Canon Powershot S50 Review

Switching into Play mode will bring the last picture captured up in full screen mode with overlay data for folder/picture number, current picture / total number of pictures, audio notation (if applicable), image quality and size, date and time of exposure.

You can get all the picture information along with a histogram and visual highlight of over- exposed areas by pressing the DISPLAY button.  It is very complete and includes folder and image number, ISO sensitivity, exposure mode, shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation, flash compensation, white balance, focus mode, audio notation(if applicable), image size and quality, date and time.

The playback image can be magnified up to 10x by toggling the zoom control to the telephoto position. You can stop at any of ten enlargement steps and scroll around inside the image using the 4-way controller.

Toggling the zoom control to the wide angle position brings up the index thumbnail mode. Nine images per page are displayed, pressing the wide angle button a second time will take you to the JUMP mode, this lets you move quickly forward or backward a page at a time.

You can record up to a 60-second "audio note" that will be linked to the current image. These audio notes are saved as standard Windows WAV audio files. When in Play mode you display the picture you want to attach the note to and then press the metering button. This brings up the audio recorder interface as shown above with the familiar record, stop, play, delete buttons and a timer.

The Play mode menu with options for Protecting images from accidental erasure, Rotate to re-orient portrait mode images for proper display on a TV screen, Erase All images. Single images can be erased by pressing the "Star" button while they're being viewed. The Slide Show option lets you select an interval time between images and start and stop a presentation. The Print Order option lets you embed DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) information on the card so any selected pictures can be easily printed by DPOF-compliant printers or services. Transfer Order lets you specify which files to be auto-moved to the host computer via USB.

The SETUP menu, available from any menu.

Beep - On or Off

LCD Brightness - On or Off

Auto Power Down - On or Off

Date/Time - set date and or time

Format - format the CF card

Shutter Volume - 5 levels

Playback Volume - 5 levels

Start-up Volume - 5 levels

Operation Volume - 5 levels

Selftimer Volume - 5 levels

File No. Reset - On, Off

Auto Rotate - Enable auto rotation

Distance Units - Feet or Meters

Language - set the menu language

Video System - output format NTSC or PAL

The 320 x 240 resolution movies playback full screen and the audio can be heard through the builtin speaker. You can also connect the A/V cable and play them on a television.

The S50 allows for in-camera editing of the video clip lengths