What does this mean? It means that the four megapixel cameras are taking better looking photographs with smaller file sizes.

I decided to get the S45 over the S400 after a little research. The S400 will probably suit most users fine, but if you want to have manual control while still retaining a reasonable camera size, the S45 is great. The S45 also has the capability to shoot in RAW mode and the S400 does not. This allows you to store images in an uncompressed state, with all the data from the sensor intact. I wanted a camera that I could grow into, not a camera that I would completely master in an afternoon. Right now Im using it in auto mode and experimenting with the many manual capabilities.

Downsides? While the camera is small, it doesnt fit comfortably in your pocket. If this is really important, buy the S400. After all, you wont get a shot if the camera isnt with you. I dont mind carrying a camera, so its no big deal.

I bought this a few weeks ago when Amazon was closing them out at less than 300 bucks. Theyre gone, but still can be found elsewhere.

My bottom line: Cannon makes [really good] cameras! Buy the Elph!

I have taken special care of my S45, and protected it in a camera bag inside an insulated bag. I have two batteries (a backup, to provide power for extended use), and three cards of varying storage quantities. I have a card reader, so the camera itself has never been connected to my computer.

I emailed a friend who also has an S45, and he said he has no explanation for the failure of my S45, and he has none for the failure of HIS. (Though he gloats that he used his longer than I used mine!) I am sad that my $450-plus camera served me for only five months. If you have any suggestions for me, I would appreciate it.

The only minor gripes of mine are: Its a little heavy. Does not have a few features such as flash hotshoe... (look into the G3 or G5 for that). The included Canon ZoomBrowser software is bulky and fairly crappy and you only get USB 1.1 transfer speeds (Id prefer using a plain CF card reader). Optical zoom is modest (but then what do you expect from this lens.) Video mode is limited to 3 mins regardless of how big your CompactFlash card is.

As for Canon themselves - my manager at work got himself a S50 after my recommendation, and my brother also got a S50 afterwards. Two of my friends also own IXUS400s... from what Ive seen, Canon are definitely one of the best digital cameras makers.

So far I am very pleased with the camera and the quality of the photos. I recently took the camera with me out of state to visit family and upon returning I plugged the usb cable into my Apple powerbook and loaded the pictures into iphoto. All the pictures came out very well, only needed to enhance the image on a few photos. All the photos I took were through the automatic setting. Im sure once Im comfortable with the manual controls the picture quality will be even better.

I was worried about my choice after reading some of the reviews online about the lens cover that is also used to turn the camera on/off. To my relief this turned out to not be a issue at all. Some reviewers stated that the cover was cheap and came off easily. Not sure what they mean as my S45 lens cover seems very sturdy at this point.

I almost went with the S400 due to its size and features but after seeing one in person it just felt too small to me. Although heavier, the S45 size does feel nice and doesnt seem to be an issue as far as carrying around in a small case.

Features begin with the generous maximum 4 megapixel image size (you can make them smaller to conserve space on the CompactFlash card). Several modes are available to you such as Sports (high shutter-speed and high resolution shots), Portrait, Night, etc. You can put it in complete Idiot Mode (okay, Automatic mode) and let it select your shutter speed and aperture, or you can pick one or the other and let the camera pick the missing one, or you can go full into Manual mode and pick both. Theres even a Movie mode, complete with sound (although the product info above suggests this is new to the S45, this was available on its precursors the S30 and S40). These video clips are 320 x 200 pixels.

This small camera fits in a purse or shirt pocket easily and wont get in the way if youre shouldering it in a case (not included). But you pay a price for the small size: the optical zoom is limited to 3x. And unfortuately, the S50, like all the PowerShot S family, starts out at a focal length of 11mm, which is a very wide-angle view. Even at 3X optical zoom you will only come in to 55mm, often not as close as youd need. There is a digital zoom, but so what? Crop your picture in software later rather than play with that silly feature. But getting back to the range, I found it insufficient for shooting across a large room. If you work closer in this wont be a problem, but 55mm is not a good focal length for shooting children, who stop what theyre doing when they notice you right next to them.

