Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
 Hindsight is always 20/20 - Made the right decision up front, May 14, 2023
Before I took the family on a Disney Cruise to the Carribean, I shopped for a digital camera. I spent many nights reading reviews from various sites, compared prices vs features, size, megapix, accessory cost, memory card price,etc. I narrowed it down to a Sony Cybershot vs the Canon. I can say that I am not a pro photographer in any sense, but I enjoy snapping "tourist" photos and ones of the family so one day when I am senile I will remember. THIS CAMERA TOOK FANTASTIC PHOTOS, FOOEY ON THE NAYSAYERS. The only reason their pictures turned out blurry is because they cant hold their hands still!
WHY I'M GLAD I DIDNT BUY THE SONY:
Sony memory cards are a rip off (try pricing their high-speed ones versus regular SD high speed), their spare batts are a cha-ching, and their fragile LCD's are complained about a lot. Even though the Canon camera itself costs more than the Sony camera did, the Sony accessories would have cost me more than a fully loaded Canon w/ accessories! I'm sure the photos would have been nice also, but the features on the Canon are better and I have a higher megapizel camera for an overall cheaper cost of ownership.
CANON'S COOL FEATURES!
1. Besides taking gorgeous, rich, color photos, I spent a few minutes reading the manual. If you set it to SCN scene mode, there are a ton of pre-programmed modes that compensate for every setting, beach, night, indoor, close-up plants, and even fireworks. I played with the various modes and I easily figured out which was best for the picture about to take. The Disney cruise ship did fireworks from it and the pix are awesome. Cant wait until the 4th of July!
2. Super fast 1 second, ready to shoot time from the pocket. Didnt miss a single action moment!
3. Photostich- allows you to take panaramic photos left, right, up and down, then the included software automatically pastes the pictures together! It rocks!
4. Battery life was fantastic. I wasted my money on the spare battery (which was a generic Digipower from Best Buy and it died after 20 shots!) I used the camera all day, took photos and motion video and used up the 1gb storage space and the battery never died that day.
5. I bought a 1GB high-speed SD card for it from Fry's and I took motion videos with this camera! They play back in Windows media player and I emailed those out; people thought it was from a camcorder! I owned a Panasonic D-Snap and promptly sold it after my trip to Australia last fall. Wish I took the Canon there instead! Make sure you buy the high speed SD cards not a super Sunday sale cheap 512 card for $59! A 1gb high speed is about $80-$100. Also, dont forget to do a low level format 1st!
6. Their included software is a little cumbersome to learn, but it works well once figured out. Just wish it had more editing features in it instead of having to use an external software for advanced editing.
7. LCD can be seen at 50% level even in full sunlight & zoom was decent for a compact dig cam.
CONS (IF ANY)
I dont really have any true complaints, but to be fair here are some. Why pack a 32mb SD card? That's worthless, it holds like 7 pictures, Canon ditch it and lower the price instead! Dont like the flappy door thing covering the USB jack, seems cheesy. Camera can get slippery, use the hand strap at all times, thats cheap insurance!
Hope this review helps, I know I appreciate the other reviews people posted here, it helped me make the right decision for an investment that costs over $700 with all the accessories.
7 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
 Dissapointed in audio recording quality, but otherwise nice., May 5, 2023
I am/was a huge fan of the Canon powershot cameras, I started out with the 2 megapixel S110 then upgraded to a Canon S230.
1. First, the SD500 takes great photographs, that is not my complaint.
2. I purchased this camera for its video capabilities because it can record 30 frame per second video at 640x480 resolution (regular television standard).
I had fell in love with the S110 and S230 despite the limited amount of time you could do 640x480 clips for the amount of time supported by the card you are using until it fills up versus only 30 seconds with the S230.
The audio recording quality of the S230 is actually pretty good, in fact good enough that I was able to use the camera to record concerts (mainly organ/classical music concerts for friends who were playing etc, which is really neat from such a small camera.
>>>>
However the audio recording quality of the SD500 is nothing like the S230, in fact it sounds like someone took the camera and threw it in a well somewhere near what you are trying to record. It is muddy and just nothing in comparison to the S230.
That is my 2 cents.
Otherwise it is a great camera, but if you are doing it for audio recording I'd recommend finding another camera, I have went back to using my S230 even though it only records 30 seconds at a time, and is only 3 megapixels.
14 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
 LCD display is big but fragile, Apr 27, 2023
Think twice before buying the Canon SD 500 camera. The LCD displays are large but extremely fragile. Mine was cracked on the second day. It was NOT dropped or abused.
