and have not had a problem yet. I am not sure if my camera alone was defective or if the model has got a problem, but I would maybe think about it before getting this. The camera itself is great, but if it breaks after 2 uses and careful handling, what's the point?

10 on 10 ! ....amazing Camera... 2007-01-11

Well I was a little skeptic before buying this model. Skeptic not because of its features, but because of the price I was getting the deal! ...Not only the deal was good, the product was upto my expectations.

The 7.1 Megapix DOES make a difference. Seriously guys, don't settle for anything less than it.

This camera is on the edge between the digicam and digi-SLR. Its has the compactness of digicam and features of SLR.

Well! to keep the review short !...if given an opportunity, I will buy this product again.

Exceptional value 2007-01-11

Small size of camera is great for travel, pictures are crisp, and camera is easy to use. I love it.

What a star! 2007-01-11

I treated myself to this camera before Christmas. It does exactly what it said on the tin..easy to use, a wonderful size, great battery life and the features such as 'kids' and 'night time' are great. I have some fantastic photos of my son who never stands still! I also love the colour swap feature and the fact that I can take black and white or sepia images too. I have recommended this to all my friends (who are very jealous). The 7.1 pixel gives a fantastic final image.

Nice one Canon.

Great little Camera 2007-01-11

Bought for my daughter for Christmas. Went back to buy a second for my wife and price had increased everywhere over $60. Bought her the Fuji F30 after a lot of work. Both are good cameras. The Fuji is clearly better in low light (by a lot). The Canon battery can be removed to be charged, but not the Fuji - you have to plug the whole camera in.

Overall both are very good - no issues with either.

Easy to use 2007-01-11

Super nice Camera for the money,,easy to use great pics, lots of features and nice and small,,the 550 has a bigger lcd ,,but this works great even takes video with sound,,this cameras best feature it starts up instantly!!

Rotten quality and rotten customer support 2007-01-11

I bought the Cannon SD500 as an engagement gift for my future son-in-law. I bought it despite my mixed personal experience with the Canon line. My CF400 died in Switzerland. The error message was the same that others have reported. A friend had the same experience with the CF400 -- which died again after repair by Canon.

On the other hand, I had an SD500 at work and it took superb pictures. So I figured that Canon's SD500 line was better than the CF400 line -- that is, hope triumphed over experience.

Just before the wedding, the SD500's screen stopped working, so after the wedding, I lent my Panasonic Lumix DMX-FX9 to my son-in-law for the honeymoon. The Panasonic came back from Jamaica in one piece. I haven't seen the Panasonic honeymoon pictures, but my daughter said that they are great.

After the honeymoon my son-in-law sent the Canon in for repairs -- within the one-year warranty period. Panasonic said that he didn't have proof of purchase and that they'd charge him $200 to fix the camera -- now worth about $200.

So a lousy quality camera (that takes great pictures when it works) is now matched with a lousy warranty support experience. I'm done with Canon and recommend that everyone consider my experience before buying any of their products.

The good news is that -- notwithstanding the lousy camera experience -- the marriage is great.

Nice Camera to own 2007-01-10

Its Nice camera to own. CANON is best in digital camera.

Cannon SD500 Digital ELph Review 2007-01-10

Works like a charm. Instructions are well constructed and effective; even first timers can make crisp, full color pictures with a minimum of concern for outcome. It's user friendly, easily portable and much appreciated in this household.
Thanks Amazon & Canon!!

Nice Camera to have from Cannon 2007-01-10

I bought this camera in Nov 2006 and used it extensively in last 60 days..
Pros-
1. Small,compact (can keep it in pocket) and a nice looking Camera with light weight.
2. I loved working with various 'Modes' it has under SCN.Especially beach,Kids and Portrait...
3.For beginners,just put the camera in Auto and click..You are done..You will get a nice photo.
Cons -
1. Battery and SD Card section has a plastic flap and would have been better with a solid,metal cover.(I guess, plastic is there to reduce weight)
2.It would have been better if we know the remaining duration of battery charge so that you can either charge or take it as it is before the planned trip. At present,it starts giving the indication and in next 5 mins, Charge is gone.You have to find a place to charge your battery or carry an additional battery..

Overall, A Nice Camera to have..No regrets for buying it.

-Prash

Great little camera 2007-01-10

I have the canon S30. I use it professionally (as an orthodontist) and personally. I've probably taken about 10,000 photos and still going strong. I wanted a second camera just as a backup and because of the volume of use. This one is smaller and if anything better than the first. I'm very happy with Canon

The Best 2007-01-10

I love this camera. Although I haven't read a lot of the instruction manual, I immediately started using the camera. It takes great pictures and is very easy to use. It was, economically, also a great buy.

Canon makes good cameras 2007-01-09

I have always been impressed with Canon products and satisfied with the quality of them.

Love My Camera! Love the Price 2007-01-09

I bought 3 cameras from Amazon.com this December. One for me and 2 for our company. I am having the best time with it and simply love it! I got it just in time for the Holidays and have taken lots of pictures! I really enjoy shopping online with Amazon.com. I trust them, delivery is fast and the prices are outstanding! I must add however, that online shopping with Amazon.com is great as long as you don't have any questions for one of their staff. Their product knowledge and heavy accents are a nightmare! Outside of that, if you know what you want, it's definately the place to shop.

Powershot SD500 Simplified 2007-01-09

I had been wanting a digital camera for sometime and felt unexperienced and didn't know if i wanted to invest or what features i really needed. I am not really a camera person and don't often take pictures. So glad that i invested the $200+ Powershot SD500. This camera is easy to use and the features are almost self explanatory. Takes great pictures and cropping, red eye and downloading to the computer are all very fun and easy to fool around with. Having this camera makes me think before i leave the house - "will i need my camera?" So, if your waiting to try the digital experience - wait no longer. The only improvement that i can see with this camera, is the viewing screen - i wish it was a little bigger, but it still does the trick.

its a very gud camera 2007-01-04

its a reallly nice camera..it clicks perfect photos even from a moving car..there is no problem of blurred photos..its a gud camera..worth its price..

I'm very satisfied with my New Camera 2007-01-04

I am very far from being a good photografer, but since I got this camera my pictures suddenly improved. It is very easy to use. The battery is very long lasting. I really don't rate the camera 5 stars, just because I am unable to shoot faster.

I LOVE my digital camera! 2007-01-03

It's easy to use and fits easily in a purse or pocket. The pictures are outstanding! And I can't help but rave abut the great deal I got from Amazon.com!

One of the best 2006-12-27

I purchased this camera about a month ago and I have been very impressed. I made the mistake a couple years ago by purchasing a camera from Hewlett Packard: what a horrible idea! The Canon cameras have been very excellent and surpass HP design by lightyears!

The SD500 is a smart buy and very easy for anyone to use. I recommend any Canon cameras that use the Lithium Ion Battery Packs because they do not die all of a sudden and you won't have to recharge them often. I've yet to have to recharge mine in the month I've had it. This is the best camera I've ever laid my hands on and you should buy it if you are looking for a new one!

Nice Camera, but Canon will not support. 2006-12-16

I have the SD500 and it is fantastic. However, about 15 months into use, I got the E18 error when zooming. Canon will NOT fix under warranty, even though amny other users are experiencing the same issue. I have owned many cameras and never have found such a poor level of support.

Canon does it again - LOVE IT! 2006-12-02

I got this camera last Christmas loved it ever since. It's small for carrying along. You can put it in your pocket, but I prefer my padded carrying case. The screen is big enough to view your photos & go through menu options with ease. I do a lot of professional photography, modeling & the photographer & wanted something small to carry in my free time. This camera gives clear quality photos & excellent control. With a fast start up, you can shoot with manual mode or change the settings to your preferences. The memory card doesn't hold very many photos, so you should buy one that does. It'll definitely be worth the purchase. Remember you should go through your manual & learn all features. This will help you understand the features & modes much better. I am disappointed with the flash. Indoor/close up shooting, without the best of lighting needs tissue over the flash because its so close to the lens. WIthout doing so, the photo will be washed out, or have red eye. Without great lighting the photo may also have noise. This is pretty common with these new small handheld cameras. As a Photoshop user, I find no problem editing this.