The sliding door that covers the lens (and turns on the camera) seems flimsy and can cause problems. My 3YO niece got ahold of my S40s (exact same body as the S45) and ripped the door off. I was able to reattach it but now its a loose tooth, waiting to fall off again. Even under warranty, my choice was to send it back to Canon for 12 weeks or live with it. I couldnt live without the camera, so I kept it, loose sliding door and all. Ive just learned not to lend it to people who cant baby it; a good push and that door is off the camera again.

One of the S45s limitations is a slow shutter response. I cant tell you how many shots Ive missed using it; I frame it lovingly, I see the perfect moment, I shoot... but no score. The people have moved on, the sun has set, the universe suffers heat-death, and finally the shutter clicks. If you want a fast shutter then you must have a digital SLR, as almost all the compact-style digital cameras such as this one have the delayed shutter issue. Another note of annoyance on the PowerShot S family: they come with a wrist strap but no shoulder strap. I dont know what use a wrist strip is for a camera; if Im not using it then I want my hands free. I bought a generic shoulder strap but it wasnt a great fit. At least Canon should offer one as an extra-cost accessory.

I still give this camera 4 stars for putting so many features in such a small package. The pictures are reasonably good, and at this size you can crop plenty out and still print good 4x6 inch images. The PowerShot S45 comes with software, but youll probably want to buy your own image editing package, such as Photoshop Elements. The one provided is fairly limited. Useful software includes PhotoStitch, which allows you to make your own panaramic style images from a series of linked shots. The included 32 MB CompactFlash card is also too small for typical use, so plan on buying a bigger card. Also plan on buying a second battery.

I have used this camera extensively, mostly in auto mode where I made little adjustments, and I have noticed that the indoor pictures and outdoor night shots are mediocre if not poor. This is especially apparently when compared with the Sony DSC P10, which I also own. The Canon S45 outdoor pics are spectacular, but I am truely disappointed with the indoor shots. In fact, the Sony P10 is a 5 megapixel and it is smaller and lighter. In addition, you have to slide a cover open to turn on the camera, and eventually the cover gets loose after frequent use and just sort of slides open on its own.
Also for some reason, this camera gets a little bit too warm after using it for extended periods of time, I dont know why.

I also think its awkward how the play back button is more of a sliding button you hold down instead of on the dial, I think it is a bit more intutive on the Sony. Canon may have a great history of making good lenses, but the electronics in the Sony outdo this Canon.

Overall, the Sony takes better indoor pictures, is smaller, lighter, 5 megapixel and cheaper. This isnt a bad camera, its just the Sony outdoes it in almost every way.

The bottom line is that this 4 megapixel device takes impressively good pictures of such high detail resolution that my wife, a graphic designer, expects to use its output in PhotoShop for her professional work. Its small enough to be easily held in one hand, and is so light as to be barely noticeable when carried in a small padded bag hung around the neck. (The old 35 mm was a millstone in comparison.) The silvery finish is smudge resistant, as when handled with fingers made greasy with french fries.

You may wish to purchase an extra rechargeable lithium battery. After neglecting to re-energize it overnight after taking some ten snaps, the battery pooped out the next day (in the middle of our Bryce exploration) after taking an additional fifty-eight shots. Of course, being new to the digital experience, we were using up a lot of power constantly reviewing our photo masterpieces on the LCD screen. In any case, the power cell recharges surprisingly quickly. Also, we thought it prudent to purchase the larger 256 MB CompactFlash card (for in-camera image storage) to replace the 32 MB card provided.

Speaking of the screen, its fairly small at1.5 x 1.12 inches, and its display is very difficult to see in bright sunlight. And, if you need glasses to read small print, keep them handy to decipher the systems on-screen icons.

While the 3x optical zoom lens is swell as far as it goes, the inability to attach a polarizer filter can be immensely aggravating under certain conditions.

The shutter buttons surface is smooth and entirely flush with the camera body; I was insecure enough to have to constantly check that my finger was on the button.

One of the cameras greatest strong points is its wealth of features. For the digital novice, this versatility is perhaps an initial disadvantage since itll take effort and time to become knowledgeable and well-practiced in all of them. Indeed, the 181-page user guide is a prodigious read. But, it is, to the extent that Ive so far digested it, commendably comprehensive and easy to understand (with a plethora of illustrations).

