Canon S3

[tycopj]

I have been lurking on the photo board for a while now, and with all the information I've read here, I've decided to get the Canon s3.

Where do you recommend purchasing it? I've seen a few sites that have it less expensive than brick and mortor stores such as Circuit City, Best But etc. But I'm a little leary to order an expensive item from a site that I'm not familiar with.

Thanks!

 

[AndrewWG]

I bought my Canon S2 IS at BeachCamera.com about a year ago and had absolutely no problems with them. They currently have the S3 IS for $349. That is still less than I paid for the S2 IS and you are getting a better camera! I never seem to wait long enough for the good stuff! Oh well, I love the camera so far so I'm in it for the long haul! I hope you enjoy the S3 as much as I enjoy the S2. I'm sure you will.

 

[ukcatfan]

I can second Beach. I bought my K100D from them and my S1 IS from their sister site Buydig.com. If you are willing to pay a little bit more, then look at B&H. They are the best in the business.

Kevin

 

[Jeanne B]

Another vote for beachcamera or buydig, very reputable sister sites. Just be sure you know the return policy regardless of whether you buy it online or from a b&m store.

 

[sparkstsa]

Check out Newegg. They have it for $325.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830120043

 

[jann1033]

haven't check the price there but i just got a lens from digital foto club( didn't have to really join anything)and got it fast and fine and by far the best price( better by $20 for beach/buydig who i think usually have good prices and good service)...you can check resellerratings.com for online stores as well as prices for the item you want...B&h was the next lowest so you just never know

 

[budbeerlady]

I picked up mine from Amazon. You will love it once you get it!

 

[tycopj]

Thanks for the responses......off shopping I go!

 

[nbodyhome]

I picked my S2 off of Amazon.

 

[bsusanmb]

I can't wait to buy one of these cameras after reading all of the reviews. Is there an advantage to buying the S3 over the S2? I am really an amateur and want to take a basic photography course so that I understand the terminology. So in the long run, is the S3 the way to go?

Thanks all!

 

[AndrewWG]

I have the S2 and love the camera. The S3 is higher megapixels which is nice, but the one thing that I like the most about the s3 is the mulit point focus that they did not put on the S2. I am pretty sure they put it on the S3. The S2 has one center point for focus. I don't understand why as I know they had the technology to do multi point when it was made. That alone, would make me choose the S3 over the S2 if I had to go back and do it all over again.

Andy

 

[ukcatfan]

There is really not much of a difference. I like the color of the S3 and the live histogram, but it is not enough to make an upgrade from our S2. If given the choice like you, I would only pay about $25 more for those features. This page goes over some of the main differences. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons3is/

Check the Conclusion page where they compare them some.

Kevin

 

[AndrewWG]

Well, according to that page, the S3 does not in fact have multiple focus points like I thought. I had read in another article awhile ago that it did. Even with that said, I think I would buy the S3 over the S2 for the 6MP and the ISO 800 could be handy. All in all it is more camera than the S2 but also more money. It is my personal opinion that if you can afford the extra $$ for the S3, you won't regret it (until the S4 comes out). However, if you are absolutely certain that the S2 has everything you will ever want or need in a camera, then save yourself the money and get it. It will not do you wrong. I love the S2.

 

[garris3404]

Go for the S3. The prices have dropped some. Unless you want to want and see if/when the S4 comes out?

 

[Krispy]

Before I explain let me say that I know there are a lot of users here that dislike the kodaks... BUT...

I am in the process of making a decsion to switch to the Canon S3 - I have a kodak Z650 or Z740 (I forget which as my mom has one and I have the other) and i really do like the camera - I am just frustrated that a lot of my indoor shots tend to be blurry even with the flash on. We tend to go to disney a lot and the characters are for the most part inside. I have taken what I thought to be great shots only to get home and see on the "big screen" that they aren't as great as I wanted because they are blurry.

I just went to the local mom and pop camera store to check out the s3 and it seems to be a great camera I know it's going to be a little hard to get used to as the buttons and things are in all different places compared to my kodak.. The canon is about my price limit so i am ok there.

Here's whats important to me with cameras in general.

1. Good photos (I have an older Nikon 4004S film camera (as well as the kodak)and LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! Just hate getting film developed)

2. Ease of Use.

3. Compact. Doesn't have to be TOO compact BUT I do carry a diaper bag to the parks because i have kids so it needs to fit in there or close to it.

4. Some room to play with the settings. I know Im not going to get DSLR results but I want to at least have the option to change a few settings!

I know that the canon's flash doesn't automatically pop up (which is a downer) but are there different flash modes (auto, red eye, off etc)?

I guess I want to know if i will be happy with this camera? I don't want to use it for a month and then HATE it and not be able to return it!

Kristina

 

[jann1033]

Before I explain let me say that I know there are a lot of users here that dislike the kodaks... BUT...

I am in the process of making a decsion to switch to the Canon S3 - I have a kodak Z650 or Z740 (I forget which as my mom has one and I have the other) and i really do like the camera - I am just frustrated that a lot of my indoor shots tend to be blurry even with the flash on. We tend to go to disney a lot and the characters are for the most part inside. I have taken what I thought to be great shots only to get home and see on the "big screen" that they aren't as great as I wanted because they are blurry.

