M.C. puts the Canon's instruction manuels on their Flash to shame!
591265
With M.C.'s understanding of the Canon products, one wonders if Canon has any IDEA of how great of a product they have?!  The included manuels give the new owners of the equipment incomplete and at times "bad" photographic advice .. in particular how to use the flash to light a subject! Canon needs to have Mr. Corsentino write their flash manuels!
4356174
This camera is the next generation in Canon's Powershot family. Let me start by saying that I have not bought this model, but that this cautionary note is based on a significant flaw in the design of the S400 which I have. I don't believe this flaw has been corrected in this updated model.
I bought an S400 and used it for seven months. I was very happy with it. At that point, however, it stopped working without warning. When I sent it in to the factory service center, I discovered something very troubling about the camera that had I known earlier would have caused me to not purchase it.
It turns out that this model--as well as many other Canon digital cameras, the tech told me--has an aluminum body. If you subject the camera to temperature changes (and it only takes a change of 10-15 degrees, I was told) condensation will form inside the camera, and the camera will start to corrode, eventually rendering it unusable.
This is what had happened to me. What misuse had I subjected my camera to that caused this to happen? I took it on vacation to the beach with me. Carrying it from the hot and humid beach into an air conditioned car was enough to destroy the camera!
The tech told me that he sees this all the time. He didn't know the percent of all Canon cameras that suffer this fate, but he said a lot of them do. He told me he gets lots of cameras back from people who have taken them on vacation to Arizona, Mexico, and Hawaii. He even saw one that had stopped working because the owner kept it stored in a stuffy closet. When the owner eventually took it out to use it, the temperature change back to normal room temperature was enough to fry the camera.
I was told that this damage is not covered under warranty and that the manual cautions users not to subject their cameras to this sort of treatment. Canon will not provide service on cameras that suffer this fate. If this happens to your camera during the waranty period you're basically out of luck. You lose the investment you made in the camera and any peripherals that you bought.
I hope anyone interested in purchasing a Canon digital camera will learn from my very expensive mistake in purchasing one. See the review section for the S400 on Amazon.com for even more stories from people who have had this same problem.
What I said about the S400 holds true here as well. The camera is very nicely designed, but it's poorly engineered. If you plan to use the camera indoors only this is a great model. But if you plan to use the camera both outdoors and indoors, if there is a difference in humidity and temperature between the two where you live, and if you don't want to run the risk of totally losing your investment in the camera, this isn't the model or brand for you.
2654533
This flashes when I take a photo. However, it is incompatible with my Canon 5D Mark II in that when in that whenever I take a photo it flashes exactly the same. I put it on the  S1 setting it should stop at 200 for my shutterspeed but it does not. And it automatically goes to the same flash compensation setting even if I try to adjust my flash compensation... it goes back to the same setting. I am returning this!
224646
Stop! Don't waste your money on this junk masquarading under camcorder disguise. Battery does not work, Start button does not work. Menu never works properly. Time, date? no chance. Every click on the buttons take you some place unrelated to what it says. User Manual? Written in Chinglish. After this Sylvania brand name, I stopped buying Sylvania light bulbs too. That's how bad the camcorder is.
Refund? Forget it there is no contact link. Of course if you buy from a few reputable companies maybe you stand a chance for a refund.
398535
I REALLY want to give this a 5 star rating because it works as advertised. Only I can't. Why not? The instruction manual is completely useless! The print is line a 3 pt font! Totally illegible! Because of that I had sums issues. plugging my DirecTV box in port 1 dropped my format to 480p! And no sound. Plugging into port 2 worked perfectly. ChromeCast would not work in port 2. Can't read manual so can't figure out how to operate the PIP. Trial & error.
2125843
Add another E18 error code complaint to the list!  I purchased the camera about a year ago, and have had the E18 error for about the last 2 months.  The camera will intermitently freeze up and not work at all, just beep at you and give you an error code E18.  I've tried all the recommended fixes from the compressed air to the alignment twist.  Nothing seems to keep it functioning for more than a few shots.  Canon wants nothing to do with the fix, and estimates repairs between $150 and $200.  Save the headaches, and buy another camera from a different manufacturer!
4506959
Won't stay on flash, must be taped, poor tolerances in molding
3517648
Totally disappointed in this flash.  The shoe mount will not tighten, so flash slides out of place and then won't go off because contacts aren't touching.  Controls are very basic, very few ISO settings, limited control.  Recycle time is quick when it decides to be.  Replaced batteries after 20 photos as recycle wasn't fast.  Buttons register once in awhile when I try to adjust settings.  Very frustrating to use.
Yes this is better than using the on camera flash, but at least your on camera goes off when its supposed to.
Bought the flash based on the recycle time, and reviews, maybe I just got a lemon.
455138
I have returned the Canon for several reasons. First, the flash was broken. The cap wouldn't stay on. I could not control the zoom lens -- it would jerk completely out or in but to move it to any other place needed such care that I would have lost the picture before it was in place. The case felt as if it was made out of cheap plastic. Worst of all, the manual was so convoluted in its writing that it was difficult to follow.

