Canon S3 IS

[GeneW]

I don't own one ... yet. But I'm planning on purchasing one of these on Monday. I've been really impressed at how good my Canon A620 is when I use it properly, but I've found a couple of limitations. One is that at low ISO values, where the image quality stays good, I can't handhold the camera steady enough once the light gets dim. The other is that there's not quite enough reach in the lens for the kind of photography I do on my walks around the harbour where longish teles are a boon. And there's another factor: my wife Marion keeps 'borrowing' the A620 and will be taking it with her for a week on her upcoming art course.

So, I sold my Leica IIIf to an interested party and will next try the Canon S3 IS. It has a 35-420mm lens equivalent, and is image stabilized. Image quality is evidently very similar to the A620 according to users who have both. It has the tilt & swivel LCD display that I use constantly and it also has an EVF viewfinder. I've used EVF before and rather like it, though it's not everyone's cup of tea.

In addition, the S3 IS has a fantastic movie mode. I've only recently started taking movie clips with the A620 and I'm astonished at how good the quality is. The S3 improves on it by not only having IS, but allowing zooming while 'filming'. It even allows you to take stills while recording a movie.

The camera is a little larger than the A620 but nowhere near as large as my Canon 300D. It's also very lightweight.

So, to bring this ramble to a conclusion, I'll have more to report later this week when I start using it in the field.

(See Rick, I'm a kinda Canonista after all)

Gene

[backalley]

what happened to the that fancy panasonic (?) rig you had?

[byuphoto]

hey the DDDDDigitals don't count. It's not a camera if sold in an electronics store ;-)

[GeneW]

Joe, I sold the Panasonic FZ-20 after using it about a year. The Panasonic was a great cam but I used to say it would be perfect if it had more pixels (it was a 5mpx), a swivel display, and a cleaner sensor. The S3 IS is very like an FZ20 with those features added.

Rick, don't know what to tell ya, lad... except maybe check the year on your calendar? LOL!

Gene

[backalley]

gene, did you get the new canon?

i'm curious and you're the guy to ask...is the shutter lag shorter than the canon g2?
i still have that little canon you sold me and it's great for what i use it for but i'm thinking of a new digital, with a quicker response, for some other projects i have in mind. (work related for now) i don't want a slr but i also don't want a small point & shoot. this new canon seems pretty good as far as the stats on it go.
joe

[GeneW]

Joe, I was delayed but plan to scoot into Toronto today to get it. I'll let you know about shutter-lag time once I shoot with it a little.

Gene

[byuphoto]

congrats gene, Be sure and give us the skinny on it. i think this type may be what i purchase for a digital.

[GeneW]

[long and rambly... skip if you've got things to do or places to go]

I braved the heat and went into Toronto early this morning just as the stores were opening. Picked up two finished rolls of slide film at Blacks (Sensia 100), took in 2 rolls of C-41 to Shoppers Drugs at King and Yonge where they process my film and scan to CD for $2.99/roll and have it ready in an hour. Then on up to Henrys to get the S3 plus some Ilford Rapid Fixer. The staff mentioned that it was a combination of purchases they'd not seen before

Joe, I've been playing around with the cam indoors and can say the difference in shutter lag between the S3 and the G2 is night and day. The S3 focuses quickly Startup is fast too. Try one out at one of your local camera stores.

If it cools down this evening, I'll walk to the harbour for a maiden voyage but I can make some predictions and offer some points of view now, based partly on previous ownership of a similar superzoom digicam -- a Panasonic FZ-20:

1. Image quality. Surprisingly good at low ISO. Which is why IS is really helpful for this class of camera. The sensor is small and as soon as the ISO gets increased, it gets noisy quickly. I expect IQ to be roughly the same as on my A620 but with fewer blurry shots when I'm shooting at the lowest ISO in dim light.

2. Soft images at long tele. I've been here before. The lens equivalent in 35mm terms is 35-420mm. This rather defies physics and there's no way it can be sharp all through the range. From my previous experience the images will be soft at long tele -- nothing like the razor-sharp images Rick gets with his serious primes. For my needs, though, it's "good enough".

3. Moderate barrel distortion at wide angle. Not bad, and can be fixed in Photoshop.

4. Some CA especially at long tele range. Goes with the territory with tiny sensors. In the reviews, this Canon model is not bad on CA compared to other brands.

