Canon S3

[bethbuchall]

I never thought I was crazy enough do such a thing but when I got on EE back in the spring, out came my camera!! I didn't have much luck getting a good picture, it was only okay but I've seen some great ones taken of the Yeti. I think I'm going to try it again during our trip next month, this time with my dSLR.

I also had my camera (Canon A85) out on EE. My pictures were only mediocre, but they are good enough to bring back the great memories.

 

[Amy]

for shooting an evening parade such as spectromagic, should I still be using sport mode but with no flash?

I just bought a Canon S3 IS and I was just curious if anyone has a simple guide to disney for the camera (or their own personal suggestions)

ie//
evening parades- sport mode no flash
day parades- sport mode flash
fireworks-

etc.

I think it'll work - the sports mode uses a fast shutter speed to catch the action, so it should work. We're heading to WDW in June, so I'll try it on my S3 then. The night parades are tough - you've got the low light but you also have action. At least the parade moves pretty slowly. YOu might want to also experiment with using shutter priority mode (TV) and aperature priority (AV). A tripod would also help.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

ashley, thanks for resurrecting this thread. It addresses some of the issues I've been trying to figure out myself over the past 5 months. I've found learning to use this camera has been pretty challenging, but I think I'm making some progress.

Anyway, thought I'd share this information: (Keep in mind, I'm not an expert here, just trying to make sense of it myself. )

Last week I was taking some shots and playing around with the settings. Here are the results of the same subject (who was moving around which is why I wanted a quick shutter speed):

Sports Mode: f/8.0-1/1600

Shutter Priority/Tv mode: f/8.0-1/125

Auto: f/4.0-1/640

As you can see,

#1 was fairly noisy (ie grainy.) I attribute that to the high ISO (someone correct me if I'm wrong.)

#2 was overexposed, very low ISO but same aperture as #1 (started a thread about it last week if anyone wants to see expert opinions on why.) http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1404629&referrerid=70088

#3 was pretty good image quality, altho not the greatest shot.

What does all this mean? (Kind of reminds me of the Goldilocks and the 3 Bears - too hot, too cold, middle just right, LOL. ) High ISO can capture quick shots but it could be at the expense of quality. I guess only use if you have to. Amy, do you find this to be an issue when you get your shots?

Again, this was using the mode dial. I haven't ventured into setting things manually yet. Has anyone else? It seems pretty daunting if I can't even get the mode dial to work right. Oy...

Experts please chime in...

ETA: I think I goofed on the old thread, that second dog pic was taken on auto, not sports - figured it out later.

 

[Amy]

Re Noise: Pea-n-Me, yep, I noticed the noise. Most of my sports mode pix were taken of my boys during marching band competitions - football field at night under field lights, so I expected a lot of noise. You shouldn't have a lot of noise for a sunny shot like that, though. I'll have to check the Short Courses book, but I'm pretty sure the S3 automatically sets the ISO, so it probably picks the highest ISO in order to get a faster shutter speed (your 1/1600) to stop action. Hopefully there's some way to tell it to stop at a certain ISO.

As for your overexposure, I've been trying to play around with aperture and shutter priority, and the Short Courses book has been a godsend! Basically, the camera can only adjust so far for a certain aperture or shutter setting; when it shows you the values in the viewfinder, the numbers will be in red to indicate that the shot will be over- or under-exposed. This is supposed to be your clue that the aperture/shutter you want to use won't work. (I know that other thread had all the technical explanations, this is MY way of explaining it!)

I don't know about you, but I'm usually so busy zooming and composing the shot and making sure that the auto-focus focuses on the spot I want in focus that it's hard to remember to look at the bottom of the viewfinder to see if the numbers are in red or green! (And what about the poor people who are color blind?)

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Short Courses book

I think I subscribed to that thread but never actually saw the book. Didn't it disappear or something? I would like to read it.

As for the mode dials, I thought things would be adjusted automatically but I'm not sure that happened. I didn't know about the colors. I generally use the viewfinder and the information is so small, it's hard to see...will have to look closer, thanks for info

 

[S. C.]

Bumping this again, Would love to see more pics.

