Canon PowerShot® S5 IS Digital Camera

When I bought the PowerShot S5 IS at Christmas time, I really thought I had done my homework. It took great pictures and took pictures with great speed. Additionally, it had great focal range, snapping sharp pictures even at a good distance. My technophobe wife wasn't real thrilled with the user interface, and I must say that it is harder to use that either the Panasonic or the Minolta that we've had in the past. On the whole, however, what more could you want?

Apparently, a durable, reliable design is what I should have asked for. Certainly, in my experience, the Canon Powershot S5 IS is NOT reliable, and apparently, from reading other comments, it isn't particularly robust, either.

I got the dreaded "Lens Error, Restart Camera" which is equivalent to the infamous "e18 Error" on previous Canon models. The symptoms of this problem are a lens stuck half-way extended into operating position and a black LCD with the words "Lens Error, Restart Camera" in white across the bottom of the LCD. Google either to see that thousands of people (by my amateur estimate at least 25,000) have been affected. A Los Angeles law firm even looked into a class-action lawsuit against Canon. Apparently the judge thought that the "class" didn't benefit from combined litigation and denied the law firm's request for class-action. I don't know how that could be, but it's done.

Canon refused to fix the problem when I sent the camera in for repairs. They claim that it's "not economical to repair". When pressed for an explanation, they claim that it's my problem, not theirs. They've not denied that the flaw exists, nor did they claim that there was any mistreatment of the camera. They simply stated that the repair wasn't worth it and sent it back!! Did I mention that the camera was in service for less than five months? Five months. For a $330 camera? Ludicrous!!

Poor reliability and poor customer service. Not a winning combination.