Canon Power Shot S51S

Author's Rating:

Pros: Articulated screen is great for awkward shots

Cons: Flash is minimal or inadequate - fix for $250 external. Doesn't like rechargeable batteries

The Bottom Line: 
A superb and well-optioned camera for the price.. very capable, and yet small enough to carry easily

Author's Review
With a wish to take pictures both in the garden and with scenery as subject matter, and without the budget to acquire specialty lenses, this camera passed the first test. Then I found it would take the Secure Digital memory chip from my previous camera - bonus! Then I found it took four standard AA batteries... and combined with sales staff at Blacks not pushing excessively for maximum bucks, I bought. It is an exceptionally well designed camera in my view. I like the shape, which will let me easily take one-handed shots after selecting basic settings, such as Portrait or Macro-mode. At 8 mega-pixels, there is resolution beyond my needs...and with 12-power optical zoom, a great camera for selecting a specific part of a distant landscape. While the flash is low-powered, I have been able to take many shots without, ranging from outdoor shots to well-lit indoor locations. If you just want to point and click, just select AUTO. Otherwise, you can select landscape for more distant shots, or portrait for closer shots. Select PORTRAIT for shots from 3-10 feet or so. I was familiar with using MACRO setting for close-up shots, which at first didn't seem to work well for flower close-ups - and then I found, by accident, it also has a SUPER MACRO mode - which does an absolutely superb job of close-ups - such as taking a shot of your favourite penny on your desktop.