Отзывы о Фотоаппарат Canon PowerShot S3 IS
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Canon PowerShot S3 IS?
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Скроменый эксперт
20.05.2009
8/10
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Хорошо
This camera has great sports mode. It can be used in any situation that has low lighting and you will get great pictures. The sports mode does have a lower quality of pictures meaning they aren't as sharp (I uploaded some in product photographs) but for small, non-DSLR cameras, it takes AMAZING sports pictures. The zoom and image stabilizer lens make it great. If you are a parent and want something to take to game, I strongly recommend this camera!
Скроменый эксперт
22.05.2009
8/10
Оценка пользователя
Хорошо
One thing i wonder and i want the readers to answer is how come i got this camera from amazon for 300$ 2 years back, and now they are selling it for 500+ ?
can the price of electronics go up? esp such cameras? we can get dime a dozen for so many new models, discounts, coupons, etc. whats so special about this one?
requesting clarification
can the price of electronics go up? esp such cameras? we can get dime a dozen for so many new models, discounts, coupons, etc. whats so special about this one?
requesting clarification
Скроменый эксперт
19.04.2007
8/10
Оценка пользователя
Хорошо
I think in order to understand which reviewers you should listen to, it'd be helpful to know who they are in photography and what they are using this camera for. So, I'll start by saying that I am not a professional photographer, nor do I aspire to become one. This is my second digital camera, I used the first one for 4 years and loved it (a small Sony 3x), got this new camera primarily to take better pictures of my baby (zoom helps!). I've never owned an SLR - not even a film one.
I do, however, enjoy photography immensely and have been reading on it a lot lately. It was precisely this camera that moved me to try and learn more so that I could take adtantage of all its features. So, I feel like I definitely grew as a photographer in the half a year or so that I've had this camera. From this vantage point, I love this camera very much for all the reasons already mentioned - zoom, video, IS, etc. I whole-heartedly agree with all the rave reviews for those, and I'm a little puzzled as to why people would complain of focus issues - certainly, they happen, as they do on any camera, even an SLR, but I would not call it a problem that should stop you from getting this camera.
I really have only 2 real complaints, responsible for the 4 star rating:
1) the flash seems to be charging somewhat slowly when it has been fired a few times in a row. I've missed a few amazing shots waiting for it to recharge, and that really upset me.
2) the camera seems to have trouble focusing on skin tones. Taking close-ups of my sleeping baby have been quite a challenge, and I was really looking forward to those, considering I have a 12x camera.
That being said, having explored everything this camera has to offer, I've come to the conclusion that unless I decide to do photography seriously and make money with it, this camera is all I need, and getting an SLR is not only expensive, but really absolutely unnecessary for my needs. In order to take full advantage of an SLR, you'll need 3 lenses (or an expensive zoom one), a tripod, filters, you name it, and quite frankly, when I compare my pictures with pictures of my friends who own SLRs, very rarely do I see the difference (and they agree).
Added after 1 year of use:
I recently noticed that if I try to take stills while also making a movie (a feature that a year ago, very few cameras had), every time I take a picture, the screen goes black for a second, and then resumes the movie (and that gets recorded into the movie, so when you're watching your movie, you will have black screen and a clicking noise). I remember others complaining about it in reviews as well, my camera did not used to do it, so it's some kind of recent malfunction. I do not take a whole lot of stills during a movie, so it's not a horrible set back for me, definitely not worth investing the money to fix it, but I thought I'd mention it, since it does kill a feature that you pay for.
I do, however, enjoy photography immensely and have been reading on it a lot lately. It was precisely this camera that moved me to try and learn more so that I could take adtantage of all its features. So, I feel like I definitely grew as a photographer in the half a year or so that I've had this camera. From this vantage point, I love this camera very much for all the reasons already mentioned - zoom, video, IS, etc. I whole-heartedly agree with all the rave reviews for those, and I'm a little puzzled as to why people would complain of focus issues - certainly, they happen, as they do on any camera, even an SLR, but I would not call it a problem that should stop you from getting this camera.
I really have only 2 real complaints, responsible for the 4 star rating:
1) the flash seems to be charging somewhat slowly when it has been fired a few times in a row. I've missed a few amazing shots waiting for it to recharge, and that really upset me.
2) the camera seems to have trouble focusing on skin tones. Taking close-ups of my sleeping baby have been quite a challenge, and I was really looking forward to those, considering I have a 12x camera.
That being said, having explored everything this camera has to offer, I've come to the conclusion that unless I decide to do photography seriously and make money with it, this camera is all I need, and getting an SLR is not only expensive, but really absolutely unnecessary for my needs. In order to take full advantage of an SLR, you'll need 3 lenses (or an expensive zoom one), a tripod, filters, you name it, and quite frankly, when I compare my pictures with pictures of my friends who own SLRs, very rarely do I see the difference (and they agree).
Added after 1 year of use:
I recently noticed that if I try to take stills while also making a movie (a feature that a year ago, very few cameras had), every time I take a picture, the screen goes black for a second, and then resumes the movie (and that gets recorded into the movie, so when you're watching your movie, you will have black screen and a clicking noise). I remember others complaining about it in reviews as well, my camera did not used to do it, so it's some kind of recent malfunction. I do not take a whole lot of stills during a movie, so it's not a horrible set back for me, definitely not worth investing the money to fix it, but I thought I'd mention it, since it does kill a feature that you pay for.
Скроменый эксперт
01.06.2007
8/10
Оценка пользователя
Хорошо
I got the S3 IS and gave my wife the A620. The S3 has image stabilization and 12x zoom and for a guy who spends two-thirds of his time taking pictures of birds, bees, and butterflies, THIS is the camera! Wait a second: bees and butterflies? Doesn't that take a macro? Yes, but with a 12x optical zoom, you can stand five feet from a flower and, yes, with some software, you could have a picture that is a "macro" with any other camera, and blow it up to 11x17. Six MP is plenty. I've had a picture of a tiger (and now a dog)on my web site, and you can count the hairs and whiskers; the bee's pollen sacs are crystal clear.
If I can find where to post some pictures, take a look.
Some negatives: When you DO use the macro, unlike other Canons, you can't use it in "Auto." That's okay, but the button is now on the side and you have to look for it. And then macro and super macro are very sensitive, and there often isn't enough light for a picture and the flash is too much. Try taking a picture of a coin...
For some odd reason, though most of the button are in the same place as on the A620, I hit them accidentally more often and have changed settings though I didn't mean to.
Though this isn't exactly a negative, I do wish that I could switch the view setting to the next picture when looking at what's on the card. I don't know how else to explain it, but using the LCD to view your picture AND pulling them in for a close up look, you can't move on to the next shot.
So, while I'm at it, I wish it had a 3" LCD instead of 2. But then, I wish it had a 5" LCD, weighed 3 ounces, had a 20x optical zoom, and had a viewfinder that anyone with glasses could use. I also want world peace, a lottery hit, and leg room on NWA.
Speaking of which...the viewfinder is actually one of the best I've found after 50+ years of taking pictures. It's adjustable, and large enough.
I could go on and on, but that would be superfluous considering the preceding reviews by others. It deserves 4.5 stars, and the only reason why not 5 is that we all know the next step is a 15x zoom and 8 MP, not that I need 8 MP.
Be sure to get a 1 GB, preferably a 2 GB card, btw. If you take "movies" at all, and you use high res, you'll eat up memory like crazy. But even then, you can now use the zoom in movie mode and take snapshots while taking movies.
An excellent lens, the Canon 180 degree LCD, ...
Enough. It's not point and shoot, and it's not small. It's comfortable, can indeed be used with one hand (hey, I've often got a dog attached to the other), and I just can't praise it enough. Even the price is more than reasonable. But if you're a beginner, go with the A620 or a Sony. This is the missing link between PowerShots and DSLR.
If I can find where to post some pictures, take a look.
Some negatives: When you DO use the macro, unlike other Canons, you can't use it in "Auto." That's okay, but the button is now on the side and you have to look for it. And then macro and super macro are very sensitive, and there often isn't enough light for a picture and the flash is too much. Try taking a picture of a coin...
For some odd reason, though most of the button are in the same place as on the A620, I hit them accidentally more often and have changed settings though I didn't mean to.
Though this isn't exactly a negative, I do wish that I could switch the view setting to the next picture when looking at what's on the card. I don't know how else to explain it, but using the LCD to view your picture AND pulling them in for a close up look, you can't move on to the next shot.
So, while I'm at it, I wish it had a 3" LCD instead of 2. But then, I wish it had a 5" LCD, weighed 3 ounces, had a 20x optical zoom, and had a viewfinder that anyone with glasses could use. I also want world peace, a lottery hit, and leg room on NWA.
Speaking of which...the viewfinder is actually one of the best I've found after 50+ years of taking pictures. It's adjustable, and large enough.
I could go on and on, but that would be superfluous considering the preceding reviews by others. It deserves 4.5 stars, and the only reason why not 5 is that we all know the next step is a 15x zoom and 8 MP, not that I need 8 MP.
Be sure to get a 1 GB, preferably a 2 GB card, btw. If you take "movies" at all, and you use high res, you'll eat up memory like crazy. But even then, you can now use the zoom in movie mode and take snapshots while taking movies.
An excellent lens, the Canon 180 degree LCD, ...
Enough. It's not point and shoot, and it's not small. It's comfortable, can indeed be used with one hand (hey, I've often got a dog attached to the other), and I just can't praise it enough. Even the price is more than reasonable. But if you're a beginner, go with the A620 or a Sony. This is the missing link between PowerShots and DSLR.
Скроменый эксперт
05.07.2006
10/10
Оценка пользователя
Великолепно
I write martial arts books, most of which require numerous illustrations and photographs to help readers understand and perform the various techniques. After years of spending thousands of dollars per book with professional photographers, I finally decided to purchase a high-end camera so that I could do the shots myself. I needed something simple enough that I could hand it over to an assistant who would take the pictures, yet good enough to produce professional quality results. Ease of use, powerful optical zoom, and superior picture quality were my main requirements.
