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  • Physical Tour

  • Components

  • Design / Layout

  • Modes

  • Control Options

  • Image Parameters

  • Connectivity / Extras

  • Overall Impressions

  • Conclusion

  • Physical Tour
  • Components
  • Design / Layout
  • Modes
  • Control Options
  • Image Parameters
  • Connectivity / Extras
  • Overall Impressions
  • Conclusion

Physical Tour

The front of the Canon PowerShot S3 IS is quite plain looking compared to the back of the camera and looks identical to the S2 model, with the exception of its black color. The large handgrip sits on the left and the large lens barrel sits on the right. The grip is covered in a rubbery surface and is comfortable to hold. The threaded lens is surrounded by a rim that screws off when the button to the bottom right is pushed so the user can screw on accessory lenses. Above the lens on both sides are built-in microphones. Directly above the lens is the flash; it has a Canon logo on the front and must be manually pulled open. To the top right of the lens is the large and green auto focus illuminator. The front of the camera isn’t incredibly attractive on the whole but looks simple enough to be inviting to advancing point-and-shooters.

**Back **

The most noticeable feature on the back of the PowerShot S3 is the LCD monitor that folds out, rotates and can fold back into the camera facing in or out. Above the LCD is a large eyecup with a tiny electronic viewfinder inside and a diopter adjustment dial to its left to focus that tiny window. To the right of the viewfinder is a large unlabeled red button; this is the only button that can be used to record movies.

Directly to the right of the LCD screen are four buttons; the top three are located on a contour that looks more connected to the LCD monitor. From the top, they are Func/Delete, ISO/Jump, Shortcut/Print, and Disp. All the way on the right edge is a vertical panel that looks more connected to the right-hand grip and has a silver multi-selector at the top. Beneath it are Set and Menu buttons and a red LED that blinks when movies are being recorded. The back of the camera, with its small pile of buttons, may be intimidating for point-and-shooters.

**Left Side **

Looking at the left side, the two buttons on the side of the large lens barrel can be seen. The manual focus button is on top and the macro button is on the bottom. At the top of the main camera segment is where the eyelet is placed for attachment of the neck strap. Just below this is a circular rubber door to the A/V-out jack, and below this is the built-in speaker.

**Right Side
**The right side of the Canon PowerShot S3 IS is quite wide because of the handgrip and has few features. It has a hinged plastic door that opens to reveal the memory card slot near the bottom and a flimsy rubber door just above it that must be pried off to reveal the USB and DC in jacks. At the very top of this side is a wide eyelet for attaching the neck strap.

**Top
**The top of the camera has plenty of contours and different levels of surfaces that are consistent with DSLR designs. The flash protrudes up above the lens and the back of the viewfinder’s eyecup can be seen from the top as well. To the left of the flash is the flash mode function button that doubles as the voice memo recorder. Directly to the right of the flash is a very large silver mode dial with letters and icons surrounding it. A tag mark sits on the left to show which mode is in position and at the ready.

To the right of the mode dial is the power button, which is surrounded by a switch that moves the camera from the recording functions to the playback mode. A red LED sits by this feature and indicates when the camera is on, although hopefully users should know when it is on anyway. At the front edge of the handgrip is the polished and comfortable shutter release button that is surrounded by a zoom switch. The switch has a wide nub on it that is easier to turn than the nub on some of the other Canon PowerShots that have this same feature. Still, it’s not as easy to work as other controls. Below the shutter release button is a small circular button that activates the burst and self-timer modes.

**Bottom
**Beneath the right-hand grip is an L-shaped compartment where the four AA batteries are stowed. To its right is the tripod mount, which is below the left edge of the lens barrel. The base of the camera is quite wide, which works well because users need space to grab onto to support the hefty S3.

Components

**Viewfinder
**

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has a low-temperature polycrystalline silicon TFT color viewfinder that sits just above the LCD screen and is framed in a comfortable eyecup. The window is bigger than most compact viewfinders, but it isn’t an optical view either. Still, that’s probably a good thing. Most optical viewfinders on compact models are a bit inaccurate and the electronic viewfinder shows a 100 percent accurate view.

The Canon S3’s viewfinder may be accurate, but the image quality is a little hairy. The resolution is very poor. Canon did not have specs for the number of pixels on the electronic viewfinder, but it’s like looking at a television too closely – the red, green and blue dots can be seen. The S3’s viewfinder can display two views with and without shooting info. Users can customize the display and choose whether or not to display shooting information, grid lines and histograms in the two views. The Custom Display setting is located in the recording menu.

The viewfinder itself has a diopter dial on the left side that adjusts the view for people with eyeglasses. While it does do its job, turning the tiny dial is nearly impossible because of its size and stiffness. Overall, the tiny 0.3-inch viewfinder saves battery power but doesn’t provide the nicest view.

**LCD Screen
**Like its predecessor, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS has a low-temperature polycrystalline silicon LCD that folds outward and rotates 270 degrees. As it rotates, the projected image rotates too

and remains right-side up at all times. It can bend to nearly any angle and can snap back into the camera facing in or out. This variable angle action is good because the screen catches horrible glares from any kind of light.

