Camera gets good reviews. Have an opportunity to buy a new one at
$175. Is this being discontinued and not considered a great deal with
newer cameras such as the S5 out, or is it still a solid camera if I
like the features? (which I do, except for no optical viewfinder and
supposed redeye issues, but I haven't found the perfect camera in my
price range yet.) Would be willing to spend $300-350 or so if I found
the "perfect" camera, but prefer under $300.
In article <1192030535.830012.150810@k79g2000hse.googlegroups .com>,
<"jeffc226@yahoo.com"> wrote:
> Camera gets good reviews. Have an opportunity to buy a new one at
> $175. Is this being discontinued and not considered a great deal with
> newer cameras such as the S5 out, or is it still a solid camera if I
> like the features? (which I do, except for no optical viewfinder and
> supposed redeye issues, but I haven't found the perfect camera in my
> price range yet.) Would be willing to spend $300-350 or so if I found
> the "perfect" camera, but prefer under $300.
My drummer bought the S3 not long ago, and my girlfriend has an S2. I
have been very impressed with the images that both are capable of
creating. I'm not a fan of EVFs, but that's really the only downside
that I can see.
jeffc226@yahoo.com wrote:
> Camera gets good reviews. Have an opportunity to buy a new one at
> $175. Is this being discontinued and not considered a great deal with
> newer cameras such as the S5 out, or is it still a solid camera if I
> like the features? (which I do, except for no optical viewfinder and
> supposed redeye issues, but I haven't found the perfect camera in my
> price range yet.) Would be willing to spend $300-350 or so if I found
> the "perfect" camera, but prefer under $300.
>
That's a good price. An S5 IS would be considerably more and I don't
think you gain that much except another 2 mp you don't need. Even the
old 'what if I need to crop' loses some of it's punch on a camera with a
12x zoom!!
For a closer look at the specs, look at the canon site: http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/co...categoryid=113
for the S5 IS, then scroll down to the archive link on same page and
locate S3 IS.
Also, check the usual suspects like http://www.dpreview.com/, Steve's
digicams etc.
One curious note, people seem to prefer the EV finder on these models to
a straight optical. I've never used an EV finder. They do say the Canon
one could use more resolution, try for yourself. Red-eye issues come
with p&s, would prefer not to have the problem but easy to fix in any
photo editor.
Dave Cohen
"jeffc226@yahoo.com" <jeffc226@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:1192030535.830012.150810@k79g2000hse.googlegr oups.com:
> Camera gets good reviews. Have an opportunity to buy a new one at
> $175. Is this being discontinued and not considered a great deal with
> newer cameras such as the S5 out
The S5 is a very mild upgrade to the S3. The main new feature on the S5 is
the hot shoe which gives you many more options for indoor photography. With
the 12X zoom, the S3/S5 are mostly outdoor cameras anyway. If you plan to
take most of your photos indoors, there are better choices like the Canon G9.
user@example.net (Dave Cohen) wrote in
news:6Q6Pi.4990$q42.3500@trndny06:
> One curious note, people seem to prefer the EV finder on these
> models to a straight optical.
I'm one of those, but maybe it's because I've never run across a
really good optical finder. I like the fact that I'm getting a true
representation of the area to be photographed, but find the large LCD
on the back of the camera to be useless in daylight.
> I've never used an EV finder. They do say the Canon one could use
> more resolution, try for yourself.
Yeah; I find my S3's finder to be too grainy for my liking, although
the only time that's an actual problem is when I'm trying to do
manual focus. It's also not bright enough and is rather easily washed
out by light entering through the eyepiece.
jeffc226@yahoo.com wrote:
> Camera gets good reviews. Have an opportunity to buy a new one at
> $175. Is this being discontinued and not considered a great deal with
> newer cameras such as the S5 out, or is it still a solid camera if I
> like the features? (which I do, except for no optical viewfinder and
> supposed redeye issues, but I haven't found the perfect camera in my
> price range yet.) Would be willing to spend $300-350 or so if I found
> the "perfect" camera, but prefer under $300.
>
I have been quite pleased with my S3 (especially its IS) which I bought
just a few days before the S5 was announced. I would love a hot shoe
(which you can use to prevent red eye, but be sure to add in the cost of
a compatible external flash). I understand (but haven't verified) that
the S5 has a larger LCD and a higher resolution EVF than the S3.