The provided software and transfer cable made uploading of each days output to our PC laptop completely effortless. (My wife would subsequently transfer the image files to a CD for future manipulation in PhotoShop on her Mac.)

My wife takes a lot of pictures that leave me rolling my eyes and shaking my head. Unfortunately, the digital nature of the POWERSHOT S45 leaves me unarmed with the old argument, "Youre wasting film!" Isnt technology wonderful?

Ok. Most of these complaint (except the first one) I fully expected when I bought. Why the heck I bought this camera?
1. Canon digital camera has the best picture quality. About the same as Nikon but cheaper. Far superior than Kodak.
2. Compactflash memory is cheaper than other format. Unlike other, high capacity memory card is available.
3. More manual control over S400 but not too much as G serie.

I think 4MP is more than enough unless you want pictures more than 8X11. Hope this review helps your purchase decision.

...

This camera has fulfilled all those requirements beautifully. Things I like about the camera: its compact, easy to use, has a lot of features that you dont even need to know in the beginning to get started. I started taking pictures right away by setting it to Auto. But as you want to learn more, the camera can do more. Its very easy to use underwater. You turn it on, set it so that the it will power down after a minute of disuse, turn off the display to conserve the battery, pop it into its housing, run some silicon around the o-ring, and off you go. On a recent dive trip, I was able to take photos for two dives on a single battery. Then Id go back to my room for a bit of rest, change the battery, put some more silicon onj the seal and close it up again. I couldnt believe how easy it was. At the end of the day, Id go through my shots and delete the ones I didnt like. You can also zoom in on your photos in the display mode to take a close up look without having to hook your camera up to a computer.

On land, I recently hooked the camera up to my tripod and took a family portrait with the timer setting.

It takes action shots, low light shots, panoramic shots (through stitching), hi resolution shots, low resolutions shots, you name it, this camera does it.

The image quality is good with 4mega-pixels. It will never match the high quality image of a SLR Lens and SLR Digital camera, but this is the compromise for all compact cameras.

The battery life is good but I usually only take about 50 photos per day when on holiday. At the hotel I just recharge it for the next day. Im using a 340gb microdrive and it can store about 150 high resolution photos. If you get this camera or any compact flash II camera get the 1gb microdrive, they are inexpensive and you can store some 400 photos at the max resoltuion for this camera. Another reason to get the 1gb microdrive is you can copy your favorite photos from your pc to the camera, then when you visit your friends/relatives you can watch then on a big tv.

The video mode on the S45 is simple. During recording its only a 320x240. On TV its like an MPEG1 movie and quailty is very poor, really unwatchable. On the PC it looks fine but the screen is small. Also during video mode you cannot use the zoom lens so forget close ups during recording, unless you are physically moving closer.

In this camera there is an automatic red eye flash reduction. Unforutnately Im one of those people who will close their eyes during the pre flash so most of my flash photos of myself are with my eyes closed or squinted. I wish they would just allow regular flash like on the S20.

There is a flash exposure control so you can either under/over expose the flash. I will usually under expose the flash when taking a portrait in sunlight to reduce the shadow.

All in all this camera and the future Canon S series has SLR features to play with, if you chose, but still can fit in your pocket.

1) The smallest size the pictures come is in 640 x 480. Im hoping to save the image in a smaller size, something that would fit the standard photopaper size. That way I dont have to adjust the size of the image in order for it to print correctly on the standard photo papers.

2) Battery life is a bit short. I was taking pictures for my brothers graduation, and the battery died at the most critical moment of the ceremony. Luckily, I got a spare. Make sure to get some extra battery, youll need it.

3) The "Set" button is sometime tricky. One time when I want to view how much memory I have left on the compact card, instead, I accidently formatted all the pictures on the card. Everything happened in less than 2 seconds. I was so very upset and because the camera has some very memorable pictures I havent had the chance to save it yet. And unfortunately, the camera doesnt have an undelete or unformat function. Luckily, I was able to find a data recovery program and recover all the images.

Othere than that, the camera is a superb product.

