Canon S3

[Amy]

For my Mother's Day present, I told my family that I wanted to go to the Pittsburgh Zoo - we haven't been there in years (I think my youngest DS was in 2nd grade, and he's in 9th now). These are all straight out of the camera; Survivor is on soon and I don't have time to play with them in PSE4.

You gotta love the zoom on the S3!!

This is called a sea dragon - looks like floating leaves, but it's actually a fish:

 

[Amy]

A few more from the Pittsburgh Zoo today:

This one needs cropped:

 

[wdwmom2]

Amy

I love your zoo pics!!!! Keep them coming .

 

[AKLforever]

I thought they are closing SSE? Where did I read that?

 

[SplshMtn99]

Amy, great pics! DH & I have tried talking pics of sea dragons at SeaWorld before. Never could get a good shot using Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom at the time. It always came out blurry due to the thick glass & the dragons moving even though slowly. Great job!!!

 

[goin3d]

I know it was being cleaned/refrubed...but it opened again last Friday

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

All outdoors. 5PM. Very overcast day.

Depending on *how* overcast, it could just be a shutter speed issue ... that's usually were I get "soft" pics.

When we see some pics (with EXIF data) we'll be able to diagnose the problem better.

I guess there's always a chance there's a problem with the camera, but I wouldn't jump to that as the most likely....

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

That's part of the fun of photographing these rides, the challenge of the chase! I would use Av and set the camera to the widest aperture, guaranteeing the fastest shutter speed available for the conditions.

This is what I'd do, too ... probable switch to center-weighted metering, as well.

Also, no zoom. The further you zoom, the smaller the aperture needs to be. You'll need every bit of light you can get to the sensor (Av 2.7).

I'd also try to get a couple shots of of each scene at ISO 200, 400 and 800, using high-speed continuous mode ... just to have everything covered. Take a couple of shots, up the ISO with the button, take a couple more....

Of course, the ISO800's would just be there for "emergency" pics as they'll be very noisy.

 

[Groucho]

It could also depend on your expectations. My wife's got the Canon SD600 which is basically (probably exactly) the same sensor, 6mp and 1/2.5" in size. Most photos look pretty good compared to point-n-shoot photos, occasionally some are very sharp, and some are very soft (more soft ones than sharp, I'm afraid.) Performance is of course best in bright sunlight or with a flash and being near the object of the photo.

Resized to "web size", generally most photos look decent enough in terms of sharpness (not counting blurriness from motion or camera shake), but if you view them at 100% size vs a 6mp photo from my DSLR, they always look pretty soft in comparison. But shrunk down to a more viewable size on the monitor, they are generally OK.

This was a problem I had going from a 2mp PnS to a 5mp one... at 100%, the 2mp pictures still looked quite sharp, but the 5mp one always looked a bit soft at full size.

 

[Amy]

It could also depend on your expectations. My wife's got the Canon SD600 which is basically (probably exactly) the same sensor, 6mp and 1/2.5" in size. Most photos look pretty good compared to point-n-shoot photos, occasionally some are very sharp, and some are very soft (more soft ones than sharp, I'm afraid.) Performance is of course best in bright sunlight or with a flash and being near the object of the photo.

. . .

This was a problem I had going from a 2mp PnS to a 5mp one... at 100%, the 2mp pictures still looked quite sharp, but the 5mp one always looked a bit soft at full size.

See? This is why I LOVE this board! DH is still using his Canon A95 (3MP), and I've got the S3 IS (6MP). There have been instances where we're both taking photos of the same thing and his photo will look better than mine; they'll both be in focus, but his will just look sharper. And now I know why!

 

[HarambeGuy]

Thanks all for the suggestions. I had already figured out with my previous camera about how zoom limits your aperture range.

Luckily, this is my SIL's fave attraction so we'll doubtless go more than once, and probably on different days. This will give me a chance to review the first set and see what worked best and work with that on another go-around.

