Canon PowerShot S3 IS 6.0MP Digital Camera for $289 Shipped

Anyone thinking about this camera might also be interested in the A710 IS. Doesn't have the same zoom (only 6x optical on the 710), but it's 7.1 MP, it does feature image stabilization which can help for low light and zoom shots, and runs on just two AAs instead of four. It's basically like a more compact S3.

I've owned the a710 for about two weeks now, and it's one heck of a camera. Allows full control over exposure time, ISO, and aperature values, but also works great in point-and-shoot mode. It's at Amazon for $255 shipped, which can save a lot over the S3 IS at Dell, especially if you have to pay tax.

You really can't go wrong with either the a710 or the S3.
 
Thanks for the tip. I looked hard at the S2 IS (5.0mp version of the S3 basically) and it was just too bulky to carry on vacation and stuff. I'll have to check into the a710
 
yeah, thanks for the info. I certainly am interested in the S3 coz of the lens size. I hope the A710's lens is quite big too, though not SLR size. I've owned canons for quite some time and have been happy but noticed that the models with smaller lens seem to give pics only good for 4x6s. also, how is the flash recharge time on the A710? with two AAs it might be a tad bit slow with regular batteries.
 
ak2005 said:
yeah, thanks for the info. I certainly am interested in the S3 coz of the lens size. I hope the A710's lens is quite big too, though not SLR size. I've owned canons for quite some time and have been happy but noticed that the models with smaller lens seem to give pics only good for 4x6s. also, how is the flash recharge time on the A710? with two AAs it might be a tad bit slow with regular batteries.
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The lens is definitely smaller (diameter-wise), but extends out a good amount when the camera is on. The larger lens of the S2 and S3 is to allow for the ultra-zoom. The A710 takes excellent pictures, and it's 7.1 megapixel resolution allows at the very least beautiful 8x10s, and is high enough resolution for good results at even higher print sizes.

Good review of the A710 (highly recommended reading):

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_a710-review/

If you're shopping for a digital camera, the best places to check are:

http://www.dcresource.com
http://www.imaging-resource.com
http://www.steves-digicams.com

Bear in mind that you're not going to get SLR-type luxury at under $500. All budget digital cameras have their flaws, but in researching, I've found that Canon is consistantly near the top when it comes to the digital camera and camcorder market, and the A710 just had all the features I wanted at the right price, with virtually no drawbacks. Like I said, it allows for a ton of custom options like exposure, apterature, ISO, white balance... there's not much that you don't have the option of control over, and what's nice is that you can basically choose which of these you want the camera to control automatically, and which ones you customize (For example if you want a prolonged 5 second exposure time, the camera will automatically select an appropriate aperature size). Then, if you just want to point and shoot, you can put it in full manual mode and you're good to go.

Flash recharge time seemed quite good despite only 2 batteries. Granted, I don't use the flash often, but it seemed like around 2-3 seconds tops with quality NiMH batteries. I wouldn't recommend standard Alkaline batteries with any digital camera, simply because NiMH batteries will last longer and obviously save you money in the long run by being able to be recharged.

One other cool feature is the built-in lens cap - when you power down the camera the lens fully retracts and a little shutter window closes in front of the lens, so there's no need for a lens cap to deal with.

If you have any other questions or would like to know something specific about the camera, just let me know.
 
great post!

bakntime said:
The lens is definitely smaller (diameter-wise), but extends out a good amount when the camera is on. The larger lens of the S2 and S3 is to allow for the ultra-zoom. The A710 takes excellent pictures, and it's 7.1 megapixel resolution allows at the very least beautiful 8x10s, and is high enough resolution for good results at even higher print sizes.

Good review of the A710 (highly recommended reading):

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_a710-review/

If you're shopping for a digital camera, the best places to check are:

http://www.dcresource.com
http://www.imaging-resource.com
http://www.steves-digicams.com

Bear in mind that you're not going to get SLR-type luxury at under $500. All budget digital cameras have their flaws, but in researching, I've found that Canon is consistantly near the top when it comes to the digital camera and camcorder market, and the A710 just had all the features I wanted at the right price, with virtually no drawbacks. Like I said, it allows for a ton of custom options like exposure, apterature, ISO, white balance... there's not much that you don't have the option of control over, and what's nice is that you can basically choose which of these you want the camera to control automatically, and which ones you customize (For example if you want a prolonged 5 second exposure time, the camera will automatically select an appropriate aperature size). Then, if you just want to point and shoot, you can put it in full manual mode and you're good to go.

Flash recharge time seemed quite good despite only 2 batteries. Granted, I don't use the flash often, but it seemed like around 2-3 seconds tops with quality NiMH batteries. I wouldn't recommend standard Alkaline batteries with any digital camera, simply because NiMH batteries will last longer and obviously save you money in the long run by being able to be recharged.

