Canon PowerShot S500

Although Sony has surpassed Canon as the leader in digital cameras, many people still have great respect for the Canon name. Canon professional cameras are widely regarded as the best in the market. In the consumer market, the S500 is the main competitor of the Sony DSC-W5.

In many ways, the Canon holds its own against the Sony, but a few specs are sacrificed to allow this camera to be $50 cheaper. User reviews abound and all praise this camera.

Canon PowerShot S500

The main competitor for the Sony DSC-W5

1. Resolution - Five megapixels. This will give you pictures that can make photo-quality 13x17 inch prints that are indistinguishable from prints made from regular film cameras.

2. Lens - The S500 has 3X optical zoom. Like the Sony, it has a built-in lens cover, so no lens cap to fiddle with. But unlike Sony, this camera cannot accept optional lenses.  In general, most online reviewers say that this Canon's zoom lens is lower quality that the Zeis lens Sony uses. To be honest, though, the difference may not be noticeable.

3. Start-Up Time - Very similar to the Sony DSC-W5 in that it is ready to take a picture roughly 2 seconds after it is turned on.

4. Lag Times - While this camera has better than average shutter lag, it is noticeably longer than that of the Sony. Where as the Sony DSC-W5 has almost no lag, the Canon S500 has a lag time of between 0.5 sec up to about 1 second.

5. Screen Size - The S500 has a standard 1.5 inch LCD monitor. Once you get accustomed to using it as a live viewfinder or for image review, you will find any smaller screens extremely unsatisfying. When reviewing photos you can zoom into the image and scan the photo. The screen is also very bright and easily seen in the outdoors.

6. Battery - This camera uses a proprietary battery that can be recharged with the rapid charger that comes with the camera. A fully charged battery can take 190 shots.

7. Memory Card - The Canon S500 can accept any capacity Type I CompactFlash cards. Although these tend to be cheaper than most other cards, they are not as fast as the MS Pro. This camera is not compatible with the faster and higher capacity CompactFlash Type-II.

8. Interface - Using a USB cable, you can connect to either USB 1.1 or 2.0 input on your computer. There is also an A/V output so you can connect it to a TV to watch the movie clips.

9. Look and Feel - The S500 has a scratch-resistant and durable case. It is slightly smaller than the Sony DSC-W5.

10. Main competitors - The Sony DSC-W5, Casio Exilim, and Fuji FinePix F700, but the Sony has this war won on all counts.

The 5.1-megapixel S500 is a great camera although it does not beat the DSC-W5. That is why this camera can generally be purchased for $50 less than the comparable Sony. As usual, you are likely to save a significant amount by buying this camera online. We also track the price of this camera in our Tech Deals section.

Currently, the best reputable place to buy the Canon S500 is at Amazon, where it is $319.88 with free shipping. DELL also sells this camera and using the codes that DELL releases every now and then, you can often get a better price. Join our DELL newsletter to get these codes email to you.