After weighing the options I decided to go with this model. For about what I would have spent on a mid-range digital SLR by itself I was able to invest in not only this camera, but also two 1 GB memory cards, a dozen rechargeable batteries, a padded hard case, a tripod, a complete lighting package, and a backdrop with stand. The whole set-up ran roughly $1,600. Since the highest resolution photos use up about 3.5 MB apiece, it is good to invest in a couple of large capacity, high speed memory cards. The batteries last for several hundred shots if you use the viewfinder so a couple of sets with a high-speed recharger ought to do for most applications. The cannon soft case isn't all that great so I decided to spend a few bucks more on a good hard case to protect the camera and accessories.
I am very happy with this investment. The camera performs admirably. Indoor pictures are clean and clear, even without the fancy lighting. I took a few test shots using the built-in "indoor" setting which compensates for fluorescent lights. They turned out remarkably well. With the extra lighting the indoor photos go from remarkably good to absolutely great. Outdoor shots on "auto" and "sports" modes work very well too, with or without a tripod stand. It's not quite as fast as an SLR, of course, but takes multiple shots with adequate timing for my needs. The manual adjustments work well if you're well versed in photography and know what you're doing. I've found that the pre-set modes meet such a wide variety of applications that I don't need to tweak things manually all that often. The only major feature that I have not tried yet is the movie mode. Since I have a good digital camcorder too, however, I'll probably never need it.
The only serious drawback I have found so far is the viewfinder, which is a bit hard to see through in direct sunlight. Worse yet, the flip screen is nearly impossible to read in bright light too, even with the contrast turned-up. Similarly in very dark settings it's quite challenging to aim properly. The photos turn out quite well but I have found that I have to take several shots to frame things properly. Not a huge deal for what I'm doing since I bought all the fancy lighting, but something to consider if you plan to take a lot of shots in bright sunlight or darkness. As others have pointed out, there are no filters available for this model though there is an adaptor to add other lenses which could be filtered.
I purchased the 3.2MP S1 IS years ago so adjusting to this new model's features was a breeze. They are not identical, of course, but the layout is quite similar. It's fairly intuitively obvious too. I have actually read the manual and have concluded that this camera has way more functionality than I could ever imagine needing. It's nice to know that it should last for years to come without need for another upgrade though. It is so simple to use that just about anyone can take good pictures using the built-in settings straight away. It is also very easy and quick to download files to the PC for storage or further processing. If you've got Windows XP it's truly plug and play (no praying or special software necessary).
All in all, this camera is exactly what I needed. Great quality, reliable pictures at a reasonable price. Highly recommended!
After weighing the options I decided to go with this model. For about what I would have spent on a mid-range digital SLR by itself I was able to invest in not only this camera, but also two 1 GB memory cards, a dozen rechargeable batteries, a padded hard case, a tripod, a complete lighting package, and a backdrop with stand. The whole set-up ran roughly $1,600. Since the highest resolution photos use up about 3.5 MB apiece, it is good to invest in a couple of large capacity, high speed memory cards. The batteries last for several hundred shots if you use the viewfinder so a couple of sets with a high-speed recharger ought to do for most applications. The cannon soft case isn't all that great so I decided to spend a few bucks more on a good hard case to protect the camera and accessories.
I am very happy with this investment. The camera performs admirably. Indoor pictures are clean and clear, even without the fancy lighting. I took a few test shots using the built-in "indoor" setting which compensates for fluorescent lights. They turned out remarkably well. With the extra lighting the indoor photos go from remarkably good to absolutely great. Outdoor shots on "auto" and "sports" modes work very well too, with or without a tripod stand. It's not quite as fast as an SLR, of course, but takes multiple shots with adequate timing for my needs. The manual adjustments work well if you're well versed in photography and know what you're doing. I've found that the pre-set modes meet such a wide variety of applications that I don't need to tweak things manually all that often. The only major feature that I have not tried yet is the movie mode. Since I have a good digital camcorder too, however, I'll probably never need it.
The only serious drawback I have found so far is the viewfinder, which is a bit hard to see through in direct sunlight. Worse yet, the flip screen is nearly impossible to read in bright light too, even with the contrast turned-up. Similarly in very dark settings it's quite challenging to aim properly. The photos turn out quite well but I have found that I have to take several shots to frame things properly. Not a huge deal for what I'm doing since I bought all the fancy lighting, but something to consider if you plan to take a lot of shots in bright sunlight or darkness. As others have pointed out, there are no filters available for this model though there is an adaptor to add other lenses which could be filtered.
I purchased the 3.2MP S1 IS years ago so adjusting to this new model's features was a breeze. They are not identical, of course, but the layout is quite similar. It's fairly intuitively obvious too. I have actually read the manual and have concluded that this camera has way more functionality than I could ever imagine needing. It's nice to know that it should last for years to come without need for another upgrade though. It is so simple to use that just about anyone can take good pictures using the built-in settings straight away. It is also very easy and quick to download files to the PC for storage or further processing. If you've got Windows XP it's truly plug and play (no praying or special software necessary).
All in all, this camera is exactly what I needed. Great quality, reliable pictures at a reasonable price. Highly recommended!
Скроменый эксперт
04.05.2007
10/10
Оценка пользователя
Великолепно
I've been hanging onto my old 35mm Canon Rebel since college. It's been a great camera, but I've grown tired of buying film and making trips to pick up my pictures, organizing negatives, paying for expensive development, etc. So, a year ago a bought an over-priced pocket size snapshot digital. Hated it! It took the worst pictures and had practically nothing for a zoom. What a waste! It was back to buying film again.
But recently, a local electronics store was going out of business and I kept my eye on this Canon Powershot. I liked the feel of it in my hand. It reminded me of my 35mm that I loved so much because I could really put my hands around it. It felt like a nice piece of equipment. The price wasn't bad either since I caught it on close out. The zoom was amazing and once I panned around the store with it and zoomed in on minor detail of items across the sales floor, I was hooked. Of course, the salesman tried to talk me into some palm-sized plastic toy camera again. Absolutely not!
Unlike most people with a new toy, the first thing I did was sit down and read up on all the cool features this camera presents...snow pictures, fireworks, foliage, portrait, landscape, color swap, black and white, and many many more! I couldn't wait to test it out. Since it's Spring time, I ran out to try the foliage setting. The pictures were amazing! Next, I snapped pictures of my dogs running in the backyard using a different setting. Perfection! I toyed with the flash and took pictures of my roommate. They were so crisp. Even better than my 35mm.
My two favorite features of this camera are the color swap where you can set the camera to keep only one color in your picture and it will turn the rest black and white. I paint pictures, so playing around with this setting on a painting I did was a lot of fun. My second favorite feature is that you can set the camera to take two pictures at once. It will take the picture the way you set it to take, and then it will also take a plain ole original pic at the same time. So, let's say you are playing around with the color swap feature but you hate the way those turned out. You'll still have an original picture with no special setting. Two pics at once! And you don't have to set the camera to do this again and again. You can set it permanently to do this each time you use a specific setting.
I was totally turned off to digital cameras thanks to that snapshot piece I had bought, but the Canon PowerShot has definitely changed my mind. It's the best camera I have ever owned! I can't stop showing it to my friends, and because of the quality I use it all the time.
Definitely worth every penny! CHECK OUT MY PICTURES! I HAVE SEVERAL POSTED ABOVE USING DIFFERENT SETTINGS. BE SURE TO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
But recently, a local electronics store was going out of business and I kept my eye on this Canon Powershot. I liked the feel of it in my hand. It reminded me of my 35mm that I loved so much because I could really put my hands around it. It felt like a nice piece of equipment. The price wasn't bad either since I caught it on close out. The zoom was amazing and once I panned around the store with it and zoomed in on minor detail of items across the sales floor, I was hooked. Of course, the salesman tried to talk me into some palm-sized plastic toy camera again. Absolutely not!
Unlike most people with a new toy, the first thing I did was sit down and read up on all the cool features this camera presents...snow pictures, fireworks, foliage, portrait, landscape, color swap, black and white, and many many more! I couldn't wait to test it out. Since it's Spring time, I ran out to try the foliage setting. The pictures were amazing! Next, I snapped pictures of my dogs running in the backyard using a different setting. Perfection! I toyed with the flash and took pictures of my roommate. They were so crisp. Even better than my 35mm.
My two favorite features of this camera are the color swap where you can set the camera to keep only one color in your picture and it will turn the rest black and white. I paint pictures, so playing around with this setting on a painting I did was a lot of fun. My second favorite feature is that you can set the camera to take two pictures at once. It will take the picture the way you set it to take, and then it will also take a plain ole original pic at the same time. So, let's say you are playing around with the color swap feature but you hate the way those turned out. You'll still have an original picture with no special setting. Two pics at once! And you don't have to set the camera to do this again and again. You can set it permanently to do this each time you use a specific setting.
I was totally turned off to digital cameras thanks to that snapshot piece I had bought, but the Canon PowerShot has definitely changed my mind. It's the best camera I have ever owned! I can't stop showing it to my friends, and because of the quality I use it all the time.
Definitely worth every penny! CHECK OUT MY PICTURES! I HAVE SEVERAL POSTED ABOVE USING DIFFERENT SETTINGS. BE SURE TO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
Скроменый эксперт
05.06.2009
10/10
Оценка пользователя
Великолепно
Canon SI IS 6 MP - great camera, pictures for all practical application are great, does more then a normal person will ever use. Great buy, wonderful vendor. This was a deal everyone looks for!
Скроменый эксперт
23.06.2007
4/10
Оценка пользователя
Ужасно
I spent a lot of time searching for the right camera, and the S3 IS seemed to have it all. I read shining upon shining review, but didn't do a Google search for specific S3 IS defects, problems, etc. Big mistake.
I ordered the S3 from Amazon and the problems began as soon as I took it out of the box. There was something loose and moving around inside the camera, I went online and saw that several other S3 owners had the exact same problem.
