Canon PowerShot S80

Front (6.5)
When the sliding lens cover of the S80 is closed, it doesn’t really resemble a digital camera, so much as a small shiny black box. To make sure that there is no question of this black box’s identity, however, the sliding cover is labeled with the Canon PowerShot S80 title. On the left edge of the sliding cover is a vertical band of soft plastic that is etched to look like leather. This sticks out just enough for a shooter’s right fingers to grip it from behind and use it to slide the cover open.

When the door is open, the right half of the front is crowded with features. The 3.6x optical zoom lens sits at the bottom. It has three black rims with silver piping that extend the zoom lens when powered up. The circular lens glass sits in a square-shaped window. To the top left of the lens is a square-shaped window with the optical zoom viewfinder inside of it. The viewfinder is slightly recessed. To its right is the flash, which is an oddly shaped rectangle with a rounded top right corner that mimics the curve of the camera body corner. Below that – but still northeast of the lens – is a large round LED with the "AiAF" logo above it. This doubles as the auto focus assist beam and the self-timer indicator. The left portion of the camera’s front face, seen when the sliding door is closed over the lens, is a glossy black and completely plain surface in which reflections can be seen.

Around the outer edge of the front is a matte silver casing. The Canon logo and lens rims are constructed from a shinier silver metal. All in all, the front of the S80 looks like a refrigerator for a doll house, unless the sliding cover is open.

Back (6.5)
The back of the S80, on the other hand, is busy. There are about a dozen interestingly placed controls, a large viewing screen, the optical viewfinder, and various curves and contours for comfort. The 2.5-inch LCD screen is on the left side; it sits in a slightly raised frame. Connected to the raised frame in the top right corner of the screen is a dormer containing the S80’s optical viewfinder. In it is the optical viewfinder punctuated to its right with a colon - two tiny LEDs. The viewfinder is quite small and its placement is near the center of the camera, so there is no way to avoid rubbing one’s nose on the LCD if the viewfinder is being used.

To the left of the viewfinder and above the LCD are two circular buttons. The circular button to the immediate left of the viewfinder is surrounded by icons: a microphone for voice memos, a self-timer icon, and a burst mode icon. The button on the far left has an LED in its center and two icons right of it: one icon is the standard print and transfer icon, and the other icon has a capital ‘S’ in a box with an arrow pointed to it. This is the Shortcut button; users can program the button to call up the white balance, image sizes, or other options.

Several control buttons lay to the right of the LCD monitor. The mode dial sticks out from the right side of the camera, rather than the top. To the left of the dial, on the upper back corner of the S80, is the zoom toggle, which resembles a thin light switch. Pushing it upward zooms in on a subject; pushing downward accesses the wide angle of the lens. To the left of the toggle is an LED that lights up when the playback mode is activated. The activation is made possible by the button just below it, labeled with the typical green playback symbol.

Below the playback button is a set of buttons that look related. There is a central Func./Set button surrounded by a unique black rotary dial. Above and below the dial are two buttons on each end. The buttons are half-moon shaped and black, so they are quite distinctive. The top left button can erase images and also select the auto focus frame. The top right button adjusts the exposure compensation and acts as a Jump button. The bottom left button is the Disp. Button and the lower right accesses the Menu. The rotary dial sits in the middle and is surrounded by icons. The dial is unique in that it can be turned around in a circle, but it can also be pushed in the four navigational directions for menu item selection. Pushing the top changes the ISO and tapping the bottom accesses the manual focus. The right sets flash settings and the left puts the camera into macro shooting mode.

Left Side (6.0)
The left side of the PowerShot S80 is quite plain. It has two silver colored panels with a central black panel, mainly for looks. On the central black panel are six holes that expose the built-in speaker.

Right Side (6.0)
The right side of the Canon S80 also has a black band down its middle, but it is thicker than the one on the left. It is also made of a more rubbery gripping material. In the center of this black band is a bulbous wrist strap eyelet. At the bottom is the cover to the battery and memory card compartment, which opens to the bottom. The back edge of the right side has a thumb grip that pushes outward; this opens the cover to the A/V / USB and power input jacks. Above the cover at the top right corner is the mode dial with its many icons.

Top (6.0)
A black band runs from the right side of the S80 to the left and across the top. On the left side of the black band is a silver PowerShot S80 logo in white. On the right is a thicker rubbery surface for gripping with a black glossy shutter release button in its middle. In front of the shutter release button and black rubbery surface on the silver area is the built-in microphone, which works well enough to pick up handling noise.

Bottom (6.0)
The bottom of the Canon S80 has a wide door on its left that opens to reveal the battery compartment and memory card slot. Slightly right of center is the tripod socket. To the right of this is the required label with serial numbers and such.