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Incredible device for Semi-Pro Photographers 
Having owned this camera for several months now, here are my reactions.
This camera takes the best pictures that I have ever taken. But I had to learn to use it.
This is NOT a good choice for the weekend photographer who just wants to take pictures of the kids. This is a state-of-the-art photography platform with literally hundreds of settings.
Some early reviews complained about blurry or grainy pictures. These people did not know how to set up the camera for the conditions. Some reviews complain about the color balance or saturation. But color balance, contrast, gamma, etc. are completely configurable in this camera, so there is no basis for these complaints.
A lot of people assume that the Auto setting will let them take pictures casually or mindlessly with this camera, and get perfect results. That might be largely true with the cheaper point-and-shoot cameras with smaller lenses, but not with this one.
The cheaper cameras with smaller lenses are not capable of attaining the superb performance of this lens. But because they are smaller, they are in focus over a wide range, so they produce acceptable pictures more or less regardless of settings or focus.
If you are willing to take the time to learn this camera, then I cannot think of a better one. But like with a musical instrument, you will need to practice. It takes some time to learn where to put your fingers, and where not to put your fingers, because there a lots of buttons and settings exposed on the surface of the camera. You will need to learn to use the autofocus to best advantage, and learn the proper program modes to match with your shooting conditions.
If you take the time to really learn the camera, you will control a device that covers the range from a microscope to a telescope. In macro mode, it will focus down to objects actually touching the lens. Or you can crank it up to a 50 power zoom. It takes excellent movies under a wide variety of conditions. Image stabilization makes it seem like your handheld home movies are taken from a professional camera dolly. It takes pictures without flash in conditions so dark that I could not see the subject at all. With the built-in image stabilization, it is capable of taking handheld pictures that rival the sharpness of a large format view camera on a tripod.
But if you just want an easy to operate camera for good snapshots, you should look for a simpler camera. Some of the less expensive models of the Powershot might be better for most people. : 2012-02-11 12:29:18
A mini-DSLR perfect for photo enthusiasts
I have been taking film pictures with a professional Canon SLR for over a decade, and have been holding out on purchasing a DSLR until they come out with a sub-$2,000 full-frame body. A few years ago, I bought a Canon digital Elph S330 just for some everyday digital point-n-shooting. While the Elph has served me well, I find the lack of manual settings too limited for my taste. If I were to upgrade to a DSLR, I would get either the Canon 1Ds or the 5D both of which carry full-frame sensors, a requirement for me, but Im just not prepared to spend $2,500 for the 5D or 3x that for the 1Ds yet.
With the recent addition of my family a new baby, I started to look into buying a replacement for the Elph so I can take more baby photos. The film SLR takes great pictures, but traveling with 3 lbs+ of photo equipment is just not practical. I needed something compact not necessarily pocket sized, but gives me the options to take pictures on manual settings like an SLR. I did quite a bit of research, and determined the Canon S3 IS would be the best camera for my purpose. Ive used it for the past month, and its been great! Its shaped like an SLR, only smaller. It has most, if not all, of the manual settings of a full-size DSLR, minus the interchangeable lenses and an optical viewfinder. Obviously, with an EVF camera like the S3 IS you gain live preview capability, movie mode, and the absence of sensor dust issue. The live histogram is also a huge advantage over competitor models. With a long-zoom and image stabilization, the S3 IS is priced at a fraction of a DSLR. While nobody should expect the same picture quality out of the S3 IS as a DSLR, especially at high ISO, this is truly a great camera for photo enthusiasts who are just not ready to buy a DSLR, or DSLR owners looking for a more compact digicam for traveling or everyday work : 2012-02-11 12:29:06
The Canon PowerShot S3 IS
I purchased this camera on the basis of reviews at Amazon and elsewhere. I have been an avid photographer since 1959, starting with the Leica. The enthusiasm of other reviewers for the S3 IS is certainly well deserved. The speed and accuracy of the self-focusing as you change focal lengths is astonishing. At a single focal length moving the camera past a window from inside the house results in a breathtaking and precise change of both exposure and focus.
The movie facilities are well displayed also by turning slowly inside a house and watching the exposure and focus change to produce surperb results even through the windows. This is one fine movie camera. The 1 gigabyte limit on a movie should not be a problem since it permits roughly an eight minute movie. Downloading a two minute movie to my Dell desktop required about 10 minutes. After which I had a two minute perfectly focused and exposed movie with stereo sound!