I put the batteries in to test the camera, and it seemed to be working okay, until I transferred some test images to my PC. I have been taking photos for 20+ years and I do not take crooked shots - some of the pictures were without doubt slanted to the left. I googled and found other S3 owners complaining of the same problem, which seems to be a factory defect - the CCD is misaligned.
Next problem I found was terrible color fringing, also known as chromatic aberration. In areas where there was light/dark contrast, violet and green lines were seen along the entire length.
Other issues I noticed about the S3 and read about from owners:
Focus problems, bad low light abilities, clicking sounds from the lens, mushy buttons, barrel distortion, redeye, plastic tripod mount, 1GB movie limit regardless of memory card size, and a cheap lens cap that can come off too easily. Some users used their S3 to take dozens of pictures, and had memory card errors wipe out all their photos; this was not due to faulty memory cards.
I'm not a professional photographer, and did not buy the S3 expecting professional quality photos - but these are problems one might expect to encounter with a $99 camera, not a $300+ model, and not from a trusted Canon.
The name Canon always meant quality to me. Unfortunately things have changed and companies are cutting back on their build quality and quality control to cut costs. Because of this brands that used to be the best, are now pumping out some of the worst products ever.
Some S3 owners have no complaints, it seems you have to get lucky, if I want to gamble I'll go to Vegas. It's frustrating that I now have to go and find another comparable camera to replace the S3. One owner told of his journey to several stores to test different S3's. In over a dozen tests, only one of them had none of these issues.
Although I love the features, and got a few decent shots with it, I cannot accept all the faults. I have packed the camera up and am shipping it back to Amazon for a refund.
Hope this helps you in getting the right camera, the first time!
I ordered the S3 from Amazon and the problems began as soon as I took it out of the box. There was something loose and moving around inside the camera, I went online and saw that several other S3 owners had the exact same problem.
I put the batteries in to test the camera, and it seemed to be working okay, until I transferred some test images to my PC. I have been taking photos for 20+ years and I do not take crooked shots - some of the pictures were without doubt slanted to the left. I googled and found other S3 owners complaining of the same problem, which seems to be a factory defect - the CCD is misaligned.
Next problem I found was terrible color fringing, also known as chromatic aberration. In areas where there was light/dark contrast, violet and green lines were seen along the entire length.
Other issues I noticed about the S3 and read about from owners:
Focus problems, bad low light abilities, clicking sounds from the lens, mushy buttons, barrel distortion, redeye, plastic tripod mount, 1GB movie limit regardless of memory card size, and a cheap lens cap that can come off too easily. Some users used their S3 to take dozens of pictures, and had memory card errors wipe out all their photos; this was not due to faulty memory cards.
I'm not a professional photographer, and did not buy the S3 expecting professional quality photos - but these are problems one might expect to encounter with a $99 camera, not a $300+ model, and not from a trusted Canon.
The name Canon always meant quality to me. Unfortunately things have changed and companies are cutting back on their build quality and quality control to cut costs. Because of this brands that used to be the best, are now pumping out some of the worst products ever.
Some S3 owners have no complaints, it seems you have to get lucky, if I want to gamble I'll go to Vegas. It's frustrating that I now have to go and find another comparable camera to replace the S3. One owner told of his journey to several stores to test different S3's. In over a dozen tests, only one of them had none of these issues.
Although I love the features, and got a few decent shots with it, I cannot accept all the faults. I have packed the camera up and am shipping it back to Amazon for a refund.
Hope this helps you in getting the right camera, the first time!
Скроменый эксперт
10.07.2007
10/10
Оценка пользователя
Великолепно
There are a LOT of reviews of the S3 here - and elsewhere - and the S3 has now been replaced by the S5: but if you are in the market for an "advanced digital super zoom" camera do yourself a favor and spend some time researching the options: odds are good you can pick up an S3 at a "bargain price" and end up with a Nicer Overall package than most of the competition.
Trying to squeeze Too Many Pixels onto Too Small of a sensor results in excess noise for many of the newer digital cameras (DSLRs excepted, for the most part). Read the reviews.
Spent several days at the Grand Canyon, plus visited Painted Desert & Monument Valley: the S3 is capable of Excellent photographs, the Image Stabilization REALLY works (have photos taken at 70mph that are simply incredible), Zoom (& even with Digital added on) is an absolute joy, and the camera is (mostly...) intuitive in usage - BUT complex enough that you should Read The Manual for best benefit. (They work surprisingly well, but there ARE limitations to "Scene Modes!")
Have also used the camera for several Videos - including Graduation ceremony and 2 nights recording a high school play: recording time is limited & EATS UP 2 GB SD Cards, but the results (Audio & Video) are very good - and fantastic for what is Primarily a STILL Camera!
There are a lot of Good choices in the Digital field: the S3 is among the best - especially given the current Price Differentials - but don't feel like you are "Sacrificing" quality by sticking with "only" a 6MP system: unless you intend to do a LOT of editing (enlarging) no-one will know the difference in Resolution - and Noise is Likely to be in the S3s favor. Instead, just use the savings to complete your kit...
RK - SE MI
System: S3; Lensmate adaptor (52mm); UltraPod II; Tamrac 5510 bag; "folding" lens hood; Hoya HMC Multi-coated UV filter (52mm); Eneloop & Panasonic Ni-Mh AAs; SanDisk 2GB SD cards (1 Std; 3 Ultra II - either version seems to work fine).
Personal Comparisons: Canon A70 (3mp / 3x optical); Kodak "advanced digital" (4mp / 4x optical); Pentax K10D w/ 2 lens kit + several OLD "film" lenses. (A GREAT camera - wonderful images if you want to WORK with them - but for unedited 5 x 7 prints? For Viewing on Monitor / TV? No one will know which image came from which camera.... Sure: Crop, Enlarge, work with Difficult Subject Matter and the more advanced cameras
have an advantage. If you REALLY want to shoot "ART" settle for nothing LESS than an SLR - but for day-to-day use? Your $$; your call.)
Trying to squeeze Too Many Pixels onto Too Small of a sensor results in excess noise for many of the newer digital cameras (DSLRs excepted, for the most part). Read the reviews.
Spent several days at the Grand Canyon, plus visited Painted Desert & Monument Valley: the S3 is capable of Excellent photographs, the Image Stabilization REALLY works (have photos taken at 70mph that are simply incredible), Zoom (& even with Digital added on) is an absolute joy, and the camera is (mostly...) intuitive in usage - BUT complex enough that you should Read The Manual for best benefit. (They work surprisingly well, but there ARE limitations to "Scene Modes!")
Have also used the camera for several Videos - including Graduation ceremony and 2 nights recording a high school play: recording time is limited & EATS UP 2 GB SD Cards, but the results (Audio & Video) are very good - and fantastic for what is Primarily a STILL Camera!
There are a lot of Good choices in the Digital field: the S3 is among the best - especially given the current Price Differentials - but don't feel like you are "Sacrificing" quality by sticking with "only" a 6MP system: unless you intend to do a LOT of editing (enlarging) no-one will know the difference in Resolution - and Noise is Likely to be in the S3s favor. Instead, just use the savings to complete your kit...
RK - SE MI
System: S3; Lensmate adaptor (52mm); UltraPod II; Tamrac 5510 bag; "folding" lens hood; Hoya HMC Multi-coated UV filter (52mm); Eneloop & Panasonic Ni-Mh AAs; SanDisk 2GB SD cards (1 Std; 3 Ultra II - either version seems to work fine).
Personal Comparisons: Canon A70 (3mp / 3x optical); Kodak "advanced digital" (4mp / 4x optical); Pentax K10D w/ 2 lens kit + several OLD "film" lenses. (A GREAT camera - wonderful images if you want to WORK with them - but for unedited 5 x 7 prints? For Viewing on Monitor / TV? No one will know which image came from which camera.... Sure: Crop, Enlarge, work with Difficult Subject Matter and the more advanced cameras
have an advantage. If you REALLY want to shoot "ART" settle for nothing LESS than an SLR - but for day-to-day use? Your $$; your call.)
Скроменый эксперт
08.02.2009
6/10
Оценка пользователя
Плохо
This camera has the great zoom and works wonderfully in bright light, but has trouble focusing indoors or at any kind of close distance. The flash is a bit overpowering, so I try not to use it (i try to avoid flash anyway), but if you are trying to take a picture from 6 feet away forget it, because the picture will be washed out. I had a dinky little kodak easyshare that focused better than this one, but I wouldn't recommend one of those either. If you are willing to pay this money for a camera, it may be more worth it just to spring for the SLR. I wish I had.
Скроменый эксперт
08.03.2009
4/10
Оценка пользователя
Ужасно
I was really disappointed in this camera. When I first got the camera I noticed the pictures were very noisy. My Nikon point and shoot had much better quality. Then right before the warranty went out the lcd screen stopped working. I have tried to find my receipt but haven't had any luck. So- I probably have paid 500 for a camera I got to use for nearly a year. Not a good deal. I strongly urge you to look for another camera.
Скроменый эксперт
22.12.2006
8/10
Оценка пользователя
Хорошо
I purchased the S3 specifically because I wanted a good digital camera along with the capability of shooting quality video. The S3 fits that description.
As multiple reviews here and elsewhere have indicated, the video function on the S3 surpasses all the still cameras on the market today (as of late 2006). We're not talking professional quality here, but it should be enough for anyone who shoots short segments (under 10 mins.) just for fun and doesn't need a full fledged camcorder.
As someone who's owned a dozen different cameras since the 80s, my reaction to the photo abilities of the S3 is a mixed bag.
On a recent shoot I experienced two minor problems in terms of color reproduction. In one shot the white in a woman's sweater (which was all off-white) was so degraded that the texture became blurred and flat. In another shot the setting sun caught a woman's face and created another blurred effect. In both situations the shutter speed was fast enough to prevent blur and the image quality was set to high.
I'm not saying this is a terrible camera. I love using my S3. It's a really fun camera to use. But the cold hard reality is that my recently purchased 35mm Olympus IS-2 (which cost me about $40 used) can still run circles around the S3 in terms of picture quality and speed. In the time it takes the S3 to take one shot and be ready for the next my "new" 35mm Olympus can take three.
