Incredible zoom. It's what makes this camera shine. Very useful when taking pictures during events where you're limited in how close you can get to the action. It will take clear pictures of object 40ft away just as if they were 10 ft away.Huge LCD that's bright and sharp. No problem view outside at all.Face detection that works very well.IS technology is definately awesome. Took a picture of the ceiling fan while moving the camera, and the picture came out with barely any blur. Scrolling dial makes for easy and quick navigation of menus.
- Nice, very fast lens. Aperture is what you would get in a nice SLR (f/2.8-4.3). Lens is the main reason I bought this. You can't get such a fast lens in more compact cameras. This is like an SLR.
- Zoom is great. 6-60mm.
- I love the Image Stabilizer- great when taking zoom pics.
- Ease of use. very intuitive. Thats the reason I bought the s45 in the first place and they have kept the same interface.
- The scroll wheel is a big improvement.
- I am still running on the supplied batteris- 200+ pictures.
- The flash is good enough for my use.
Being an owner of 5 previous A Series Canon cameras, I'll have to say this camera is night and day. I wanted a camera that gave me simplicity but also robustness. Meaning, it allows me to take quick pictures when I want, and customize the settings for advanced shots whenever I want. It's what I've been looking for, for years now.