One other cool feature is the built-in lens cap - when you power down the camera the lens fully retracts and a little shutter window closes in front of the lens, so there's no need for a lens cap to deal with.

If you have any other questions or would like to know something specific about the camera, just let me know.
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This is one of the better posts I've seen here awhile. Very intelligent and insightful.

I just purchased a Sony W70 a few days ago. It was on sale at Circuit City for 189 bucks. Now thinking of returning it (still unopened) and getting this S3. What do you think? This S3 looks like a quasi-DSLR, but you think it's worth it to give up my Sony for this?

Thanks.
 
After complaining to my daughter that the videos of my grandson taken with her old Olympus D series camera had no sound, I decided to give her my Canon S2 IS and move up to the S3 IS. It has all the features I loved on the S2, such as standard AA batteries, SD memory card, great zoom and resolution -- with a few minor improvements thrown in. I quit buying Olympus when they switched to proprietary batteries and xD picture cards. Just as I did with the S2, my daughter and son-in-law have concentrated on videos of that fast moving 2-year old. That is one of the best features of both the S2 and S3. I think the $350 I paid for my S3 was well worth it and at this price it's even more of a bargain.
 
arch said:
This is one of the better posts I've seen here awhile. Very intelligent and insightful.

I just purchased a Sony W70 a few days ago. It was on sale at Circuit City for 189 bucks. Now thinking of returning it (still unopened) and getting this S3. What do you think? This S3 looks like a quasi-DSLR, but you think it's worth it to give up my Sony for this?

Thanks.
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It's going to really depend on what your intent is. If you're going to be using it as just a "casual" digital camera, you'll probably be fine with that one, for considerably less money than the S3.

However, there are some pretty limiting factors in the Sony - only 2 second max exposure vs. 15 seconds on the A710 (and presumably at least that on the S3). This is useful for night time shots, for example, of cityscapes, or pretty much anything that's lit at night.

The Sony does have some respectable options to customize exposure, aperature, etc. The Sony is more of a simple point and shoot camera. And for that purpose, it should be more than sufficient.

If you're looking to step up to more flexibility, the S3 would be a good choice. The reason I chose the A710 is that it's sort of a best of both worlds situation. It has the nice 6x optical zoom (your Sony has 3x) along with all the advanced customization features, but at the same time is fairly compact, only uses 2 batteries, and has a nice "fully automatic" point and shoot mode. The S3 has a much larger 12x zoom. In addition the two Canon cameras have image stabilization, which helps you to take much clearer pictures in lower lighting conditions or at higher zoom levels. Without the IS feature, lower light shots or zoom shots are likely to come out blurry without a tripod.

One thing that I would hold against the Sony (and this is just a matter of personal preference), is that the Sony uses a custom Lithium battery. You must use this battery, you can't use AAs or rechargeable AAs. This can be a problem, especially if you only buy one battery, as if the battery runs out, you're completely stuck until you can get home and charge it back up. If you want to buy an addition Lithium battery, they're much more expensive than NiMH AA rechargeables. That's what I like about the Canon, you can charge up a bunch of AAs, and not have to worry about your batteries running out, just pop in some more charged ones. And, if you're in a pinch, you can always pick up a pack of alkaline AAs and use them. The S3 uses 4 AAs, the A710 uses 2.

One more benefit of Canon over Sony is that the Canon cameras use secure digital memory cards which are much cheaper than the Memory Stick memory cards that Sony uses.

I guess in the end you'll have to decide if it's worth the extra $100 or so for the convenience of being able to use AAs, the increased custom options, and a much larger optical zoom (digital zoom is a virtually worthless feature - if you'd like to know why I can explain, just let me know). If you plan on taking a lot of pictures, printing out 8x10s, and really getting into photography, the S3 would be a better starter choice than the Sony. If you're content with a more casual and portable digital camera, the Sony should definitely satisfy you and save you some money.

The A710 at Amazon for $255 shipped was really a no brainer for me as it basically has the convenience of the compact size, AA batteries, and also has a quality 6x zoom, image stabilization, and some higher end exposure and aperature controls.
 
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Wonderful info

bakntime said:
It's going to really depend on what your intent is. If you're going to be using it as just a "casual" digital camera, you'll probably be fine with that one, for considerably less money than the S3.

However, there are some pretty limiting factors in the Sony - only 2 second max exposure vs. 15 seconds on the A710 (and presumably at least that on the S3). This is useful for night time shots, for example, of cityscapes, or pretty much anything that's lit at night.

The Sony does have some respectable options to customize exposure, aperature, etc. The Sony is more of a simple point and shoot camera. And for that purpose, it should be more than sufficient.