I mention these flaws because these are what I considered the trade offs of purchasing this specific camera for its video capabilities.
If you're not going to use the video function then I would strongly recommend a different camera with a better image censor and faster speed. I recommend anyone concerned with these issues, especially image sensor ability which is more important than megapixels at this point, to check out imaging-resource dot com. That site shows how each camera handles low light and ISO settings, image sensor abilities and other issues.
Minus the lack of true image stabilization, the Fujifilm FinePix S6000fd is one camera that they show to be clearly superior to the Canon in terms of picture quality. The lack of IS might be a deal breaker for some. The IS on the S3 is superb. Buyers just have to weigh their preferences and decide what they need the most. For some the S3 will be the best choice, for others it won't.
Edit:
The 800 ISO on the S3 is extremely grainy and would be only useful in the most dire situations. It's not for everyday use. The ISO 400 is passable, but of low quality. For the best quality, especially if you plan to do any enlargements above 4x6, ISO 200 or lower is necessary.
The lack of a RAW option on this type of camera is almost meaningless. If you require RAW then you're already looking at an SLR.
The wide and tele adapters are a great option, but the Canon made versions might not be the best choice. I picked up a Raynox tube adapter (an adapter is necessary for any converter or filter, regardless of brand) and .66 converter for less than one hundred thirty bucks - great quality and cheaper than Canon.
As multiple reviews here and elsewhere have indicated, the video function on the S3 surpasses all the still cameras on the market today (as of late 2006). We're not talking professional quality here, but it should be enough for anyone who shoots short segments (under 10 mins.) just for fun and doesn't need a full fledged camcorder.
As someone who's owned a dozen different cameras since the 80s, my reaction to the photo abilities of the S3 is a mixed bag.
On a recent shoot I experienced two minor problems in terms of color reproduction. In one shot the white in a woman's sweater (which was all off-white) was so degraded that the texture became blurred and flat. In another shot the setting sun caught a woman's face and created another blurred effect. In both situations the shutter speed was fast enough to prevent blur and the image quality was set to high.
I'm not saying this is a terrible camera. I love using my S3. It's a really fun camera to use. But the cold hard reality is that my recently purchased 35mm Olympus IS-2 (which cost me about $40 used) can still run circles around the S3 in terms of picture quality and speed. In the time it takes the S3 to take one shot and be ready for the next my "new" 35mm Olympus can take three.
I mention these flaws because these are what I considered the trade offs of purchasing this specific camera for its video capabilities.
If you're not going to use the video function then I would strongly recommend a different camera with a better image censor and faster speed. I recommend anyone concerned with these issues, especially image sensor ability which is more important than megapixels at this point, to check out imaging-resource dot com. That site shows how each camera handles low light and ISO settings, image sensor abilities and other issues.
Minus the lack of true image stabilization, the Fujifilm FinePix S6000fd is one camera that they show to be clearly superior to the Canon in terms of picture quality. The lack of IS might be a deal breaker for some. The IS on the S3 is superb. Buyers just have to weigh their preferences and decide what they need the most. For some the S3 will be the best choice, for others it won't.
Edit:
The 800 ISO on the S3 is extremely grainy and would be only useful in the most dire situations. It's not for everyday use. The ISO 400 is passable, but of low quality. For the best quality, especially if you plan to do any enlargements above 4x6, ISO 200 or lower is necessary.
The lack of a RAW option on this type of camera is almost meaningless. If you require RAW then you're already looking at an SLR.
The wide and tele adapters are a great option, but the Canon made versions might not be the best choice. I picked up a Raynox tube adapter (an adapter is necessary for any converter or filter, regardless of brand) and .66 converter for less than one hundred thirty bucks - great quality and cheaper than Canon.
Скроменый эксперт
04.01.2007
8/10
Оценка пользователя
Хорошо
This is a great little camera. It's plus features are:
- Takes excellent pictures, even from far away. I wanted to photograph a friend's daughter in a program at my kids' school, and she was far away, in dim light, and moving. I put my Canon in sports mode and no flash and let it adjust the aperture. The picture came out a little grainy (to be expected), but otherwise was fine. That's pretty good - my friend's camera had no chance at getting that shot.
- Has a good digital interface, with the one little caveat below.
- It's not tiny, but it's small enough I could buy one of those little leather point-and-shoot cases and it slides in.
- I have heard negatives from others about the on/off switch, but I find it works really well. It doesn't go on by itself, but if you press and turn it works fine - I can even do it all with one finger.
- The video capture is very good, recording in stereo. You can even take stills at the same time (since it uses a very intuitive red "record" button for the video, just like a camcorder), although taking a still photo stops the video recording for the time it takes to take the still. In fact, I'd have to say that the combination of video/audio is one of the best things about this camera. For most of us, there's no longer a need to lug both a camcorder and still camera to all our kids' events - the Canon does both very well.
- The display screen, though a bit on the small side, works just like a camcorder - you can flip it out and rotate it 180 degrees.
- The supermacro mode is simply amazing. I have taken pictures of objects right up next to the lens, and the amount of detail you can get is no less than astounding.
It has a few negatives also:
- The lens cap falls off because it was designed to stay on with friction. Oh yeah, that makes sense. Make sure you bring lens cleaning papers and solution, because you'll be touching the lens alot. There's no way to attach an ultraviolet filter to the lens, either (common with point and shoots).
- The camera acts as a USB disk drive to let you copy pictures OFF the camera, but to copy them back on you have to use the supplied software. The major problem with this is that you effectively can't put edited pictures back on the camera, because they don't match the exact format expected by the supplied software. Go buy a little adapter to attach the SD memory card to your USB.
- The bayonette mount is plastic, as noted by others. I haven't really had to use this, but it seems like they should have made it of metal since that's a pressure point.
- There's no remote control, which would be really nice when using the camera as a camcorder and taking a video of yourself.
In summary, I definitely recommend this camera for the parent who wants to get good quality (but not necessarily professional) pictures. You want professional, buy a DSLR - but if you want a reasonably-priced, small camera that takes great pictures and is extremely flexible, buy the Canon. You'll be glad you did.
- Takes excellent pictures, even from far away. I wanted to photograph a friend's daughter in a program at my kids' school, and she was far away, in dim light, and moving. I put my Canon in sports mode and no flash and let it adjust the aperture. The picture came out a little grainy (to be expected), but otherwise was fine. That's pretty good - my friend's camera had no chance at getting that shot.
- Has a good digital interface, with the one little caveat below.
- It's not tiny, but it's small enough I could buy one of those little leather point-and-shoot cases and it slides in.
- I have heard negatives from others about the on/off switch, but I find it works really well. It doesn't go on by itself, but if you press and turn it works fine - I can even do it all with one finger.
- The video capture is very good, recording in stereo. You can even take stills at the same time (since it uses a very intuitive red "record" button for the video, just like a camcorder), although taking a still photo stops the video recording for the time it takes to take the still. In fact, I'd have to say that the combination of video/audio is one of the best things about this camera. For most of us, there's no longer a need to lug both a camcorder and still camera to all our kids' events - the Canon does both very well.
- The display screen, though a bit on the small side, works just like a camcorder - you can flip it out and rotate it 180 degrees.
- The supermacro mode is simply amazing. I have taken pictures of objects right up next to the lens, and the amount of detail you can get is no less than astounding.
It has a few negatives also:
- The lens cap falls off because it was designed to stay on with friction. Oh yeah, that makes sense. Make sure you bring lens cleaning papers and solution, because you'll be touching the lens alot. There's no way to attach an ultraviolet filter to the lens, either (common with point and shoots).
- The camera acts as a USB disk drive to let you copy pictures OFF the camera, but to copy them back on you have to use the supplied software. The major problem with this is that you effectively can't put edited pictures back on the camera, because they don't match the exact format expected by the supplied software. Go buy a little adapter to attach the SD memory card to your USB.
- The bayonette mount is plastic, as noted by others. I haven't really had to use this, but it seems like they should have made it of metal since that's a pressure point.
- There's no remote control, which would be really nice when using the camera as a camcorder and taking a video of yourself.
In summary, I definitely recommend this camera for the parent who wants to get good quality (but not necessarily professional) pictures. You want professional, buy a DSLR - but if you want a reasonably-priced, small camera that takes great pictures and is extremely flexible, buy the Canon. You'll be glad you did.
Скроменый эксперт
07.11.2006
10/10
Оценка пользователя
Великолепно
Since I am not any kind of expert in photography, I am writing this review just as a means to highlight a few features of this camera that really impressed me. Ages ago, I used to own and use an SLr, but for at least the last 20 years I have worked only with point-and-shoots, first film and them digital. My most recent digital was a Canon Powershot S510, and that experience helped convince me to go with Canon again when upgrading.
My reasons for picking this over some others that were similar:
- I already have lots of SD cards from my previous Canon Powershot, so I wanted to preserve the investment. The Sony I looked at, for example, would have required me to reinvest in new media.
- Use of AA batteries; I will not consider a camera that uses proprietary batteries
- Quality (i.e. similar to digital camcorder specifications in resolution and frame rate) movie mode with zoom that works while shooting the movie.
- Ability to add decent auxillary lenses.
- A good zoom with wide range.
Some favorable things I have found out or otherwise experienced since buying the camera:
- The zoom plus digital image stabilization works well together. I can zoom across two rooms and read 12-point text from a memo on the wall.
- The add-on lenses (my experience is limited to the WC-DC58A Wide Angle lens) snap on quickly rather like an SLR, although the original lens does not come off, rather the aux lens just surrounds the original and puts the new optics out in front. However, I was a bit disappointed that the wide angle with the aux lens on is only slightly wider than with it off. At least this aux lens is only about $30 street price and it does help a little bit. In order to add on any of the aux lenses, you need to buy the (also inexpensive) Lens Adapter & Hood kit LAH-DC20. By the way, with the hood attached, the affects of glare when shooting outdoors are eliminated.
