Canon PowerShot S3 IS?

[amacgenius]

Best Buy

Amazon

I'm eyeing that camera after seeing it in the December issue of MacAddict (soon to be Mac|Life) when they rated it best quality for a point and shoot camera.

I had a few questions before I (possibly) go out and purchase one:

1. What kind of image quality can I expect?
2. Does this compare to a dSLR?
3. Is it worth the price?
4. Any recommendations for this or other cameras (under $450).

 

[amacgenius]

Well I went and got it and a 1GB high speed SD card, first pic I took with it:

I love this thing so far!

 

[The Mad Kiwi]

Enjoy your new camera, they are a pretty good camera.

I love mine, except for the noise, and the crappy flash. But all p&s have those problems. Noise ninja does a good enough job of cleaning up the noise anyway.

 

[garfield2002]

Enjoy your new camera, they are a pretty good camera.

I love mine, except for the noise, and the crappy flash. But all p&s have those problems. Noise ninja does a good enough job of cleaning up the noise anyway.

The Mad Kiwi, I'm curious as to what kind of 'noise' are you referring to? The S3 has an ultrasonic lens and image noise below at ISO 200 and below is generally considered excellent for a compact (non-dslr) 6MP camera. I do agree that most P&S have weak flashes.

amacgenius, I think you made a great choice. My wife and I love our S2.

 

[macfevorite]

Just ordered one!

The Mad Kiwi, I'm curious as to what kind of 'noise' are you referring to? The S3 has an ultrasonic lens and image noise below at ISO 200 and below is generally considered excellent for a compact (non-dslr) 6MP camera. I do agree that most P&S have weak flashes.

amacgenius, I think you made a great choice. My wife and I love our S2.

I just ordered mine form Amazon.com. Also bought the transcend 2gb x150 sd card.

 

[Elrond39]

I was considering this at one point, but I opted for the Sony DSC-H5 instead. Better image-quality, or so I hear. I love it, though, whatever your opinions

 

[macfevorite]

I just ordered mine form Amazon.com. Also bought the transcend 2gb x150 sd card.

Just got mine a couple days ago. Awesome!

 

[Zachariah]

I really enjoy mine. I'm not even sad that the G7 came out now.

 

[G4scott]

The S3 IS is probably a better point and shoot than the G7.

Asides form the ~$300 price difference, noise is not as much as an issue with the S3, you get a mega 12x optical zoom, a flip out screen, and 60fps movies. I was surprised as to how fast the S3 zooms from the wide end to 12x.

The G7, with a 10mp sensor crammed into the same size as all other point and shot sensors, can give you noise issues if you don't know what you're doing. You also have to work with it a lot more to get great pictures with the G7. It's kind of like the dSLR effect, where people buy the expensive cameras, but don't learn how to use them, so their pictures are worse off than with a cheaper point and shoot.