The picture quality is excellent under almost any conditions. The 4.1 megapixels are more than sufficient, in fact, I often dial down the resolution to save file space. The movie clips with sound are much better than I expected. The sturdy silver case with the clamshell cover is my favorite feature. It fits easily in my pocket, and is easy and quick to open for that first shot. The software was simple to install and use, and the instruction manuals (almost as thick as the camera) were nicely done. I ordered a 128mb card with the camera, which holds an amazing quantity of photos and film clips - highly recommended.

There are only a few minor complaints. The viewfinder is very plain and doesnt display the digital zooming effect, so you are very dependent on the LCD screen. The screen is nearly impossible to see in direct sunlight, and the data is very tiny. Also, the low battery indicator doesnt seem to appear until there is only power for one or two more photos. Red eye can be a problem, although coaching the photographed people to look at the pre-flash srobe, as the directions explained, does work well. And some photos containing horizontal lines can have a jagged appearance at some resolutions, but it is usually minimal. But I have adjusted to these little problems and dont consider them reason enough to not recommend this little marvel of technology to anyone!

Battery life seems great, and once youve read the manual the menu-based controls are fairly easy. Movie mode is very cool.

The output is really good with excellent color and good definition unless you zoom in way too far. The feature set is quite complete and there are plenty of choices between expert and novice modes. Its a well made device. Its also cheaper than the S50 (5 megapixel) which is fine as the 4 megapixel count is adequate for 90% of the population who would buy this camera.

My only complaints are that the low light focus capability is poor. While better than the S40/30 its still not able to quite focus on its own in a darkened room even WITH the focus assist light. Some manual focusing is necessary which is also imprecise and a chore. Also the aperture is a bit slow at telephoto settings which also worsens the focus and severely affects the blurriness of the captured image if you move too much when snapping the picture.

Other than these problems, it would have received five stars.

On the plus side, the S45 has:
1) 9 point AutoFocus
2) DIGIC processor which speeds up capture of photos and their quality
3) 3x Optical Zoom (who cares about the digital zoom)
4) 4 MP picture quality
5) Easy to use interface with quick access to manual settings via FUNC button
6) close to centered tripod attachment for easier stitch photo taking
7) A ton of manual settings (exposure settings, aperture settings, shutter settings, white balance, photo effects, and more!) Almost all the settings available on Canons high end G3 camera!
8) A pretty tough metal body
9) Ability of the camera to take RAW shots for photoediting.

On the minus side:
1) Decent to weak flash that is better than the S400 but still weak for low light and night photos at greater than 10 feet away.
2) Decent to below average battery life... 200 shots on a full charge with LCD on in my experience
3) Slide door that protects lens and doubles as power switch worries me in quality a bit.
4) Red eye problems with straight flash use but much less so when the red eye reduction is used.
5) I wish it had a hot shoe or some other way to add an external flash unit.

The camera takes fantastic shots even when in manual mode although its strengths will be found when you learn the manual settings of the camera. I think this is a better buy than the Canon S400 since they are the same price. If youre willing to sacrifice a little size... this Canon wont disappoint!

When researching the camera, I was trying to find one that took "AA" batteries since they are much cheaper (NiMH). However, the Canon NB-2L battery isnt too expensive if purchased from a third party retailer (I got a generic one for [$$]). Also, the included charger is very small and portable with built in retractable AC plug - its lightweight and easy to throw in a bag and take with you.

The camera records the orientation that each photo is shot with in the EXIF header, and if you use the bundled Canon software to download the photos, it auto-rotates them for you. This is very handy. Unfortunately, it doesnt work if you use other software such as iPhoto or Image Capture.

The mode dial is very handy - it has enough settings on it (ie, automatic, manual, shutter priority, aperture priority, night shot, portrait, movie mode, etc.) that you can quickly flip to the one you want. My old camera required the use of menu systems to set most of these modes - the dial is much faster.

The camera features a stitch mode which allows you to stitch together multiple pictures to form a panorama. When in this mode, the camera shows you the last picture you took (offset to the side) allowing you to roughly overlap 1/3 of the next picture with the previous one. Using the included stitch software, I was able to easily make a Quicktime VR movie - pretty cool. You can also make panoramas with this mode, and unlike some manufacturers (Olympus), this works with any brand of CF card, it doesnt have to be the manufacturer supplied one.