- The camera allows a WAV format sound file to be recorded for any picture or pictures and stored to the memory card; this is useful for later identification of pictures and what is in them. The sound files are separate from the picture files, but share the same file name with a different extension (e.g. 00001.JPG & 00001.WAV). This is very useful.
- The camera has a separate movie button that starts & stops the recording of movies. It works at any time regardless of picture taking mode, so you can start a video while in the middle of taking still pictures, or you can take a still picture(s) while recording a video. The video is recorded at the specified video settings and the still picture is taken at the specified photo settings, so one does not influence the other.
- The combination of mini-LCD 'optical' viewfinder (for privacy or shooting outdoors in bright light) and the swivel type main LCD viewfinder is unbeatable. The main LCD would be larger without the swivel feature, but I think it is a good trade-off.
- All controls are very ergonomic in appearance, placement and functionality.
- The built in flash is pretty good, but for a modest extra cost you can get the optional slave flash unit, which goes off when the primary flash does, and it covers a much larger area.
My reasons for picking this over some others that were similar:
- I already have lots of SD cards from my previous Canon Powershot, so I wanted to preserve the investment. The Sony I looked at, for example, would have required me to reinvest in new media.
- Use of AA batteries; I will not consider a camera that uses proprietary batteries
- Quality (i.e. similar to digital camcorder specifications in resolution and frame rate) movie mode with zoom that works while shooting the movie.
- Ability to add decent auxillary lenses.
- A good zoom with wide range.
Some favorable things I have found out or otherwise experienced since buying the camera:
- The zoom plus digital image stabilization works well together. I can zoom across two rooms and read 12-point text from a memo on the wall.
- The add-on lenses (my experience is limited to the WC-DC58A Wide Angle lens) snap on quickly rather like an SLR, although the original lens does not come off, rather the aux lens just surrounds the original and puts the new optics out in front. However, I was a bit disappointed that the wide angle with the aux lens on is only slightly wider than with it off. At least this aux lens is only about $30 street price and it does help a little bit. In order to add on any of the aux lenses, you need to buy the (also inexpensive) Lens Adapter & Hood kit LAH-DC20. By the way, with the hood attached, the affects of glare when shooting outdoors are eliminated.
- The camera allows a WAV format sound file to be recorded for any picture or pictures and stored to the memory card; this is useful for later identification of pictures and what is in them. The sound files are separate from the picture files, but share the same file name with a different extension (e.g. 00001.JPG & 00001.WAV). This is very useful.
- The camera has a separate movie button that starts & stops the recording of movies. It works at any time regardless of picture taking mode, so you can start a video while in the middle of taking still pictures, or you can take a still picture(s) while recording a video. The video is recorded at the specified video settings and the still picture is taken at the specified photo settings, so one does not influence the other.
- The combination of mini-LCD 'optical' viewfinder (for privacy or shooting outdoors in bright light) and the swivel type main LCD viewfinder is unbeatable. The main LCD would be larger without the swivel feature, but I think it is a good trade-off.
- All controls are very ergonomic in appearance, placement and functionality.
- The built in flash is pretty good, but for a modest extra cost you can get the optional slave flash unit, which goes off when the primary flash does, and it covers a much larger area.
Скроменый эксперт
23.03.2007
10/10
Оценка пользователя
Великолепно
Canon Powershot S3 IS.
I had a hard time choosing from a mega-zoom like this camera or picking a DSLR. I have a few SLR lenses that I could have used on the Pentax DSLR and price between the two cameras were not too far apart. As I thought about toting several attachments around I choose the S3. This is an upgrade from my Nikon 4MP camera.
I've had the Canon S3 a couple weeks now and I purchased the Canon Lens Adapter and Hood Set but I picked the FREE SUPER SAVING SHIPPING aka Super slow shipping. The camera and charger/Battery (LaCrosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower Battery Charger, NICE) combo arrived Saturday before the SD memory card and Lens Adapter that arrived in a second shipment the following Monday. I don't understand why two separate shipments as everything was in stock.
Since I had the camera for two days before the Lens Adapter came I'll have to say that the adapter is worth having if just to give me more to hold. The first couple of days I found it difficult to grab the camera without pressing a button (not a problem if the camera wasn't left turned on), I assume because my Nikon had a different feel. I was impressed with the Image Stabilization and zoom right off. After getting the Lens Adapter and getting a few days use. All seems natural. The menu is logical and easy to navigate. The only thing I miss from my Nikon was that I could goto thumbnail mode and tag several photo's to delete if I wanted quickly. I saw a post someplace (could have been here) about it's bad that the S3 doesn't have a battery meter. That is true but it has a battery indicator that flashes when the batteries get low. I shot several outside photos after it started flashing and the camera never cut itself off so I don't know if it will auto-cutoff or what the battery level is at that point. I do know that the Canon S3 IS is very easy on batteries. Quick less than 2 second power up, Focus is quick and shutter almost no shutter lag makes a nice camera, and to add all the other features the S3 has. Oh, did I say anything about the great movie modes? Now I can leave my Canon Video camera t home most of the time.
It's not a small point and shoot but it's not as bulky as an SLR. I havent had any good photo ops yet but looking at my test photo's, I'm shure I'll be pleased.
3/31/2007 I tested camera with a standard (not high speed) Sandisk 1GB sd card. I saw no problems with shooting video in any video mode. Shooting pictures in highest resolution (superfine) high speed continuous mode I got 80 photo's before I heard a delay in taking pictures. In highest resolution (fine) high speed continuous mode I got 150 pictures before I heard a delay in taking photo's.
You can get a faster download of data to your computer from a high speed card.
I had a hard time choosing from a mega-zoom like this camera or picking a DSLR. I have a few SLR lenses that I could have used on the Pentax DSLR and price between the two cameras were not too far apart. As I thought about toting several attachments around I choose the S3. This is an upgrade from my Nikon 4MP camera.
I've had the Canon S3 a couple weeks now and I purchased the Canon Lens Adapter and Hood Set but I picked the FREE SUPER SAVING SHIPPING aka Super slow shipping. The camera and charger/Battery (LaCrosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower Battery Charger, NICE) combo arrived Saturday before the SD memory card and Lens Adapter that arrived in a second shipment the following Monday. I don't understand why two separate shipments as everything was in stock.
Since I had the camera for two days before the Lens Adapter came I'll have to say that the adapter is worth having if just to give me more to hold. The first couple of days I found it difficult to grab the camera without pressing a button (not a problem if the camera wasn't left turned on), I assume because my Nikon had a different feel. I was impressed with the Image Stabilization and zoom right off. After getting the Lens Adapter and getting a few days use. All seems natural. The menu is logical and easy to navigate. The only thing I miss from my Nikon was that I could goto thumbnail mode and tag several photo's to delete if I wanted quickly. I saw a post someplace (could have been here) about it's bad that the S3 doesn't have a battery meter. That is true but it has a battery indicator that flashes when the batteries get low. I shot several outside photos after it started flashing and the camera never cut itself off so I don't know if it will auto-cutoff or what the battery level is at that point. I do know that the Canon S3 IS is very easy on batteries. Quick less than 2 second power up, Focus is quick and shutter almost no shutter lag makes a nice camera, and to add all the other features the S3 has. Oh, did I say anything about the great movie modes? Now I can leave my Canon Video camera t home most of the time.
It's not a small point and shoot but it's not as bulky as an SLR. I havent had any good photo ops yet but looking at my test photo's, I'm shure I'll be pleased.
3/31/2007 I tested camera with a standard (not high speed) Sandisk 1GB sd card. I saw no problems with shooting video in any video mode. Shooting pictures in highest resolution (superfine) high speed continuous mode I got 80 photo's before I heard a delay in taking pictures. In highest resolution (fine) high speed continuous mode I got 150 pictures before I heard a delay in taking photo's.
You can get a faster download of data to your computer from a high speed card.
Скроменый эксперт
09.11.2006
10/10
Оценка пользователя
Великолепно
I bought one when it first came on the market back in May. Half a year and 5,000 pictures later, here are some of my comments:
- It is a GREAT digital camera in its own class. By "class" I mean one should not compare it with a dSLR because the S3 is not one. So do not expect it to overcome "shutter lag" easily, although among other DC (digital camera) I have used, shutter lag on S3 is greatly improved--to a degree that I feel comfortable taking photos in very fast pace, e.g., catching flying birds. (However, only good dSLR can completely eliminate shutter lag and S3 is not a dSLR.) One also should not compare the S3 with the "small" point-'n-shoot DCs. S3 is not as small as those--it won't easily slide into your pocket, unless your pocket is relatively big and loose (like mine). But the slightly larger body brings great features none of the small DC can offer.
- Big optical zoom (12X) and IS. 12X is GREAT and combined with Canon's Imagine Stabilization, S3 turns into a powerful large zoom camera with superb imagine quality. My recent trips included shooting (with cameras in case you wonder) wild wolf at Yellowstone National Park. And this little S3 came out as the only one that can capture the animals at great distance, along with other "big guns" the professionals carry. The IS feature eliminates hand shake with great effect and I could shoot at 12X with low light and still get quality photos. I also highly recommend the "TC-DC58B Tele Converter Lens" for the S3 (or S2) which gives you another 1.5 zoom that effectively make S3 18X zoom (equivalent to a 600mm lens). Check how much those big telephoto lens cost (close to 10K) ...
- Excellent video shooting. Again a feaure one almost never finds on any other DC or dSLR. The S3 takes DVD quality video in stereo sound, not just video clips that most DC can do. This little (almost) pocket-size camera now forces our digital videocam into an early retirement.
- Many other great features. However those are more or less standard and one can always try to argue some other DC may have similar or better features. I won't comment on those.
In summary, the S3 is a great small-size DC. Its superb lens offers big 12X zoom and IS, two technology of Canon's pride. It also offers DVD video shoot with stereo sound--this feature alone can save you a digital vidoecam.
