Canon S3

[Granite State Heidi]

Is there a way around this....

When I resize my photos down to a "normal" 4 x 6 photo (so I can upload and print) the nearest to 4 x 6 is actually 4.5 x 6. I have been taking cool pics lately, and have been filling up the frame. Therefore, there isn't room for me to crop off that extra 1/2 inch. I have tried recording images in all the formats...L, M1, M2, etc. Always the same when I try to reduce and contrain the proportions.

I use PhotoShop Elements (4.0, I think).

Any ideas?

 

[Tigger66]

Can anyone who has upgraded from a Canon S2/S3is to a DSLR post any comparision Photos or thoughts, Wondering whether to upgrade to DSLR for December trip, if the carrying of extra Equipment for DSLR will be worth it or to stick with S2 for an easier Holiday.
Regards
Paul

 

[Master Mason]

I'm sure someone will come along, but what pics do you feel you missed before with your s/2-3?

 

[ukcatfan]

I moved from the S1 to a Pentax K100D and I can tell you that it is a world different. We have since replaced the S1 with an S2. I did some ISO tests and I can say that the noise levels of the S2 at 400 was much worse than the K100D at 1600. I would guess that the S2 200 is equal to the K100D's 1600.

If low light needs are driving this decision, then the DSLR is the only way to go. If not, then save your money b/c the S2 is not exactly a bad camera.

If you go DSLR, you have an option that we really do not have here in the US. Samsung re-brands Pentax DSLRs, but they are practically never seen here. I am not sure what the equiv. models are, so be sure to know what you are getting if you consider this.

Kevin

 

[Tigger66]

I'm sure someone will come along, but what pics do you feel you missed before with your s/2-3?

Will be mainly used to photograph the kids with the characters,
A Quick History of WDW trips
2005 3mp Nikon Coolpix compact some good photos bit quite disappointed with results so upgraded to Canon S2 is for 2006 trip,
2006 A Marked improvement seen in Quality of pics, i used auto setting on all pics, bit disappointed with some of indoor pics waiting for the flash to recharge meant sometimes i didn't always get the best pose. Lately i have been using more of the programmable modes instead of auto, i particular like the continuous shoot function, but this is again negated by waiting for the flash, this is the area i think a DSLR will particularly improve my photos.
Also what would be a good first lens For a DSLR beginner ?

2005-h**p://i14.tinypic.com/6blkdj9.jpg
2006-h**p://i7.tinypic.com/6g3svp1.jpg

 

[ukcatfan]

Lately i have been using more of the programmable modes instead of auto, i particular like the continuous shoot function, but this is again negated by waiting for the flash, this is the area i think a DSLR will particularly improve my photos.

The built in flash on a DSLR will not be fast enough to recharge to make you happy. You would need an external flash, but even consumer level models of those are not instant. Where a DSLR would help is by using a lens and exposure combination where a flash is not needed. The better high ISO levels are a big help for low light. B/c you are not going to be doing too much low light action shots, from what I can tell, you could benefit from a lens or body with IS. The Pentax and Sony models build it in to the body, but Canon and Nikon have it in the lens. The in lens version is supposed to be a little more effective, but the cost is the big downfall. For me, the in body IS on my K100D is enough for me to notice the difference.

Kevin

 

[Tigger66]

The better high ISO levels are a big help for low light. B/c you are not going to be doing too much low light action shots, from what I can tell, you could benefit from a lens or body with IS.

I presume Kevin "IS" is "Image Stabilsation", the nikon D40 is a good price in the uk at the moment with a cashback offer, have you any experience of this camera?
am i right in thinking that the lens on the S2 has a better zoom than a slr 18-55 mm Equivalent
Regards
Paul

 

[Groucho]

I have copies of both my wife's and my sister-in-law's photos from our past trip where they both used a Canon SD600, which is a 6mp 1/2.5" sensor, same as the S3. I suspect that it's exactly the same sensor, but I'm not 100% sure. I'll see if I can find a couple that were taken at either exactly or nearly exactly the same spot as a shot from my DSLR.

I'll report back with my findings.

 

[webshark3]

The built in flash on a DSLR will not be fast enough to recharge to make you happy. You would need an external flash, but even consumer level models of those are not instant.

Kevin

Did you mean flash on a P&S? I've had issues with the strength of the flash on my 300D, but never the recharge. I fill my buffer first...

 

[ukcatfan]

Did you mean flash on a P&S? I've had issues with the strength of the flash on my 300D, but never the recharge. I fill my buffer first...

Possibly this is a case where the upgraded model actually performs worse, but the XTi has a flash recycle time of three seconds. I would not exactly call that fast. Are you possibly using it at a lower strength b/c that would decrease the recycle time, but not always work well. For comparison, I found that the D40 is almost five seconds, the K100D is three and a half, and the Alpha is five seconds.

Kevin

 

[webshark3]

Your most likely right. I probably never noticed since it takes 3 to 5 sec for me to focus properly. In addition, for action bursts, I'm almost always at ISO 1600 with no flash.

Possibly this is a case where the upgraded model actually performs worse, but the XTi has a flash recycle time of three seconds. I would not exactly call that fast. Are you possibly using it at a lower strength b/c that would decrease the recycle time, but not always work well. For comparison, I found that the D40 is almost five seconds, the K100D is three and a half, and the Alpha is five seconds.

Kevin

 

[Groucho]

OK, you asked for it, here's a few.

