What would you tell me about the Canon S3IS?

[New England Eeyore]

I've been wanting a digital camera for awhile now but have been dragging my feet doing the research, mostly because something in my brain has some kind of block against understanding the terminology.

My DH has decided he needs to take the reins and buy one for me. He's decided on the Canon S3IS but I told him to wait a bit before buying it. The salesperson told him it certainly has a lot of features but can also be used very simply out of the box.

What would you tell me about it? I have no problem reading the manual and fooling around with it. A lot of you seem to have posted good reviews. I am going back to WDW in December, which is why he wants to get it for me now - so I have a month to play around with it and learn.

Some WDW specific questions - (maybe dumb questions) does the image stablization mean I will get better pictures on the (bumpy) safari? Will I finally be able to get a good picture of the castle at night? What about Fantasmic?

I'd appreciate any feedback - good or bad.

Thanks!

 

[jann1033]

imo go to dell and buy it, it's onsale for 319 including shipping which is a great deal( the s2 is still 288 cheapest i've seen)
i am buying one for my husband to use for work( hoping i can with the above sale)..i loved the s2 and almost got it then got the rebel xt instead and would probably still get that one ( s2) due to price difference except for the dell price on the s3. IS is not for conditions like safari, it's for things like you moving the camera...it says on my is lens it's not for car photos etc. but i like the is feature as it allows you to shoot hand held in lower light ect than would be normally possible. also with a long zoom( like the 12x) i know on dslr it is harder not to get shake from the camera and so i assume is would help with that also

i'm pretty sure it has a fireworks mode as wll as a night mode as well as the ability to set your own shutter and aperture so i would think yes for the night castle
it has auto modes so you can use it like any point and shoot but also manual modes( ie shutter speed, aperture) so you have some creative control if you want it

 

[Amy]

GET IT!! I've had mine for about a month now, and I just LOVE it! Like jann1033 said, it has enough "point and shoot" modes to use it right out of the box - auto, portrait, sports, night, etc. It also has a bunch of "scene" modes: fireworks (haven't had a chance to try it yet), foilage (makes the oranges and reds pop a little more), snow (supposed to reduce the bluish cast you get on snow pictures), night snapshot, and a couple of others.

Plus, you can also use it in full manual mode where you choose shutter and aperature, and there's shuttery priority mode and aperature priority mode. And it can also shoot short movies (haven't tried that yet).

And the Canon software that comes with the camera is easy to use. Easy to get the pictures from the camera onto your computer, can do very basic editing (fix red-eyes, crop), and it's easy to print.

Go for it - you won't be disappointed!

 

[Amy]

Oops, forgot to add about the IS - image stabilization: it DOES cut down on blurry pictures from moving the camera, but it's not for the safari. And you'll probably still need a tripod or something stable to brace your camera on for night-time shots of the castle.

 

[Sanka]

Does the Canon S3 have the ability to use a shuter release cable?

 

[Amy]

I don't think so. I know it has a self-timer. I'll have to read the manual, but I don't recall anything about a shutter-release cable. I had one on my old SLR and it screwed right into the shutter button; the S3 doesn't have a "hole" in the shutter button where it would go.

 

[Space Ranger]

I would go for it. Think of it as your entry to the fun world of digital photography at WDW!

You can always upgrade in the future.

 

[Sanka]

I don't think so. I know it has a self-timer. I'll have to read the manual, but I don't recall anything about a shutter-release cable. I had one on my old SLR and it screwed right into the shutter button; the S3 doesn't have a "hole" in the shutter button where it would go.

That''s what I thought. I had actually just bought the S3 2 nights ago. I'm at work right now, and was trying to think of weather or not it had the ability... I couldn't recall seeing anywhere for putting one, but I never really looked for it either...

 

[Amy]

I just checked the manual - no shutter release cable. The self-timer can be set for 10 or 20 secs., and you can also choose your own time. Don't know if that'll help you or not.

 

[Sanka]

Yep, that should be all I really need... once I get a tripdo that is