I am really stoked about this trip, with the Flower & Garden festival, and longer days than we usually have (we normally go off-season). I won't mind so much waiting in the lines as it will give me a chance to snap images of some of that famous Disney detail

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I don't want to sound negative, but don't go into this with high expectations. Spaceship Earth is a dark ride. Unless you get stopped at a good spot, it's unlikely that you'll get a good shot with an S3.

 

[HarambeGuy]

I don't want to sound negative, but don't go into this with high expectations. Spaceship Earth is a dark ride. Unless you get stopped at a good spot, it's unlikely that you'll get a good shot with an S3.

Don't worry, I'm not looking for Pulitzer quality. I'm just hoping for something recognizable for DW's scrapbooking efforts

 

[woodlandsparty]

Don't forget what great movie capabilities your S3 has.....make sure to video at the same time you are shooting stills!

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

According to what I've been reading, you get the sharpest photos on the S3 by using an ISO of 100 and an aperture setting of 4.5; supposedly, that's where the lens/sensor is "sharpest". It will be easiest to do this in bright light, of course.

Shooting in Av mode will let you set the aperture manually, and the camera will pick the appropriate shutter speed....

If you're looking for the sharpest pics, stick as close to ISO=100 and Av=4.5 as possible.

You can also adjust the sharpness in the My Colors menu (press the FUNC button)....

 

[Papa Deuce]

here is one.... I will get others.

Here is another...

 

[Groucho]

See? This is why I LOVE this board! DH is still using his Canon A95 (3MP), and I've got the S3 IS (6MP). There have been instances where we're both taking photos of the same thing and his photo will look better than mine; they'll both be in focus, but his will just look sharper. And now I know why!

Well, remember that a bigger megapixel count is kind of like getting a bigger print from your film camera... the bigger it is, the more the flaws are visible, and viewing at 100% is like getting out the magnifying glass on a print. As the megapixels go up, the only way to keep comparable quality (specifically sharpness) is for the sensor to have big jumps in capability or for the sensor to get larger. There's only so much they can do to improve capability, and they generally haven't been making the sensors any larger...

In your case, the A95 is actually a 5mp camera, not a 3mp one... but it has a 1/1.8" sensor (7.176mm x 5.319mm, or 38.17mm square) while the S3 has a 1/2.5" sensor (5.76mm x 4.29mm, or 24.71mm square).

So basically, the A95 gets to pull fewer megapixels from a sensor that's more than 50% larger than the S3's - that's why his look better.

Papa Deuce... the first one doesn't look too bad at that resolution, but I'd agree that the second one is still noticably "soft"... I'd agree with LPZ_Stitch to try changing the sharpness level and see if that makes any difference.

 

[AndrewWG]

here is one.... I will get others.

Here is another...

Papadeuce,

The first photo looks ok to me. The overcast sky makes it seem a bit dull, but it is pretty sharp overall.

The second photo was taken with the zoom at full blast, wasn't it? Most likely with digital zoom as well. Those people must have been pretty far away. It was probably also hand held. This causes a fuzzy pic no matter what you do.

I think the camera is working fine based on these pics. Just my opinion.

Andy

 

[Papa Deuce]

Papadeuce,

The first photo looks ok to me. The overcast sky makes it seem a bit dull, but it is pretty sharp overall.

The second photo was taken with the zoom at full blast, wasn't it? Most likely with digital zoom as well. Those people must have been pretty far away. It was probably also hand held. This causes a fuzzy pic no matter what you do.

I think the camera is working fine based on these pics. Just my opinion.

Andy

I was all the way zoomed in from about 75 - 100 feet away. It was handheld. But I thought I would get an indicator telling me that I went into digital zoom.

 

[AndrewWG]

I was all the way zoomed in from about 75 - 100 feet away. It was handheld. But I thought I would get an indicator telling me that I went into digital zoom.

When it goes into digital zoom the bar at the top will change colors from (I think) gray to blue. This could be a bit different on the S3. I have the S2. Anything above 12X is digital zoom.

Andy