Canon S3

[momsgonwild]

I have been reading about the new Sony DSC-H5 that will be coming out in June. I currently have the Canon S2, but my son has pretty much taken it over. I was waiting to purchase the Canon S3. After reading the material on the Sony, I find myself pretty much in a dilema. The 3 inch LCD would be much easier for me to see. Also, I take lots of night/action shots. The Sony is supposed to have a new "High Sensitivity Mode" ISO 1000. I am really impressed with the vast knowledge available here on the boards, and was hoping to get some advice on which camera might suit my needs the best.
Thanks!

 

[jann1033]

do you think the improvements are worth the extra $150? haven't really seen too many reviews of the s3 as yet. i like the bigger screen but don't know how much larger it would really be in terms of being able to really see the pics( ie in camera editing, deleting or keeping etc). other than the extra 1mp what else is new and is it worth it iyo???? i had planned on the s2 and a lens but now am wondering if i should shoot the whole budget on the s3 ( and worry about the lens later)

 

[Greg K.]

I just stumbled on this review, from cnet.

This basically says it's the exact same camera as the S2 -- which is not a bad thing -- with only modest cosmetic changes. The reviewer sounds a little irked by that. The quality of the images, she says, is virtually the same.

Read and click on the video for more...

http://reviews.cnet.com/Canon_PowerShot_S3_IS/4505-6501_7-31740582.html

 

[Kelly Grannell]

I'd go with the S3 and forget about the lens attachment. None of the cheaper ones are good anyway. The decent lens attachment costs about half the price of the camera if not more.

The ISO800 capability is what I like most. When I used to shoot film I use ISO800 most of the time, now with digital I shoot ISO 1600 most of the time (I tend to shoot indoors without flash or other low-light conditions). So although the ISO800 is not as clean as I wanted it to be, at least it's there and when you really need it you'll have that option. This is very good for taking pictures at night, or indoors. Set the camera to P mode, ISO to 800, use flash, take the picture (I'm assuming there will be a person as the subject) and you'll get the pic of the subject AND the background instead of just total blackness.

(this mode is also available as one of the SCN mode called "night snapshot")

 

[Judge Fudge]

The S3 has a slightly larger LCD, definately looks better in black than silver, and a live histogram. That's really the only differences. Definately a hard choice but the S2 and the Lens might be worth it.

From the reviews I think you will be very happy whatever way you choose to go.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

The S3 has a slightly larger LCD, definately looks better in black than silver, and a live histogram. That's really the only differences.

No the most important difference is the introduction of ISO 800.

 

[jann1033]

thanks for the review link. so far i think most i saw were with promo type models and wondered if they'd be changed any before they actually came out.


also is the macro ok or not? seemed to be a difference in opinion on the reviews and i do use that a good bit

 

[Kelly Grannell]

The Macro on these cameras are quite good although not spectacular. Then again, an excellent dSLR macro lens usually cost more than two S3.

 

[Dan Murphy]

.......also is the macro ok or not? seemed to be a difference in opinion on the reviews and i do use that a good bit

S2 here. Looks pretty good to me. This is as taken by camera, other than reduced for here, no balancing or correction done. Looks like it focused more on the leaf than the flower............

 

[jann1033]

thanks for the s2 pic which leads me to another question( will this never end?) is the 5/6 mp quality so close even a pro can't tell? the reviewer on the link said the pictures from the 2 cameras looked the same to her. wondering if there would be an appreciable difference between a 4 vs 6 mp ( other than enlargement capabilities i mean).

 

[Dan Murphy]

If you look at those links in my signature, by far, the greater majority of those were taken with a Nikon 995, 3.3 meg. The only time you would notice a difference would be a large print, very large.

A pro might be able to tell, might, but I am not a pro, nor will a pro ever see my pictures, so I don't care.

 

[Judge Fudge]

No the most important difference is the introduction of ISO 800.

That too, but the reviews I have seen on using 800 say it's very grainy. (I think it was dpresource or steves digicams)

 

[jann1033]

A pro might be able to tell, might, but I am not a pro, nor will a pro ever see my pictures, so I don't care.

that's what i meant, could the average person tell since personally i think my daughter's 4 mp are ok for normal snaps although her camera isn't the greatest. btw. love the ak music on the second cm group as well as your pictures

i guess i wonder why they keep adding more and more mp..is it just a selling point but not really worth a whole lot to the average person?

 

[Kelly Grannell]

at 4x6 and 5x7, most pros won't be able to tell the difference. Who cares. If you like the pictures, it all that matters. I didn't know the difference is that much (even to this day S2 IS is being sold at full price in Canada, so there is no point in buying S2 which is only about CDN$50 less than S3). But if the difference is about $200, I'd say stay with S2.

Aboug the graininess of ISO800: S3 ISO800 is as grainy as ISO400 S2, meaning you can use more ISO400 than you would if you use S2. In the worst situation, you can still use ISO800 (when using S3) and at least have a picture (albeit grainy) rather than not being able to take a picture at all.

Besides, the grain can be eliminated by using Imagenomic Noiseware Community Edition (freeware).

 

[jann1033]

i guess i asked it wrong...

i meant is there enough of a difference that the average person on the street, as in me, would notice, imo making it worth the money for a better shot.( i figured a pro might see something a "normal" person wouldn't but that isn't who is going to be looking at my pics..i just want me to be happy with it.and wondered if i would see a difference between the 5 and 6 mp. looking at the linked pic, i don't see a difference so i guess the answer would be no

and the iso 800 of the s3 (in graininess) is comparable to the graininess of the iso 400 s2, making me think the 400 s3 is less grainy than the s2 400? i think i recall a review saying the 400 s2 wasn't that great so the s3 is better?

but that is the problem with any review by an "expert"... sometimes they are things the average guy wouldn't notice or really care about that much

in the states the lowest i've seen for s2 is around $32?.00. the s3 about 120 more at it's lowest so it's not that big a difference if it's an improvement.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

yes, the ISO 400 on the S3 is cleaner than ISO 400 on the S2.

Again, I don't know about your shooting style. For me, even during film days, I tend to use ISO 800.

5MP vs 6MP? only at 12"x16" you will start to see the difference.

Hope it helps.

 

[Greg K.]

At long last, dpreview is up.

They say a lot of what others have said -- changes are mostly cosmetic, IS0 800 is not all it's cracked up to be -- but the reviewer concludes that it still sets the standard for cameras in its class. Take a look

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/CanonS3IS/Default.asp

 

[Kelly Grannell]

from the sample pictures, even the ISO 80 on the S3 is visibly cleaner than ISO 50 on the S2 and the ISO 400 on the S3 is at least 50% cleaner than ISO 400 on the S2.

But if you're not going to use ISO 400 or ISO 800 ever, just buy the S2, the noise difference does not warrant $200 diffence in current pricing.

 

[JPG]

Glad I went with the S2. I just couldn't justify the extra $$$$$ for the S3. Thats money to use on memory, cases, batteries, etc.....

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Glad I went with the S2. I just couldn't justify the extra $$$$$ for the S3. Thats money to use on memory, cases, batteries, etc.....

Unless you live in Canada. Canon still haven't dropped the price on the S2 IS.