I also have a Canon S110 and have taken just over 5,000 photos with it since Christmas 2001 without any problems. Apparently, in an attempt to make the new models light and the displays large, Canon sacrificed durability.
In some cases Canon will "waive" the LCD repair cost. In others they demand $165 for the repair.
79 of 81 people found the following review helpful:
Which of the SDxxx Series is right for you?, Apr 18, 2023
Let me begin by saying that Canon makes exceptional digital cameras; the best in the market right now. This is because they have always used high quality components since they began manufacturing digital cameras. This one is no exception.
Now that I've sold you on a Canon, which one should you choose?
First off, let's see if you really need an SDxxx camera, or would be better suited with a cheaper non ultraportable camera.
The SDxxx Series offers several key advantages over less portable models:
-Beautiful, sleek design and metallic body will wow anyone who sees it.
-Gorgeous 2 inch LCD screens
-The excellent Dig!c 2 processor (other Canons only have dig!c 1)
-Much better movie mode than previous Canons
-Small light, easy pocketability
On the other hand, there are some significant drawbacks due to the components Canon had to use to get the camera so small:
-Few manual controls.
-Pictures are not as sharp as those of similar non ultraportable cameras.
-The flash is very close to the lens (lots of redeye problems)
-More purple fringing issues than other Canons
-Proprietary batteries that are expensive to replace
-The LCD is very fragile. Read the SD200 and SD300 reviews to see lots of unhappy people whose LCDs broke. Canon's warranty does NOT cover this either. My suggestion? Buy using a credit card that offers a warranty in addition to the manufacturer's. If your lcd breaks, many CC companies will replace the camera no questions asked!
If you don't need the ultra portability and flashy looks of the SD cameras, a slightly larger camera with more features might be right for you. I would highly suggest Canon's A510 or A520 if you don't need an SD model.
If you still want an SD model, which one should you choose? The SD200 with 3.2mp, the SD300 with 4mp, the SD400 with 5mp, or the SD500 at a whopping 7.1mp?
Your first instinct may be that more megapixels is better. Today, however megapixel ratings are similar to Ghz ratings in the computer world: They used to mean a lot, but they don't mean as much anymore. More megapixels do NOT mean a better image. They mean a larger printable image. Unless you have to have huge prints, you simply do not more megapixels. In fact, the 3.2mp of the SD200 is enough for anyone who doesn't plan on printing pictures larger than a standard 8.5x11 sheet of paper.
That having been said, there are some differences between each SDxxx model. In order to get the larger 7.1mp sensor in the SD500, Canon had to make the camera larger. Thus, it is around a quarter inch thicker and 30% heavier than the other 3 models. The larger size did enable Canon to pack more features into it, however:
Features unique to the SD500:
-1/4 inch thicker
-30% heavier
-50% longer flash range
-14% more battery life
The SD400 and SD500 also share these benefits over the SD200/SD300:
-New "Night Display" feature which brightens the LCD in low light
-My Colors feature lets you highlight or swap colors right on the camera
-USB 2.0 High Speed support
The following are shared by all the SDxxx Cameras:
Pros:
-Beautiful, eye catching design
-Great image quality, though not as good as non ultraportable models
-New Dig!c 2 image processor
-Excellent Movie Mode
-3x optical zoom is adequate for most people
-Excellent, intuitive manual controls
-Huge 2.0 inch lcd that looks great under various lighting conditions
-Uses widely available and cheap SD cards
Cons (most of these are minor quirks):
-Some purple fringing problems
-Proprietary batteries are expensive to replace and inconvenient at times
-Lots of issues with fragile LCDs
-No RAW support
-Few manual controls
If you do choose this product, the first thing you should buy is a larger SD memory card. The camera comes with a 16mb card (32 in the SD500), which is pretty much useless.
You should also immediately purchase a case and some screen protectors to protect the LCD.
14 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
Simply The BEST, Apr 12, 2023
Pros:
-7.1 megapixels
-3x zoom
-fast
-good flash
-small and compact
-long battery life
-sleek design
-easy to use
-easy mount
-great manual features
Cons:
-red eye could be better
-all metal cameras tend to get scratched easy
If you thinking about buying the Powershot SD500. Do it! Do it! is all I have to say. You will be pleased you did and so will others when every picture you take with the SD500 is a masterpiece. DO IT!
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Based on 20 reviews.