The 8-megapixel Canon PowerShot S80 is a fun little camera, equipped with the best features money can buy (for 450-500$). The automatic exposures and good images will impress anyone who is not willing to give a lot of thought to the manual settings, while the manual settings will impress any amateur looking for a professional camera.

The LCD is big (2.5 inches), the design is slick and trendy. The controls are easy to understand. The four-way switch doubles as a scrollwheel (just like in iPod) and you can program a shortcut button either to control the image size or to change the metering mode (among other settings). Drive mode, ISO sensitivity, flash mode, autofocus mode, manual focus mode and macro mode are also very easy to find.

The Canon PowerShot S80 incorporates the same f/2.8 to f/5.3 f-stops and 28 mm to 100 mm lens as the Power Shot S70.

For those who want to have fun, the camera includes color tools which can for example change every color in the frame, except the one selected by you, and covert it to black and white or you can Swap Colors (green becomes red and vice-versa).

You can shoot moves in VGA mode, at 640 x 480 pixels and 30 fps or 1024 x 768 pixels at 15 fps.

The colors are well balanced and the details are clearly visible both in shadow and in highlight areas. The image quality is great and the camera’s performances recommend it as one of the best choices ever.

 Author : Cristina