I'm not sure about the S5 specifically, however I'm the proud owner of the S1 & S3 and have used the S2 also. I love all the S series Canons so far. They are easy to use, lots of features for the price, comfy fit for my hands, take great pix, and I can afford them. LOL

Myself personally I don't think it's all that great of an improvement over the S3, you might want to check out these reviews and see what you think for yourself and your type of photography.

S3 review - Steve's Digicam

S5 review - Steve's Digicam

Depending on what you're wanting from a camera, you might just as far ahead to get the S3 while the prices are dramastically dropping then use the money you saved for a ton of memory cards and extra rechargeable batteries.

From what I've read biggest changes from the S3 to the S5 are:

face recognition focusing
1/2 inch larger LCD screen
2 more megapixels
faster shutter speeds
hot shoe for flash
higher ISO (although anything over 400 is a waste if you ask me as it's too grainy looking)


Other than those it's basically a repackaged S3 from what I can tell.

Read the reviews, think about what you want out of a camera and how you plan to be using it, then make a decision based on that.

For myself I'll hold out for the S6 ROFL