Canon PowerShot S80

Auto Mode (7.5)
The Canon S80 isn’t made for beginners, but it does include an automatic mode that can be easily located on the mode dial by its green ‘A’ icon. The recording menu is truncated quite a bit, as it omits such options as Flash Sync, Spot AE Point, MF-Point Zoom, Histogram and Intervalometer. In the Func./Set menu, users can only choose the image size and compression. The ISO and manual focus are unavailable, but the flash modes and macro shooting can be accessed on the multi-selector.

The Auto mode is the easiest mode to access and use on the S80. However, after shooting in several different lighting situations, the Auto mode appears to be optimized more for bright lights or daylight. It took horribly underexposed pictures when the flash was turned off and the lighting was low (about 60 lux or so). So if venturing into the darkness, either use the flash and/or opt for more manual control.

Movie Mode (8.5)
The movie mode is one of the most marketed features of the Canon PowerShot S80, as it is intended to be a hybrid imager. The movie mode is easily accessed on the mode dial through the movie camera icon. In this mode, users have more options than found in many other digital camera movie modes. Users can select the white balance mode, add color effects, and select the image size and frame rate. The image sizes vary by which shooting mode is selected.

By rotating the multi-selector dial, the camera scrolls through the following modes: Compact, My Colors, Standard and High Resolution. The Compact option shoots 160 x 120 pixels at a rate of 15 frames per second and is meant to be used for email. My Colors mode can shoot in 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 at either 15 or 30 fps. Movies can be shot in the following settings: Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Color Accent, Color Swap, and Custom Color. The Standard movie mode shoots at the same resolutions as the My Colors mode, but doesn’t have all the fancy effects.

The High Resolution option is the flagship feature of the S80. It records video at 1024 x 768 pixels at 15 fps. This is about 2.5x more data per frame than the standard VGA size. The Canon S80’s XGA movie mode does record a lot of pixels, which makes the actual image look smooth – but its 15 fps rate makes movement look a bit choppy. The older Canon S70 had a sub-par Movie mode that recorded 640 x 480 pixels at 10 fps for up to 30 seconds, so the S80’s Movie mode surpasses it by far. Still, as a hybrid device it should at least have some optical zoom in Movie mode. However, users cannot use the optical zoom, probably because of the awful motor noise from the lens.

The Canon S80 can record monaural audio from the built-in microphone on the top of the camera. The audio is clear, but so is the unintended noise. Shifting a finger on the front of the camera creates more noise than desired. Movies can be edited in the playback mode and still images can be extracted from the high resolution video with the included software. The Canon PowerShot S80 has lots of features and options in its movie mode but the lack of optical zoom is disappointing on a hybrid device.

Drive / Burst Mode (6.5)
The Canon PowerShot S80 has a continuous shooting mode that can be activated with the circular button directly to the left of the viewfinder. Once activated, the S80 can shoot at a rate of 1.8 frames per second. It does so for about 6 shots at full resolution, then stutters and takes pictures a bit slower. Still, it doesn’t have an exceptionally long pause for reading and writing to the memory card. The old Canon S70’s burst mode was a bit faster at 2 fps, even with its DIGIC I processor.

The same button that accesses the burst mode also calls up the self-timer. The S80’s self-timer is one of the more elaborate timers I’ve seen. Users can select a dog howl for the self-timer noise – or they can opt for the traditional beeping. It can be set to capture the shot after 2 or 10 seconds and also has a custom setting. This takes 1-10 pictures in intervals ranging from 1-30 seconds. This could be good for nature photography – users could snap pictures of a flower opening or a caterpillar crawling up a branch. Just be sure to turn off the dog howl before attempting such shots.

Playback Mode (8.0)
In the playback mode, turning the rotary dial automatically displays three thumbnails vertically aligned and scrolls through the pictures. The date the pictures were taken appears to the right of the thumbnails. This system makes finding a particular photo quite simple. Once users stop turning the dial, the selected image enlarges to fill the whole frame. Pushing the zoom toggle upward further zooms into the image from 2x - 10x. When the zoom toggle is pushed the other way, it zooms out and eventually shows nine thumbnails on a frame like an index print.

Navigating through pictures in playback is quite easy. When users aren’t turning the rotary dial, they can use the Jump button that is to the top right of the dial. This button allows users to jump 10 images ahead. Between the rotary dial and the jump button, the S80 is well equipped to navigate through large, full memory cards.

Users can protect, rotate, and erase all the pictures from the playback menu. They can also play slide shows with transitions and even select how long the pictures are displayed and if the loop should repeat. Users can create print orders and transfer from this menu, although it is probably easier with the button in the top left of the camera. Within the setup menu, the auto rotate function can be activated.

When individual pictures are viewed, histograms and shooting information can be displayed. Sound memos can also be added by pushing the burst mode button and following the on-screen directions to record a voice memo. Up to 60 seconds of audio can be saved. When movies are played back, there are plenty of options. They can be played back in slow motion or scrolled through frame by frame. Parts of movies can be erased, so users don’t have to save the clip of three balls before the home run if they don’t want to.

Overall, the playback mode is very thorough for both still and video files. The only feature that is missing is a delete function that users can implement when scrolling through pictures. Users can navigate through many pictures, but can only delete either individual pictures or delete them all. There is no way to delete a batch of photos all at once without deleting the entire memory.

Custom Image Presets (7.5)
Once the mode dial on the PowerShot S80 is set to the SCN position, users must turn the rotary dial to select a scene mode. Icons appear in the top right corner of the LCD screen while the text title of the scene mode appears in the center of the frame. The following custom image presets are available: Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater, Indoor, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot and Digital Macro. The older S70 had hardly any scene modes. This selection seems to be plenty in that it doesn’t go overboard, but provides decent basics. This is somewhat refreshing after the perplexing interface and menu setup.