PROS:
* Compact design
* 2.0-inch LCD Screen.
* Rich photos
* Great Battery Life - 14% more battery life than other SD series models. The life span on this battery is wonderful. It will last you hours. The charger that comes with the camera, charges very quickly & efficiently. The power saving setting automatically shuts camera off when not in use.
* 9 Scene Mode - Pre-set settings for you to use for specific areas & subjects. The new Night Display feature brightens the LCD in low lighting. (Pre-Settings: Portrait, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater, Indoor, Kid & Pets, Night Snapshot)
* My Colors - Lets you highlight & swap colors right on the camera.
* Shutter Exposure & ISO Speed
* Color Balance - Make photos more vibrant, neutral, black & white, custom white balance, or sepia toned.
* PhotoStitch- Stitch assist shooting mode which helps getting the shots lined up. These can be viewed on your LCD screen. Pictures that have been shot in this mode are also tagged with metadata which identifies them as sections of a single panorama, positions, left right up & down.
* Supports other brand memory cards.
* Quick Speed Movies, 640 x 480 Movies @ 30fps
* USB 2.0 High Speed Support
* 37-111mm F2.8 - 4.9, 3x Optical Zoom.
* 50% Longer flash range versus the SD200-400.
* Self timer - 2 Sec./10 Sec./Custom Sec.

CONS:
* 32MB Secure Digital Memory Card. The size of this is pretty useless. Highest resolution gets you 9 photos. If you can afford this camera, you can afford to buy a larger memory card. The camera supports other brands/makers which will save you money.
* Picture could be a little more sharp.
* Could use faster shutter speed/frames per second.
* Should have ISO Control & Macro in all modes.

There are lots of great things about it & it will definitely suit any camera user. You should always check out merchandise in person at a local store if possible, to play with the camera & get the feel before buying. Overall, I highly recommend this camera to anyone looking for a new camera. The perfect gift for Christmas, birthday, or just any occassion. It's well worth the cost!

buy a canon elph, you will not be sorry! 2006-11-25

Just bought this camera to replace the sd300 I got last december. The sd300 got left at the park. Not by me.
When out last elph met it's early end, I was short on cash so went for a nikon L3.
This elph is so much better of a camera.
Like the user controls,
Like the feel of the camera, nice and small and a nice metal feel,
Love the pictures it takes.

Compared to all other cameras I have used the only thing I think may be a dislike is it is a little small for my large hands. Everyone else in my family thinks the size is perfect. For putting in the pocket, I would not want it really any bigger.

Amazing Camera 2006-11-18

I love this camera. It's my second Canon and, at 7MP, the best value for the money I've seen. I took it to France this summer and loved the fact that I could recharge the battery overnight while my friends were constantly changing their batteries (and searching for places to buy them!). My favorite option is the "Scene" button. I don't think I'll ever try the "underwater" option, but the "night shot" and "inside shot" work fantastically. It also seems as though you can take movies until the card or battery fail - which is a huge improvement over my older Canon. Unlike a lot of newer cameras, this one has a viewfinder. A friend of mine has a Nikon that has no viewfinder and it was extremely hard to use in bright sunshine. I carried my camera in my purse without a case a few days ago in New Orleans without a problem - it worked like a charm. I would recommend this camera to anyone who wants an easy-to-use model that produces fabulous results.

I love this camera 2006-11-13

This is a great camera that takes the place of an earlier Canon Digital Elph that I lost several years ago. The 7.1 megapixels ensures great quality and the 3x zoom provides crisp clear pictures. In fact the digital zoom also works great - just make sure the camera is steady (I purchased a nice compact monopod and the results were awesome). Although the image stabilization feature on the newer models would have been great to have, you can't beat the price and overall quality of this camera and the pictures it takes. The Canon SD500 is a great little camera.

My first digital camera 2006-11-12

I'm by no means an expert! This is the first digital I have owned. It took me a long time because I was so used to my film camera. But I searched long and hard to find what I thought I wanted. And so far I am not disappointed. At first the size threw me because everyone else had a bigger camera and I felt it would be hard to handle to take good pics. But that's not the case. I like the feel, the size...I like to be able to throw it in my purse...It takes great pictures to use for my e-bay, and sending to family and friends. I haven't had any pictures printed from it yet, so I don't know how exactly they will come out, but I'm thinking they should be okay since my online pics have been great. I haven't had a single blurry pic, both regular and close up. The video works well...it has lots of little options I don't use..like sounds for each function, but I can change those if I want. Overall I have no complaints.

So great, I'm buying it again. 2006-11-11

I bought this camera in February, and it really did a great job in so many different situations.
Unfortunately, I lost it this past September and have been kicking myself ever since. I will be purchasing the exact same camera again.
Excellent features include:
easy to use
small
good quality (as long as they aren't EXTREMELY close) pictures
I like the software that came with the camera
good accessories, esp. the camera case
clear LCD screen
great options for picture taking
Good features include:
fast shutter speed, although not quite fast enough. I'd like to take more pictures at a faster repetition but cannot with this camera

I recommended this camera to my best friend who is a lighting designer for retail spaces (Dolce & Gabbana, for instance) and he gives it an excellent review as well, so I know it is good in all types of light and for professional purposes.

Ky Girl at Heart 2006-11-11

I LOVE THIS CAMERA! I bought it to keep in my diaper bag so I always have a camera with me. It's small, easy to use and takes great pictures. I recently sent a few in to have them developed and they came out great. The only recommendation I have is to purchase a larger memory card - the one it comes with only hold a few pictures.

Good 2006-11-10

It is working well, and it is sturdy. I dropped on the ground when playing frisby, but nothing happened.

shape new colorful life 2006-11-10

hi i am surendranadha reddy
i purchaged a CANON SD500 7.1MP . It is verygood digital camara.
previously i used pantex that is also good, but in this photos are very natural and realistic.

One more the Amazon price also good.

Thank you
surendra

Great camera, but not intended for the abusive owner 2006-11-10

I like the picture quality and features of this camera at this price point so much, its the third one I've purchased. My family seems to be hard on cameras such that this model only seems to last for about a year or so. At that point its been banged around in my wifes purse or accidentally dropped by the kids that the telescoping mechanism for the lens stops working. In doing web research it seems to be a common problem. So if you're typically more gentle than me and my family seem to be, this is a great and easy picture taker.

Good camera for the money 2006-11-10

I bought this camera for $249 new which marked down from the $499 retail. This was an older model as the new models had just come out.
For the money this is a good camera, but I am very particular and was not blown away. The images are good, but I was expecting more vibrance. Colors are a bit weak. It will not take a focused shot indoors unless the flash is on, and the flash is way to bright for closer shots. The image is often over exposed, and I find myself placing a piece of paper over the flash to get more of a correct shot. I upgraded from a Canon A40 2 megapixel camera (AMAZING CAMERA!), and the images are very similar in quality, except the new SD500 captures them bigger, having the 7 megapixel chip, hence a little better detail.

I do like the small size, and the battery lasts a long time between charges. Holds lots of pictures with the 1 gig card I purchased seperatly. The video quality is quite good for a still camera.

good features, but faulty battery 2006-11-09

I have always been pleased with canon products, but this camera and/or battery has caused me problems. If I haven't used it in a while, a week or so, it won't turn on. I have to pop the battery out and back in again to get it to start up. It does this even when the battery is fully charged. It may just have a faulty battery, but I won't know for sure until I am able to purchase a new battery.
Other than that I really like this simple and compact camera.

Good Buy 2006-11-07

Very Good Buy. I am happy with the picture quality and the battery life. Only additional feature i would have liked is an anti-shake in this camera and maybe a 2.5" or 3.0" LCD would have been awesome. But i absolutely love this camera - bought it for my mom and she adores it because its simple to use yet has all features of today's digital camera's.

Canon Powershot SD500 2006-11-06

This is a great camera, strongly recommend it.

MCM

Great camera at great price 2006-11-06

Not big on writing reviews, but I have been very happy with this camera. Great pictures for point and shoot. Videos are also of very nice quality. Great little camera!!

Great Camera for a Good Price 2006-11-05

Consumer Reports rated this camera very well. I like Canon products and my girlfriend was looking for a small digital camera. This fits in a pocket or purse very easily so it's always ready for a quick picture. A variety of pre-set and custom settings are available for great shots and the 7MP resolution lets you enlarge or crop without losing quality.

Canon Powershot 2006-11-03

i love my new camera! the memory card it came with holds approximately 50 pictures and the batter life is incredible! it's an awesome camera!