As it turns out, my sister-in-law had her SD600 set for 1600x1200 so 100% crops are not comparable, so I didn't do them for her photos - and she took a lot more photos than my wife, so I had to use more of hers. I tried to grab a variety of shots, some similar quality, some not, taken around the same time in the same location. I promise that I didn't just cherry-pick glaring examples! The photos are all straight from the originals with no fiddling apart from as-shot RAW-to-JPG conversion for the DSLR shots.

Example 1, PnS:

DSLR:

PnS 100%:

DSLR 100%:

Example 2, PnS:

DSLR:

PnS 100%:

DSLR 100%:

Example 3, PnS (this was the only one of them not completely blurred):

DSLR:

Example 4, PnS:

DSLR:

Example 5, PnS:

DSLR:

Example 6, PnS:

DSLR:

Example 7, PnS: (they were several photos, all similarly blurry)

DSLR:

Hopefully this will give you a few examples. On a future trip, I may try to actually do exactly identical shots for such a comparison, but this is about the best I can do at the moment.

 

[Master Mason]

Too be fair though, some of that is techique.

in the boat from MGM your comparing a 1/8 sec exposure to a 8sec exposure. Also, ISO doesn't show in exif on the p&S ones for some reason.

Some really nice shots btw

 

[Groucho]

Well, I think only one or two really differ based on the technique. I promise that I did my best to pick photos that were fairly reprentative. For the bottom one, the PnS ones all looked like that, and the point of picking that particular DSLR shot was to demonstrate the kind of thing that a PnS can't do, no matter what the technique is. (That was just a basic hand-held shot with the DSLR, with a fast lens.) I tried to be fair and not just pick a bunch of shots like that, like putting one of my Spectro ISO 1600 versus one of the PnS Spectro shots (which were all blurs as they were taken without flash.)

I also picked some of my shots that I'm not particularly proud of, if they matched a PnS shot. Ultimately, I was working off a pretty small number of available photos that were shot similarly... and that the cameras that actually did some night shooting was set to 1600x1200 made it very difficult to find ones to compare with 100% crops - note there there's no crops of high-ISO shots.

There's no ISO in the exif on the PnS ones because Canon, in their infinite (cough-cough) "wisdom", determined that only their software can pull ISO data from the exif on PnS cameras.

 

[LMarge]

Groucho,
may I ask what PnS did she use? Or were these from the Canon S2IS, which is also considered PnS ( I guess!) TIA
Marge

 

[Groucho]

Groucho,
may I ask what PnS did she use? Or were these from the Canon S2IS, which is also considered PnS ( I guess!) TIA
Marge

The PnS photos were from two different Canon SD600s, which have a 6mp 1/2.5" sensor which I think is exactly the same as the one in the S3, but I haven't found proof one way or the other. If so, then the image quality should be identical to the S3 except for the longer reach and IS of the S3, and whatever difference that the lens itself makes, though I would guess than the short 3x zoom will generally be a bit better than a 12x zoom - zoom lens quality generally goes down the more of a range it has, though Canon may have worked to put a higher-quality lens in the S3 to make up for that issue.

The DSLR shots were from my Pentax *ist DL, which is also 6mp, and lacks the image stabilization of the current recommendation in that line, the K100D.

 

[Tigger66]

That's Just what i was after Groucho, i've just been looking at my pixs from last year and do lack that sharpness of your dslr shots, it maybe technique, but i think i trip to a local shop to see if i can do a couple of test shots compared to my s2 is in order and then start saving

 

[woodlandsparty]

I currently own the S3....and I will be upgrading to a dSLR (when I finally make up my mind on which one!)

For me, my main reasons for upgrading....

- the noise levels of the S3....even at fairly low ISO's....are really unacceptable. I find myself having to shoot at ISO200 or lower to get fairly low grain. Which is not good when needing to shoot in low light.

- shutter lag....although the S3 seems to be better or equal to most point and shoots, the shutter lag is way slower that what any dSLR will be.

- mega-pixels - most people won't find this to be a problem. But, with me, there is a point where I like to crop my photos....or enlarge larger than 8x10, and I've found that even on the highest resolution, the photo sizes just are cutting it for me.

If you should decide to keep your S2....really try to learn to use the camera on full manual. You will be so surprised at the change in quality you will get when you switch! It really does make a lot of difference in your photos.

 

[ukcatfan]

- mega-pixels - most people won't find this to be a problem. But, with me, there is a point where I like to crop my photos....or enlarge larger than 8x10, and I've found that even on the highest resolution, the photo sizes just are cutting it for me.

Just a word of advice in case you have not seen this posted before. When considering MPs on a DSLR, do not compare them to p&s MPs. The increase in resolving power of the DSLR means that you get much more detail in those MPs. You will likely find that you get all that you need in a 6-8MP one. The lens also plays a part in this, so if you are using cheap glass, you might not even see much of an improvement over your p&s. For example, I have a super cheap Tamron 80-210mm and it is not that great. It is not worse than using a p&s, but not any better either. They benefit from using it over my S2 for telephoto is that I can shoot RAW. I am normally a wide shooter, so it should suit my limited needs for a little while.

Kevin

 

[dismikki]

I too have a Canon S2 and upgraded to a Pentax 100. I couldn't be happier. I had my Canon at my last trip and got some nice shots, but indoor was terrible. My biggest mistake was not upgrading to a DSLR straight from my first camera which was a Minolta Z1. That was one of the first ultrazooms and a pretty darn good camera. My interim upgrade to the S2 was a waste of money for what I needed. As stated before, the shutter lag, indoor usability and the ability to adjust lens can only be found in the DSLR. I did keep my canon though, love the video clips!