As you will quickly find, extreme handheld close-ups will self-focus exactly at the Canon specified distance. Get too close and the camera focuses sharply on the other side of the object you wanted to photograph. Example, small flowers on a bush.
One more example. to check the focusing I picked our sleeping dog. Her fine fur was crisply focused and, to my eyes perfectly exposed.
This is the camera that until now existed only in my dreams.
Thanks, Canon. The S3 IS was well worth waiting for. : 2012-02-11 12:28:48
Excellent digital camera in its own class
I bought one when it first came on the market back in May. Half a year and 5,000 pictures later, here are some of my comments:
- It is a GREAT digital camera in its own class. By class I mean one should not compare it with a dSLR because the S3 is not one. So do not expect it to overcome shutter lag easily, although among other DC digital camera I have used, shutter lag on S3 is greatly improved--to a degree that I feel comfortable taking photos in very fast pace, e.g., catching flying birds. However, only good dSLR can completely eliminate shutter lag and S3 is not a dSLR. One also should not compare the S3 with the small point-
-shoot DCs. S3 is not as small as those--it won easily slide into your pocket, unless your pocket is relatively big and loose like mine. But the slightly larger body brings great features none of the small DC can offer.
- Big optical zoom 12X and IS. 12X is GREAT and combined with Canons Imagine Stabilization, S3 turns into a powerful large zoom camera with superb imagine quality. My recent trips included shooting with cameras in case you wonder wild wolf at Yellowstone National Park. And this little S3 came out as the only one that can capture the animals at great distance, along with other ig guns the professionals carry. The IS feature eliminates hand shake with great effect and I could shoot at 12X with low light and still get quality photos. I also highly recommend the TC-DC58B Tele Converter Lens for the S3 or S2 which gives you another 1.5 zoom that effectively make S3 18X zoom equivalent to a 600mm lens. Check how much those big telephoto lens cost close to 10K ...
- Excellent video shooting. Again a feaure one almost never finds on any other DC or dSLR. The S3 takes DVD quality video in stereo sound, not just video clips that most DC can do. This little almost pocket-size camera now forces our digital videocam into an early retirement.
- Many other great features. However those are more or less standard and one can always try to argue some other DC may have similar or better features. I won comment on those.
In summary, the S3 is a great small-size DC. Its superb lens offers big 12X zoom and IS, two technology of Canons pride. It also offers DVD video shoot with stereo sound--this feature alone can save you a digital vidoecam.
One suggestion--do get a big SD card if you want to shoot video too. I have a 4G SD card and I think 2G is a must. Also battery life is excellent. It uses 4 AA-battery, which seems a lot odd at the beginning. But it comes in handy because as long as you can get AA battery you never worry about power. With typical dSLR, if the battery is out you are done for the day unless you find a power outlet to recharge and have your charger with you.
I do have one small complain. The Menu button at the back of the camera is at the location where my palm presses the body. Sometimes I raise the S3 and I see the menu in viewfinder because my palm has pressed it strong enough to trigger it. Another press is needed and I lost several shots because of this.
I have other dSLR with quality lens. But I always take the S3 with me on any trip. : 2012-02-11 12:28:34
Oh What A Camera
This is my 4th digital camera. I was going to buy a Canon SLR and found that it was out of my price range. The S3 IS was right there at the top of my range so I went to the local camera store to ask about it and look at it in person. I can tell you that it is a very solid feeling camera. It fits in your hands very well and the buttons are all within reach. The photo quality is really amazing. Image stabilization really helps with those long range shots. The multiple shooting modes are really handy too. The only down side to this camera is the number of options available. You can literally get lost in the manual. No worries though. Put the camera in AUTO mode, point and shoot. For most people this should work just fine. The camera is VERY fast. There is NO lag time from the moment you push the shutter button and the time the photo is taken. No more predicting your shots. I am not super happy with the lenses cap. It fits loosely and tends to fall off but there is a lanyard to keep it attached to the camera. Not the most important feature of a camera. The 2 LCD is pretty impressive as well. The movie mode is nothing short of amazing. If you use it make sure you get a large memory card. I filled a 256 MB card in about 45 seconds of shooting at the highest quality setting. Bottom line...GREAT CAMERA! : 2012-02-11 12:28:19
A Superb Semi-Pro Camera That Novices Will Love
I researched cameras for six months before I had the money to buy. I wanted a mega zoom with a good feature set and high quality video, since I knew I couldn also afford a video camera. It shoots such good pix in auto mode, that I find myself rarely using the other settings, at least so far. You can shoot photos while shooting video or shoot video while in still photo mode. The video is high quality, AVI at 30 frames per second, which I believe is better resolution than standard TV. You can use the 12x optical zoom while shooting video. Most digital still cameras shoot video at just one focal length. The camera has two mikes and records CD quality stereo sound when shooting video, though you can set it for lower sound and picture qualities if you like. The built-in flash does an excellent job, and with the standard setting I have yet to get red eye.
