Canon S3

[LPZ_Stitch!]

IIRC, the Canon warranty is a year. You might be out of luck as far as that goes.

Does the white LCD happen even when taking pictures indoors?

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Nice pics, Amy!

 

[ajwomic]

It happens indoors and out, but not all of the time. Weird!
Alicia

 

[rcpae]

I am looking to buy one of these cameras. I found a good deal on the S5 making it close to the price of the S3. I know the S5 is the newer model, but I wanted to make sure that it didn't have any glaring issues as compared to the S3. Given the choice...would you pick the S5 over the S3?

BTW, I have thoroughly enjoyed browing some of the pictures everyone has posted from these cameras. They look so professional!

 

[wdwmom2]

I own the S3 and love it!!! The only thing that would draw me to the S5 would be the hotshoe. Increase in megapixels means absolutley nothing to me.

Hope this helps!!!

 

[rcpae]

Thanks for the reply! I suppose if they are less than about 30 dollars apart then I will buy the S5 then.

Thanks

 

[Jeanne B]

I have the S3 which is very popular on this board. It seems as if I read a while back that there are more noise issues with the S5 as compared to the S3 but I could be wrong, I really haven't paid close attention to the reviews.

 

[Flanigan]

I'm glad I saw this post, I've been looking at the S3 lately as my current camera is on the fritz... Small hijack (sorry).. but has anyone here heard of or used CHDK On their S3 or S5, if so what are your thoughts. The CHDK software is one of the main things that is drawing me to the S3 or S5 besides all the great features it already has.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

I'm glad I saw this post, I've been looking at the S3 lately as my current camera is on the fritz... Small hijack (sorry).. but has anyone here heard of or used CHDK On their S3 or S5, if so what are your thoughts. The CHDK software is one of the main things that is drawing me to the S3 or S5 besides all the great features it already has.

I use the CHDK software all the time and I *LOVE* it!

I've never had a single problem with it and it extends the capabilities of an already great camera so far it's almost unbelievable!!

It's worth using just for the percentage-based battery indicator!

I've used the RAW capture a couple of times sometimes I was able to do better with the RAW and sometimes the camera's processing was better ... but having the option is great.

I've also used the Zebra mode and other On-Screen aids.

I'm looking forward to trying out the new long shutter speeds (65sec!) AND super-high-speed flash-sync (1/10,000sec!) that's available in Allbest's build!

 

[Flanigan]

I use the CHDK software all the time and I *LOVE* it!

I've never had a single problem with it and it extends the capabilities of an already great camera so far it's almost unbelievable!

Great! Glad to hear that... and again rcpae sorry for the slight hijack.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Good news for S5 users:

First Off The Link For the S5 CHDK Hack:
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/S5IS

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Good news for S5 users:

First Off The Link For the S5 CHDK Hack:
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/S5IS

 

[Twingle]

Good news for S5 users:

First Off The Link For the S5 CHDK Hack:
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/S5IS

Still really new to my S5 - what is this for?

 

[awoltoday]

I don't know anything about Canon's teleconverter, but I know alot of people use this one http://www.amazon.com/Sony-VCL-DH17...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1201345847&sr=8-1 .

Here is a link to a thread on the S3 users forum. Several pics to take a look at. http://www.s3users.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6991

I am getting ready to purchase it myself, just haven't clicked on the "BUY" button yet!

Darn you! Or Darn me for reading this. I ordered mine after reading about it here and on s3users. It will help me reach out a little farther on our Alaska vacation.

Thanks to you & everybody else who's posted on this thread. I'm learning a lot and enjoying your pictures!

 

[love2travel]

My DH just ordered me the S5 last night, can't wait to get it.

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

Any tips on taking pics on dark rides? Aside from flash, obviously. A good setting to reduce the noise as much as possible. I played with all sorts of settings at a dress rehearsal for a play, and thank goodness for Noiseware!! I thought the lighting in darker rides may be similar.

 

[DocSooner]

OK so I just bought an S3 with plenty of batteries and memory cards. I'm going to try my best to learn to use it but with only 28 days till we leave for a 2 week trip to WDW I'll probably use a lot of Auto mode (this replaces a long line of Kodak P&S) Struggling to grasp aperture, shutter speed, ISO's etc.

My questions? - what accessories do i need? Filters, hoods, etc - remember I'm a novice at my best?

If you weren't going to take pictures in Auto and you had two use one of the other modes which one would be best (i.e. as I try to develop some grasp of f-stops, shutter speeds, which mode should I play in the most and still maybe get some decent pictures?)

Thanks for all your time and tips!

 

[AndrewWG]

OK so I just bought an S3 with plenty of batteries and memory cards. I'm going to try my best to learn to use it but with only 28 days till we leave for a 2 week trip to WDW I'll probably use a lot of Auto mode (this replaces a long line of Kodak P&S) Struggling to grasp aperture, shutter speed, ISO's etc.

My questions? - what accessories do i need? Filters, hoods, etc - remember I'm a novice at my best?

If you weren't going to take pictures in Auto and you had two use one of the other modes which one would be best (i.e. as I try to develop some grasp of f-stops, shutter speeds, which mode should I play in the most and still maybe get some decent pictures?)

Thanks for all your time and tips!

What do you NEED? Well, probably nothing. If you have batteries and memory cards, you are good to go. I wouldn't bother with filters, etc. just yet. Learning the camera will be top priority for awhile.

If I were to play with a mode other than auto, it would be Av (aperture priority). This will allow you to set the aperture to a max amount (lower "f" number) and set the ISO to max (800 or 1600, not sure of your max). This will get you better night time shots. They may be "noisy" but they will be better than you ever previously got.

A great guide that I would HIGHLY recommend would be the ShortCourse book here:

http://www.shortcourses.com/store/canon-s3is.html

This will tell you how to use the camera in easy to understand language and not the boring dull user manual language. I ordered the pdf version of the book and printed the sections that I wanted to read more often. No need to get the already printed version, unless you really want it in that form.

Good luck with the camera! They are great cameras and I'm sure it will treat you well. Please share your pics when you return! We love seeing more pics from everyone.

 

[Amy]

Any tips on taking pics on dark rides? Aside from flash, obviously. A good setting to reduce the noise as much as possible. I played with all sorts of settings at a dress rehearsal for a play, and thank goodness for Noiseware!! I thought the lighting in darker rides may be similar.

Hi SnowWhite! I've had the most luck on dark rides/shows using Sports Mode. That'll boost the ISO and you'll definitely need to use Noiseware. But neither of the night modes (night scene and night snapshot) worked consistently enough for me to be comfortable using either of them. Others on this thread have had success using the night modes. You'll just have to try diff. settings until you find one that works for you. As an aside, I still have difficulty using macro; I always have to use supermacro for my close-up shots. Go figure. I keep telling myself that there's something wrong with my camera, it can't be me!

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

Hi SnowWhite! I've had the most luck on dark rides/shows using Sports Mode. That'll boost the ISO and you'll definitely need to use Noiseware. But neither of the night modes (night scene and night snapshot) worked consistently enough for me to be comfortable using either of them. Others on this thread have had success using the night modes. You'll just have to try diff. settings until you find one that works for you. As an aside, I still have difficulty using macro; I always have to use supermacro for my close-up shots. Go figure. I keep telling myself that there's something wrong with my camera, it can't be me!

I'm the same way!! I'll finally get a bunch of really great macro shots, but next time I try to use it... Yes, it's got to be a flaw in the manufacturing!!