If you're in the market for a good digital camera, you may well consider the Canon PowerShot SD500 Digital Elph. This latest model has a whopping 7.1-megapixel resolution. Of course, more megapixels doesn't necessarily lead to better images. But you can't argue with the S500's great image quality.
The SD500 executes well on speed and sharpness tests. It also got a fun My Color feature that will be sure to please many kinds of users.
In the looks department, the Canon PowerShot SD500 is pleasingly comfortable to hold and operate. However, it can be easy to press the tightly laid-out buttons on the back accidentally during one-handed shooting. The optical viewfinder just above the large 2-inch LCD is very nice, and maintains a fairly smooth, bright, clear image when panning.
Apart from the 7.1 megapixel mark, the Canon PowerShot SD500 has most of the customary features of its group, including an f/2.8 to f/4.9, 7.7- to 23.1-mm (37- to 111-mm, 35mm equivalent), 3X optical zoom lens.
All the standard modes are available via the mode dial as well as through the menu system, including Playback, Auto, Manual (which lets you adjust white balance, ISO, EV compensation, and color effects), Macro, and Movie. The Movie mode lets you capture VGA video clips at 30 frames per second. Other modes available only via the menu system include Stitch Assist (for panoramas) and nine preset scene modes.
The Canon PowerShot SD500 has a very intuitive user control system. It also offers a very interesting shooting mode called My Colors. You can make blues, greens, or reds more vibrant, or lighten or darken skin tones.
The Color Accent and Color Swap choices generate some out of the ordinary effects. Color Accent lets you isolate the color of one object, while the color information for the rest of the photograph is discarded. The product might be a bright red rose in the middle of a black-and-white wedding shot.
In Color Swap mode, you choose a particular color in a scene on the LCD, and then select the color you want to swap it with. For example, you could isolate someone's bright red T-shirt and swap it with the blue from someone's baseball cap. You have to make your color selections before you shoot, though, so make sure you're not going to miss the shot.
The Canon PowerShot SD500 allows your pictures to be stored in SD memory cards. There's also direct connection to Canon CP Printers and select BJ Printers. This effectively means that you do not need a computer to print pictures.
The Canon PowerShot SD500 uses proprietary lithium batteries. The promoted battery life is about 160 shots with the LCD on and about 550 shots with the LCD off. You can always buy extras at you local camera store to take along with you if a long battery life is important to you or needed for the situation.
Another feature seldom seen in other cameras is an optional DC coupler found in a flap on the battery/media door. This permits you to operate the camera off AC power by means of an optional adapter while you charge the battery in the external charger that's included.
Overall, the Canon PowerShot SD500 is a smart little camera for the value. A few notes however are that it has some difficulty finding the intended focusing point in Macro mode. Macro mode also has the fault of overexposing pictures when the flash is used except for the bottom area of the image that is dark due to the extended lens blocking the flash.
The other thing I don't like is the mode dial design: Only the center (Manual) mode's label appears level when selected. The labels for Playback, Auto, Macro, and Movie are slanted when you turn the dial.
In general, the Canon PowerShot SD500 is a smart choice for an ultracompact camera. It looks impressive and provides excellent image quality. With the addition of some out of the ordinary features, you have a smart little camera that is sure to be a top seller.
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