Fragile LCD screen, too frequent red eyes 2006-11-02

This camera fell from from our table top to the carpet on the floor and the LCD screen broke. Initially, we were able to take pictures using the viewfinder, but, now nothing works anymore. The picture quality was great except we got too many red eyes. I would say 20% of our shots had red eyes. Please don't get this camera.

EXTREMELY FRAGILE!!!! 2006-10-18

I have had this camera for about 3 weeks and initially it worked great. My wife was going to take a photo and dropped the camera about 3 feet onto the carpet. The LCD shows an E18 error and the camera no longer works. Before buying this camera, I highly recommend doing a search on E18 errors to see just how widespread the problem is. If dropping a camera onto the carpet is enough to disable it, it's time to look elsewhere!!!

AWESOME BUY 2006-10-16

This camera was one of the top three picks on Consumer Report's special electronics edition. Found the best price on Amazon, camera shipped within a week. It works like a charm !!!

Good in many ways, but... 2006-10-14

Here is the good: The pictures seem good. The features are good. The menus are pretty easy to operate. It is VERY fast to start up. I love that! I can whip it out of my pocket and take a picture on a few seconds notice (after I put my glasses on...see below).

The battery life, so far, seems ok. I've taken a hundred or so pictures on one battery charge. More than my old camera would take on NiMH AAs.

But it has a few problems:

1) Yes it has a viewfinder. That's why I bought it. However, the VF is tiny and has no magnification or adjustment so people who need reading glasses like me can't us it. A waste of hardware.

2) So yes, I use the LCD (which is hard because of reading glasses). It is reasonably bright and reasonably big and reasonably fine-grained, but it is not as nice as the really new pocket-cams. I did not get those because of the lack of VF. If I had known, I would have gotten a newer camera with a bigger and brighter screen.

3) The mode control is kind of tricky to operate. You need to catch the tab with your fingernail in order to turn it. It takes a bit too much force so it is very easy to overshoot and get the wrong mode. I bet it will be a bear in the cold.

4) I was really shocked at the cruddyness of the cap over the USB port. It's kind of a plastic thing that you have to jangle around and then bend back on its little plastic leash. That puppy's going to break soon.

So my summary is that this is a camera that takes good pictures (though I'm not expert). The USB2 port downloads them quickly too. It has some issues that may or may not bother you, or you may decide are worth putting up with for the low price. If you want the low price, go for it. You won't be getting an awful camera. However, if you like to optimize and to really appreciate good design and good feel, go elsewhere.

Great Camera 2006-09-05

Wow, this camera is very easy to use and takes great photos!
I highly recommend it. I purchased two, one for me and one for my wife.
This is the best digital camera for low light photos I have owned yet.

Best Buy for the price! 2006-08-24

We have purchased 3 of these camera's and they take the best pictures! They have the look of professional pictures. Easy to understand the workings of the camera too. Love it.

Great Camera 2006-08-20

Takes great pictures, easy to use, and very compact. I can take it with my anywhere....it fits in my pocket. Love it.

Don't let the price fool you... 2006-08-12

I purchased this camera a few months ago, and was torn between the SD500 and SD550. After what seemed like weeks of painful research, I went with the SD500, and have been delighted.

Coming from Canon's Powershot A-series, I was a bit skeptical about the SD's being able to produce decent quality. After uploading a weekend of shots in Northern Michigan to my Mac (which was flawless without ever touching the included disc), I was floored by the quality of the shots -- and I'm not even a good photographer.

As a simple point-and-shoot camera, the SD500 is great. But when you get in to the color enhancement / replacement features, it really shines. I took a few comparison shots of the lakeshore; some with the blue enhanced, and some normal. They all came out great, but the enhanced ones really popped. The most impressive thing was that you couldn't see any obvious signs of enhancement -- the colors were still balanced properly, and the beach / grass / cars all had true color.

If you're looking for something pocketable with legendary Canon quality, look no further.

great camera! 2006-08-11

This is great camera. The pictures are very clear. It is easy to download to the computer. The batterie last long, and charging it is fast. This camera is worth every penny and more. The SD card is easy to remove and put back. It is light weight and small enough to fit in a pocket. Love this camera.

Canon Powershot works well but directions difficult 2006-08-10

The camera itself is small, but the buttons are spaced so that your fingers can find them. The only problem I find is that the directions are difficult to comprehend and come in several different forms - booklet, foldout, etc. The manufacturers assume a level of knowledge before you buy the camera that might not be true of every user.

Awesome camera - tons of quality 2006-08-08

Nothing wrong with this camera. I've had it Since Jan 06 and it's great. I have it set for 3 settingsi use most, first switch is regular, 2nd switch is a no flash setting that won't ruin night shots where you don't want a flash and can keep steady, and the 3rd postion is for night photos with flash. the last of course is for video- and i think the video and audio is just fine.
All my pictures have fab color. I've even tried the sepia setting, and the black and white setting.

What I don't like is the red eye reduction. Can't quite get that one!

SD500 Canon 2006-07-25

This is a great camera.
All the pictures I have taken so far have come out great.
Highly recommended. Works best for close pictures not for takinf pictures of things that are very far away.

white and light blue indoor with Auto , 2006-07-20

pictures are less colorful than SD550 (I bought half year ago and SD330 3years ago) using manually will improve a little, but still ....

agree with :

I've tried with flash, without...our windows and doors are wide open , and the interior colours are all whites and light blue...there is nothing dark about our house. Yet I can not get a clear picture

Decrease in Quality, Increase in MP and Price! 2006-07-19

I purchased this camera for my husband for Father's day...we had previously owned the Canon Digital Elph SD400 4 MP and we loved it...I dropped it while the lens was extended and that was the end of it...can't blame the manufacturer for my butterfingers. We loved that camera so my husband was thrilled to get this one...I was eager to get my butterfingers on it too. I own the Pentax ist*DS as well and that is a fabulous camera for anyone wanting to go the SLR route.

Anyhow, this camera fell far short of our expectations. It does seem to have a slightly less hard time with redeye (one star) and the outdoor pictures are still sharp and crisp (2 stars) and the camera itself starts up quickly so you don't miss as many of the shots of the kids (3 stars). However, even when using Indoor mode on the portrait setting...the noise in the pictures is unreal! I have had to buy photo editing software in order to keep any indoor pictures of my kids. We never had this problem with the 4 MP and I can not figure that out.

I've tried with flash, without...our windows and doors are always wide open due to the heat...we have an extremely well lit home, and the interior colours are all whites and light blue...there is nothing dark about our house. Yet I can not get a clear picture of my children even if they are passed out cold. I've played with the ISO settings on other modes as well. That was my biggest beef with this camera I take pictures with the Pentax, no flash, indoors in our home all the time and they turn out brilliantly. If anyone can give me some pointers on what I may be doing wrong or some setting I might be able to change I'd be glad to try it out and revise my review.

Secondly, this huge LCD display. Perhaps I'm paranoid about dropping another camera but I find I don't have a good feeling about holding the camera. I have tiny hands...and I have a hard time figuring out where to put my fingers so that I don't smudge or damage the LCD or put my finger in front of the flash...very poor design on the part of Canon. I'd gladly give up the slightly larger LCD for some practicality, stability and durability. Three of my friends bought the same camera as well...all three of them have had the LCD get wrecked in the span of a month. It's just too large and unprotected. One friend scratched hers, another friend has a dent in hers and it no longer works at all, and the third friend has a problem with hers not displaying even though the rest of the camera works. I'm extremely careful when using the camera for fear of wrecking the fragile LCD...again I never felt this way with the SD400 which was built very very very well! come on Canon you can do better than this! I swear the cameras number of megapixels go up but the level of durability and quality goes down.

Don't even get me started on the lousy video quality...the sound is horrible! and the battery needs charged very frequently!

And when are Canon going to come out with a camera that can be taken to the beach, the pool underwater...like the optio...or the new olympus. Or offer some kind of warranty on their cameras when used with their underwater cases. Why make a product if you can't stand behind it. The first camera company to come up with a camera that actually fits an active family lifestyle, with the service, quality and warranty to back it up...they are going to be number 1

Unless we can figure out the noise problem we are going to sell this camera second hand and go for the new waterproof Olympus ...better money spent.

great little camera 2006-07-14

Had camera for a month ,works well pictures have been great the quality of the pictures compared to my older digital is wonderful. nice size fits into my pocket when not on use. i did buy small case for it. I did not want to damage lcd screen. The software that come with it is just ok i found it hard to use . Would strongly suggest get as big of a memory card you can afford. It eats memory in video mode. The video mode is ok i would not use it as my movie camera but is good enough in a pinch .

