Digital Camera

AsSiMiLaTeD

So I'm looking at upgrading my digital camera. I'm not looking for an SLR, but am looking for a better camera. My question is pretty simple:

Is there a better digital than the Canon S3 IS for that same price ($400 and under)?

Thanks

Early B.

Can't speak for the S3, but I bought the S2 about three months ago and it has exceeded my expectations.

AsSiMiLaTeD

There's not much difference between the two other than the case color, MP, and Widescreen mode on the S3. I've done some research, but know we have some photo experts on here, and want to see what you have to say.

By the way, I'll have more questions about digital photography as well, but let's start by just finding me a camera. I'm fairly locked in to the S3 IS, but want to make sure there;s not another that Im missing.

Mike682

The S3 is a solid camera.

Not much else out there within that zoom category and price point that is as solid as the S3.

IanD

For a long time, my "Carry-it-everywhere-always" camera was an older S2. I recently upgraded it to a SD700IS as I wanted something I could just tuck into a jacket pocket. My main bodies are (in order of most used) 1D-MKII, 20D and 5D.
Toss in a couple of bags of white lenses and I think I need a caddy.:)

AsSiMiLaTeD

Okay, I picked up the S3 IS, have a couple questions.

Where is the best place to get things like extra lenses and filters, or can I get those for this camera?

I need a good resource for learning digital photography. There are so many modes and individual adjustments available on this camera, and I need to understand how all this works. Anyone have any reccomendations?

Polk65

Set aside 10 minutes http://www.lensmateonline.com/newsite/S2.html

I located this small company a few years ago while searching online for Canon A80 and G5 adapter tubes. An online digital camera website forum had many positive reviews of them so I checked it out. Their adapter tubes are made from aluminum vs. Canon's plastic. Despite Canon's warning of using non-plastic adapter tubes, my old Canon G5 still threads on tightly with Lensmate's aluminum adapter. As of my last conversation with Susan, their adapter tubes are still being machined and painted locally in Washington.

Once you have an adapter on your camera, you can use standard size lenses and filters. The caveat is, some lenses work better than others with your particular camera. Lensmate has accessories and examples of both tele-photo and wide-angle lenses for your camera which really helps give you a sense of what the lens you are buying will look like.

Why did I choose 3rd party accessories? Simple. Canon's lenses for my camera and probably your's are not threaded on the outside edge. This means you cannot add filters or a screw-on lens hood. There are some clip-on lens hoods that may or may not work.

For filters, I highly recommend 2filter.com -- A small business in Connecticut with genuine customer care and their prices kick ****! Click the various links on their site as they have some good stuff.

Buy a microfiber cloth with cleaning solution from either shop.

forums:
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/
http://www.dcresource.com/forums/
http://imaging-resource.com ( left side - click a forum )

reviews:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/s3is.html
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons3is/
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_s3-review/
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/S3IS/S3ISA.HTM

IanD

A great site for everything Canon digital is http://photography-on-the.net
It is a Canon forum that has a ton of information. Folks in there rank from newbs to seasoned pros.

starchaser

Hope you don't mind me chiming in Polkmaniac.

I'm new to photography and getting my learn on.
I'm reviewing the Canons myself and need some help. Thanks for the links Polk 65.

Is it true the S3 will NOT record sound? If so, this is the only real drawback.

What do you think guys think about the A640 or A710? I know the A640 will record sound yet it's only 4x optical zoom.

The zoom is important to me as one of my objectives is to photograph rockets on the pad, and short movies to record the lift off. The larger rockets are 30-80 yards away for safety.

I like the idea of being able to add additonal accessories down the road versus the lower end cameras that i was considering previously.

So, i'd like to record in 'movie' mode at 30fps with sound and have a resonable optical zoom.

Any suggestions really appreciated.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Thanks for all the info guys, I'll get my read on.

Starchaser, the S3 is DOES have sound, not sure who's telling you otherwise. In fact, it has stereo sound generated by using two separate left and right mics. The video on this thing is AMAZING for a digicam - it'll record 640x480 at 30fps. That's not why i bought the camera, but was a very pleassant surprise when I got it.

I did lots of research in addition to asking around here, and the S3 IS looks to be the best you can do in that price range. The 12x optical zoom, good autofocus, and excellent image stabilization make taking longer shtos really easy and produce excellent results.

I'm not an expert, so I don't 'get' all the extra adjustments that you can make, but know that you can adjust ISO, exposure and shutter speeds independently of each other. Right now I'm in 'Auto' mode lockdown and I'm getting excellent picture results, much better than the A70 I was using before.

The excellent movie recording and playback support is just an added bonus, but it really cool. I noticed that at full bandwidth, it uses about 2 MB per second of video. You're also limited to a video size of 1gb per recording. This gives you around 9 minutes or so of video at full bandwidth. There are also several other modes what lower resolutions and other FPS modes. There's also a 320x240 mode that records at 60 FPS, kinda cool for slow motion shots. Another cool thing is that you can take full 6MP resolutions shots while in video mode.

All around, it's an excellent camera. if I had to guess, I'd say this is Canon's XBOX. It's a good way to get you into their line of products, but at a small profit to them. They may make some money on these, but I doubt it's much.

Signed,

Your friendly Canon Sales Rep