One suggestion--do get a big SD card if you want to shoot video too. I have a 4G SD card and I think 2G is a must. Also battery life is excellent. It uses 4 AA-battery, which seems a lot odd at the beginning. But it comes in handy because as long as you can get AA battery you never worry about power. With typical dSLR, if the battery is out you are done for the day unless you find a power outlet to recharge (and have your charger with you).
I do have one small complain. The Menu button at the back of the camera is at the location where my palm presses the body. Sometimes I raise the S3 and I see the menu in viewfinder because my palm has pressed it strong enough to trigger it. Another press is needed and I lost several shots because of this.
I have other dSLR with quality lens. But I always take the S3 with me on any trip.
- It is a GREAT digital camera in its own class. By "class" I mean one should not compare it with a dSLR because the S3 is not one. So do not expect it to overcome "shutter lag" easily, although among other DC (digital camera) I have used, shutter lag on S3 is greatly improved--to a degree that I feel comfortable taking photos in very fast pace, e.g., catching flying birds. (However, only good dSLR can completely eliminate shutter lag and S3 is not a dSLR.) One also should not compare the S3 with the "small" point-'n-shoot DCs. S3 is not as small as those--it won't easily slide into your pocket, unless your pocket is relatively big and loose (like mine). But the slightly larger body brings great features none of the small DC can offer.
- Big optical zoom (12X) and IS. 12X is GREAT and combined with Canon's Imagine Stabilization, S3 turns into a powerful large zoom camera with superb imagine quality. My recent trips included shooting (with cameras in case you wonder) wild wolf at Yellowstone National Park. And this little S3 came out as the only one that can capture the animals at great distance, along with other "big guns" the professionals carry. The IS feature eliminates hand shake with great effect and I could shoot at 12X with low light and still get quality photos. I also highly recommend the "TC-DC58B Tele Converter Lens" for the S3 (or S2) which gives you another 1.5 zoom that effectively make S3 18X zoom (equivalent to a 600mm lens). Check how much those big telephoto lens cost (close to 10K) ...
- Excellent video shooting. Again a feaure one almost never finds on any other DC or dSLR. The S3 takes DVD quality video in stereo sound, not just video clips that most DC can do. This little (almost) pocket-size camera now forces our digital videocam into an early retirement.
- Many other great features. However those are more or less standard and one can always try to argue some other DC may have similar or better features. I won't comment on those.
In summary, the S3 is a great small-size DC. Its superb lens offers big 12X zoom and IS, two technology of Canon's pride. It also offers DVD video shoot with stereo sound--this feature alone can save you a digital vidoecam.
One suggestion--do get a big SD card if you want to shoot video too. I have a 4G SD card and I think 2G is a must. Also battery life is excellent. It uses 4 AA-battery, which seems a lot odd at the beginning. But it comes in handy because as long as you can get AA battery you never worry about power. With typical dSLR, if the battery is out you are done for the day unless you find a power outlet to recharge (and have your charger with you).
I do have one small complain. The Menu button at the back of the camera is at the location where my palm presses the body. Sometimes I raise the S3 and I see the menu in viewfinder because my palm has pressed it strong enough to trigger it. Another press is needed and I lost several shots because of this.
I have other dSLR with quality lens. But I always take the S3 with me on any trip.
Скроменый эксперт
23.09.2007
10/10
Оценка пользователя
Великолепно
I have several digitals. This by far is my favorite one. So many cool features. It's got the large lense of my Olympus C700, the photo quality of my Nikon D40, and the portability and features (and then some) of my Fuji 5100. I really prefer to use manual mode so that I can control shutter and aperture. Took me very little time (about a hundred photos or so) to build a mastery.
What I like most so far:
- Incredibly high quality photos even at max zoom (including digital zoom)
- A high speed continuous shooting mode
- Neat flipover LCD screen
- A viewfinder that displays exactly what my photos will look like as I compose
- Just enough buttons to avoid having to navigate through just one feature screen
- Helpful histogram display option
- uses 4 AA's; hooray for no proprietary battery
- super cool Accent photo mode which will result in a black and white photo but with one color that you preselect still in view (think of a rose bush with only red roses and all backround in shades of gray)
The images are terrific. They thought of everything. But just to be fair there are a few wish list items.
- Viewfinder is a touch smaller than I would like.
- Focusing the viewfinder is required more often than I would expect
- The camera width is just a bit narrow; an extra half inch on the left side would feel more comfortable in its grip
I like that the flash does not pop up automatically. This keeps from accidental firing in locations where flash is not permitted. I also found lots of menu choices which give me control over sounds, power timer, etc. easy to navigate.
But it's all about the pictures. No need for extra lenses. When I need to get close, I just zoom in. There's even a Super Macro mode that gave me some stunning looks at ants on a branch and a bee on a feeder.
This is a terrific all around camera. Even shots taken through windows look clear. No noticable noise.
I recommend it highly (especially now that the price is dropping). Best value for the top quality you'll be getting.
What I like most so far:
- Incredibly high quality photos even at max zoom (including digital zoom)
- A high speed continuous shooting mode
- Neat flipover LCD screen
- A viewfinder that displays exactly what my photos will look like as I compose
- Just enough buttons to avoid having to navigate through just one feature screen
- Helpful histogram display option
- uses 4 AA's; hooray for no proprietary battery
- super cool Accent photo mode which will result in a black and white photo but with one color that you preselect still in view (think of a rose bush with only red roses and all backround in shades of gray)
The images are terrific. They thought of everything. But just to be fair there are a few wish list items.
- Viewfinder is a touch smaller than I would like.
- Focusing the viewfinder is required more often than I would expect
- The camera width is just a bit narrow; an extra half inch on the left side would feel more comfortable in its grip
I like that the flash does not pop up automatically. This keeps from accidental firing in locations where flash is not permitted. I also found lots of menu choices which give me control over sounds, power timer, etc. easy to navigate.
But it's all about the pictures. No need for extra lenses. When I need to get close, I just zoom in. There's even a Super Macro mode that gave me some stunning looks at ants on a branch and a bee on a feeder.
This is a terrific all around camera. Even shots taken through windows look clear. No noticable noise.
I recommend it highly (especially now that the price is dropping). Best value for the top quality you'll be getting.
Скроменый эксперт
14.05.2007
8/10
Оценка пользователя
Хорошо
I recently bought this camera after looking at cameras for over a year. I have a canon s410 which I bought from amazon a couple of years ago that gives great pictures (that was until the dreaded E-18 error) I recently fixed that camera but i wanted a long zoom. I was waiting for the olympus but when I tried it the shot to shot was very slow, I almost could go make a cup of coffee in the time it took to shoot from shot to shot! also at full zoom it dropped the resolution down to 1.2 megapixels! so I purchased the canon from Amazon for around $300. Its not a bad camera, it does have a learning curve, automatic is probably the worst setting to use, there are a lot of assesories you can buy for it. The pictures come out decent. Although I was disapointed in the low light setting of a dinner I attended, the photos came out grainy, some not usuable at all, the same happend with some outdoor shots on a gray day in ohio (a recent trip)I am hopping that once I learn to use the settings properly I can avoid this in the future.
The S5 was just announced but for what you get I dont think it is worth the extra money. It only gives you a few more megapixels on the same size senor, a hotshoe and a bigger screen. In researching this camera I did find one common problem and that is people complain that on a 2 gig card (any card) when you get close to capacity, it hides the photos on the card and they are not readable in a card reader and eventually not even in the camera-disapearing act-I havent experienced this so I dont know if it affects all but i doubt I will fill up my 2 gig card anyway, I use this camera for amusement.
I dont want to buy a ton of lenses, if I did I would get a DSLR. I pretty much bought this for the zoom. I have read you should buy a filter to protect the lens which means also buying the adaptor, lensmate seems to make a better one then canon out of metal, I will probably get mine there also the lens cap they sell has a tether to it so you wont loose it. I myself am torn between the 52mm and the 58mm.
Some people like sonys better, never owned one so I cant comment. There are also some user forums where you can learn from others the best settings to use with this camera, [...]
Overall a good camera for the 300 range, there are no 5 star digitals it comes down to what you want to use it for and how you take pictures, I dont feel its worth it to spend more then 300 on a camera unless you are in the market for a DSL, and this is no DSL! but I also didnt want to learn how to use a DSL. Hope this helps.
The S5 was just announced but for what you get I dont think it is worth the extra money. It only gives you a few more megapixels on the same size senor, a hotshoe and a bigger screen. In researching this camera I did find one common problem and that is people complain that on a 2 gig card (any card) when you get close to capacity, it hides the photos on the card and they are not readable in a card reader and eventually not even in the camera-disapearing act-I havent experienced this so I dont know if it affects all but i doubt I will fill up my 2 gig card anyway, I use this camera for amusement.
I dont want to buy a ton of lenses, if I did I would get a DSLR. I pretty much bought this for the zoom. I have read you should buy a filter to protect the lens which means also buying the adaptor, lensmate seems to make a better one then canon out of metal, I will probably get mine there also the lens cap they sell has a tether to it so you wont loose it. I myself am torn between the 52mm and the 58mm.
Some people like sonys better, never owned one so I cant comment. There are also some user forums where you can learn from others the best settings to use with this camera, [...]
Overall a good camera for the 300 range, there are no 5 star digitals it comes down to what you want to use it for and how you take pictures, I dont feel its worth it to spend more then 300 on a camera unless you are in the market for a DSL, and this is no DSL! but I also didnt want to learn how to use a DSL. Hope this helps.
Скроменый эксперт
09.03.2008
4/10
Оценка пользователя
Ужасно
I purchased the S2 in 2006 and 16 months later, the zoom lense stopped coming out.
I called Canon to ask for their suggestions, knowing it was out of warranty, and they suggested the upgrade to the S3 for $185. So this is how the S3 came into my possession. Except for an increase in the pixels, there are no upgrades. However, it seemed to me that the diameter of the lens is smaller--I noticed this when looking through view finder. However, I just measured it and it seems that it not the lens itself, just the lens casing, and perhaps the greater difficulty I had in looking through the view finder is due to to my imagination or vision. Initially, I saw it as a downgrade and decided to return it, in combination with my annoyance that a product would break just after the warranty expired.