Image stabilization works very well and is essential with a 12x zoom, especially when shooting video or low light stills. Picture quality is just wonderful in both video and still picture modes. After buying the camera and a 2 gig SD card, I took a bus trip through 28 states visiting friends, shooting hundreds of photos and about 10 minutes of video. The results were great.
Photo stitching software comes with the camera and it is excellent. I had been concered about the very limited wide angle capablity, equivilent only to a 35mm lens on a 35mm camera. But by taking overlapping photos I got wonderful panoramas and group photos without the usual wide angle distortion and with more detail. While this works best with a tripod, with a little care you can shoot by hand and get excellent results.
The batteries are AA. Get a charger and NiMh rechargable batteries. The nice thing is, if your batteries die, you can get a set from the store [uses 4] in a pinch. I was able to shoot 10 minutes of video plus about 150 pix on the batteries that came with the camera. I could have done better, but I spent at least a couple of hours with the camera on, fooling with menus and settings and reviewing the photos and videos.
At best resolution and least compression, a 2Gig SD card will hold 715 photos or 15 minutes of best quality video. 4 Gig cards are available, and if you intend to shoot a lot of video, I would strongly recommend one. Also, the faster the card the better. Slow cards won keep up with best quality video, and time between still shots will be longer. If the card doesn advertise its speed it isn fast enough! Get 133x or 150x speed. This translates to 20mb or 22.5 mb per second. In theory the cameras single shot limit for video is one hour, but its a non-issue as the 4 gig cards will only hold 30 minutes of best quality video.
Things I don like: 8 gigs for an hour of video is way to high. MPEG2 DVDs will hold up to 4 hours in the same space. The view screen should be bigger in this class of camera. Its better than the previous model -two inch versus 1.8 inch- but it really needs to be larger...that said its adequate for my old guy eyes, and if I had to give up the ability to adjust the screen to get a larger size I wouldn . I would also like to set the zoom to a slower rate of zoom when shooting video. Rate of zoom is adjustable, by how far you move the lever, but the throw is too short to be precise.
Basically, if you can do without the camera fitting in your pocket you will be very hard pressed to do better than the Canon S3IS. : 2012-02-11 12:28:09
Great Camera
I struggled with buying a DSLR, having some photography experience, but the attraction of carrying one camera to get both Video and still photos overrode my desire to be a photo purist. Thus I bought the S3 and am extremely happy with both the quality of the video and the still photos.
A few minor drawbacks - I bought the Canon case for it and sent it back. Unless you will be carrying the camera as is, without the lens shade/lens adapter, the case is useless, too little extra space for any extras. I bought the lens shade/lens adapter as it is the only way to be able to put a protective filter on and I read some reviews that advised it because it protects the lens barrel. I returned those as well. I found lensmateonline.com that makes 2 size lens adapters 52MM and 58MM in metal as opposed to Canons plastic both in black for the S3 and silver for the S2. They also have a retractable rubber lens hood available. I found that if you leave the Canon lens hood on inside while using the flash, you get a dark shadow in the picture, the retractable lens hood saves you the hassle of unscrewing your lens hood - which can be dangerous especially with the plastic lens adapter as it can get cross threaded.
The camera itself is phenomenal...
: 2012-02-11 12:27:56
A review for the point-and-shoot crowd
I bought the S3 as a replacement for my PowerShot S10 which has served me amazingly well since I purchased it. My old S10 is only a 2.1MP megapixel camera but that suited me just fine, taking tens of thousands of pictures over the past six years that I owned it. My only complaint about the S10 is a common one amongst digital cameras: a crappy 2x optical zoom. The S3s 12x optical zoom was its main selling point for me, and having the PowerShot name behind it sealed the deal.
