Canon PowerShot S3 IS

This camera represents excelent value for money - I paid around £180 2nd hand as new in September 2007. The picture quality is very good overall, the only thing which is slightly lower quality is the edges of branches against a bright sky.

The super macro mode is amazing and you can touch objects on the lens, provided adequate lighting, for incredible detail. The zoom is among the best on the market at this price and I use it almost every time I take photos.

The camera is very easy and quick to get started with, but at the same time has a plethora of features to fiddle with.

Now that I know more about photography, the only limitations I have found are that it does not accept hot shoe flash brackets, cannot shoot in RAW mode, and the aperture values only go from f/2.7 to f/8.0, meaning the depth of field isn't as high as i'd always like.

However, I am very pleased I bought this camera on the back of other good online reviews. Highly recommended, very difficult to beat in this price category.

Canon put all their knowledge in the Powershot S2 tomake it a very fast digital compact camera. It is very responsive and2.4 fps in continuous mode without limit is a unique feature for thistype of camera. Auto focus is fast, also in low-light conditions.Zooming from full wide-angle to full tele AF will take some time.The camera is very responsive and reacts instantaneous. Exposureand parameters such as ISO, white balance and exposure compensation are set intuitively with the main mode dial and the function button.The Powershot S2 is also positioned as a movie camera. Quality(640x480 resolution, 30 fps) and features (stereo sound and zoom) are very good. The only limitation is the maximum file size of 1 GB. During movie recording one can take stills at high resolution. The movie mode will be interrupted for a moment.Though video isn't a main feature on this kind of still cameras,the quality of the avi-movies of the Power shot S2 is stunning andtherefore a very good plus. It is suitable for beginners and moreadvanced photographers and are extremely useful for candids, nature-and travel photography, as well as taking pictures at concerts and indoor eventsColor and exposure:The Power shot S2 delivers good colors and white balance tends tomake them a bit warm and saturated. This can be modified in-camera.Exposure is progressive, delivering bright pictures, but keeping thehighlights within range.Sharpness:Hand held pictures at 432 mm are razor-sharp. In the rest of thezoom- and aperture range sharpness is acceptable with signs of over sharpening. The in-camera setting can solve this problem.Lens distortion:A zoom lens of this focus range can suffer from many deviations:chromatic aberration, distortions, vignette and unsharpness. ThePowershot S2 handles all these problems at a very acceptable level and seldom one of those issues is unacceptable manifest.Noise:Canon seems to keep noise reduction very modest. Noise is therefore noticeable above ISO 100, but detail is maintained. With a noise filter one can reduce noise in the post-processing. At ISO 400 all pictures are usable for prints of 8" x 6" or smaller.

The 12X zoom is the best feature. You really don't need any more than that for personal use. Though one needs to use a tripod to keep the camera steady for higher digital zooms.

It comes with 4 alkaline AA size batteries however it is much better to buy a set of rechargeable batteries since they tend to run out pretty quickly.

Also you need to buy fresh storage immediately since the 16 MB card that the camera comes with can hardly store any images.

Since I am a Canon user I miss the face finder that is available on the compact models. Even the auto mode does not have this feature.

Image quality is excellent. Very easy to use.

I bought this camera for our daughter who wanted to start wildlife photography. I wasn't prepared to buy the kind of specialist (and therefore expensive) equipment which is required for this area of photography, but reviews indicated that the Canon S3 looked to be a good bet. Lens focal length was obviously an important factor here and the 12x zoom on the S3 gives a 35mm equivalent of 432mm at the top end - an excellent compromise. Image stabilization is available and this reduces camera shake - a problem which increases as focal length increases - thus alleviating the need for a tripod. A steady hand or alternative support is still useful though.

The S3 is a robust affair and feels nice and solid, even though it is of plastic construction. There's a neat on/off switch and the remaining controls are well laid out, although the set button is placed outside the multi controller, rather than in the centre but this is no big deal. What's more, the menu system is easy to navigate.

Image quality is excellent and lens aberrations are minimal. Most people will probably know that using a digital zoom is not recommended but my daughter has used the first step on this and the results are fine. If you know what you are doing with imaging software, then you can produce some exceptional images with this camera. We've had problems with rechargeable batteries, which is not the fault of the camera, but carry plenty of spares and avoid using the LCD as this eats battery power. Before rechargeable, camera batteries would last forever. What happened? My suggestion is to use lithium batteries which are more expensive but last for ages.

The LCD itself is a multi directional affair which rotates and turns through all angles. This offers complete protection to the screen when it is not being used and enables viewing of the image from difficult angles.

As with most cameras, the S2 incorporates a lot of additional functions, many of which are completely unnecessary. Lets be clear, creativity isn't about changing the colour of an image for the sake of it and if you do need to make alterations, they are better done using a suitable programme. There are the usual additional modes on board, such as sports, portrait and landscape and while it can be argued that using these may save a few valuable seconds I do personally question their validity. This camera is for those who are at least fairly serious about photography and this being the case, they should be understanding about the medium rather than taking shortcuts. If manufacturers cut out all this gimmicky stuff perhaps the price could come down a bit, although the price is certainly acceptable for this camera.

There are various options for metering and focus, which may find their place in certain situations and manual override is available for most functions. Changing shutter speed and aperture manually is a little awkward and the manual focus is a waste of time. An enlarged view of the centre of the image appears in this mode in order to assist focussing but the clarity is still poor and precise focussing becomes extremely difficult. Autofocus is absolutely fine providing that you understand exactly how it functions.

To its credit, the camera also has a viewfinder, something which manufacturers are slowly dispensing with presumably to cater for those who prefer to use the LCD. As a photographer, I believe that using a viewfinder is essential for reasons which I won't go into here, but enough to say that if you've got one, use it. However, the viewfinder here is electronic which is a shame because the clarity which one would expect from an optical finder is lacking and certainly in terms of wildlife photography this is a disadvantage.

Probably the worst thing about the package is the fact the the instruction manual comes on disc. This is both annoying and inconsiderate. There will doubtless be many purchasers who would like to carry the manual around with them, at least until they are familiar with the camera but this is impossible unless the instructions are printed out. Even so, the manual is pretty easy to understand.

There may appear to be a lot of gripes here but this really is not the case. The S3 is a serious little camera which looks the business and performs well. What's more, there appears to have been a lot of thought put into it. It's an ideal camera for anyone who wants to move into serious photography but cannot afford an SLR although if you have large hands you may find handling it a little awkward. The wildlife photography? It's coming on fine.