Canon PowerShot S80 Review:S70 vs S80

Canon PowerShot S80 Review

Review based on a production Canon PowerShot S80

Like its predecessors, the Canon PowerShot S80 is packed with features for both casual shooters and more advanced amateurs. It incorporates the same f/2.8-to-f/5.3, 28mm-to-100mm (35mm equivalent) lens as the PowerShot S70. The lens is on the slow side and doesn't offer a very high zoom range, but it provides a relatively wide-angle focal length.



We miss uncompressed image formats such as TIFF and raw, which would take advantage of the camera's 8-megapixel sensor. Other features, however, work to compensate. Three exposure modes include a spot mode for more precise control and a well-designed evaluative mode that handles backlighting and mixed lighting very well. A noise-reduction algorithm automatically kicks in for exposures longer than 1.3 seconds, but unfortunately the effect is subtle. It also doubles processing time, and you can't disable it.



For tinkerers, the Canon PowerShot S80 offers some interesting color tools. Though not entirely practical they are fun without being too cheesy, and are certainly better than the hokey frames and the preset captions many other cameras offer. In Color Accent mode, every color in the frame except one the user selects is converted to black and white, for that hand-painted look. Color Swap mode replaces one selected color with another--turn that green apple red or that red light green (not to endorse insurance fraud!). Users can also customize the camera's color palette by adjusting the individual red, green, and blue channels or a special Skin Tone channel.



Those interested in shooting short movies with the Canon PowerShot S80 will appreciate the full-motion VGA mode, at 640x480 pixels and 30 frames per second (fps), and the less common 1,024x768-pixel mode, at 15fps.



The S80 caters to underwater photographers with a special white-balance setting and an optional waterproof housing. For creative enthusiasts, it also has an optional wireless external flash and optional wide and telephoto add-on lenses.

• Wide-angle 28-100mm (35mm equivalent) 3.6x Optical Zoom Lens


• 8.0 Megapixel CCD and UA Lens Technology for Superior Image Quality


• Full photographic control


• 21 shooting modes


• 2.5-inch Wide viewing angle LCD screen


• DIGIC II Processor


• USB 2.0 Hi-Speed


• Newly-designed easy-to-use interface


• High Resolution (1024 x 768 pixel) XGA Movie Mode

Canon PowerShot S70 vs PowerShot S80 (main differences)

　　　　　　　　　 　 　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　Canon PowerShot S80 　　　　　Canon PowerShot S70

Effective Pixels： 　8.0 million　　　　　　　　　　　7.1 million

Processor　　　：　　DIGIC II 　　　　　　　　　　　　DIGIC I

Max image size ： 　 3264 x 2448 　　　　　　　　　　 3072 x 2304

Storage：　　　　　　SD /MMC 　　　　　　　　　　　　　CompactFlash

Raw mode ：　　　　　No 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Yes

LCD screen ： 　　　2.5-inch, 115,000 pixels 　　　　1.8-inch 118,000 pixels

Max movie size：　 • 1024 x 768 at 15 fps　　　　　• 640 x 480 at 10 fps up to 30 secs

　　　　　　　　　　• 640 x 480 at 15 or 30 fps

Shooting modes ：　　 • Auto　　　　　　　　　　　　　• Auto　

　　　　　　　　　　　• Program AE　　　　　　　　　　• Program AE

　　　　　　　　　　　• Shutter priority AE　　　　　• Shutter priority AE

　　　　　　　　　　　• Aperture priority AE　　　　　• Aperture priority AE

　　　　　　　　　　　• Manual　　　　　　　　　　　　• Manual

　　　　　　　　　　　• Custom　　　　　　　　　　　　• Custom　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　• My Colors 　　　　　　　　　　• Portrait　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　• Portrait　　　　　　　　　　　• Landscape

　　　　　　　　　　　• Landscape　　　　　　　　　　　• Night Scene

　　　　　　　　　　　• Night Scene　　　　　　　　　　• Fast Shutter

　　　　　　　　　　　• Night Snapshot　　　　　　　　• Slow Shutter

　　　　　　　　　　　• Kids & Pets　　　　　　　　　　• Stitch Assist

　　　　　　　　　　　• Indoor　　　　　　　　　　　　• Movie 　

　　　　　　　　　　　• Foliage　　　　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　• Snow　　　　　　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　• Beach