However, the S3 was at the top of my price range (thanks to exorbitant
medical expense) so I wouldn't have bought the S5 had I known it was due
to arrive. I must admit, though, that I was a little chagrined when the
S5 popped out--normal luck for me. It sounds like you have similar cost
restraints, so be sure to investigate the cost of that external flash
before you make a decision. Also, you didn't mention what sorts of
pictures you will be taking. I'm interested in wildflowers, birds, etc,
and also 11-year-old sports (can you guess the age of my grandson?). If
you are more interested in indoor pictures, you might want to check out
a different P&S with IS. As they say, whatever floats your boat, and enjoy!
Allen
<jeffc226@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1192030535.830012.150810@k79g2000hse.googlegr oups.com...
> Camera gets good reviews. Have an opportunity to buy a new one at
> $175. Is this being discontinued and not considered a great deal with
> newer cameras such as the S5 out, or is it still a solid camera if I
> like the features? (which I do, except for no optical viewfinder and
> supposed redeye issues, but I haven't found the perfect camera in my
> price range yet.) Would be willing to spend $300-350 or so if I found
> the "perfect" camera, but prefer under $300.
Eh. Buy it.
Canon has my S1 at the moment for a covered repair, and I can't wait to get
it back. Great little camera.
On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:35:35 -0700
"jeffc226@yahoo.com" <jeffc226@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Camera gets good reviews. Have an opportunity to buy a new one at
> $175. Is this being discontinued and not considered a great deal with
> newer cameras such as the S5 out, or is it still a solid camera if I
> like the features? (which I do, except for no optical viewfinder and
> supposed redeye issues, but I haven't found the perfect camera in my
> price range yet.) Would be willing to spend $300-350 or so if I found
> the "perfect" camera, but prefer under $300.
A friend of mine has the S2 and loves it. Objective reviews show its
optics to be slightly less sharp than the Panasonic competition, but
it's hard to see that in sample images. The price is very nice. I
hear you on the limitations of EVF's, but am not quite sure how you
would put a 12x optical zoom viewfinder in a non-SLR without changing
the camera's size or price.
On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 08:50:05 -0700, Paul Allen <paul.l.allen@NOSPAM.comcast.net>
wrote:
>On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:35:35 -0700
>"jeffc226@yahoo.com" <jeffc226@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Camera gets good reviews. Have an opportunity to buy a new one at
>> $175. Is this being discontinued and not considered a great deal with
>> newer cameras such as the S5 out, or is it still a solid camera if I
>> like the features? (which I do, except for no optical viewfinder and
>> supposed redeye issues, but I haven't found the perfect camera in my
>> price range yet.) Would be willing to spend $300-350 or so if I found
>> the "perfect" camera, but prefer under $300.
>
>A friend of mine has the S2 and loves it. Objective reviews show its
>optics to be slightly less sharp than the Panasonic competition, but
>it's hard to see that in sample images. The price is very nice. I
>hear you on the limitations of EVF's, but am not quite sure how you
>would put a 12x optical zoom viewfinder in a non-SLR without changing
>the camera's size or price.
>
>Paul Allen
One huge advantage to buying either an S2 or S3 over an S5 that people haven't
mentioned yet.
It can't be added to the S5, or at least nobody can find a way to yet and it
doesn't look like they will either. Be sure to check out the firmware usage and
scripts pages to see what you can do. The motion-detection option of CHDK alone
is worth buying an S2 or S3. Check out the recent post about hand-free
unattended lightning photography using the motion-detection option. The
motion-detection feature is fast enough to trigger the camera on the pre-flash
discharge that happens before the main lightning strike.
"Paul Allen" <paul.l.allen@NOSPAM.comcast.net> wrote in message
> I hear you on the limitations of EVF's, but am not quite sure how you
> would put a 12x optical zoom viewfinder in a non-SLR without changing
> the camera's size or price.
I too have the S3IS and think it is a great camera to compliment my smaller
point-and-shoot and my dSLR. I too think an optical viewfinder is
unrealistic but it would be relatively easy to put a EVF with more pixels
in.
Having said that the camera has a rather nifty PiP mode for manual focus
where it zoom into the centre point of the screen to help focussing and I
usually find I can leave focussing to the camera for most situations and it
rarely gets it wrong. I just use the EVF for composition.
Canon PowerShot S3 IS? 
Linear Mode