I have had a Canon AE 1 SLR for years that I love, but this product was not worthy of the Canon name.
394903
Well this telephoto lens is atrocious. Cheap as hell. Was included as part of a Canon SL1 bundle that I bought on Amazon from Photos4Less. It will leave all your photos blurry, and they lie when they say it is a 2x teleconverter. I would say 1.3x MAX. Tried to take a few photos of the moon. Did wonderfully with the Canon 300mm lens. Figured, hey, let's attach this guy and we'll get 600mm! WRONG! After attaching, it BARELY zoomed in any closer, made the entire moon blurry like your vision after raucous college party, and completely threw off the lighting. The only use for this is for magnifying the sun to create those miniature death-rays we all loved as a kid. Actually not even sure it would be up for the task... Do yourself a favor and stay away!!!
1069084
The only things in this Kit that are made by Canon are the camera,charger and lenses. The entire rest of the kit is off brand stuff that is considerably lesser quality. The tripod is useless since it won't lay flat. You can take crooked pics with it I guess but it is not sturdy enough to be trusted with this camera by me. The flash shown in the pic is pretty descent flash. THIS IS NOT THE ONE YOU WILL GET!You will receive the cheapest POS I have ever seen by agfa. Maybe a ten dollar flash and mine has scratches all over it like it was used. I recieved a bottom hot shoe mount that is OBVIOUSLY used due to the stripped threads and teeth marks in the metal. There is also some rust in the threads hole.

The camera bag you will recieve will not fit anywhere close to the amount of stuff that is in the kit let alone any extra and is NOT a CANON bag. I really feel duped by this seller and the bait and switch tactic in his ad. I assumed this was a Canon kit since there are no ther MFGs referenced. Do yourself a favor and do some more research on sellers. There are more non Canon items than Canon items in this kit. Unfortunately I need the camera next week so I cannot return the whole darn lot and start over.

I ran out today to get a tripod that will work. I can't really afford to replace the bag and flash right now so I am in a bad position. I spent my money on an STM lense to go with camera which is the only way you use the continuous auto focus feature. You cannot use it the way this kit comes.
1919588
Am I the only one who is not impressed with the low-light pictures?  The flash on this camera is so bright that the main subject looks pale and washed out.  After reading all the positive reviews, I am very disappointed with this.  Yes, you can manually turn down the flash, but this takes time and the camera seems to re-set itself the next time it is used.  Additionally, I don't feel I should HAVE to always turn down the flash level on an automatic camera.  The daylight pictures are fine; however, I think some of the example pictures were placed on Amazon by Sony employees, because I find them rather incredible, especially the light-house zoom picture.  If anyone has any advice for me, I'd be happy to receive it.  I was very excited about this purchase and this is such a disappointment; considering returning it.

Update:  I finally had enough with this camera, so I contacted Sony to see what could be done.  The flash continued to be problematic, causing subjects to be very washed-out and pale looking.  The colors on all pictures are not true, either.  Sony stated it was too late to replace the camera, but stated I could send it in for repair.  I did so, and included examples of pictures I printed out that were taken with the Sony and also comparison pictures from my i-phone (which really should NOT be better pictures).  Sony's findings?  They sent the camera back to me stating "no problems found."  At this point, I wrote a scathing email to Sony and I will never purchase another Sony product.  The camera is listed for sale and I will be purchasing a Canon, which I should have done in the first place.  I don't know what is wrong with all you people that rave about this camera; perhaps you have lower standards than me.  The camera sucks.
4081451
This is the worst piece of knock-off crap I have ever seen! Who at Amazon is responsible for stopping this kind of mess? This cheater copied everything from Canon, it's name, logos, and fonts. But what they didn't know was that this Canon neck strap was to be my second one, yes, I have an authentic Canon neck strap to compare it with and it is a very poor knock-off. The poor quailty sewing machine that was used, put on the poor stiching on the logo, the strip the contacts the neck smells as if it contaminaed with some kind of hazardous chemical. The SD card holder is missing. I paid good money to you, Amazon, and you failed.
2004533
The worst manual I have ever encountered, it might as well be written in Chinese!  Terrible instructions!  Does not come with memory, and when the memory card is inserted, the door will not latch properly.  I could not format the card in the camera, and when I formatted the card the memory still insisted the card was full.  I could not resolve this problem, and there is ZERO support online.  DO NOT PURCHASE THIS CAMERA!
2634818
I purchased this flash cause i need one more to complement my canon flashes and it was a terrible mistake if you need a flash go for a canon or a nikon stay away from this piece of crap.
2394459
I could not get the focusing to work.  Phone calls to Canon were of no help.  One suggested that I forget automatic focusing and use manual focusing for all pictures. Canon did fix that problem even thoughit it was out of warranty.  Now the flash is firing long after the picture has been taken.  I am giving up with this camera.  There are several other minor things that are not right, but I no longer care.
4698625
Very bad product.  Typical Canon junk.  I returned ASAP