I just went to the local mom and pop camera store to check out the s3 and it seems to be a great camera I know it's going to be a little hard to get used to as the buttons and things are in all different places compared to my kodak.. The canon is about my price limit so i am ok there.

Here's whats important to me with cameras in general.

1. Good photos (I have an older Nikon 4004S film camera (as well as the kodak)and LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! Just hate getting film developed)

2. Ease of Use.

3. Compact. Doesn't have to be TOO compact BUT I do carry a diaper bag to the parks because i have kids so it needs to fit in there or close to it.

4. Some room to play with the settings. I know Im not going to get DSLR results but I want to at least have the option to change a few settings!

I know that the canon's flash doesn't automatically pop up (which is a downer) but are there different flash modes (auto, red eye, off etc)?

I guess I want to know if i will be happy with this camera? I don't want to use it for a month and then HATE it and not be able to return it!

Kristina

don't have either of the 2 mentioned( although my daughter won an easy share 10x 2+ weeks ago but unlike her mother has not fanatically ripped it out of the box and used it as soon as she got it so not sure what the photos are like)

as far as i remember the s2/s3 has basically the same options of modes as the rebel xt/xti, 1/2 the dial is auto, the other half manual ( so if you have a film slr i would imagine you are comfortable with setting your own shutter etc).

any camera is going to have a break in time period but from what i've seen the s2/3 are easy to use. how did you like them when you saw them, did the controls feel comfortable, did it fit in your hand well etc? imo that is just a personal thing. before i got my rebel xt i was considering the panasonic and s2( s3 wasn't out yet) and once i handled the panasonic hated it. so i might play around with it and see how i liked it..

one daughter has a canon the other a easy share ( not the new one) and there is no question the canon's photos are sharper, particularly in low light but that would depend on the sensor( her sensor is the same as the s2, i think they changed the s3 sensor)

i added this link in case you wanted to check out your other options for that type of camera http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Canon S3 Will I REALLY Be Happy with the Switch?

Boy, that's a really difficult question to answer. What one person really loves the next person may not like at all.

FWIW, I bought an S3 in November and I'm still just getting comfortable with all the settings. I've read here that many people just go out and use it. I tried that and many of my pictures didn't come out too well. I also want to be able to use the camera to it's fullest so it's taken me a lot of time to review basic photography terms and study the manual, etc. So for #2, I guess it depends on what type of person you are when it comes to using your camera. For me, it definitely wasn't what I would call easy.

I agree with you that Kodak isn't too popular on the boards. But that doesn't mean they're not popular cameras. They seem to be selling pretty well. I think that if you like your Kodak camera and are familar with how to use it and the software package, why not consider another one, especially in light of your desires? Have you seen the Kodak which is very similar to the S3? It does have a flash that pops up. Here are some links - see reviews at the bottom:

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSh...4444116?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1173972820&sr=1-5

http://www.amazon.com/Kodak-Easysha...444116?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1173972883&sr=1-13

(BTW, note the S3 is selling for $325 w/ free shipping at Amazon; currently cheaper than the Kodak.)

Both of these cameras have IS (and night settings) which should help a bit with the blur in your low light shots. But it would be even more helpful if you keep a small tripod with you and use it for special low light shots. Go to a store that has the cameras on display and play with them. If there's any way you could use them for a while, that would be even better. Good luck.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I know a lot of people have mentioned they're thinking about buying this camera. Here's a link if anyone's interested:

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSh...4444116?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1173972820&sr=1-5

ETA: changed title because price and shipping costs have been changing daily, sometimes hourly - can't keep up.

 

[nee]

I had an S3 and the things I liked were the zoom, great for getting pics of the mearcats and tigers at AK.
The swivel LCD allowed me to get awkward pics as in a flower against a blue sky without me having to bend much.
I used it on P mode and mainly kept the ISO at 100 except for the parade where I used 400 and used free noiseware when I got home to clean up the pics.
As far as quality went, the night shots were very good, the others taken in the day at the parks were just average.
What I did not like was that it would hunt for ages to try to focus in some conditions and these to me were vital. On our tile at Epcot it failed to focus as they are all grey. On rides like POTC and Pooh where you go by quite quickly, it would not take the shot at all or only when you had gone past. Others in our group had ordinary compact cheap cameras and had no trouble.
So based on this and the fact it is rather big if you want a camera to take with you every day, I have got rid of it.

 

[Groucho]

Most people seem to be really happy, but keep your expectations realistic, the S3 has a small 1/2.5" sensor so you'll probably still see a fair amount of "noise" and other problems with low-light photography. This is a given with any PnS digital camera.

However, you usually shouldn't see much blurring with the flash on, no matter which camera you use...

For comparison, both the Kodak Z650 and Z740 has the same size sensor, and the Z650 is 6mp like the S3 and the Z740 is 5mp like the S2 - so low-light capabilities should be fairly comparable, much of the difference will be software cleanup of the noise. Apparently the Kodak's noise reduction is very aggressive and "softens" the image.

As for your film camera, I'll use this as an excuse to show the graphic I whipped up a few days ago... this is why you got good results from your film camera!

That big one on top? That's how big your 35mm film was. That tiny one in the lower left? That's how big the sensor is in your current Kodak camera and the Canon S3. Unfortunately, if they made a digital point-n-shoot with a sensor that big, it would be fairly large (not much different than a film PnS probably) and pretty expensive. That's the price we pay for a tiny camera...