Canon S3

[ukcatfan]

Just remember that for low light and fireworks, you need a tripod. With that slow of a shutter speed, the IS does not help and can actually make a shot worse. IS should be turned off for tripod work.

Kevin

 

[stitch&ariel]

Hi guys!

Thanks for that link it's great

By night photos I just meant in the dark really. For example sometimes I go out with my friends at night into town, ghost walks etc and just wanted to know if the photos were still as great as the daylight ones are!
I hope that makes more sense...........

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Here's a nice example of what the S3 can do with fireworks.

And, here's another.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

By night photos I just meant in the dark really. For example sometimes I go out with my friends at night into town, ghost walks etc and just wanted to know if the photos were still as great as the daylight ones are!
I hope that makes more sense...........

If you're going to use flash to take your friends' pictures, you'll be fine. It's got a good flash and takes nice at-night flash photos. It's even got a "night portrait" mode....

If you want to take pics without light ... by moonlight, say ... you'll need a tripod and a long shutter time. Taking a pic of a spooky graveyard at night is certainly possible, and can look great.

But, you won't be able to take pictures of your friends by moonlight because they won't be able to stand perfectly still for 15 seconds. To take this kind of picture, you need a DSLR and a really fast lens (but, this can be quite expensive).

Oh, and here's one more set of S3 fireworks pics (handheld, too!).

 

[Amy]

Here's a nice example of what the S3 can do with fireworks.

And, here's another.

Oh, and here's one more set of S3 fireworks pics (handheld, too!).

Ok, all 3 of these links are fireworks shots that were HANDHELD, and they're absolutely beautiful! Is the IS that great, or have these people never heard of caffeine?? I don't think I'd ever be able to hold a camera that steady!

Heading to WDW in less than a month.....I'll try both a gorilla pod and handheld. We'll see how well *I* do on my fireworks shots!

 

[Graeme]

Personally, I don't see any reason to wait for the S5 when you can have the S3, now ... unless the main upgrade feature (a flash hotshoe) is REALLY important to you.

The general consensus on the other boards I read is that the S5 will be no better than, or slightly inferior, to the S3 in picture quality because they've upped the MP and the ISO, but it's the same little sensor so the higher settings are probably going to be pretty noisy. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

It's got the DIGIC III chip with "face detection", but lots of users speculate that the noise reduction is more aggressive and destroys some detail and clarity.

It also shoots slower than the S3.

It does have a bigger LCD and can take 4G movies (instead of the S3's 1G).

I've also seen July/August as release dates for it ... at about $499. Considering you can get an S3, now, for $278 that's a lot of money for a little upgrade. You'd be better off spending the extra cash on a lens adapter, a couple of filters and a TC....

My thoughts exactly

 

[GrumpyOne]

Ok, all 3 of these links are fireworks shots that were HANDHELD, and they're absolutely beautiful! Is the IS that great, or have these people never heard of caffeine?? I don't think I'd ever be able to hold a camera that steady!

Heading to WDW in less than a month.....I'll try both a gorilla pod and handheld. We'll see how well *I* do on my fireworks shots!

I haven't used an S3 but the IS on my SP-550 is pretty good. I was taking low-light shots indoors with a 2 second shutter and there was only a small amount of blur noticeable at full size. Shrunk, it probably wouldn't be noticeable. I'm sure a lack of caffeine helps as well.

We have a mall nearby that does fireworks every evening, I should probably wander by there and get some practice.

 

[ang]

Thanks for so much for the info...heading to walmart and target to checkout batteries.

 

[AndrewWG]

Happy Birthday, Beth!

It is my birthday today too although I didn't see it on the list.

Andy

 

[bethbuchall]

Thank you very much!

Happy Birthday to you, too!!!

(What list? Did I get myself on a list I don't know about? )

Hey, this means my S3 is "officially mine" now, because it was a birthday present. I just needed it a little early.

Beth

 

[AndrewWG]

Thank you very much!

Happy Birthday to you, too!!!

(What list? Did I get myself on a list I don't know about? )

Hey, this means my S3 is "officially mine" now, because it was a birthday present. I just needed it a little early.

Beth

Thanks!

Yes, you are on the community board which I just found the other day. The link is here:

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=57

Andy

ps. Congrats on your now birthday present!

 

[Amy]

Happy Birthday, Andy!

Happy Birthday, Beth!

 

[AndrewWG]

Happy Birthday, Andy!

Happy Birthday, Beth!

Thanks Amy!
So glad I turned 29 today! again.

Andy

 

[Groucho]

Hi guys!

Thanks for that link it's great

By night photos I just meant in the dark really. For example sometimes I go out with my friends at night into town, ghost walks etc and just wanted to know if the photos were still as great as the daylight ones are!
I hope that makes more sense...........

Unfortunately, no camera will ever do as well in the dark as the light... when you get down to it, a camera does nothing but capture light, and the less light there is, the harder it has to work. Nighttime people pictures and club pictures and that sort of thing will almost certainly require a flash (on most any camera), so you might want to look for some examples of that type of shot from the S3 and see what you think.

Also, taking pictures with the flash on nearly any somewhat-compact camera nowadays will almost guarantee red-eye (because the flash is so close to the lens), but that can generally be edited out pretty easily later.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Also, taking pictures with the flash on nearly any somewhat-compact camera nowadays will almost guarantee red-eye (because the flash is so close to the lens), but that can generally be edited out pretty easily later.

Yes, the S3 *does* have quite a bit of red-eye ... even with "red eye reduction" turned on.

As Groucho says, though, it's easily removed PP.

You can also get a "slave" flash that is mounted at a distance (or held, I guess) from the lens and set the on-board flash to the minimum necessary to trigger the slave and get very good results.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Ok, all 3 of these links are fireworks shots that were HANDHELD, and they're absolutely beautiful! Is the IS that great, or have these people never heard of caffeine?? I don't think I'd ever be able to hold a camera that steady!

Yep, they're pretty impressive for hand-held ... I hope I can do the same!

I have a small tripod, but finding a good place to set it at "Wishes" is bound to be a challenge.

Luckily, there'll be 4th of July fireworks before we go in Sept., so I'll get a couple of chances to see how steady I am....

Heading to WDW in less than a month.....I'll try both a gorilla pod and handheld. We'll see how well *I* do on my fireworks shots!

Don't forget to post 'em!!

 

[HarambeGuy]

I have RTFM'd twice and have not been able to force the camera to use the flash. There are times when I'd want to, but I'm starting to feel like a candidate for Densa.

What obvious contol or button am I missing?

 

[Dan Murphy]

Take camera off the automatic setting, and push the button on top of camera to left of flash. I am using an S2.

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_s3-review/

 

[HarambeGuy]

Wow. I tried that on several settings, Av, Tv, SCN and more. Doesn't always force the flash to go. I'll keep fiddling - maybe I'm just not noticing.

 

[HarambeGuy]

Doh! The key word here is 'toggle' between forced and auto. I'd been holding the durn button down while I took the pic. Duh. Thanks for the link