Model Design / Appearance (8.25)
When Canon announced the S5 in May 2007, the company called it “a technological bridge between Canon’s advanced point and shoot compact digital cameras and its entry-level digital SLR cameras.” The design of the S5 reflects this. It uses the shrunken shell of a DSLR with a chunky 12x lens attached to it, but adds simple menus and features more typical of compact digital cameras.
The SLR-shaped body involves metal and plastic panels; overall, it is quite sturdy. The body comes in black, which makes it look more like a DSLR than the typically shinier compact models. The Canon PowerShot S5 IS looks like a digital camera to be taken seriously.
Size / Portability (4.75)
The Canon S5 won’t fit in a pocket with its chunky 4.6 x 3.15 x 3.06-inch measurements. It will fit in a purse or backpack, but it really belongs in a carrying case of its own. The chunky body introduces some vulnerability; the LCD monitor or hinged flash could snap off, for instance. Although it’s a sturdy body, treating it like a compact digital camera (stuffing it in a bag, dangling it from a wrist, etc) probably isn’t a good idea. The S5 weighs 15.9 ounces unloaded, but its four AA batteries make it feel a lot heavier. It feels too heavy for its size. During long photo shoots, the neck strap will come in handy. The S5 is easier to tote around than a DSLR, but chunky enough to require its own case.
Handling Ability (8.0)
The Canon PowerShot S5 IS is built to be handled more than the average compact camera. It has a chunky SLR-like grip that is wide enough for big hands. The inner portion of the hand grip has a rubber surface to give fingers a little more to grip. On the back of the camera, the right thumb can cradle the body on the plastic bumps to the left of the multi-selector. There slight bump beside the multi-selector makes a niche that gives users a better grip. The bottom of the camera is nice and wide, with plenty of room for the left hand. Users can hold the camera like a compact model, with the left thumb supporting the bottom and the other fingers wrapped around the side – or users can hold it like a DSLR, with the left palm cradling the bottom and fingers holding the lens.
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Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (8.5)
The control buttons are more cleanly laid out on the S5 as opposed to the curvaceous S3. The buttons on the S3 are spread randomly, whereas the buttons on the S5 are more neatly stacked in columns.
The buttons are sufficiently labeled except for the video recording button, which is designated by a red dot in the middle of the chrome button positioned on the back of the camera.
The shortcut button is an interesting feature that allows users to access a favorite function very quickly. The shortcut button can be assigned to access metering, white balance, custom white balance, digital tele-converter, AE lock, AF lock, and display off functions. It also doubles as the button that transfers photos to the printer.
The only major complaint we have is with the multi-selector, which feels like a tiny bowl. It’s hard to distinguish the directions from one another, which often results in accidentally entering the wrong menu.
Menu (7.0)
The menu system is typical of Canon PowerShot digital cameras. It is split so frequently-used features are in the Function menu, accessible by the function/delete button to the right of the LCD screen. This menu comes with a large live preview that takes up most of the frame. The menu items appear along the left edge of the screen and their respective options appear along the bottom edge of the screen. The menu appears as follows.
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Function
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White Balance
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Auto, Day Light, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash, Custom
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My Colors
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Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Color (Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation, Red, Green, Blue, Skin Tone all with +/- 2 full-step scales)
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Bracketing
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Off, Exposure Bracketing, Focus Bracketing
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Flash Output
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Three levels
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Metering
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Evaluative, Center Weighted Average, Spot
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Video Resolution
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640/30, 640/LP, 320/60, 320/30
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Image Size
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L (3264 x 2448), M1 (2592 x 1944), M2 (2048 x 1536), M3 (1600 x 1200), S (640 x 480), W (3264 x 1832)
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The menu button pulls up three menu tabs with camera, tool, and person icons. The background is light gray, and the area directly behind the white text is a darker gray color. The tabs are color-coded. For example, the camera icon is on a red tab, as is the highlighted option within that menu. The full menu in the Manual mode is as follows:
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Recording
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FlexiZone
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On, Off
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Digital Zoom
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Off, 1.6x, 2.0x, Standard
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Flash Sync
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First curtain, Second curtain
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Red-Eye
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On, Off
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Custom Self-Timer
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Delay 0-30 seconds, Shots 1-10
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Spot AE Point
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Center, AF Point
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MF-Point Zoom
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On, Off
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Safety MF
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On, Off
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AF Mode
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Continuous, Single
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AF-assist Beam
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On, Off
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Tally Lamp
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On, Off
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Review
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Off, 2-10 seconds, Hold
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Reverse Display
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On, Off
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Auto Category
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On, Off
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IS Mode
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Off, Continuous, Shoot Only, Panning
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Converter
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None, WC-DC58A, TC-DC58B, 500D
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Custom Display
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Shooting Info, Grid Lines, 3:2 Guide, Histogram can be set to show in two modes in viewfinder and LCD
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Set Shortcut Button
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Not Assigned, Light Metering, White Balance, Custom White Balance, Digital Tele-converter, AE Lock, AF Lock, Display Off
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Save Settings
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OK, Cancel
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Setup
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Mute
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On, Off
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Volume
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Start-up, Operation, Self-timer, Shutter, Playback volume with 1-5 levels each
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Audio
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Mic Level (Auto, Manual), Level (21 levels), Wind Filter (On, Off)
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LCD Brightness
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Dim, Bright
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Power Saving
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Auto Power Down (On, Off), Display Off (10 seconds to 3 minutes)
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Time Zone
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Select time zone on world map
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Date/Time
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Set date and time, Daylight Saving Time
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Clock Display
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0 seconds to 3 minutes
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Format
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Low Level Format (On, Off), Cancel, OK
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File Numbering
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Continuous, Auto Reset
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Create Folder
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Create New Folder (On, Off), Auto Create (Off, Daily, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monthly, Off), Time (0-24)
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Auto Rotate
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On, Off
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Distance Units
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m/cm, ft/in
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Language
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English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, Greek, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Thai, Arabic, Romanian, Ukrainian
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Video System
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NTSC, PAL
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Print Method
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Auto, PictBridge
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Reset All
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Cancel, OK
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Custom
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Theme
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None, 1-3
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Start-up Image
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None, 1-3
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Start-up Sound
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None, 1-3
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Operation Sound
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None, 1-3
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Self-timer Sound
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None, 1-3
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Shutter Sound
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None, 1-3
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The menus are lengthy, but there is a vertical bar along the right side that indicates to the user how far down the menu they are. The length of the standard Recording menu almost necessitates the shorter Function menu that makes frequently used settings easier to find.
Navigation through the menus is done with the tiny, soft multi-selector located in the upper right corner of the back. Because of its high placement on the edge, it isn’t very comfortable to access while still supporting the hefty camera body. The selector doesn’t offer much tactile differentiation between the four directions, so accidentally choosing the wrong menu item is a common mistake.
Ease of Use (6.75)
The Canon PowerShot S5 IS is fairly intuitive, but still not a camera to purchase for your technologically-impaired great aunt. The S5 is easy to use if you’ve used other Canon PowerShot digital cameras, because many of the features carry from model to model. The menus are organized, the layout is clean, and the features are easy to find and activate. Despite all this, the novice would likely be intimidated by the abundance of buttons, flipping LCD, unlabeled video recording button, finicky selector, and flash that needs to be manually opened to function.
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