Canon S80 questions

[AllenBirnbach]

I'm planning on buying a Canon S80, and have a few questions:
If I buy a second battery, is there a third party battery that will last longer, or should I just get the Canon battery.

Same basic question about the camera case-buy a third party or Canon's.

Any accessory recommendations would be appreciated as well.

[Ken_Tanaka]

Allen: I have the S70, the S80's immediate predecessor. I believe they use the same battery so I think my comments are accurate. Personally, I bought a Power 2000 brand second battery. I've used this brand of battery for Canon video cameras for years and know them to be of top quality. They also feature rather higher capacities (milli-ampere hours) and a lower price than the Canon-brand batteries. The P-2000 battery for my S70 has been a top-performer, as expected, for the year or so I've used it. (In fact I used it in the camera nearly all day today.)

Regarding a case for the S80, I wanted a case that could attach to my belt, that would snugly fit the camera, and could accommodate an extra battery and CF card. I found a perfect match in a Tamrac model 5691. Perhaps you can find it at a local store or online. It's absolutely ideal for the S70 and, as the S80's just about the same size, should also work for the S80.

Hope this helps.

(BTW, I think that the S70 and probably the S80 is just about the ideal casual cam for photographers. If only the S80 could record RAW as the S70 can I would update to it.)

[AllenBirnbach]

Thanks, Ken. I'll check those out. I had misgivings about the lack of RAW, and considered trying to find a used S70 because of it. But in the end, because of not having time to wait for the right situation to present itself on ebay for the older model, and the article on dpreview saying that the contrast and saturation could be turned down on the S-80, I decided to go with that. It's not a perfect world out there, and since the S-80 has been discontinued, we both may be looking at a new camera sooner than we think.

[AllenBirnbach]

Any suggestions on memory card size. Since I'm not clear how many would fit on a 1GB card, I'm sure if a couple of those are enough, or if I need to get a couple of 2GB. I use Sandisk for compact flash, and guess I'll buy them in this format unless I hear something otherwise. Is the speed important for the video capability? Sandisk does not say what their speed is, but other companies may say 133 or 150x. Thanks.

[Bob Varipapa]

I have a 4 gb for mine and never have filled it up.

They are only ~ $70 or so:

http://tinyurl.com/znnyc

http://www.newegg.com/

[Fred_Bopp]

I have an S80 and S3 IS. Both shoot jpg only, no RAW. I gave the S80 to my daughter and kept the S3 because it meets my needs better with the longer focal length. They both take excellent and very usable photos so take a good look at both before you buy. The S3 uses AA batteries which can be a saver if you run out of juice. Both cameras have excellent battery life.
Good Luck,
Fred

[Bob Varipapa]

I was pleased to note that the S80 uses the same battery and charger as the Rebel XT.