However, I agree with others that the video was good in the other one, and I imagine that it is therefore good in this one--did enjoy that. So I am reconsidering sending it back as my husband likes it, and I liked the 12X zoom, the stabilizer, and the video....
On the other hand, I just wonder how long this one will last.
It didn't last long. 7 months after I got it, the pixels wore out so I have a blurry spot. just of out of warranty (it was a refurbished camera that I bought to replace the first one) I will never buy another Canon camera again after this experience with two poorly made cameras in 2 years. Video still works though! nice sound. Just has the blurry bit in the middle.
I called Canon to ask for their suggestions, knowing it was out of warranty, and they suggested the upgrade to the S3 for $185. So this is how the S3 came into my possession. Except for an increase in the pixels, there are no upgrades. However, it seemed to me that the diameter of the lens is smaller--I noticed this when looking through view finder. However, I just measured it and it seems that it not the lens itself, just the lens casing, and perhaps the greater difficulty I had in looking through the view finder is due to to my imagination or vision. Initially, I saw it as a downgrade and decided to return it, in combination with my annoyance that a product would break just after the warranty expired.
However, I agree with others that the video was good in the other one, and I imagine that it is therefore good in this one--did enjoy that. So I am reconsidering sending it back as my husband likes it, and I liked the 12X zoom, the stabilizer, and the video....
On the other hand, I just wonder how long this one will last.
It didn't last long. 7 months after I got it, the pixels wore out so I have a blurry spot. just of out of warranty (it was a refurbished camera that I bought to replace the first one) I will never buy another Canon camera again after this experience with two poorly made cameras in 2 years. Video still works though! nice sound. Just has the blurry bit in the middle.
Скроменый эксперт
16.08.2006
10/10
Оценка пользователя
Великолепно
I researched cameras for six months before I had the money to buy. I wanted a mega zoom with a good feature set and high quality video, since I knew I couldn't also afford a video camera. It shoots such good pix in auto mode, that I find myself rarely using the other settings, at least so far. You can shoot photos while shooting video or shoot video while in still photo mode. The video is high quality, AVI at 30 frames per second, which I believe is better resolution than standard TV. You can use the 12x optical zoom while shooting video. Most digital still cameras shoot video at just one focal length. The camera has two mikes and records CD quality stereo sound when shooting video, though you can set it for lower sound and picture qualities if you like. The built-in flash does an excellent job, and with the standard setting I have yet to get red eye.
Image stabilization works very well and is essential with a 12x zoom, especially when shooting video or low light stills. Picture quality is just wonderful in both video and still picture modes. After buying the camera and a 2 gig SD card, I took a bus trip through 28 states visiting friends, shooting hundreds of photos and about 10 minutes of video. The results were great.
Photo stitching software comes with the camera and it is excellent. I had been concered about the very limited wide angle capablity, equivilent only to a 35mm lens on a 35mm camera. But by taking overlapping photos I got wonderful panoramas and group photos without the usual wide angle distortion and with more detail. While this works best with a tripod, with a little care you can shoot by hand and get excellent results.
The batteries are AA. Get a charger and NiMh rechargable batteries. The nice thing is, if your batteries die, you can get a set from the store [uses 4] in a pinch. I was able to shoot 10 minutes of video plus about 150 pix on the batteries that came with the camera. I could have done better, but I spent at least a couple of hours with the camera on, fooling with menus and settings and reviewing the photos and videos.
At best resolution and least compression, a 2Gig SD card will hold 715 photos or 15 minutes of best quality video. 4 Gig cards are available, and if you intend to shoot a lot of video, I would strongly recommend one. Also, the faster the card the better. Slow cards won't keep up with best quality video, and time between still shots will be longer. If the card doesn't advertise it's speed it isn't fast enough! Get 133x or 150x speed. This translates to 20mb or 22.5 mb per second. In theory the camera's single shot limit for video is one hour, but it's a non-issue as the 4 gig cards will only hold 30 minutes of best quality video.
Things I don't like: 8 gigs for an hour of video is way to high. MPEG2 DVD's will hold up to 4 hours in the same space. The view screen should be bigger in this class of camera. It's better than the previous model -two inch versus 1.8 inch- but it really needs to be larger...that said it's adequate for my old guy eyes, and if I had to give up the ability to adjust the screen to get a larger size I wouldn't. I would also like to set the zoom to a slower rate of zoom when shooting video. Rate of zoom is adjustable, by how far you move the lever, but the throw is too short to be precise.
Basically, if you can do without the camera fitting in your pocket you will be very hard pressed to do better than the Canon S3IS.
Image stabilization works very well and is essential with a 12x zoom, especially when shooting video or low light stills. Picture quality is just wonderful in both video and still picture modes. After buying the camera and a 2 gig SD card, I took a bus trip through 28 states visiting friends, shooting hundreds of photos and about 10 minutes of video. The results were great.
Photo stitching software comes with the camera and it is excellent. I had been concered about the very limited wide angle capablity, equivilent only to a 35mm lens on a 35mm camera. But by taking overlapping photos I got wonderful panoramas and group photos without the usual wide angle distortion and with more detail. While this works best with a tripod, with a little care you can shoot by hand and get excellent results.
The batteries are AA. Get a charger and NiMh rechargable batteries. The nice thing is, if your batteries die, you can get a set from the store [uses 4] in a pinch. I was able to shoot 10 minutes of video plus about 150 pix on the batteries that came with the camera. I could have done better, but I spent at least a couple of hours with the camera on, fooling with menus and settings and reviewing the photos and videos.
At best resolution and least compression, a 2Gig SD card will hold 715 photos or 15 minutes of best quality video. 4 Gig cards are available, and if you intend to shoot a lot of video, I would strongly recommend one. Also, the faster the card the better. Slow cards won't keep up with best quality video, and time between still shots will be longer. If the card doesn't advertise it's speed it isn't fast enough! Get 133x or 150x speed. This translates to 20mb or 22.5 mb per second. In theory the camera's single shot limit for video is one hour, but it's a non-issue as the 4 gig cards will only hold 30 minutes of best quality video.
Things I don't like: 8 gigs for an hour of video is way to high. MPEG2 DVD's will hold up to 4 hours in the same space. The view screen should be bigger in this class of camera. It's better than the previous model -two inch versus 1.8 inch- but it really needs to be larger...that said it's adequate for my old guy eyes, and if I had to give up the ability to adjust the screen to get a larger size I wouldn't. I would also like to set the zoom to a slower rate of zoom when shooting video. Rate of zoom is adjustable, by how far you move the lever, but the throw is too short to be precise.
Basically, if you can do without the camera fitting in your pocket you will be very hard pressed to do better than the Canon S3IS.
Скроменый эксперт
28.11.2006
6/10
Оценка пользователя
Плохо
I have recently decided to update my digital camera. I have been using the Canon A40 since 2002 and have been largely very satisfied with it (see my review and photos for the A40). The Canon S3 for me is the logical upgrade. I haven't purchased it yet but it was my favorite after examining the data on the Panasonic, Sony, and Kodak competitors. Well, after returning from a little time at the stores to get a feel for the various cameras, I have a couple things I think might be useful to other searchers that I would like to share:
The Canon S3 is the most unintuitively designed camera in its general class. I thought the A40 was overly complicated and the S3 is worse. It has poor ergonomics but is better ergonomically than the Sony H2/H5 which I felt was nearly impossible to use one-handed. The Kodak Z710 was absolutely the best design with intuitive buttons and a wonderful feel in hand. I have fairly large hands but I found it very comfortable to hold and also had no problem taking photos with one hand or changing the settings. Yes, I like a camera that takes quality pictures but I don't want to be fumbling so long with settings that I lose the joy of a spontaneous moment of beauty either. Regretfully, the noise on the Koadak Z710 was unbearable to me even at ISO 100- worse than the noise on my old Canon A40 with it's relatively less substantial 2 MP resolution and 3X optical zoom. I just can't buy a camera that takes worse pictures than my outdated Canon A40 (the photos I've taken with the A40 beat out a lot of those taken with cameras I am reviewing here).
The viewfinder of the Canon S3 is extremely dark as other reviewers have said and I found it absolutely impossible to use. It does have a lot of bells and whistles- some of which are entirely useless (menu themes!?!) and some which are highly attractive (color accent and color swap). The camera does produce some beautiful photographs with the excellent color that Canon is known for.
If you can get past the two-handed photography and the viewfinder which protrudes uncomfortably past the camera body, the Sony H2 is an excellent choice. Depth of field is not as nice as with the Canon but the photos are still near professional quality and I know many happy users personally who wouldn't trade it for any other on the market.
I have not been able to field test any of the competing Panasonic models, namely because I have been to 4 large retailers and one camera shop, none of which carry any of the Panasonic FZ series. I do have to say though that I am very attracted to the Leica lenses- very high quality lenses used in the manufacture of medical research equipment. And I've seen some absolutely amazing professional quality photos come out of them. If any of you out there in Amazonia have an idea where I can find a retailer that has the Panasonic FZ series cameras, please comment.
If the engineers at Canon would have streamlined the Canon S3, it would be in the mail right now but with its ergonomic design shortcomings and higher price, I simply have to take a harder look at it's competitors.
The Canon S3 is the most unintuitively designed camera in its general class. I thought the A40 was overly complicated and the S3 is worse. It has poor ergonomics but is better ergonomically than the Sony H2/H5 which I felt was nearly impossible to use one-handed. The Kodak Z710 was absolutely the best design with intuitive buttons and a wonderful feel in hand. I have fairly large hands but I found it very comfortable to hold and also had no problem taking photos with one hand or changing the settings. Yes, I like a camera that takes quality pictures but I don't want to be fumbling so long with settings that I lose the joy of a spontaneous moment of beauty either. Regretfully, the noise on the Koadak Z710 was unbearable to me even at ISO 100- worse than the noise on my old Canon A40 with it's relatively less substantial 2 MP resolution and 3X optical zoom. I just can't buy a camera that takes worse pictures than my outdated Canon A40 (the photos I've taken with the A40 beat out a lot of those taken with cameras I am reviewing here).