Works underwater 2006-07-14

I bought the SD500 because my wife wanted a camera to keep in her purse for softball games, gymnastic and swim meets. Apparently our EOS 20D is the incorrect size for storing in a purse and taking with you. Shortly after, my company sent me on a geoligical field trip to the caicos islands, so I bought the Canon underwater housing for it and 2G Sandisk Ultra II card. With a fresh charge in the morning, it took well over 500 full resolution shots using the LCD, better than advertised. Pictures were great, I am amazed at how close the quality is to the pictures from our Canon Digital SLR. My pictures were wanted by everyone in the group. Stick it in your pocket and go. No LCD problems by the way, after having it almost 4 months. My only gripe is flash is crappy, but I am comparing it to the external flash I use on my SLR which I usually bounce, so I guess that's really not fair.

Broken already 2006-07-14

I just bought the PowerShot SD 500 recently--to take on a long vacation my family is going on in 3 weeks. I bought the camera a couple months before our trip, so that I could have it in advance of the trip to get used to the camera and become familiar with how it works before we leave. Well, the camera arrived 4 weeks ago and I have used it some, just around the house--taking pictures of the kids, pets, etc. I haven't done anything "wild and crazy" with the camera. Well, just this morning I got the camera out to take a few more pics and discovered that it's not working. I just get a weird marking on the screen (it looks like ink blots on a mostly blank screen). I let a camera-expert friend look at it and he thinks the camera is broken. I changed the SD card and battery and that didn't help. I poured through the technical manual and that was no help either. I called Canon's main number and talked to their technical support people for quite a while and they say the camera is broken too. Now I need to mail the camera off to get it repaired. After they receive it, it will take a minimum of 10 business days for them to repair it. Bottomline, it won't be able to be repaired and shipped back to me until AFTER we leave on the trip. So...I won't have the camera to bring with me on the trip....which is very frustrating because that's the whole reason I bought the camera. I don't recommend this camera to anyone else. I have two other Canons--one a digital and one a "regular" 35 mm camera--and haven't had any problems with those. I am very disappointed in the SD 500 though.

Small and easy to operate 2006-07-10

The directions are clear and easy to follow. I've never used a digital camera before, the memory card plugs right into my computer with no need for cables, its great.

A better camara 2006-07-05

Pros: I previously owned a Canon SD 100. This camara is definetly a step up in digital photography, particularly when ordering posters or enlargements. The quality of the pictures is superb. The camara works very well with a 2GB 150x ADATA SD card that can be bought for a reasonable price. I am particularly happy with the price that Amazon.com sold it to me. I do not think that I could have done better anywhere else.
I certainly recommend it.
Cons: The camara kit did not include a leather case. I had to buy it separetly.

Great camera at a great price 2006-06-30

This camera works great. The memory card is worthless because it is so small but you can get a 1 meg card for about 30 bucks. If you buy, order the card and a spare battery at the same time to save on shipping. The camera takes great pictures, fits in a pocket easily and is easy to use. Amazon price was [...] dollars better than I could find anywhere else. Good buy.

SD 500 Review 2006-06-28

All-in-all, the Canon SD500 7.1MP is a great camera with enough features to entertain the serious photographer while making point-and-shoot easy. Recommend purchasing the 1GB SD Card however.

Very pleased with battery life. I do wish the camera had come with a custom case as part of the package. Also pleased with Vendor and product was shipped as advertized.

Canon Elph camera use 2006-06-28

The camera is similar to the 230 I had in size. The problem with the 230 was that the switch from picture to review had movie in between and many times would be on movie when you wanted picture. The SD500 corrects that but provides a wheel that is diffiult to manipulated. There is a small smooth elevation on the wheel that is supposed to help but is very difficult to grasp. The ability to switch from photo to review is almost sufficiently difficult to wish that I had ordered a different camera. Who designs these things? Do they ever try to use them after the design?

A GREAT CAMERA 2006-06-11

After a lot of searching,I decided to buy the SD500. It is a great TINY camera with a great resolution. It has lots of options or you could just shoot in the automatic mode which is just as good. But after reading a lot of reviews on amazon that had problems with a broken LCD, i bought the "DA PROTECTOR MODEL 104" it is a great protecter for the LCD since it is very fragile. You should also avoid putting it in your pocket, just because it is called "POCKET SIZED" doesnt mean put it in your pocket, you should be very careful with it so you could enjoy it. Overall the camera looks great, and works great just as long as you take care of it. I take my camera everywhere which is made possible by its compact size and I would really recommend this camera to anyone and its also affordable but buy at least a 1 gega SD card with it since it only comes with a 32 MB card which is absolutely useless.

Great quality/size combination 2006-06-07

Sure, this won't live up to the hype or quality of an SLR digital, or some of the mid-size digitals, but it certainly packs a punch for its size. Perfect for applications that put size/weight at a premium (backpacking, sports, social parties, etc.). I am very pleased with the purchase.

Fair 2006-06-07

The camera works good but has too many modes. The buttons on the back are in the way for one handed shooting. I had the S100 that was good and I now also have a 10D and a 20D but often need a pocket Camera. I've had the SD500 since last summer and carry it all the time that is what a Pocket camera is for. After only 1373 Pictures It locked up. Push the on off button and is makes noise but the Lens stays out and nothing works. I think they are trying to get too much in a small space to make it durable.

Great for Sporting shots - Great for a basic user 2006-05-12

This is the best small digital I have had. I replaced the 4MP version with this.

The multi shot is brilliant for action shots - even while skiing at high speed.

I am no real camera expert, but as a basic user I found this very simple and well worth it!

This camera rocks! 2006-04-16

I bought this camera because my old camera (a Sony) fell victim to discontinued Sony technology. Sony stopped selling the Memory Sticks that my camera supported (and a lot of other Sony products supported), and they chose to make their new memory sticks such that they were not compatible with the old ones. Essentially, they purposely outdated their older merchandise, so that you could not longer buy accessories for them and would have to buy new ones. So I got upset with Sony and turned to Canon for my new digital camera, and I couldn't be happier. I was going on a one month trip, and knew I would need more memory than I had to get me through b/c I wouldn't have computer access, so I bought this little gem. It's a great camera and is very well made - strong construction. And I can also say that Canon has excellent customer service - the camera stopped working during my trip (probably due to a spill I took hiking, when I had my camera in my hand), and Canon fixed the camera under the warranty, no questions asked. The camera is very user friendly - it has tons of advanced features if you want them, but if you're not that technologically advanced or are feeling lazy and don't want to take the time to adjust the settings, the point and click settings still make it really easy to take great pictures. Oh, and I love that you can charge the batteries without having to plug in the camera itself - if you buy an extra battery, you can leave one charging at home or in your hotel, while you are out using your camera, unlike my old Sony camera that you had to plug in to charge its battery. The canon external battery charger is great! I've been converted to Canon for life!

Oh, and I also bought the underwater camera case because I knew I was going to be going on a kayak trip and swimming with dolphins, and that thing works wonderfully! It's constructed so that you can still access every feature of the camera while it's in the underwater housing. I took some great films of the dolphins under water. I didn't take it to great depths because I was snorkling, not scuba diving, but for my purposes it was great! If you're into scuba diving, I would imagine you'd want to buy the weight for the underwater case too, but for my purposes, that wasn't necessary - without the diving gear on, the fact that the case floats without the weight is a good thing!

First digital camera...A Canon fan for life! 2006-03-26

This camera is well worth the money! I needed a good camera because I am majoring in Graphic Design. My teacher recommended getting the Canon SD400, but he told me that that the Canon SD500 was an even better choice if I could afford it.

I have become a Canon fan for life. They are the best! I don't think I would ever consider getting anything other than a Canon in the future. If you don't get this particular camera, make sure to get a Canon. When I bought it, it had been the number one selling camera on Amazon for quite some time.

I have read that some people have had a problem with the LCD screen, but I have had mine for about 3 months now, and I haven't had any problems with that. I am always very, very careful with it because I dont want anything to happen to it. Afterall, if you drop any digital camera, most of the time, it gets broken. Use the wrist band that it comes with because there has been atleast one time where I dropped it accidently. The wrist band saved it!