If you're looking to step up to more flexibility, the S3 would be a good choice. The reason I chose the A710 is that it's sort of a best of both worlds situation. It has the nice 6x optical zoom (your Sony has 3x) along with all the advanced customization features, but at the same time is fairly compact, only uses 2 batteries, and has a nice "fully automatic" point and shoot mode. The S3 has a much larger 12x zoom. In addition the two Canon cameras have image stabilization, which helps you to take much clearer pictures in lower lighting conditions or at higher zoom levels. Without the IS feature, lower light shots or zoom shots are likely to come out blurry without a tripod.

One thing that I would hold against the Sony (and this is just a matter of personal preference), is that the Sony uses a custom Lithium battery. You must use this battery, you can't use AAs or rechargeable AAs. This can be a problem, especially if you only buy one battery, as if the battery runs out, you're completely stuck until you can get home and charge it back up. If you want to buy an addition Lithium battery, they're much more expensive than NiMH AA rechargeables. That's what I like about the Canon, you can charge up a bunch of AAs, and not have to worry about your batteries running out, just pop in some more charged ones. And, if you're in a pinch, you can always pick up a pack of alkaline AAs and use them. The S3 uses 4 AAs, the A710 uses 2.

One more benefit of Canon over Sony is that the Canon cameras use secure digital memory cards which are much cheaper than the Memory Stick memory cards that Sony uses.

I guess in the end you'll have to decide if it's worth the extra $100 or so for the convenience of being able to use AAs, the increased custom options, and a much larger optical zoom (digital zoom is a virtually worthless feature - if you'd like to know why I can explain, just let me know). If you plan on taking a lot of pictures, printing out 8x10s, and really getting into photography, the S3 would be a better starter choice than the Sony. If you're content with a more casual and portable digital camera, the Sony should definitely satisfy you and save you some money.

The A710 at Amazon for $255 shipped was really a no brainer for me as it basically has the convenience of the compact size, AA batteries, and also has a quality 6x zoom, image stabilization, and some higher end exposure and aperature controls.
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I appreciate the reply. Will trek to the store tomorrow and grab one of these Canons. :yo:
 
to further fortify the experiences here ill tell of mine.

A while back i was in the market for a digicam. I purchased the canon A620 on impulse because i got a great deal at the time. I used it/tested it out and decided it was just tooooo heavy and too bulky for me, and for the features it had the bulk wasnt worth it.

I dont mind big cameras all that much, so i said to myself that with the S2 IS id get the high level zoom Image stabiliazation etc... ---

To cut it short i ended up getting the A700 (the previous model of the A710) and was overjoyed - it was a balance between big and functional - while being smaller than the A620 and the S2 IS -

It was perfectly balanced - not pocket sized but not too big to carry, 2 AA batteries cut down on size unlike the a620 and i liked the fact that it didnt have a swivel screen LCD, but instead a nice big built in screen.

The only reason i sold it and ill repeat the ONLY REASON - was to buy the A710 with image stabilization - at the longer end of the zoom it was hard to keep the camera steady and pictures sometimes came out blurry -

The deal i got on the a700 originally was great so when i sold it i actually made a few dollars on the camera.

Now the price on the A710 IS has gone down a bit so im just waiting for another killer deal to come up on it and then i will purchase it. Originall it sold for 399 now its down to 299 and if i can get some sort of discount on that i will get it.
 
Ralphie917 said:
Now the price on the A710 IS has gone down a bit so im just waiting for another killer deal to come up on it and then i will purchase it. Originall it sold for 399 now its down to 299 and if i can get some sort of discount on that i will get it.
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It's $255 at Amazon.com, free shipping. I've always had great luck with Amazon, and their support/service is excellent.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-Digital-Image-Stabilized-Optical/dp/B000HATNH4/


Oh, and just a little tip on taking pictures with less/no blur - aside from using a tripod or setting the camera on a steady surface - you can set the camera in "timer" mode at the lowest setting - usually 2 seconds and taking the picture that way. This will often cut down on blur quite a bit, the reason being that most of the blur incurred when you take a picture is due to the fact that the camera moves a bit when you press the shutter button. By setting the timer, the picture itself doesn't get taken until two seconds after you press the shutter, allowing you to be steadier with the picture. It helps a lot in situations where the image stabilization can't fully compensate and/or when you can't find a tripod or steady surface to take pictures on.

I bought a little mini-flex tripod on ebay, and it's without a doubt one of the best camera purchases I've ever made. It folds up and literally fits in a shirt pocket, making it even more portable than the camera. It even has a built in clip on the side so that you can hang it from a shirt pocket, etc. I would HIGHLY recommend getting one. There are several sellers on ebay that sell them for ridiculously cheap (in the $4 shipped range).

Here's one of them: http://cgi.ebay.com/MINI-TRIPOD-FOR...ryZ30096QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I bought from this seller - only $3 shipped. It's a great tripod for helping to steady those low-light and zoom shots! It's very sturdy, too.
 
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