Canon PowerShot S50 Review

Overall Rating

Good pictures. Good camera features.

1. The product is flawed -- it requires absurdly cautious handling and babying.

2. Canon customer service is abysmal. Although their CSRs are polite on the phone --> they are useless. My camera has been in repair for 1/3 of the time I have owned it.

The Canon PowerShot S50 takes good pictures and has good features, as many other articles illustrate. The problem is that the camera is extremely sensitive to it's environment, and is prone to experiencing failure when used in conditions in which you would never expect to have problems.

I purchased the s50 six months ago. Since then, it has been in for repairs to Canon's Factory service twice for a combined time of over a month and a half.

The first time I sent the camera in for repair was after only a week of use. The lenses failed to operate and the lens assembly was replaced. The camera was returned in a reasonable amount of time (within 2.5 weeks).

The second time I sent the camera in for repair was a month and a half ago. The lcd panel on the rear of the camera body stopped functioning.

After the camera had been in the service center for over a month (dated from the date on the Canon Repair Acknowledgement letter -- which stated that I should expect the camera back inside of 10 days), and after placing 5 calls to the repair center -- leaving 2 voice mails which went unanswered; being disconnected twice; and speaking with a repair center person who took my number and said she would call back -- she never did, the status of my camera was finally updated on the Canon website (sorry for the run-on). The web site now stated that my repair had been re-estimated and that I needed to remit $164 for the repair.

I called the Canon repair center to provide payment --> this time they managed to get a live person on the phone. While on the phone, she informed me that the camera had been evaluated and the repair cost estimate had been made a month earlier -- yet, nobody had contacted me, the website had never been updated, and even after calling on five prior occasions, this had not been communicated. I was also informed, while making payment, that the damage requiring repair was "water related."

As a brief word on the "water related damage," I should note that this camera was never subjected to anything which one would associate with mishandling or water contact. At most, it has been used, in a protected fashion during misty conditions. You can find plenty of other articles that people have written describing their troubles with "water damage" resulting from use in high humidity climates.

My conclusions on this camera are as follows:
1. The product itself is flawed -- it requires absurdly cautious handling and babying. My Canon 35mm SLR is far more reliable and much better constructed.

2. Canon customer service is abysmal. Although their CSRs are polite on the phone --> they are useless. My camera has been in repair for 1/3 of the time I have owned it. Their communication of the status of my camera has been non-existent. Even when I have attempted to actively contact them, it has been a fruitless exercise.