The only drawback Ive found for this camera is the lack of a USB auto-mounter feature ("Mass Storage Device") which many other cameras have. This feature allows you to just plug in the USB cable to your computer and have the camera auto-mount on your desktop like any other removable disk. I wish Canon would include this feature since it enables you to completely bypass software for the import process. This is something I can live without though - the other features make up for it.

Overall, a great camera which I would highly recommend!

2) Features, features...so many. You got photo stitch, a great way to make a 360 picture just about anywhere.

3) manual controls, flash control (most digital cameras dont have flash control...but what if flash is too bright for some areas? what you going to do? , canon solves all of these !)

4) fast zoom optical lense retract, 1.8 second before first shot taken... beats minolta f100, 6 second! youll miss a shot before you know it.

5) movie mode, up to 3 minutes (which is a lot!) great sound very clear, video quality is good, better than others i have seen.

6) customize sound start up screen! (put whatever you want as sounds, it even got themes you can upload from the cd software that is included....tons of stuff to play with.

7) replay control... browsing through tons of photos that
just got taken? no problem, easy navigational system! love it, you got to check it out.

8) solid metal case, nice nice nice but do becareful as well

9) zoom optical lense is in the center rather than on the far left side like minolta f100 and sonys digital cameras. This way you wont get your fingers in the way too easily, and plus if you let someone else use your camera , its better to know that they wont accidently mess up the lense~!

10) softwares provided is great, fun to play around with, cool graphics too to try.

11) compact flash memory,....... up to 1 gig mircodrive.but honestly you only need 256, = 200 high resolution photos.!

12) small, but not too pocket-sized. Surprisingly easy to handle and comfortable. Still i say is smaller than most digital cameras I have seen.

things I wish they had done better

1) the lense cover, you slide it open to turn on, slide it back to turn off.. have to be careful about this thing. very fragile cover. I wish they used a on off button instead.

2) battery is not AA. You have to use their charger + battery, .... ... But i wish it was AA because I have AA charger already. I have to buy spare, which is "costly"

Rarely need to use photoshop to polish/adjust pics taken by S45, unlike my previous digital camera which I have to spend lots of time to correct digital noise, redeyes..etc.

When shopping for digital camera, dont get too obsessed with megapixels or spec. number, whats more important are the software/chips which make the camera provide precise light sensing & focus accuracy as well as flexible tweaks when you want your pics to have optimum result at any given changing shooting environment. This point is well taken by users of Sharps 4mp digital camera which uses Canon G2 equivalent lens but produces far inferior pics than Canons even though Sharps camera cost 40% less (so is the quality...).

For S45, a large capacity CF card & a spare battery is always a must if you do indoor flash shooting & prefer to store pics at high resolution(which gives you stunning result), costcos website do provide a package deals that include above mentioned extras at reasonable price.

LCD comes with a clear plastic cover that gives you enough protection, or you can buy those LCD protection sheets for PDAs then cut to desired size for less than five bucks. Exterior of S45 is a nice brushed metal finish which provides enough protection for its lens.

No comment on the software since I installed the cameras driver only & use photoshop to polish when needed. Twain driver is quickly recognized by most 3rd party graphic & photo album softwares when hooked up with PC.

Upon comapring Canons G2,G3,S230 & S45, S45 provides the best combination between size/function/pic quality criteria & one can hardly go wrong with any of them.

1. It does not imprint Date on the picture. You can get the date printed on the prints, but that is possible through Canons ZoomBrowser EX program. which means you need to buy a photo printer also.
2. When viewing picture, you can zoom into the picture, but can not take a snapshot of any region. You can do this using any software, but that is an extra headache.
I have seen Sonys DSC-P9, and it does both and is also an excellent camera.

If you are like me and hestiant to pursue photography as a hobby because of the potential for wasting film and processing with a traditional camera while learning the craft, this is the ideal digital camera for a novice. For the money, I cant imagine a better product. Very high quality, hefty for its small size but it gives a sense of confidence. Some other cameras feel like toys compared to it. The only reason to avoid this model is that it doesnt have interchangable lenses--but thats the ONLY reason--and you have to get a larger, more expensive model to get that flexibility.