This camera does FAR more than Ill ever use so Ill instead focus no pun intended on the things that I particularly like about the camera, from a point-and-shoot perspective. Some of this info may be old hat to the point-and-shoot digital camera crowd, but remember that Im coming off a six year old camera that doesn have half as many features. :
Although the camera is not an SLR camera, it behaves like one. Theres an LCD panel on the back of the camera for lining up your shots, of course, and theres also a viewfinder. Looking through the viewfinder reveals another LCD screen that shows you what the cameras CCD is showing. In effect this gives you the benefit of an SLR camera without the extra cost. This forced me to change my shooting style; when I took close-up shots through the straight-through viewfinder on my S10 I had to purposefully aim the camera slightly higher in order to properly frame the shot. With the S3 I don have this bother any more.
The screen both the LCD screen and the one in the viewfinder displays an astonishing amount of information, most of which I ignore. Two very helpful bits of info: Theres a white rectangle in the center which defines the balance point of your shot, and more interestingly, a black grid that really helps you make sure your images are straight. Speaking of straightness, the camera also has an automatic sensor to determine if you
e taking portrait or landscape shots. When you download the pictures into your computer, they
e pre-rotated correctly. Very handy. PS: It interfaces with a standard mini USB cable, and it works flawlessly with Apples iPhoto software.
If you
e taking a picture and you need a flash, the camera will alert you to this fact which is great. Not so great is the fact that it won alert you until you actually go to take the picture. Considering that you need to manually raise the flash when its needed, this has the potential for making you lose some candid shots. Tip: Keep the flash raised at all times, and set the flash for automatic so it fires when needed.
The image stabilization feature is downright awesome. I actually had to make a conscious effort to get the camera to take a blurry picture with stabilization enabled. One-handed overhead shots are as clear as a tripod shot.
As I said, I bought the camera for the zoom and it doesn disappoint. The zoom ring is variable in speed the further you move it, the faster the zoom moves. The image stabilization feature really comes into play at full zoom. I was able to take a not-blurry photo of a news helicopter hovering overhead, with the camera at full optical zoom and without a tripod.
The camera takes four AA batteries; Canon provides you with a set in the box. That will be good for about 100 shots, depending on how much you use the flash. Rechargeable batteries are a must; a decent set of rechargeables 2000mAh or greater will give you about 500 shots. Well worth the extra money. However, I do like that it will take standard AAs in a pinch; my old S10 took a proprietary rechargeable battery and I occasionally found myself with a set of used-up rechargeables when a photo opportunity arose.
I have but two complaints about the PowerShot S3 IS. Complaint #1 is the body of the camera is constructed of plastic. My old S10 was metal bodied and survived several trips to the concrete floor with only superficial damage. I daresay a similar incident with the S3 will result in a shattered body. Complaint #2 is Canons incredibly lame inclusion of a puny 16MB SD memory card. At full quality and full resolution, you might get 4-5 pictures onto the card before it fills up. Canon is just adding to the nations landfills with these things. The first purchase anyone will make is a larger card I bought two 2GB cards and Canons cards are more expensive sometimes significantly more expensive than the competition. The inclusion of a 16MB card is either a joke or an insult; at the very least Canon should have included a 128MB card. : 2012-02-11 12:27:43
Better than they say and worse than they say
This is a near pro camera in disguise. This little wolf really needs you to study it and play with it to get the best pictures, but when you do you are really rewarded. When I say worse, if you just want a point and shoot you will get crappy photos sometimes and think you were cheated.
If you just select Auto, you will probably be disappointed. Canon makes better point and shoot cameras like the S series. My wife uses the S80 for her business, my daughter has the S70, and we have two other Canon P&S around that we all use for fun shots. I needed something with a real zoom lens and didn want to do all the way to DSLR as I wanted something that also shot movies. Im a HS tennis coach and I wanted to be able to take short videos of my players to help them see their strengths and weaknesses.
The S3 takes unbelievable videos! Better than my sony video camera that cost much more AND it is easier to get them into my computer, edit them, and produce a CD to hand to one of my players. A feature that I didn find on any of the other competitive cameras was the ability to snap a still picture in the middle of taking a video. Also like the separate video button so you can take videos without changing anything on the camera, just hit the video button and it starts.
