Canon Powershot S5is Review, July 2007
Simon Joinson

The enduring popularity of Canon's 'big zoom' range began on the day the original PowerShot S1 IS was announced back at the start of 2004, heralding a return to a sector of the market many believed the photo giant had abandoned when the Pro 90 IS was discontinued a few years earlier. Since then it has been rare for there not to be an S series big zoom PowerShot in our top 10 most popular cameras (measured by clicks) despite stiff competition from Panasonic (responsible for the reinvigoration of the whole 'superzoom' sector), Sony and a handful of other players. Perhaps this is why Canon has been loathe to tinker too much with the formula established in the original model for subsequent generations. Sure, the S2 IS was a much-needed upgrade (bigger lens, big performance boost), but since then Canon has pretty much left well alone with fairly predictable upgrades to the sensor and screen, and minor feature tweaks.

And so we arrive at the camera on test here, the PowerShot S5 IS, another incremental upgrade to its predecessor that adds a couple of welcome (and some would say long overdue) features but, for the most part, doesn't mess too much with what made its predecessors some of the most appealing cameras in their class. The extra two million pixels and bigger, better screen were inevitable, the flash hot shoe a welcome surprise. Surprising too is that Canon avoided the temptation to go for a longer zoom range (now that 15x and 18x optics are becoming commonplace) - the S5 IS has exactly the same lens as the S3 IS and S2 IS before it, meaning you still don't get a true wideangle unless you attach the large optional lens converter. There is also still no raw mode (perhaps the most requested feature from serious S3 IS users) - it would now seem certain that Canon has abandoned raw capture in non-SLR models.

Powershot S5IS vs Powershot S3IS - key changes

• Higher resolution sensor (8MP vs 6MP)
• Digic III processor (S3 IS was Digic II)
• Larger, higher resolution LCD screen (2.5 inches vs 2.0 inches)
• Hot shoe flash connector
• Higher top ISO sensitivity (1600 vs 800)
• Increased movie clip limit (was 1.0 GB, now 4.0 GB)
• Couple of new features (including red-eye removal, face detection AF)
• Reduced continuous shooting (burst) speed
• Slightly heavier

Move your mouse over the image below to see the design changes, which are fairly subtle.

	Canon Powershot S5is	Canon Powershot S3is
Sensor	• 1/2.5 " Type CCD • 8.0 million effective pixels	• 1/2.5” CCD, • 6.0 million effective pixels
Maximum Image Size	3264 x 2448	2816 x 2112
Processor	Digic III	Digic II
Movie clip limit	4 GB (around 30 mins VGA/30fps)	1GB (around 8 mins VGA/30fps)
Sensitivity	• Auto • Hi-ISO Auto • ISO 80-1600	• Auto • Hi-ISO Auto • ISO 80-800
Autofocus modes	• Face Detection AF • Flexizone AF • Center AF	• Flexizone AF • Center AF
Scene modes	• Custom • Portrait • Landscape • Night Scene • Sports • Stitch Assist • Foliage • Snow • Beach • Fireworks • Aquarium • Indoor • Night Snapshot • Color Accent • Color Swap	• Custom • Portrait • Landscape • Night Scene • Sports • Stitch Assist • Foliage • Snow • Beach • Fireworks • Indoor • Night Snapshot • Color Accent • Color Swap
LCD screen	• Vari-angle 2.5-inch Low Temp P-Si TFT • 207,000 pixels • Adjustable Brightness • 100% coverage	• Vari-angle 2.0-inch Low Temp P-Si TFT • 115,000 pixels • Adjustable Brightness • 100% coverage
Continuous shooting	max 1.5 fps	max 2.3 fps
Battery life (CIPA standard with Ni-MH cells, using LCD)	450	550
Weight (no batteries)	450g (15.9 oz)	410g (14.5 oz)
Other	• Playback red-eye correction • LP movie mode

Canon Powershot S5is specifications

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

This article is Copyright 2007 Simon Joinson / dpreview.com and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact: Phil Askey