Review for the Canon PowerShot SD500 Digital Camera

By: Dan Feilman

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 design, the Canon PowerShot SD500 is comfortable to hold and control. One note however is that the tightly positioned buttons on the back are easy to press accidentally during one-handed shooting. This camera boasts a large 2 inch LCD with an optical viewfinder located directly above that keeps a smooth, bright and clear image when panning.

Outside from the 7.1 megapixel ranking, the Canon PowerShot SD500 has most of the standard features of its division, 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 accessible through 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 offered only by way of 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 remarkable shooting mode called My Colors. You can make blues, greens, or reds more animated, or lighten or darken skin tones.

The Color Accent and Color Swap options create some surreal effects. Color Accent lets you isolate the color of one object, while the color information for the rest of the photograph is dumped. The result might be a bright red rose in the middle of a black-and-white wedding shot.

In Color Swap mode, you select a certain color in a picture on the LCD, and then choose the color you want to switch it with. For instance, you could isolate the rich purple from a flower and swap it with the dusky rose color of the dress ion the person holding the flower. You have to make your color choices before you shoot, so be certain you're not going to miss the shot.

The Canon PowerShot SD500 allocates your pictures to SD memory cards for storage. There's also direct link to Canon CP Printers and select BJ Printers. This in fact 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 unusual feature is an elective DC coupler, supported by a flap on the battery/media compartment door. This lets you operate the camera from AC power (by the use of an optional adapter) while you charge the battery in the included external charger.

On the whole, the Canon PowerShot SD500 is a great camera. One shortcoming is that it has some problems finding the intended focusing point in Macro mode. Also, when the flash fired in the macro shots, most of the picture was very overexposed - except for some areas near the bottom of the image, where a dark shadow appeared because of the extended lens blocking the flash.

Another drawback is the mode dial design. Only the center (Manual) mode's label shows as level when chosen. The other labels (Playback, Auto, Macro and Movie) are slanted when you turn the dial.

Be sure however that the Canon PowerShot SD500 is a great ultra-compact camera. From its looks to its capabilities, this camera is impressive. Then once you add on its remarkably unique features, the Canon SD500 stands out among the rest as a contender for a top seller.