Model Design / Appearance (8.5)
Canon’s Digital ELPH series aims for style and appeal, exhibited by the SD500’s slim profile and attractive silver finish. The camera is rectangular with a slight curve on the left side (when viewed from the front). This model departs from the series’ sharp, flat lines with its “Perpetual Curve Design” apparent on the side with the right-hand grip. The surfaces remain fairly flat, as the camera is designed more for portability than shooting comfort. The SD500 is built for slipping in a pocket and taking a few shots at a party — not for two-hour photo shoots on the sideline of a basketball court. Canon engineers developed the curve design to make the camera more comfortable to hold; however, it’s still not sufficient for extended periods of photography. Canon didn’t sacrifice style; the brushed steel color with shiny highlights and attractive design makes for quite a sexy piece of machinery.

Size / Portability (8.0)
With compact dimensions of 3.52 x 2.24 x 1.04 inches (8.2 in³), the SD500 maintains the slim sizing of the Digital ELPH line. This model appears similar in size to the SD400, but trades the sharp lines for rounder edges. The SD500 has completely flat surfaces and can slip comfortably in a pocket or purse. The camera weighs 6 ounces without a battery or memory card, but the inclusion of those accessories does not supply much additional weight. The camera has an appropriate weight and feel: if it were any lighter, it would cheapen the feel and if it were much heavier, it would feel awkward in that slight form.

Handling Ability (7.0)
The strength of the Canon PowerShot SD500’s design is its compact, transportable form, which is small enough to smoothly slip in a pocket, while offering rounded accents for comfortable shooting. For this trendy and compact design, consumers will have to forgo certain handling features like right-hand grips and ergonomically pleasing surfaces. The SD500 opts instead for subtle grips. For example, the textured Canon logo on the front acts as a rudimentary finger support. Meanwhile, the right thumb rests on the main mode dial on the back of the camera, which also acts as a grip. While the SD500 doesn’t have the strongest gripping or handling configuration available, users can hang onto the slim body just fine if they don’t slather up with sunscreen just prior to use.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (7.0)
Most buttons and controls found on the PowerShot SD500 are all adequately sized, spaced, and intuitively placed (i.e. the Display button is located next to the LCD screen). The general layout of controls on the SD500 makes it instantly accessible to users of all levels. I have only two complaints. First, the mode dial can be hard to turn; the gripping protrusion is quite small and the angle it must be turned at is not conducive to comfort or quick changes. Second, the icons that label the buttons are not physically close enough to the buttons to avoid confusion. For example, the button on the back with the LED has a print icon directly above it and a metering icon and the word “Jump” just to the right. The icons to the right are meant for the navigational dial. But this confusion will not last long, as new users can quickly adapt to the SD500’s interface.

Menu (7.0)
Menus can be accessed by pushing the Menu button in the bottom right corner of the camera. The menus pop up over a gray background, so unfortunately, live views are not available with these options. There are three colored tabs at the top that look (and act) like file folders; the tabs have icons on them of a playback or camera symbol, tools, and a person with a camera. Below the selected tab is a list of menu options in black and white writing. The options in black lettering are deactivated. Both text and icons are available in the menus, but users are more likely to depend on the text because the icons are so small.

The middle menu tab, marked with the tool graphic, is the setup menu. It has the following options: Mute, Volume, LCD Brightness, Power Saving, Date/ Time, Clock Display, Format, File No. Reset, Auto Rotate, Language, and Video System. The tab on the right that has the person with the camera is the My Camera mode, where users can customize control settings. The following options are available within that menu: Theme, Start-up Image, Start-up Sound, Operation Sound, Self-timer Sound, and Shutter Sound.

The first tab of the menu changes when the mode dial is rotated into different modes. When the camera is in Playback mode, the tab becomes a playback icon and has these options: Protect, Rotate, Sound Memo, Erase All, Slide Show, Print Order, and Transfer Order. In the other modes, the tab has an icon of a camera. In the Auto mode, the options are shortened to Self-timer, AF-assist Beam, Digital Zoom, Review, and Date Stamp. In the Manual mode, AiAF, Long Shutter, and Stitch Assist options are added to the auto menu’s list. The Scene menu only adds AiAF to the automatic menu. The Movie mode menu is shortened to three options: Self-timer, AF-assist Beam, and Digital Zoom.

Exposure settings can be set in a different menu, which appears when the “Func. Set” button is pushed. A menu appears that is composed mainly of icons; it's an overlay to the pictured image, so live views are available in this menu. Once again, the selected mode determines the choice of options. In the Automatic mode, users can only choose Compression and Image Size. In the Manual mode, users can scroll up and down through the following options: Shooting Mode (Manual, Digital Macro, My Colors), Exposure Compensation, White Balance, ISO, Picture Effects, Compression, and Image Size. The Scene mode menu lets users choose between the different scenes, Exposure Compensation, and Image Size. In Movie mode, the following selections can be made: Mode, White Balance, Picture Effect, Frame Rate, and Image Size.

Overall, the menus are easy to understand and easy to navigate. Arrows show the user which way to scroll and text commands will occasionally pop up to aid users, though live feeds would have helped immensely.

Ease of Use (7.0)
This Digital ELPH is simple to use with intuitive menus that are easy to navigate along with an automatic mode that blocks access to manual options. Manual controls are not completely buried in menus, although menus are found in two different places, which can be somewhat confusing at first. The layout of the camera is only complicated by the abundance of icons. Canon had ease of use in mind when they included the Print/Share button with LED light.