5. Useable higher ISO with a bit of effort. This cam ranges from ISO 80-800 but after 200 it's distinctly noisy. What I like about Canon digicams is that they don't apply aggressive noise reduction in camera. Other brands 'look' less noisy but often have smeared-out details where NR has adversely affected image quality. With the aid of Neat Image, Noise Ninja, and similar products the Canon noise can be reduced to useable levels and the detail is mostly preserved.

6. EVF. Electronic viewfinders are not everyone's cup of tea. The view, while SLR-like, is grainy. If you dislike this, you'll never like this camera. I'm okay with it. I got used to it on my Lumix and find it useful in bright light when the larger LCD panel is difficult to see, or for certain kinds of shooting.

7. JPG only. There is no RAW mode in this cam. Nor was there in my Panasonic. At first I thought this was a terrible omission, but in practice it didn't bother me much. Because the cam has histogram preview, you can easily avoid blown highlights -- the achilles heel of digital JPG images.

8. Customizable features. The S3 IS has many more of these than my A620 and I'm pleased with the options. I was able to set the camera to low sharpening, less contrast, and slightly less saturation. I like to do my own sharpening and I often don't want the colours to be too punchy.

9. Movie mode. It might sound silly to be interested in movie mode on a digicam, but after trying it out on my A620 I've changed my mind about this feature. I like it. The other night I took some shots of a really fine Dixieland-style combo and then recorded a movie of them playing. Marion really enjoyed watching the clip. The S3 IS has, arguably, the best movie mode of any digicam on the market. Not only image stabilization, but the ability to zoom in and out while recording, and even to take full-resolution stills.

10. Size. Although it looks like a DSLR, it's really quite small and light. Not as small and lightweight as my A620 of course, but it's an easy cam to carry around. The S3 is noticeably smaller than the Lumix FZ-20 I owned.

11. Controls. My initial impression is that the controls are laid out better than on other digicams I've owned. I won't know for certain until I've used it for awhile, but I like what I see.

12. Swivel display. The back LCD panel is not as large as some of the other digicams on the market, but it can tilt and swivel. For some people this is no big deal. For me it was a decider. Having used this feature before it's the one feature I can't live without.

Well that's my starting point with the S3 IS. I don't expect perfection, particularly from a small digicam, but I think it'll be a useful addition to my collection and a lot of fun to use.

Gene

[edit: corrected some pesky typos]

[kiev4a]

"Lag time" on point an shoot digitals is why I seldom use them for anything but pixs to post on the web. When I trip the shutter on my Canon A80 it is a century before the shutter actually fires. Absolutely impossible to shoot people moving around. By the time the camera goes off they are either out of focus or, in the case of little kids, gone. Doesn't matter what settings I use. There always is shutter lag.

[backalley]

gene, i did take a look today over lunch.
i like the a620 and the s3is very much.
i played with the a80 and another tiny canon that was so very cool, but not easy to actually hold still for shooting.

i might go for the a620 but right now that s3 is in the lead.
it was so fast to start up, to zoom and to shoot. it seemed there was no shutter lag.

if i do this i will be selling my m3 with 50 elmar to fund it. and probably the g2 as well, no need to keep it.
i'll buy a good memory card and some rechargeable batteries with the left over (some film too if there is money to spare)

[byuphoto]

Joe, I might be interested in the G2

[GeneW]

Joe, either cam is really good. The A620 is smaller and a little less conspicuous but the S3 has more range and more features. I'm glad you got to try them in the store. Isn't the startup time amazing? Like you, I find very little noticeable lag in them.

Funny you should think of selling your M3 and Elmar to fund it. I sold my IIIf and Canon 50/1.8 LTM to fund mine. LOL!

Gene

[backalley]

you have been a bad influence on me gene.
you change cameras more often than i do and part of me feels the challange to keep up...

rick, i bought the g2 from gene and when i opened the box it looked new. still does. it rarely leaves the house as i have used it to phtograph my film cameras mostly.
it has a really great lens on it.

joe

[backalley]

crazy night...i just traded my m3 body back to it's original owner for a mint cl and 40/2 summicron.
i sold my cv 28/3.5 cause i traded my hexar af for the cv 28/1.9
and now my elmar collapsible 50/2.8 is for sale cause it was bought for the traded m3.

and no new digital yet...maybe if the elmar sells...

joe

[GeneW]

Joe, you ol' horse trader... makes me dizzy trying to keep up! LOL

I had a chance to shoot with the S3 for a short while last evening before the storms arrived and it handles quite well. I'll post some pics later today.

Gene