 

[AndrewWG]

Well, I was about 6 months too early to buy the S3 (it hadn't come out yet), but I have the S2 which is quite comparable overall. I think the S3 would do a bit better in low light shots, but I thought that I would post these 2 shots from the New England Flower Show in Boston last month. Both were taken in low light, hand held in Manual mode or shutter priority mode.

Overall, I am somewhat unimpressed with the low light capabilities of this camera. I do get some nice shots, but really have to work hard to get them. I would have done MUCH better at the show if I had my tripod with me, but I would have tripped up about 2000 old people with it, I'm sure!

Anyways, here are the pics.

Andy


1/10 sec, F2.7, no flash, handheld:

1/10 sec, F3.5, no flash, handheld:

 

[Baghdad Bob]

I know I have been on here a few times about cameras. I think I am going to break down and spend the extra money and get the S3 over the Canon A570 IS. One last question for you S3 owners. It looks like there is more to learn with this camera than the normal point and shoot? I have read about changed shutter speeds etc. Any thing else I should know before my purchase?

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[AbbysFamily]

I have the S2 (almost identical to the S3)... and I would recommend it in a heartbeat. For the beginner, leave it on 'green' ie auto and shoot away. You will be happy still and the zoom is a GREAT thing.

Once you get comfortable with the camera you can branch out to the other options/shooting settings.

 

[Baghdad Bob]

Thanks for your help, hopefully next weekend I have enough $$ saved to buy the S3 and a 2.0 GB card. Just looked on Walmarts website and they have it at $308.54 with $4.97 shipping.

 

[Amy]

Hi Bob! Yes, the Canon S3 has a lot of things you can adjust, but you can also just shoot on auto and get great pictures. For the first month or so, I basically shot on auto and Sports mode.

There are "auto" settings for difficult situations - there's a Sports mode with a fast shutter to capture action; Night Shot and NIght Snapshot for taking flash photos of someone standing in front of a lighted building; Fireworks mode (haven't tried this one yet); Autumn mode that brings out the reds/oranges. And there's plenty more. You'll love the camera!

 

[amw5g]

The S3 supports SD cards with a max size of 2 GB.

That's not exactly accurate. You can go higher than 2GB, you just need to use the SDHC format. Although some users have reported using standard SD cards >2GB in size.
See: http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=117075&forum_id=15

 

[Dan Murphy]

Thanks for your help, hopefully next weekend I have enough $$ saved to buy the S3 and a 2.0 GB card. Just looked on Walmarts website and they have it at $308.54 with $4.97 shipping.

Amazon, $308, no shipping, no tax.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSh...9?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1175992237&sr=8-1

(today's date, 4/7/07 7:30 PM CDT....prices change frequently, LOL)

 

[AndrewWG]

Amazon, $308, no shipping, no tax.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSh...9?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1175992237&sr=8-1

(today's date, 4/7/07 7:30 PM CDT....prices change frequently, LOL)

Personally I would buy from Amazon before WalMart.

 

[CathrynRose]

Thanks for your help, hopefully next weekend I have enough $$ saved to buy the S3 and a 2.0 GB card. Just looked on Walmarts website and they have it at $308.54 with $4.97 shipping.

FYI - you might wanna check your store, but MINE has it in stock/in store.


Canon should be giving the DIS kick backs for this exposure!! **no pun intended!!!**

 

[hjd0411]

This is my first shot with my new Canon S3 - got it on Tuesday last week!!
My dog Charlotte - untouched in any way (you can still see the camera box on the table...!!!

I am out practicing as often as I can - I am on vacation at the moment, but have to go back to work on Wednesday ! Days off can't come soon enough to get out and about!

Heather

 

[SplshMtn99]

Enjoy your new camera. Nice color on the pooch. And no red eye or green eye.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I love it, Heather! Charlotte is beautiful!

 

[hjd0411]

I love it, Heather! Charlotte is beautiful!

Thank you! In this photo she has a kind of goofy look - like she has just woken up or something! I was sitting on the floor trying to avoid her climbing all over me!!!

Heather

 

[S. C.]

Amazon, $308, no shipping, no tax.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSh...9?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1175992237&sr=8-1

(today's date, 4/7/07 7:30 PM CDT....prices change frequently, LOL)

Today it is $305 no shipping, no taxes.

I ordered it today