Was supposed to be my wife's camera, but ...

Author's Rating:

Pros: Metal body, retractable lens with great siding lens cover, solid feel, high tech looking

Cons: No flash hot shoe, hard to see screen in daylight, uses batteries quick

The Bottom Line: 
It you want a feature laden camera that an amateur can use, this camera if for you.

Author's Review
I bought the Canon S50 over 6 months ago right after it came out. I won't get into all of the technical info. Check out www.dpreview.com for the technical specs on this camera. Needless to say, it gets an incredibly high rating as far as a digital camera goes.
I have owned 35mm SLR cameras for years and my current is a Pentax. I was waiting on a digital Pentax to use all of my lenses on when I came across this Canon. The original intent was a camera easy enough for my wife to pick up and shoot away, yet allowing me to play with all of the extra settings to my hearts delight . This camera has done that and more. My wife feels comfortable enough taking photos of children and grandchildren and I love the control that can be achieved with the multitude of settings available.
The black metal body seems tough and the sliding lens cover was a huge plus. I also seem to loose lens caps and the way this camera works is great. You slide the lens cover open and the lens automatically comes out. You slide the lens cover halfway shut and the lens retracts, allowing you to close the cover the rest of the way.
If you want to use any of the features other than the automatic setting, you MUST read the manual. The manual is set up pretty good and covers all of the aspects of the camera. The camera has automatic, semi-automatic and manual settings for both F-stops and shutter speed.
I like the tripod threads and the built-in timer - both easy to use. I don't like that you can't date stamp photos, but this info is imprinted within the digital photo itself. I take a lot of construction related photos where it would be nice to date stamp photos on the picture itself.
I bought an extra battery and a 512MB memory card. I recommend both of these accessories. The proprietary battery is lithium ion and I can fill up a 512 card with one battery (about 200 images on one 512 card on the highest setting) which seems good to me, but in researching other digital cameras it is actually average.
I've printed out images up to 8x10 and the quality is fantastic. I can't tell the difference between 8x10s taken with my 35mm. Sample images are available on the website noted at the first of this review.
In conclusion, I tend to give high ratings, but I rarely buy anything without a LOT of research. (Thanks epinion raters!) This camera has gotten me back into the enjoyment of photography again in a big way.
If it had been for my use only, I would have purchased the G5, but being a commonly used camera, the S50 makes both my wife and me content (until I buy my digital SLR - don't tell my wife!)