A few minor flaws 2006-02-28

My husband bought me this camera so I'd have something small and easy to carry around to catch photos of our children at at any time. This camera is perfect in that it's small and lightweight and fairly simple to use- though it's packed full of fancy features as well.

However, there are a few features I find annoying. I'm by no means an expert, I'm just a mom who wants to capture shots of her kids. The red-eye reduction on this camera is worthless, IMO. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong, but I have a red-head and in every flash photo, he looks like Satan's Spawn with glowing red eyes =( The red-eye problem isn't as bad in my other kids luckily.

The focus is weird. You have these green boxes that show on the LCD to show where the main focus is. Unfortunately for me, it always wants to pick something way in the background so I have to refocus the camera... even more unfortunate, a wiggly kid has usually moved and I've lost the shot. I was very disappointed when we returned home from vacation and all my shots of the Air and Space museum were out of focus because the camera focused on somthing 500 yards away =( Again, this problem may be due to operator error.

Overall though, the quality of the pictures is amazing. I'm very happy with the camera overall, I just wish I knew how to fix some of the annoyances and learn how to use the camera to it's potential.

powershot 2006-02-28

I cannot believe the quality and precision of the photos I am taking. They are amazing. I have even begun to learn all the features, and I am really loving the camera already. And it's so small. lightweight and easy to use.

FABULOUS 2006-02-24

I am absolutely thrilled with my Cannon Powershot SD500. This camera is light weight, small and extremely easy to use. My pictures are great. I am very happy with my purchase and the service and price through Amazon was perfect.

Canon Powershot, pretty good camera 2006-02-22

I just got this camera and it's got great detail in the pictures. I put my daughters picture as the background picture on my laptop and you can literally sit there and count the eyebrows hairs on her! It is easy to use, lightweight and its very easy to download the pictures using the software and usb cable that comewith the camera. The only thing I would like to change about it is the zoom isn't too much, only 3x and the videos you take are so huge you can't email them. They have a compact version of the video you can take but then its so small when you send it you can barely see anything. And one of the reasons i got the camera was to send grandparents little short video clips which isn't really working for me. But as far as taking pics its a great camera

Great Camera! 2006-02-21

I love this camera! It is perfect for everything, and the possibilites are endless! The only thing that would make this camera better is to have more optical zoom!

Great pocket digi-cam for the buck 2006-01-18

I bought the SD500 6 months ago and it does satisfy the needs of the avarage amateur photographeur. Pro's: small size, high pixel count, good battery life, good pic quality for pocket size. Low's: LCD has increased dead pixel amount over just 6 months, Focus and flash seem to be sluggish when a quick shot is necessary.
Additional things to get: second battery, 1GB sd card (saves hassle of frequent changes).
Conclusion: very good buy if you are looking for something under 500$ including the 1GB Sd card and battery.

Very nice 2006-01-16

I have had a Canon sd110 for the last couple of years and have thought it to be remarkable and not easily replaceable. When I sat on it and broke the LCD I was absolutely inconsolable. Then I decided to give it to my thirteen year old (he can still take excellent shots using the view finder) and splurge on one of these. Darn it if I am spoiled once again. Great camera. Incredibly accurate in almost every situation. I don't use it for external night shots or for real fast action and of course it is only a 3x optical zoom. I have a nice and huge Panasonic lumix with a stabilized 12x Leica for that, but it so big and inconvenient that I find that I use it less and less. The sd500 on the other hand is always in my jacket pocket (in a nice leather case - I learned my lesson thank you very much)...

I bought a new 1 gb SD card and I think it is almost a requirement because I find that the 7 megapixel images are almost double in size from the sd110's 3.2 megapixel shots.

The color balance is absolutely perfect. I don't see purple fringes unless I push the lens to the exteme. The ease of use and the quality of image balance is what makes this little baby a great camera for the beginner and the enthusiast like me that will go out on a Saturday morning stroll and shoot 150 shots.

Very satisfied.

Ideal on-the-go Camera 2006-01-04

While I have a canon single reflex camera, which takes absolutely fantastic pictures, I wanted a camera that could just fit in my purse and be easily available for all those unexpected picture/perfect moments while still maintaining the ability to have framable prints in the end. This one fits the bill perfectly! While not as slim and tiny as others in the market these days, it takes beautiful pictures and is a snap to download pictures onto my computer. Of course, you've gotta love instant gratification and the truth is, the pictures are often even better than how they appear on the viewfinder. It has a great feel, the controls are very straightforward and easy to use. The LCD is big enough that I can continue to deny my need for bifocals in seeing small print. There are bigger LCD's out there, but I also believe this is the most breakable part of a digital camera, not covered by warranty. So bigger isn't always necessarily better.

On the downside, admittedly, the red-eye feature doesn't necessarily work in that I still get the redeye thing (obstensibly because the flash is so close to the lense -- a common problem in compact digitals), but that's the easiest thing to correct with today's computer software. Plus, there are cameras on the market that now take regular batteries vs. risking the possibility of the chargable battery dying at the worst possible moment. But my daughter's camera (using AA's) seems to drain batteries at a really rapid clip. Also, there is no internal memory card (unlike the 550) and the card that comes with the camera is really small. I recommend buying a larger card immediately, especially if you want to use the video function.

While I am somewhat behind the general population in that this is my first digital camera, if you're looking for a fun camera that has plenty enough of bells and whistles to be creative AND yet takes great point and shoot pictures, this is a good choice.

This is not a review... 2006-01-02

The issue that was described in the previous deals with Color Management issues. I work as a tech in a photo lab at the college I attend, and have been in charge of sorting out Color Management for the last two years. When printing, several things must be considered: brand of paper, paper type, compatibility with printer, printing/imaging software, monitor and printer calibration, and camera/monitor/printer/image profiling.

99.9% of all cases of prints turning out dark and greenish usually happens when the Color Management setup in your computer is turned off. There are some excellent books that can teach the basics of printing images for less than $30 MSRP.

There are also some great, free resources online. Check out http://www.drycreekphoto.com .

I totally understand how frustrating printing can be... I've stayed up nights trying to determine what the problem was... only to find out that the reason why someone's print came out completely wrong was that they didn't use, or forgot a step of, Color Management.

Good Luck!

A Real Lemon of a Camera 2005-12-31

I received my Canon PowerShot SD500 right before embarking on an extended trip to Europe. The pictures seemed great on the camera. But when they are uploaded to a computer or even printed directly from the memory card, the pictures are extremely dark. Dark greens are black. Objects clearly visible in light shadows on the camera screen are so dark you cannot see them on the uploaded or printed image. The image on the camera screen matches reality. The image the camera produces in reality is totally dark, especially in night or dusk scenes. You can clearly see the image difference when you hold the camera's image up next to what is supposed to be the same image uploaded onto the computer. So the camera left me with more than 400 ruined pictures -- an entire vacation (plus the holidays). By the time I returned from my trip, the window to return the camera was past, so I had to send it back to Canon (with me footing the postage bill) for repairs. It was returned, with a bunch of things supposedly replaced. Yet, the images are STILL dark and the same problem persists. For the amount of money I paid for this camera, I would expect it to work correctly out of the box. But this one is a real lemon. Had I wanted a refurbished camera, I would have paid a refurbished price. Instead, I got a full-price camera that doesn't even work properly. I have sent a request to Canon to see if they will outright replace the camera since it has not worked correctly since day one. No response yet. If I had to buy a digital camera again (and it is looking as though I really will have to), I would NOT buy the Canon PowerShot SD500.
ADDITIONAL INFO (03/21/06): Have so far sent this camera in for repairs TWICE... and it is STILL not taking pictures correctly. The camera returned from the first round of Canon repairs with a new vibration and clicking noise when you turn it on and whenever the lens moves, as though there is something loose in the mechanism. Problem persists with dark images (both on several different computers AND when memory card is taken directly to store to be printed). Sent camera back for round two of repairs for both problems. Have received it back and problems are STILL there. This was obviously a flawed camera out of the box. Canon should simply replace it, but refuses. I will definitely be moving on to a different brand of camera... from a company that will stand behind its product instead of jerk around its customers.