It also takes GREAT pictures. When you understand the options on the camera, you can take pictures that are close to the best you can do with a pro DSLR camera. I now shoot all my normal pics in P mode with it set for ISO 100 or ISO 200 and a 3 shot bracket. Great pics everytime. The anti-shake IS makes it easy to take great pics in low light. In low light when I let it go up to high ISO I can get noise like you wouldn believe. However, I still get the pictures. Now that I know better, I can set up the camera to get really good low light pictures without going into high ISO ranges. I also have been able to take wonderful pics of my Koi, my cats, my kids, my wife, my car, my anything that takes my fancy. I have a framed 10x14 picture in front of me taken of a squirrel in the very top of a 100 redwood tree with the camera at max optical + digital zoom of 48x. Hand held and clear as a bell due to the IS and the optional settings available. Try that at home with any other camera in this price range.
Bottom line: after looking at all the current offerings from Panasonic/Sony/Nikon et al, this is the best of the bunch for a prosumer big zoom camera. None of the rest of them paid any attention to making videos, canon did. All the rest tried to get our attention by promising more pixels, but Canon when for quality and a reasonable price. This camera takes better pics than the Panasonic Lumix that costs several hundred $$$ more and has 10 mega pixels -- oh, and the canon is considerably smaller and easier to carry.
Accessories: I recommend that you get the Lensmate 52mm lens adapter and the Tiffen 3 pack of filters. I didn bother with the Canon 58mm stuff, just got everything in 52mm. Unfortunately Amazon doesn carry Lensmate but you can Google them. I also got the Raynox .7x wide angle lens from Lensmate at a good price. It has a bit of barrel distortion, but easily correctable with software -- big feature is that it is extremely clear at full zoom. Much better than the Canon wide angle lens. Case Logic makes a case that holds the S3 with the lens adapter on, so I can carry it around with the UV filter in place. The Lensmate lens adapter is made from metal and gives you a place to grip with your left hand so you are extra steady. Wish that Canon would just put threads on the end of their lenses, but they have their way of doing things.
Also got the Transend 4GB 150x SD card. Works like a charm. Make sure you low format it before your first use and then do that again every so often to keep the card clean. Very fast and lets me take up to 30 minutes of videos if I want. Get the SD cards wherever . . . Frys had the Transend card for $10 less than Amazon.
Great camera, well worth the time I spent researching and testing everything available in September through early November of 2006. I did test every Panasonic, Sony, and Canon model in my price range of $250 to $750. Bought an SD card first and then went to camera stores and tried them all, bought the card home and looked at every pic and video. I ended up paying $350+ here at Amazon for the S3 which was the best price from a trusted source.
Again, what I wanted was a digital camera that could zoom to 10x+, take videos that were as good as my video camera, take fast action still shots in varying conditions, and had a resolution of 5mp or more. I also wanted it to be compact and easy to use, with the capability of using storage cards larger than 2GB. I already have taken almost 2 hours of action videos of my tennis players and several hundred pictures of them. I also have a batch of family pics that range from grainy to perfect as I learned how to set the ISO properly and use the fe : 2012-02-11 12:27:26
Awsome camera with excellent picture quality
I thought I wanted a micro-sized camera and bought 2 different brands of compact cameras just to return them because of sub-par picture quality. After that experience, I decided to give the new Powershot S3 IS a chance. Sure it might not be small enough to fit in a pocket, but what a camera! The pictures are great with sharp images from corner to corner, a 12x zoom lens, and an extremely effective Optical Image Stabilizer. The benefits of the the Optical Stabilizer cannot be understated on a camera with such a long zoom range. When you zoom into maximum telephoto every slight movement of your hands results in a huge movement at the lens. With the stabilizer though it eliminates that problem. The pictures have low noise levels from 80-400 ISO, I have not tried the ISO 800 yet, though it should be nice to have in a pinch. The tilt and swivel LCD is awesome, youll wonder how you got along without it before. Battery life is excellent and I cannot underemphasize the benefit of the camera running on standard AA batteries. If ever you find yourself in the middle of a day of shooting and the batteries die simply pop into a local convenience store and pick up some more. I would suggest you purchase a good set of rechargeable NiMH batteries though. The movie mode is great with the ability to zoom, a dedicated record/stop button, and stereo sound! Plus, finally a Canon digital PowerShot with a live histogram! You will not be disappointed in this camera. : 2012-02-11 12:27:09
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