The viewfinder of the Canon S3 is extremely dark as other reviewers have said and I found it absolutely impossible to use. It does have a lot of bells and whistles- some of which are entirely useless (menu themes!?!) and some which are highly attractive (color accent and color swap). The camera does produce some beautiful photographs with the excellent color that Canon is known for.
If you can get past the two-handed photography and the viewfinder which protrudes uncomfortably past the camera body, the Sony H2 is an excellent choice. Depth of field is not as nice as with the Canon but the photos are still near professional quality and I know many happy users personally who wouldn't trade it for any other on the market.
I have not been able to field test any of the competing Panasonic models, namely because I have been to 4 large retailers and one camera shop, none of which carry any of the Panasonic FZ series. I do have to say though that I am very attracted to the Leica lenses- very high quality lenses used in the manufacture of medical research equipment. And I've seen some absolutely amazing professional quality photos come out of them. If any of you out there in Amazonia have an idea where I can find a retailer that has the Panasonic FZ series cameras, please comment.
If the engineers at Canon would have streamlined the Canon S3, it would be in the mail right now but with its ergonomic design shortcomings and higher price, I simply have to take a harder look at it's competitors.
Скроменый эксперт
10.01.2007
10/10
Оценка пользователя
Великолепно
I bought my wife a camera as a Christmas present for $300 that was manufactured by a famous company and got something with really easy controls that took awful pictures. I took the camera back (very embarrassing), did a lot of research, and then bought this camera.
Here's my take on this Canon PowerShot SI I3 after a few hours of use.
1. The very first shot I took was awesome. The camera used the flash, but still preserved the natural colors of the scene and eliminated red-eye. In other words, it shot a picture with a flash that came out looking like it was shot without a flash.
2. You can't just power it up and figure it out. You have to study the manual and climb the learning curve. This thing has buttons all over it, and it isn't particular obvious what they do. Some you press, and some you wiggle back and forth. There are buttons within buttons. You'll likely break it if you start fooling with it before you study up. I'm sure it will take several evenings of intense study to master all the capabilities of this camera.
3. I was glad I bought a multi-year service contract because these controls are made of plastic and I wonder if everything will still be working after three years or so of continual use.
4. Running on four AA batteries is cool! Get recharable ones with a recharger. The handle that contains the batteries actually makes the camera easier to hold steady than those slim cute digital camera.
5. Screen is decent size, but the little symbols and abbreviations that appear on the screen are often very tiny and I strain even with my reading glasses at time just to see what all the settings showing on the display.
6. The Set and Menu buttons are too close together. A thumb (the natural digit to use) can easily push both, or the one you don't want to push.
7. It's nice to be able to go complete manual. Have fun.
8. Super macro mode is cool. There's a coin I've been wanting to sell on-line and my other digital camera had a terrible time getting a good picture, but this camera gave me a wonderfully detailed shot in super macro mode and without a lot of work.
9. There's definitely a "protocol" to follow when activating and deactivating the camera. You've got to remove the lens cap, fold out and reverse the screen, then fold it back toward the camera. (Or, use the display flipped out and swivel it up and down, but be careful while you're doing that). Reverse the procedure for shut-down.
The bottom line is that if you can pay $400 instead of $300 you'll get a whole lot more camera. This is probably as close to a digital SLR you'll get without actually buying one. It's not cute or intuitively obvious how to use. You'll have to become a student of the camera and work on your relationship with this thing. However, if you do this, your relationship will likely be a long and satifying one.
Here's my take on this Canon PowerShot SI I3 after a few hours of use.
1. The very first shot I took was awesome. The camera used the flash, but still preserved the natural colors of the scene and eliminated red-eye. In other words, it shot a picture with a flash that came out looking like it was shot without a flash.
2. You can't just power it up and figure it out. You have to study the manual and climb the learning curve. This thing has buttons all over it, and it isn't particular obvious what they do. Some you press, and some you wiggle back and forth. There are buttons within buttons. You'll likely break it if you start fooling with it before you study up. I'm sure it will take several evenings of intense study to master all the capabilities of this camera.
3. I was glad I bought a multi-year service contract because these controls are made of plastic and I wonder if everything will still be working after three years or so of continual use.
4. Running on four AA batteries is cool! Get recharable ones with a recharger. The handle that contains the batteries actually makes the camera easier to hold steady than those slim cute digital camera.
5. Screen is decent size, but the little symbols and abbreviations that appear on the screen are often very tiny and I strain even with my reading glasses at time just to see what all the settings showing on the display.
6. The Set and Menu buttons are too close together. A thumb (the natural digit to use) can easily push both, or the one you don't want to push.
7. It's nice to be able to go complete manual. Have fun.
8. Super macro mode is cool. There's a coin I've been wanting to sell on-line and my other digital camera had a terrible time getting a good picture, but this camera gave me a wonderfully detailed shot in super macro mode and without a lot of work.
9. There's definitely a "protocol" to follow when activating and deactivating the camera. You've got to remove the lens cap, fold out and reverse the screen, then fold it back toward the camera. (Or, use the display flipped out and swivel it up and down, but be careful while you're doing that). Reverse the procedure for shut-down.
The bottom line is that if you can pay $400 instead of $300 you'll get a whole lot more camera. This is probably as close to a digital SLR you'll get without actually buying one. It's not cute or intuitively obvious how to use. You'll have to become a student of the camera and work on your relationship with this thing. However, if you do this, your relationship will likely be a long and satifying one.
Скроменый эксперт
26.11.2007
10/10
Оценка пользователя
Великолепно
I got this camera in July 2007 after being disappointed with results from my aging Kodak digital camera. I'd noticed at Faerieworlds that both the official photographers used Canon equipment - far more advanced than this one, of course. The S5 IS was out then, but I felt the additional features didn't justify going over my limited budget. The price has come down since I bought it, but that always seems to happen, and the photos I got in the meantime are well worth the extra money.
I first used the camera at a book signing, and was pleased at the quality of the shots even without flash, and the 12X optical zoom allowed me to get in close. My next event was a Renaissance Faire, and when I got home and looked at the results on my computer, I was very impressed with what the camera allowed me to do. Again, the 12X zoom got me in close and the image stabilization kept things sharp. I had some 8x10s made of a couple of the performers, and they looked fantastic.
I've tried out taking movies. The picture quality is good, but I found that wind can really mess with the sound. I shot a brief movie of a juggler, and when the wind wasn't blowing, the mics picked up her patter nicely, but when the wind kicked in, it wiped out all other sound.
I've mostly shot in Auto mode, which works well most of the time. It does require being very aware of what the camera is focusing on. At a zoo, I had to play with things a bit to make sure I got the animal subjects in focus, and not the fencing around them.
The viewfinder took a little getting used to. I wear glasses, and had to adjust to looking over the top of them to see into the viewfinder clearly. The tilt screen comes in handy for Hail Mary shots or any other situation where you can't shoot with the camera right in front of the eye.
I first used the camera at a book signing, and was pleased at the quality of the shots even without flash, and the 12X optical zoom allowed me to get in close. My next event was a Renaissance Faire, and when I got home and looked at the results on my computer, I was very impressed with what the camera allowed me to do. Again, the 12X zoom got me in close and the image stabilization kept things sharp. I had some 8x10s made of a couple of the performers, and they looked fantastic.
I've tried out taking movies. The picture quality is good, but I found that wind can really mess with the sound. I shot a brief movie of a juggler, and when the wind wasn't blowing, the mics picked up her patter nicely, but when the wind kicked in, it wiped out all other sound.
I've mostly shot in Auto mode, which works well most of the time. It does require being very aware of what the camera is focusing on. At a zoo, I had to play with things a bit to make sure I got the animal subjects in focus, and not the fencing around them.
The viewfinder took a little getting used to. I wear glasses, and had to adjust to looking over the top of them to see into the viewfinder clearly. The tilt screen comes in handy for Hail Mary shots or any other situation where you can't shoot with the camera right in front of the eye.
Скроменый эксперт
19.02.2008
8/10
Оценка пользователя
Хорошо
I just started getting into digital photography about a year before I bought this one. My first digital camera was a little Kodak Easyshare C533. I'm not really sure how to compare the two camera's. The Kodak was very easy and sorta intuitive to learn how to use and was/is a great starter camera. This Canon PowerShot Pro is soooo much more! I love the image stabilisation in it! That was the main thing missing in the little Kodak. And the PowerShots 12x zoom is great for pulling in those long shots and still making them nice and clear and sharp.
There is so much that this camera can do that I will never be able to figure out on my own. I need to find a course someplace to take on how to use it. Or it would be nice if Canon had a instructional DVD on how to use this camera. This camera is definatly not for the beginner, but with a little practice I'll get it. So far I'm very happy with it.
The 4 battery pack gives it enough power to take lots and lots of pictures before you need to change and recharge them. The Kodak needed the batteries changed after 150 shots or so.
The video function on the Canon is nice too. I like the instant video button that you can use at any time while taking photos without having to change any settings. The color swap function in kinda fun to play with too. All though I haven't got the hang of that yet.
Over all this is a nice camera that I think I will get a lot of use and fun out of. But I wouldn't recommend it for any one that is tech or mechanically challenged.
There is so much that this camera can do that I will never be able to figure out on my own. I need to find a course someplace to take on how to use it. Or it would be nice if Canon had a instructional DVD on how to use this camera. This camera is definatly not for the beginner, but with a little practice I'll get it. So far I'm very happy with it.
The 4 battery pack gives it enough power to take lots and lots of pictures before you need to change and recharge them. The Kodak needed the batteries changed after 150 shots or so.
The video function on the Canon is nice too. I like the instant video button that you can use at any time while taking photos without having to change any settings. The color swap function in kinda fun to play with too. All though I haven't got the hang of that yet.
Over all this is a nice camera that I think I will get a lot of use and fun out of. But I wouldn't recommend it for any one that is tech or mechanically challenged.
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