Problems with red eye? 2005-12-19

I love this camera...I picked it over the SD550 because it has a longer battery life, and the SD550 didn't offer much more than a larger LCD screen and a larger price tag. However, I have noticed a lot of pictures with red eyes, in spite of using the red eye feature. Another friend with the same camera doesn't seem to have this problem, so I'm not sure if it is something I'm doing. However, aside from that, I love the pictures. The same size of the camera means that I can carry it in the pocket of my jeans and have it readily available anytime my kids are ready to do something cute!

Canon Review 2005-12-02

This is the best small digital I have had. I used to have the 400 and then replaced it with this. For outdoor sports like skiing the multi shot is brilliant. I am no real camera expert, but as a dumb user I found this very simple and well worth it!

Dont Buy Canon until LCD issue is corrected! 2005-11-29

I have owned 5 canon cameras before I purchased the SD500.
I Owned two Powershot s50's Both of which I loved. I lost the first S50 after two years of use. It had been taken to Europe and all over the world dropped many times and was beat up pretty bad but the LCD was always fine . I replaced that with another S50 after I left it in a restaurant. It was great too had it for almost a year and it was stolen from my bag at a beach. I bought the SD500 and after TWO weeks of normal use (Never dropped) the LCD is broken. I wish I had read all the reviews of the LCD issues. Do not buy this or any other Canon elph type camera until they fix this obvious Camera FLAW. I suggest that everyone whom this flaw has affected should write Canon and ask them to correct this Flaw or cover it under the warranty. For this to be happening to this many people is ridiculous to say the least! Very dissapointed and will probably never buy another canon ever. It is too bad because other than the LCD the camera is very good. However it is pointless to buy a camera you can no longer use because of poor design. Extremely dissatisfied!

Audio Noise in Videos 2005-11-09

This is a very nice camera but it has one fatal flaw that made me return it. Videos have a buzz/hiss in their sound. This seems to vary from one shot to the next and maybe from one camera to the next, but even at its best, it's pretty bad. I ended up buying an SD550 instead (no buzz in the audio) and I'm very happy I did.

The 550 is a great little camera -- small, quick, convenient, easy to control. I didn't think the big screen would be as important as it is, but we like it a lot better than the smaller screen on the 500.

There's a lot to recommend about both cameras. They're very easy to use in the manual mode. You can leave a group of settings programmed into 'manual' and then turn the knob and go to full auto, and then go back to the same group of settings for manual.

One problem is that you never see a display of shutter speed and aperture. That's just silly. Another is that you can only see a histogram in playback.

Both cameras are fast. I've used the 550 much more and can say that for the first time with a digital camera I feel that I'm not missing shots because the camera isn't ready.

The metal surface of these cameras are slick and sophisticated. But, unfortunately, also very slippery, and combined with the shape of the camera, makes you always afraid you might drop it.

Bottom Line -- Good camera. But if videos are important to you, or if you have the money for the bigger screen go for the SD550.

Wrong decision... 2005-11-07

I may try selling mine ASAP as long as it is still worth anything. I had it now for a few months and should have followed my first instinct when I took it out of the box. It is too small and quite uncomfortable since there is no real grip. The picture quality is pretty good as long as you are not using the flash or the macro feature. The LCD is already scratched though I am anal with my equipment (I still have and love my 1980s A series camera which still looks almost new though it has been around the world with me a few times).
By looking at the prices now, I am disappointed that I did not go with the G6 or one of the Olympus SLR style cameras but fell for the "portability/cuteness" factor: size DOES matter. So, if you are into photography, buy a bigger and better camera. If you need a point and shoot, buy a cheap Olympus.

Canon SD500 vs. Canon SD550 2005-11-06

The Canon SD500 and Canon SD550 are both very capable digital cameras. While they are similar in many respects, the list price is not one. With the SD500's list price at $499.99 and the SD550's at $549.99, you might wonder what you are getting on the SD550 for that extra fifty dollars. Hopefully this comparison will help you find out.
The Similarities begin with the image processor. Both cameras utilize the DIGIC II image processor. According to the manufacturer this allows for "superb image quality through improved colour gradation and white balance accuracy". Since both cameras have this processor it affords an advantage to neither when deciding which camera to buy.
The similarities continue with the amount of mega pixels. The SD500 and SD550 each have 7.1 mega pixels. This means that pictures taken with these cameras will still be detailed when enlarged.
There are only really two differences between the SD500 and the SD550. The first difference is the size of the LCD screen. The SD500 has a two inch display. It may not be the biggest on the market, but it works well. On the other hand the SD550 has a two and a half inch display. The extra half inch on the SD550 does make it a little easier to make out details than on the SD500.
The second difference is the number of shooting modes. The SD500 has 13 shooting modes, which in my opinion is more than enough if someone was just looking to buy a camera to take on vacations or to family outings. The SD550 on the other hand has 16 shooting modes. Those extra shooting modes may come in handy for the more serious photographer.
I think it is safe to say that both the SD500 and the SD550 are good cameras. If you have the extra fifty dollars to spend I would suggest the SD550 with its half inch more screen and 3 extra shooting modes.

LCD cracked after 8 days 2005-11-03

I bought the first SD500 4 month ago, and had it for 8 days, when the LCD cracked for no apparent reason, unfortunately I bought the diving case also, so after reading Canon didn't cover the LCD on warranty, I bought another one, but since then it's come out the LCD are very fragile, so that might have been a big mistake.

cracked LCD 2005-10-29

If your LCD cracks, I would try very hard to get canon to replace for free. They know this is a problem but will not recall them. I was advised when buying a camera yesterday to stay away from the SD series for awhile. I would talk to whoever I had to to get it replaced for free. Good luck.

LCD screen breaks easily and is not covered by warranty 2005-10-25

I have had three different Canon Elph digital cameras and I loved them all. Until this one...

I bought it one month ago as an upgrade to my existing one and within 1 week the LCD was broken. I put the camera in my pocket with my phone and when I took it out, the screen was broken. I had my other Elph camera for three years and never even thought about the LCD screen.

Canon does not cover it under warranty so I am out a lot of money by having to pay them to fix it.

I would not recommend this camera until the make the LCD screen as resilient as their other older models.

Cracked LCD 2005-10-23

Good Camera but the LCD is very fragile. Mine cracked for no apparent reason. Canon will not cover in warranty. Fixed by Canon for $156.

E18 error on SD500 w/in 6 months of use 2005-10-22

I bought the Canon SD500 earlier this year. Brought it with me to 2 long distance trips. The pictures and video clips came out with great quality. The physical outward appearances look very impressive, with metal outer body to protect its internal parts. It looks tough enough to last for at least 3 years. One would ask me why I only give a rating of 2.

Earlier this month, my camera started to have the "E18" error. After searching the Internet on this issue, the conclusion is that Canon point and shot cameras with retractable lens would most likely experience this problem. There are significant numbers of unhappy users.

E18 error is a result of battery problem or camera lens unable to retract, thus rendering the camera unable to function in any shooting mode.

There's a class action law suit against Canon on E18 error filed by a CA law firm. Too bad that I cannot post its link here. If you are interest, feel free to do some search on the internet.

I have been very disappointed that using my brand new SD500 for less than 6 months, it's basically dead now. I have yet to find out if Canon will fix it for me under warranty (some users stated that Canon won't fix it under warranty).

This is the best compact camera out there 2005-10-19

I'm very pleased with my camera. Very easy to use an very compact

LCD cracks - Canon gives runaround on warranty claim 2005-10-19

My SD500 took great pictures until the LCD cracked. It was in my hand taking great pictures at one moment, and then suddenly the display was gone! It wasn't dropped, mishandled, or abused in any way. Funny thing about the Canon warranty - it states that damage to the LCD is "assumed" to be through misuse. I'm getting the runaround trying to get it fixed - maybe they'll fix it, maybe not.

It seems I'm not alone. A Google search shows cracked LCDs on the SD500 are a very, very common problem. I'd say save your money and don't by a Canon.

Great! 2005-10-17

This camera is fantastic, the image quality is quite spectacular. The 7 megapixels create crystal clear image even in an 8x10. The camera has a few neat features like the "my colors" mode where you can use the color swap feature to change the color of an object, or color accent to change all colors to B&W except for one designated color! I have read reviews about fragile LCDs so i have handled it with much care and it has been fine so far. I would deffinately recomend this camera or if you care about the larger LCD, go for the SD550.