　　　　　　　　　　　• Fireworks

　　　　　　　　　　　• Underwater

　　　　　　　　　　　• Digital Macro

　　　　　　　　　　　• Stitch Assist

　　　　　　　　　　　• Movie

Continuous shooting ： Approx.1.8 fps　　　　　　　　Approx.2.0 fps

Connectivity：　　　　　USB 2.0 Hi-Speed 　　　　　　USB 1.1

Weight (excl battery) ： 225 g (7.9 oz)　　　　　　　230 g (8.1 oz)

Power：　　　　　　　　　Li-ion Nb-2lh 　　　　　　　Li-Ion NB-2LH

powershot s80

In the box:

• PowerShot S80 Body

• Battery Charger CB-2LWE

• Wrist Strap WS-DC1

• SD Memory Card SDC-32M

• Battery Pack NB-2LH

• Digital Camera Solution CD-ROM

• ArcSoft Camera Suite CD-ROM

• Interface Cable IFC-400PCU

• AV Cable AVC-DC300

Shooting mode

• Auto

• Program AE

• Shutter priority AE

• Aperture priority AE

• Manual

• Custom

• Portrait

• Landscape

• Night Scene

• Night Snapshot

• Kids & Pets

• Indoor

• Foliage

• Snow

• Beach

• Fireworks

• Underwater

• Digital Macro

• Stitch Assist

• My Colors

• Movie with sound

• AE compensation -2.0EV to +2.0 EV in 1/3EV steps

Image parameters

• Vivid

• Neutral

• Low Sharpening

• Sepia

• Black & White

• Custom (3 levels each of sharpness, contrast, saturation)

• My Colors (9 settings)

Power:

• Rechargeable lithium ion battery (NB-2LH/NB-2L)

• Charger included

Image quality of Canon PowerShot S80

While some minor problems at the camera's wide-angle setting disappointed us, the Canon PowerShot S80 delivers excellent overall photo quality. Colors are well balanced with a tiny bit of pop, and you can tone them down or give them that Disney look with a plethora of custom color controls, including one called Neutral and another that emulates slides. Images exhibit excellent tonal range, with clear details visible in both shadow and highlight areas, as long as the difference isn't too extreme.



When we closely inspected the image at 100 percent magnification, we saw chromatic aberration, color artifacts usually caused by heavy backlighting or high-contrast environments. The casual observer will find the effect minimal, though. Shots of power lines and trees against a bright sky showed very little fringing or color bleeding. Though we would have liked to see how this sensor performs with an uncompressed image format, JPEG compression artifacts such as blocky color areas, jagged diagonal lines, and halo effects in high-contrast areas were also minimal.



Canon's legendary creamy smoothness keeps noise under control. The S80's images sharpen well in image-editing software and look especially pleasing at ISO 50. ISO 100 shots are almost as noise-free at a casual glance, but the dreaded artifacts rear their ugly pixels more noticeably at ISO 200 and 400. The noise pattern is one of the more natural ones, however, giving images a diffuse, filmlike look. The inherently sharp lens-and-sensor combination on the S80 clearly resolves text and fine details in macro images.



The 28mm-to-100mm lens has some problems at the wide end, particularly with softness at the corners and vignetting, in which corners appear darker than the rest of the frame. This happens even when the aperture is stopped down to f/8, which usually minimizes or eliminates the problem. We also noticed some barrel distortion at the wide end. All these problems may be a result of the lens reaching the relatively wide 28mm length in a compact enclosure. Zooming to the middle or the end of the lens's range significantly helps the softness and the vignetting and adds a barely distinguishable pincushion effect that's normal for all zooms. Except for the vignetting, most of these effects are hard to spot in real-world snapshots.



The Canon PowerShot S80's very intelligent metering system even employs the orientation sensor in its exposure algorithms. It properly exposed the backlit foreground in both horizontal and vertical landscapes shot with a bright sky.



The Canon PowerShot S80's movie mode is a bit disappointing, despite its impressive high-res specs. In movies shot at 1,024x768-pixel resolution, which are limited to 15fps, just about every line appeared jagged. We got better results by upsampling a 30fps, 640x480-pixel movie in software.