Also bought the Wp-Dc300 waterproof case, that this is great. Cant wait to take it scuba diving (good to 100ft!). It will also be great for the beach, keeps that sand out. it is expensive but when it arrives youll see why, the quality is fantastic.

I had some trouble find a case that would work with this camera. Saw lots of complaints in the reviews so I went to Best Buy to fit a couple. I found that the Samsonite 801bk fits really well. The camera has little room to move, it fits a spare battery, spare CF card easily and the video wire (this makes it kinda tight but still works). The case is rather small so its still easy to carry around.

Hope all this helps, Good Luck!

Bought this camera before Xmas here in the UK and have found that the camera is working perfect. This is my first digital camemra and I like it. I especially like the video recording that it can do. Its quite good. I have not yet learned all the fuctions of the camera, but so far its been very good.

I have researched for 3 month on digital cameras before I decided it should be this camera. I like the Ixus, but thought that there must be something else, so I used "consumer website" to understand what to look for in a digital camera. I also bought a 256 mb CF card from crucial.com.

It works perfectly. The only thing I have for this camera is the battery time. Another reason why i bought it was becuase you can dive with it and that is so cool. Imagine Thailand...

Anyway, I can recomend it.

The S45 is a nice camera. The user interface is much better than on the S40, and it still has the excellent color quality and image resolution of a 4MP camera. It is ruggedly designed, has high quality optics and CCD, and numerous buttons that are out of the way for normal use. It has full auto and full manual modes, so its appropriate for beginners and experienced users.

The downside of the camera is the slow startup time. The flash is also in a spot where your finger might cover it if youre not careful. There is some noise at low light levels, but this is true of all CCD cameras, and the S45 is about average in this respect. The images are excellent at high resolution/large file size, but the included 32MB flash card is a joke. Canon should know better, and ship all cameras with at least 256MB cards.

The major downside of the package is the photo editing/printing software that comes bundled with the camera. Its user interface is an atrocity, buttons have icons rather than labels, there is no menu tab, etc. The camera is quickly recognized by USB port, and the downloads are quick. Just be sure to get Photoshop or another quality editing software package, rather than relying on the [stuff] that comes bundled with this camera.

My requirements for the new camera were: 4 megapixel, optical finder along with an LCD, 3x optical zoom, and a very compact size (roughly equivalent to the Coolpix).

After reviewing the available options, the S45 seemed to be the best fit. Now that Ive owned it for a week, I can say definitively that is an outstanding camera, with more features than most users will ever take advantage of.

The software in the camera is extremely well thought out. The viewfinder display is clear and comprehensive (but with an option to reduce the complexity by eliminating unnecessary icons), and the various exposure modes are so complete that the S45 easily rivals the new generation of 35mm SLRs in terms of metering and exposure options. This includes aperture- and shutter-priority, the ability to change exposure values instantly even in Program mode, a range of ISO equivalents, EV compensation, and of course a fully manual option.

Of course, the digital-only goodies are here as well, including a 15 fps video mode (with sound and *in-camera editing*), a panorama stitching feature that is extremely cool, and voice tagging of the still images.

Image quality is excellent, with only a hint of that traditional digital low contrast that seems to be prevalent in all but the ultra high end (6mp) cameras. (Intriguingly however, you can store pictures in RAW [rather than JPEG] mode and change the contrast and brightness in PC software after the fact without quality loss.)

My only complaints are minimal: first, I love the fact that my Coolpix shows up as a removable drive directly in Windows Explorer; with the S45 you have to use Canons included software (which is excellent) to transfer images from the camera. Second, the lens cover (also an on/off switch), while it feels solid, doesnt always close firmly, which makes me worry a bit about its durability. Finally, the camera is somewhat thicker and heavier (denser-feeling) than the Coolpix, which is the trade-off you make for far far more features (at an admittedly higher price).

I limited my brand choices to Nikon, Canon, and Sony, and I think that in this form factor there is no camera that even comes close to the S45 (except perhaps the older S40). If you are a sophisticated amateur (or even a pro looking for a backup digicam), you wont be disappointed.