This camera is just amazing 2005-10-04

I purchased this camera in May and have used it non stop in europe and here at home. I have taken thousands of photos with it and it rarely disappoints me. More features than the average person will use on a regular basis but they are all worth having. I have processed several enlargements and everyone of them is spectacular in detail and color. Night shots come out quite good and going into "macro" mode I can take super sharp shots of precision equipment for documentation purposes. It goes everywhere I do and I take lots more pictures than ever simply because it is so handy!
I thnk this little monster really deserves six stars! Very highly recommended!!

Not as durable as others... 2005-10-04

This camera replaced my S110 and S500 which were both very durable cameras. The first night I took this one out, it came home with 2 dents -- and I had it in a protective case and it was never dropped! Other than that, the picture quality is great (which you should expect from a 7MP camera). Definitely spring for a larger memory card -- I bought a 1GB card to replace the tiny 32MB that came with it.

---
Two years later and I've had to send it in for repairs twice. The first time it was under warranty but the second time it cost me $150! Next time around I'm definitely getting one that feels more "solid".

A decent digital camera 2005-09-29

I bought my SD500 about a month ago and then I used it to take several shots at different times and locations, morning, afternoon and evening, indoor, outdoor, cloudy day, sunny day, close shot, landscape shot, by using the preset scenary modes... My overall impression is that picture quality is quite good at representing color and details. Up to now, the only minor shortcoming is that the default setting of exposure makes all pictures taken look darker than reality. The exposure setting of +2/3 ~ +1 can compensate the brightness.

digital camera canon power shot sd 500 7mp 2005-09-29

digital camera canon power shot SD500 7 mp

great camera 2005-09-27

we are very satisfied with this camera!
we also bought the sandisk 1 GB ultra II memory card, the accesory kit that comes with the nice leather case and extra battery, and a screen protector since I've read a few horror stories about screens cracking (look for "da protector" on amazon, it's $10).

we are thrilled with the camera - photos are wonderful, and camera is very quick. We just took it on vacation, took a million photos and ALL came out GREAT! take advantage of the different modes the camera has!!! I have 2 shots of a humpback whale breaching, - it's crystal clear, and you can even blow it up and see the water drops coming off the whale and the barnacles on the whale (and still crystal clear). I'm pretty sure we had it in beach mode, but it might have been auto mode... can't remember - it happened so quick!
use "kids and pets" mode for sports/moving objects

now we just need to get that underwater case!!!

we had a gateway dc-t50, that came out 2 years ago and got burned bad (piece of very expensive junk, always malfunctions, kept getting gateway to replace it...). So, I researched long and hard before buying another one!
I wanted a quick/fast, small-size camera that had a great reputation, and this fits the bill.

Offer the item at a great price then cancel your order 2005-09-26

I was excited to buy but right after i ordered the camera the order was cancelled by the seller, and my money was refunded. Don't bother e-mailing, they will not respond, nor will you hear anything about the sale of the item again. Horrible.

Love at first sight, divorce later... 2005-09-25

Rave Reviews
------------
I bought this camera after reading rave reviews about photo quality, ergonomic size and the like.

Loved It
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The camera is pretty stylish, feels very very good to hold, solid body,clear LCD screen. The software supplied is great, transferring pics to PC is just a breeze.

Dismal Realization
------------------
I went out for a photo shoot for two subsequent weekends, taking the little cute camera in my pocket. Out of 50-60 pics I took, around 30-40% pics came out blurred to some extent, little or large. I realized that pics taken inside the room, pics taken outside in the evenings and pics taken with zoom and pics of moving objects came out to be blurred to some extent.

Wise Again
----------
The entire blurry thing got me suspicious and I just did search in google for 'sd400 blurry', 'sd500 blurry', 'sony dscp200 blurry' and I could read several posts where people found pics to be blurry with all the compact sized cameras. Some of the reviews did point out image stabilization is not so profoundly present in smaller cameras because of component sizes.

After some deliberation I just decided to do away with 'compact camera thing', after all why spend $400 to have a camera that may blur that very special moment. I simply exchanged my SD500 with Cannon S2 IS and I feel relieved to get crisp, beautiful pictures.

I was happy until the LCD cracked 2005-09-22

It's one of those things...you never think it's going to happen to you until it does. For the price of this camera, it should break after using it for 3 weeks. It was fine one minute and then the next it wasn't. Quite shocking. I don't care how convenient the size...dealing with Canon to get it fixed has been a nightmare.

Beyond your expectation for sure 2005-09-22

I am a very picky person and I have researched for all the 7+ mega pixiel cameras and finally decided on SD500. I found this camera can perform beyond my need. It has so many functions that I doubt I will use them all. But ONE thing I love the most is the "Photo-Stitch" option that allow you to take a panormaic scene. When I loaded the series of pics on my computer, the software easily (and within a nano second) stitch up the pictures into one perfect, flawless panoramic scene. It will be good for travel and special event.
A few complaints I have are: it is complicated to get to certain functin because Auto-mode allow you to do certain thing while manual and scenic mode allow you to do abit more. It is difficult to remember all that while you need to shoot in a hurry. Also, in the video-mode, there is some hiss-noise which quite bothering.

Other than that, I give a 4 stars rating for this little devil!

great camera 2005-09-21

I like to print out photos enlarging portions and this enables me to get clear detailed prints up to 8x10

Opps! 2005-09-17

My screen cracked too.
I had it in my poket.
My older Elph was way better.

SD500 has problems that were fixed in SD550 2005-09-16

This camera, while a pretty good quality camera in general, does have a few minor annoyances that were fixed in the SD550 model.

The first is movie mode. The SD500 adds an annoying hissing/whining sound to the movies. This is fixed in the SD550. Also the LCD screen on the SD550 is much larger and really a lot better. Finally, the firmware on the SD550 is better designed in that it includes the text as well as the symbols whereas the SD500 only shows symbols and you have to memorize that the flower means macro the mountains mean inifinity focus, etc.

That said, the SD500 is still a good camera so if you don't want to spend the extra money for the newer SD550 model, I'm certain you will be happy with the SD500. But if the price difference is not too much, you might want to consider the SD550 instead.

GREAT CAMERA 2005-09-14

I take this camera everywhere I travel. I do very extensive traveling and this camera is perfect. It packs a lot of functions is such a small lil camera. I love it to death and don't leave home without it.

The bad reviews that I have read with RED EYE are not even that noticable in any of my night photos. I really think it is a lil blown out of proportion.

I print almost all my good photos on my color printer. I have a 4 mb kodak ls443 which takes awesome shots but the printing most of the time lost the clarity. On this camera every pic comes out unreal, even with crappy paper. The detail and clarity are great, i know there is a large difference due to the mg pixel but still it is a world apart.

I have to say the only one really bad thing about this camera is NO BATTERY METER. This is common with these elph's which i have read. Although I can get an entire 4 day weekend with 450+ pictures without even getting to a battery warning. So the battery does last a very long time w/o a charge. In the end it would be a great function to have on the camera. I hope we can get a firmware update with this added. It would really be the only flaw.

I totally recommend this camera, it is great and compact... PS Get a case the view finder will almost def. get scratched without one... Jim

Fantastic 2005-09-13

I have had this camera for 4 months now and I have had no problems with it. It has been an excelent camera.

2 months research 2005-09-12

i spent about two months off and on doing research for THE best digitial camera since it was my first. price wasn't a factor but now i see its 100 dollars off because i think there's a SD550 now. i wanted something somewhat small (this camera exceeded that) and very good. anyway i first thought i wanted more optical zoom but after going on my trip for two weeks i see why 90% of manufacturers default to the 3x optical. its plenty especially if you are not a pro like me and just do shots of friends, family, scenary. if you're a stalker you'll need more. i never got frustrated about the optical during my two week trip. plus this camera is TINY. you cannot go wrong. i made this purchase expecting not to buy a camera for at least 10 years.

ITS THE BEST CAMERA 2005-08-31

You cant imagine a better camera... it is to easy to use..., you can take photos and pictures every were, even in the absolute darkness. it has a very very powerfull flash, I LOVE IT... evey time a take a new photo Its a new great expetience... you can control every thing, tha light..., the colors..., the special scene.

BUY IT... IT IS THE BEST!!!

Canon Powershot SD500 - great color fidelity 2005-08-29

The SD500 is a wonderful little camera that fits easily in my shirt or pants pocket (don't put in rear pocket). It's metal except for the LCD and battery compartment.

