Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS – GarageHP.com previously wrote articles about LG Infinia 55LW5600, Sony Handycam NEX-VG10, and HP Pavilion dv6t-6000. Now we are talking about Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS, Excellent Photo Quality. The touch-screen controls keep the Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS from being a lower-cost PowerShot S95 alternative for enthusiasts, but its otherwise a very good ultracompact.
The Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS is the more stylish Elph version of the PowerShot S95 enthusiast compact. The 500 HS has a similar lens with a bright f2.0 maximum aperture and semimanual shooting modes. It also has the company’s HS (high-sensitivity) system for improved low-light photos. However, the S95 uses a 10-megapixel CMOS sensor, larger than the 500 HS’s small 1/2.3-inch backside-illuminated CMOS. There’s also a $100 separating them in price and while the photos from the S95 are better, they won’t be $100 better for a lot of snapshooters.
Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS Compact
On the other hand, I’d pay the $100 to get the physical controls of the S95 over the touch screen operation of the Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS. Those considering this camera as a lower-cost alternative for getting the f2.0 lens and aperture and shutter speed controls might be disappointed using the touch screen for everything. Snapshooters who only plan to use these things occasionally and don’t do a lot of fiddling with settings probably won’t mind the loss of physical controls. Plus, Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS is capable of turning out some excellent photos.
Yes, the photos do get softer and noisier above ISO 200–typical for point-and-shoots–but ISO 400 and 800 are still very usable. Like other “HS” models I’ve tested this year, the noise and noise reduction are well balanced so you still get good color and detail up to ISO 800. Colors desaturate some at ISO 1600 and 3200, subjects look very soft, and detail is greatly diminished. While you might not want to view them at larger sizes or heavily crop them, the high-ISO results should be satisfactory for Web or prints at small sizes. Also, using the f2 maximum aperture allows you to get some very good low-light photos without resorting to its highest sensitivities.
Color accuracy is excellent for its class, producing bright and vivid results. Exposure is generally very good, but highlights tend to blow out. Other manufacturers have been solving this to some degree with high-dynamic range modes that will take two or three shots at different exposures and overlay them for a more-balanced shot. Unfortunately Canon doesn’t offer a mode like that and its i-Contrast feature is more for rescuing shadow detail than highlights.
Video quality is on par with a very good HD pocket video camera: good enough for Web use and nondiscriminating TV viewing. The full HD video records at 24fps, and though panning the camera will create judder and there is visible trailing on moving subjects, the video is definitely watchable. Those things are typical of the video from most compact cameras, too. The low-light video is predictably grainy, but it’s at least as good as this camera’s high ISO photo performance. The zoom lens does work while recording; it moves very slowly, though, likely to prevent the movement from being picked up by the stereo mics in front.
Canon’s Elphs are usually designed for snapshot photographers who don’t want to fuss with settings. The 500 HS breaks that by offering Shutter-speed- and Aperture-priority modes. Shutter speeds can be set from 15 seconds to 1/1,600 second. Apertures include f2.0, f2.2, f2.5, f2.8, f3.2, f3.5, f4, f4.5, f5, f5.6, f6.3, f7.1, and f8.0. With the lens fully extended, you just get four, though: f5.8, f6.3, f7.1, and f8.0. Being able to control shutter speed is great for freezing or blurring motion; the aperture control gives you the ability to select how much of a scene you want in focus. If you’re expecting to create a really shallow depth-of-field, though, you can only really achieve that when shooting close-ups. For portraits it will soften the background some, but not enough to blur out distracting backgrounds.
Canon PowerShot Elph 500 HS Touch Screen
The main focus of this camera is still automatic shooting. The shooting-mode switch on top of the camera has two options: one for Auto and a camera mode (that’s what I’m calling it since it’s designated by a picture of a camera). The camera mode gives you access to a Program Auto mode as well as all the scene modes, creative effects modes, and slow-motion video recording. (Check out the slideshow earlier in this review to see examples of the creative effects.) However, they’re laid out over several screens with large icons, so if you’re the type to change modes frequently, this can be a pain. Canon’s Smart Shutter option is there, too, which includes a smile-activated shutter release as well as Wink and Face Detection self-timers. Wink allows you to set off the shutter simply by winking at the camera, and the Face Detection option will wait till the camera detects a new face in front of the camera before it fires off a shot. Both work well.
You’ll also find Canon’s Movie Digest mode that records a few seconds of VGA-quality video before you take a picture. The camera then takes all of those clips for a day and strings them together into a single movie recapping your day. Since it’s a separate mode you have to remember to use it regularly throughout the day. Also, because it automatically stitches the clips together, if there’s something you don’t want, you’ll have to edit it out yourself. It would be nice to have the option to create the movie or just store the clips as well as have it create a movie with the photos you took inserted between the clips. Still, the result is actually cooler than I thought it would be; you just really have to pay attention to what you’re doing before you shoot a picture for it to be good.
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