Canon PowerShot S80 - Expert Reviews

Review summary: Canon isn't shy when it comes to releasing new digicams. One year after the Powershot S70 hit the shelves, its successor, the...

Pros: Sturdy design ; good range of features ; image quality

Cons: No raw mode ; noisy in low light ; overpriced

Verdict: Expensive yet feature-packed 8megapixel compact camera

Review summary: The Canon S80 is one of the best compact digital cameras on the market, but you're going to have to dig deep to afford it.

Verdict: Although it is scarily expensive, the PowerShot S80 really delivers. It has enough creative options to satisfy any keen photographer, and delivers results that are among the best I've seen. Performance, design and build quality are all of the high ...

Award: Editor's Choice!

Review summary: Aside from one or two very minor lens shortcomings, Canon's new flagship S-series model stands out in its class.

Pros: Great image quality ; snappy performance ; sturdy and attractive

Cons: Vignetting at widest angle ; slowish lens ; no uncompressed or raw-file support ; jaggies and audio noise in movie mode

Award: Highly Recommended!

Review summary: Just over a year after the launch of the 7 megapixel PowerShot S70 Canon revealed its replacement, the new S80, which boasts a slight redesign, an extra million pixels and a few new features - including the latest DIGIC II processor. The S80 is ...

Pros: Excellent resolution, good per-pixel sharpness for this class of camera, Low noise at ISO 50 and 100, not bad at 200 and 400, Fast, responsive operation, Excellent metering and color, Very clean, artefact-free images, High quality wide-angle zoom (28 ...

Cons: Mild corner softness at wide-angle and maximum aperture, Occasional lens flare and some highlight clipping, New multi-control dial useful, but can be fiddly, Lens slow at telephoto (F5.3), Would prefer a higher resolution LCD screen, Mediocre macro ...

Verdict: After the rather uninspiring noise performance of the Panasonic LX1 and overblown image processing of the Olympus Stylus 800 I approached the update to the excellent PowerShot S70 with some trepidation.

Review summary: Apart form a few minor quibbles, Canon's new flagship S-series model stands out in its class

Pros: Great image quality ; snappy performance ; sturdy and attractive

Cons: Vignetting at widest angle ; slowish lens ; no uncompressed or raw-file support ; jaggies and audio noise in movie mode