I spent weeks researching a small form factor camera that would supplement an SLR. I ended up narrowing the pack to the SD500, Sony P200 and Casio Exlim 750 (the Pentax Optio S60 was not out at the time of purchase). Casio 750 is nice and small, fits in an Altiod tin, but it fails to deliver the color quality and consistency of the other two models. The Sony P200 had great features for the price, but would benefit from image stability to reduce image blur from hand held operation. I tested these at the local store after extensive online reviews.

I finally settled on the Canon after taking just a few images. It was clear that both flash and non flash images acurateley captured the perceived subject's colors. I have had this camera for 3 weeks now and have taken about 150 pictures and a couple of videos at 640 x 480 at 30fps. You will want to purchase a few high speed 2GB SD card if you plan to do this often! Canon doesn't tell you that videos can only be captured up to 1GB at a time so get a Camcorder of you really want to capture continuous video.

The most important feature of any camera to me is the color fidelity. I've found that I rarely, if ever need to edit images that come from the SD500 in Photoshop. I was in Walmart the other day and passed by their Photo center. I noticed that they had kiosk set up to take in images from digital cameras so I pulled out the little camera and took out the SD card, inserted it into the kiosk and loaded and selected a bunch of pictures for printing. Within an hour the 4x6 prints were ready. All I can say is "Wow"! The images were sharp, clear color was as expected/desired. My family was surprised to see the photographs we had just taken a couple of hours earlier.

So far I've tried a few of the other features including color swap, continuous image capture, scene selection among others. The scene selection is adequate though adding more manual controls would make this camera a definite 5 STAR.

Bottomline, the beauty of the SD500 is that images will be captured as perceived and can be sent directly for printing without any user color editing required.

A Word on Megapixels:

7MP is desirable if you need to create prints up to 8 x 10 at 300 dpi (dots per inch) which is typical of most laser and digital photo finishing printer. Don't be fooled by industry propaganda into thinking that a 3MP or even a 5MP is adequate for an 8 X 10 print. They are not! They can print those size images but the quality will suffer versus a 7MP camera. The photofinishing printers will have to generate pixels (interpolation) to print on an 8x10 sheet of paper. [For the techie: an 8x10 is equivalent to 2400 x 3000 pixel image so your camera must be capable of producing this to prevent interpolation which causes loss in sharpness. ]

*** Updated Jan 16, 2007 ***
I took this camera to the Serengeti in Tanzania to take some great pictures of the wildlife as a backup camera. Great for the quick shots. I took 4GB SD cards and ended up taking a total of 2500 pictures! A great back up camera to a digital SLR. This would have been my only still camera if it had 10 x optical zoom.

Picture quality after a year and half of use is fantastic.

Battery life is great. Bought a backup battery.

Get one of those screen protectors. I take my camera everywhere since it is so compact and you never know when a great shop opportunity will present itself. The screen is scratched but it's not noticeable when viewing an image.

Great at taking movies but it eats the battery pretty. You will get only about 30 minutes of MPEG on a single charge.

Note: 2400 x 3000 = 7,200,000 which is 7 Megapixels.
Also, this camera does not support the new SDHC based SD cards otherwise I would have purchased one of the new 8GB SD cards. Stick with the 4GB SD cards!

I would still rate this product a 4 star (A 5 star if it had the greater optical zoom).

AWESOME!!!! 2005-08-19

We recently purchased (in July '05)the Canon SD500 and we can't say enough good things about it. You are getting so much for the price. We felt like the camera was reasonably priced for so many features! We are so pleased. We did purchase an extra battery and that was a very wise move if you are going on vacation. We took so many pic's and kept reviewing them as well. My sister and brother-in-law purchased the very same camera and absolutely love it! We printed off over 200 pictures and they look like they are from a professional! Crystal clear photos. Everything has been just super!!!

Fantastic -- I love It 2005-08-19

Based on the reviews on Amazon.com, I purchased the SD500 and have taken about 3,000 shots with it. Its been fantastic in all modes and we have gotten great digital pictures with it. I read worries here about the weakness of the LCD and one reviewer advised getting a clear cover by "'da protector." Very good advise. Its available for $8.00 on Amazon.com.

Also, I purchased 2x of the the 1 gigabyte Smartcards from Sansdisk here. We got about 1,500 photos in medium mode on one disk.

Also, since the Canon replacement battery is rather expensive, we opted for a backup battery made by the Everready (sp?) battery company which works just as well.

The camera is great as it will slip into your pocket (seems safe with the sturdy LCD cover purchased separately). So you can take it anywhere such as a special dinner where you normally wouldn't want to lug around a SLR.

If you want to see the quality of pictures in medium mode, I've uploaded a bunch to the photo section. Note that those photos have even been scaled back to 1/2 their pixels with Adobe Elements. But still, they look great on a 17" computer monitor.

I would most definitely buy the camera again. Love it!

Amazing camera 2005-08-13

Love this camera to death! It's is functional and stylish. Quality is superb!!

Absolutely love it 2005-08-05

I'm going to state it right away, I am a die-hard Canon fan. I have Canon digital and film slr's, flashes, lenses, bags, the whole deal. But, I'm not so blinded by camera love that I can't spot crap when I see it. I have owned three different Canon compact digital cameras, and this is heads above all, the best of them!

I started out with the S400, a camera I had for two years and LOVED. Took about 9000+ images on it. It started to act funny, and I knew it was time for an upgrade so I got the Canon Powershot A95. I never really took to the camera, it was slowwwww to focus, and even though it was step up in megapixel power, the grain was HORRIBLE. The S400 outperformed it in image quality. I especially didn't like the A95 after I took it on a trip with me to Vegas, so two months later I sold it.

I saw the SD500 at a store and on a whim, (since it looked so similar to my dear beloved S400) picked it up to play with it. I accidently had grabbed the shutter when I went to pick it up and BOOM, in the span of a millisecond, it had focused and fired off a shot. Right there, I knew I had my new camera.

Starting off, the camera is a thing of beauty for the eyes. Smaller in length then my 20GB iPod, (slightly thicker), the camera is a breeze to carry with you at all times. THAT BEING SAID, I've read what other reviewers have written about the camera's durability and rated it badly because the lcd cracked. Just because the camera is 'pocket sized', doesn't mean in any way that you should stick it in your pants pocket. And then sit down with it in there, no less. Anything is bound to break if you do that! Get a sturdy case. It needs to be protected.

The camera is so much wuicker to focus then the previous powershot elph models. That strange, slow clicking sound is gone, it focuses in under half a second and fires. The flash recycle time is much quicker as well. No morewaiting (provided you have a properly charged battery in the camera)

Regarding battery life, it's pretty average for a rechargeable lithium battery. Alot of people do not like propriety batteries, I don't mind them, I have three for the camera in case I'm on a long trip. There's no reason not to have an extra, you don't want to be caught in the perfect moment to capture a photo and realize you have a dead battery with no alternative.

This camera does not have full manual controls, like the A95 does. You cannot adjust the aperture or the shutter speed. This doesn't bother me, as I own a digital slr with full manual controls, but if you do not own an slr and are looking for a compact with manual contorls, this would NOT be the camera for you. Check out the Canon Powertshot A series.

The image viewfinder is large enough, at 2 inches. I find myself sometimes getting finger prints on it easily when I go tograb the camera, but those are easily removed. The brightness of the lcd is also user adjustable, which is something you take for granted. I was going crazy when I had the A95 because I couldn't make the screen darker. It was so bright, everything looked blown out and the images looked COMPLETELY different exposure wise once you got them on the computer.

This powershot elph camera introduces a few new features that are incredibly neat and worth mentioning.

My colors has several user editable functions, like color swap, (two colors that you define that can be exchanged to make a really cool effect) and one of my personal favorites, color accent which lets you define one color, say, a pink shirt a friend is wearing (you point the camera and the color and hit the arrow button and it copies the color data) and it turns everything else in the picture black and white except for that one color so that it stands out. You can acheive this effect in photoshop, but being able to do it this easily in a camer is VERY cool.

I also like the option of shooting with positive film color effects. Blues are bluer, greens are greens, and reds are, well, you get the idea. It's different from the vivid mode because it just doesn't blast everything out, it makes the colors pop, but keeps them rich and true looking at the same time. The only gripe I have with this and the color accent features is that you cannot change the iso setting when you are