Yet another digital camera question...

[teresajoy]

I have this camera, and I love it. Takes great pictures, and was easy to learn. If you like to make lots of your own adjustments, it has them! I just bought my DH for his birthday, the Olympus 320 7.1 megipixel for $119 on sale at Office max last weekend (minus the 5 empty ink cartridges I also had, for an even better deal)...and I have to admit I'm wowed. He uses it at the regular settings, but this one also has lots of other settings. While it only has 3 X optical zoom..the pictures are awesome. That one takes great closeups.
I love having the great optical zoom (mine also has digital zoom, but that's wasted, since I can do that zooming on the pic on my computer), but the downside is, you need to put the camera on a tripod or a steady surface. Be sure to get one that has the anti shake too. Oh, one that used a card that is easy to get. The new Olympus has an XD card, which didn't thrill me, but at least they are inexpensive. I was hoping to get one that took smart medai or sd, since we already have those cards.

Which camera needs the tripod?


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Woops, I just re read your answer, and I think I figured it out. Your camera needs a tripod when you use the zoom?

 

[nbodyhome]

I love my S2! The little firworks pic near my name was taken with it, handheld (plus all the photos on my Disney photoblog section of my site). And it has the 12x zoom, which is awesome! I don't know how much different the S3 is, but I love my Canon (which I received for Christmas after researching it)

 

[jenr812]

I love my S2! The little firworks pic near my name was taken with it, handheld (plus all the photos on my Disney photoblog section of my site). And it has the 12x zoom, which is awesome! I don't know how much different the S3 is, but I love my Canon (which I received for Christmas after researching it)

What a beautiful pic! Did you use the fireworks setting, or did you manually adjust the settings?

 

[nbodyhome]

I didn't do anything to modify what the camera chose for settings. I was ready to, but I thought they were coming out just fine - so I just took them as I wanted to see them! I couldn't believe it, I used to take a tripod to the park with my SLR - and the photos came out great, but this was just hand-held! I love my S2!

My other fireworks shots for the P/P are here: http://www.denisesfitnessblog.com/disney/?pg=2 Getting to page 2 can be confusing from page 1, I know. We are working on moving them elsewhere!

 

[jenr812]

Wow!

 

[nbodyhome]

Thanks! Glad you liked them. I love my camera!

 

[kaddjr]

I think you have to buy the cap seperately, it's been almost a year since I bought mine so I don't remember exactly. I bought the 52mm because it was smaller and blocked the viewfinder the least, I don't know why someone would want the 58mm over the 52mm. The u/v filter doesn't improve picture quality, I only use it to help protect the lens, if something is going to get scratched I'd rather it be the $20 u/v filter vs the camera lens.

You are right- you do have to buy the cap separately. I thought the UV filter was supposed to help cut down on glare?

 

[Jeanne B]

You are right- you do have to buy the cap separately. I thought the UV filter was supposed to help cut down on glare?

I think you may be thinking of a polarizing filter, these are often used to cut down reflections when taking pictures of the water or through a window for example.

 

[DMRick]

I take great pictures with the zoom without a tripod. I take awesome pictures using the zoom with a tripod or anyplace else I can set the camera down. Especially if I'm taking close ups of my grands in a sport such as cheerleading or soccer. They are moving a lot and it really makes a difference. I've found that with any camera with a nice zoom.

 

[Soupermom]

For those of you with the Canon S3 IS, do you have problems with it taking too long to focus during movement....like on the POC ride for example. I read on another thread that this was a problem. Any comments? TIA

 

[Plantlady]

I have a Lumix DMC-F27, and I LOVE it. 12x zoom, image stabilization. Just using the simple settings takes great photos, and then there are MANY ways to tweek the photos, settings, ect. It's bigger, but very lightweight.

I also have a Nikon L2. It's TINY, which I love, I keep it in my purse. Takes great quality photos, but only 3x zoom.

I too am headed to yellowstone this summer, and I plan on taking both with me.

 

[jayally]

I used to have a canon G2 and was the best camera until it was stolen. I replaced it with a Canon a95 which seems to have issues now and then, could be I dropped it a few times. I wanted this camera for the vari-angle LCD screen adn I have used this feature to take family pics or raise it up over a crowd to get a good viw. I am looking to get a new camera but want these features: vari-angle LCD, lightweight- can fit in my purse, take good movies so I don't need my videocamera and takes good pics. I am always toting a camera around and want something for our trip in november. Any recomendations?

 

[Longsx3]

Okay, I have the Canon S1(actually gave to my niece) & S3, the Olympus 720 as well as the Sony P200. I love all of my cameras but I don't always want to carry the larger canon but the zoom is awesome and it takes wonderful shots. The Olympus is a great multipurpose but lacks the zoom...I bought it for the underwater feature for our Hawaii trip (works best on usable light setting). I have had the sony the longest and was bought because my original S1 was lacking mega pixels and was too big again it takes good shots.


If I could have only one it would be the S3, I would have to deal with the bigger size.

YES we are a electronic gadget nightmare when we travel!

 

[PlutoPony]

OP - we bought the S3 last summer, just before going to Yellowstone and Grand Teton and were very happy with the pictures we got from it. It's a very versatile camera, and allows you to quickly point and shoot or use full manual settings to have more control over the picture. We found it good for landscape shots also - pictures we have of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are spectacular! The zoom is more than adequate most of the time - except when you're trying to get shots of animals a distance away. Don't think we got a good shot of a wolf or bear, but those animals are mostly out in lower light times and just don't come within camera range of most "amateur" photographers...There were a couple of times when the shutter lag bothered me (I was rapidly shooting moose moving around) so i'd research that feature for "action" shots. As I recall, the S3 was better than average in that respect and I wouldn't recommend anything less than what that camera can do...
Have a good trip - I'd love to go back there!

 

[nbodyhome]

I actually have a number of cameras as well, including the S2. If I only could have one with me, it'd almost always be the S2 (and if something happened to it, I'd either replace it with another S2 or S3). I have been VERY happy with it.

 

[Soupermom]

I just wanted to thank everyone for your continued respones! I appreciate all of your input; spring break is in a week and I'm hoping to go play with the S3 and make a purchase then.