Canon s80 vs canon sd550

[Spoon]

guys i have narrowed down my choices to these two cameras. i like the s80 becasue it looks like the coolest most compact camera out there. also the topside specs look pretty impressive and it is better rated than the higly rated s70. other option is the sd550 and 3rd comes to the a95. what to get?

Canon S80

 

[clgsamson]

go review your choice of digicams at www.dpreview.com. Would suggest you ask or look for available underwater housing first before you buy your digicam.

Is that a new model SD550? or is it an SD500 (7 megapix)

 

[Spoon]

go review your choice of digicams at www.dpreview.com. Would suggest you ask or look for available underwater housing first before you buy your digicam.

Is that a new model SD550? or is it an SD500 (7 megapix)

actually i am getting the sd500 5 megapx. i just found out that the sd line is the same as the ixus line. so the ixus 700 is the powershot sd550

 

[pakman]

S80 was just announced. Not sure if the housing is available yet, let alone the camera... S80 does indeed look sharp but I recall seeing a review mention that it doesn't have RAW capability... That would be a shame considering how helpful shooting in RAW is with my S70.

 

[Grajan]

I have the S50 and I don't think the internals have changed a lot other than resolution. It is an OK camera but has a couple of problems under water:

1. It is very slow to focus, particularly in low light

2. It has poor dynamic range so bright spots tend to burn out in all sorts of circumstances

I cannot compare it with any other P&S as it is the only one I have used so these issues might be applicable to the whole class. I understand the Fuji's are very fast.

guys i have narrowed down my choices to these two cameras. i like the s80 becasue it looks like the coolest most compact camera out there. also the topside specs look pretty impressive and it is better rated than the higly rated s70. other option is the sd550 and 3rd comes to the a95. what to get?

Canon S80

 

[Spoon]

based on many comments on this board as well as many helpful pms received from numerous members? i am leaning towards the A95. having studied the specs i have concluded that it would be the most practical choice for my first uw camera. at first i wanted the Ixus700 becasue of its sophisticated small sleek package but was turned off becasue it lacked the saught after manual features found in the powershot a-line.

my gf has the ixus v3 (s600) and i just purchased a UW hosuing for her. i will practice with this in the meantime playing with the wb etc and get a general feel. when i am more comfortable i will get the a95. who knows there might be a housing available for the s80 by then.

 

[RonFrank]

guys i have narrowed down my choices to these two cameras. i like the s80 becasue it looks like the coolest most compact camera out there. also the topside specs look pretty impressive and it is better rated than the higly rated s70. other option is the sd550 and 3rd comes to the a95. what to get?

Canon S80

Ranks above the S80 for one reason. RAW. For whatever reason Canon decided to drop the RAW format from the S80. For UW photography, RAW rules. I own the S70, and color balancing the S70 RAW images is a 30 second job vs. dealing with doing the same on a JPG image. Granted if one shoots perfect shots (and I mean perfect, WB, Exposure, etc) the jpg images are VERY excellent. However after shooting both formats with the S70, I would never consider shooting jpg UW again.

As to if the S80 will rate out better than the S70, that remains to be seen. Phil has NOT done a full review of the camera. I'm betting it does in fact have many features and the final review will show that it does have benifits over the S70. But I can Guarentee that Phil will list the lack of RAW support in the Con's. Another factor to consider, the S70 will likely tank in price, and it's a very good shooting camera available today with a housing. The S80 will stay at around $550 for the camera alone, and I paid just over than for my S70 WITH housing before the S80 was announced, so the S70 should be a heck of a bargin right now.