The old S2’s screen was 1.8 inches, and the S3 upgrades to a 2-inch LCD. The screen has 115,000 pixels, the same amount of resolution that was on the S2’s 1.8-inch and S1’s 1.5-inch screens. So while the resolution isn’t the greatest, it still works enough to view and frame pictures. Like the viewfinder, the LCD has 100 percent coverage of the recorded image. The LCD’s displayed information can also be customized just as it is in the viewfinder; this is a nice feature for users who always want the histogram, for example. With the LCD-viewfinder combination the way it is, it would be good to use the LCD in low light and other situations where a close view is needed and use the viewfinder for those sunny days when bending the LCD around constantly could be a hindrance.

**Flash
**The powerful flash on the S3 can reach from 1.6-17 ft at the widest focal length. In telephoto, the flash can reach from 3-13 ft, which is still quite respectable. When the flash fires in the macro mode, it is effective from 1-1.6 ft, although it is extremely difficult to get it just right. There is a flash compensation adjustment that helps, but shooting with the flash in macro is still a bold endeavor that requires a lot of reviewing on the LCD screen. The flash compensation adjustment has three steps to it.

The Canon specs claim the flash takes "12 seconds or less" to recycle, but it never took that long. It is more of the "or less," which is good. The following flash modes are available: Auto, Auto with Red-eye Reduction, On, On with Red-eye Reduction and Off. There is also a slow synchro flash mode that can be turned on and off in the recording menu; a front and rear curtain flash sync is also available. There is a flash button to the left of the flash protrusion, but it does not open the flash. This button is used to cycle through the flash modes once the flash is opened; it remains useless otherwise.

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS’s flash does not pop up when needed. Instead, it must be manually pulled open, just like the one on the S2. The flash contraption is made of light plastic, so it feels a little cheap. However, the flash has good coverage and plenty of options.

**Zoom Lens
**

Equipped with a 6-72mm lens (36-432mm equiv), the Canon PowerShot S3 IS is worthy of entering the ultra zoom digital camera market. The 12x zoom lens is the same one that is on the older S2. All of its components are the same. They both have f/2.7 maximum apertures at the wide 6mm focal length. They both have f/3.5 max apertures in telephoto and minimum f/8 apertures throughout the range. The Canon lens has an Ultra Sonic Motor, or USM, and stays fairly quiet but does have a tiny high-pitched noise to it.

The zoom works very quickly and is sensitive to its zoom switch control. The control surrounds the shutter release button and can get about 17 focal lengths throughout the 12x range. If users want a larger range, there are optional lenses for this digital camera. There is a 0.75x wide angle lens and a 1.5x telephoto lens as well as a dual element close-up lens that will be available. These fit onto the thread that sits beneath the outer lens rim. The rim screws off easily when the button to the bottom left of the lens is pushed.

There are macro and super-macro modes available on the S3 IS that work really well. It is possible to stick a paper literally right up to the lens and still get a clear shot; this is very cool for such a long lens. Also noteworthy is the Canon lens’ barrel distortion; it bent images downward at the top edges. It is more noticeable in the macro modes and much less noticeable when taking group shots and other everyday pictures in the middle of the zoom range. And certainly of note is the image stabilization system that is incorporated in the S3 IS. It has three modes – Continuous, Shoot Only and Panning – and works well in all three. It keeps the jitters that are especially noticeable in the telephoto end of the lens out of the picture altogether.

Design / Layout

**Model Design / Appearance
**The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has similar curves and dimensions to its S2 predecessor. Its SLR shape looks much more attractive in the black housing though, rather than the silver frame the S2 is in; the Canon PowerShot S3 has a black frame that is built from a heavy plastic and highlighted with silver metal. The design doesn’t look beautiful, but the ultra zoom series isn’t really about beauty at all. It’s about function and… well, ultra zoom. With that in mind, the Canon S3’s body has a large lens barrel on one side and a large right-hand grip on the other side. This gives the camera an overall balanced look while its coloring gives it a more professional feel.

**Size / Portability
**The new Canon S3 and old S2 have identical dimensions of 4.46 x 3.07 x 2.97 inches, but the new model weighs 0.2 oz more with its 14.5 oz net weight. That measurement does not include the four AA batteries it takes to run the camera, so the total weight of the S3 definitely exceeds a pound. The heft of this camera makes it a little tricky to transport, but its symmetrical eyelets and included neck strap definitely help. When packing this model away, remember that it should really have its own camera bag. With all of its protrusions, it would be protected best in its own cushy space. And it certainly won’t fit in a pocket.

**Handling Ability
**The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has a large 12x zoom lens in a large barrel, but it has an even larger handgrip. The camera is a bit off-balance with the majority of the heft coming from the handgrip and the four AA batteries. This shouldn’t throw off photographers too much, though.

The camera is about four and a half inches wide on the bottom and it has a decent base with which to support its weight. The height of the camera is such that the whole hand can comfortably wrap around the grip with the index finger on the shutter release button and the pinky supporting the camera from below. The thumb can sit on the back of the camera, where there are plenty of buttons and controls for it to dance upon. When the thumb is done with its waltz, it can rest on the bumpy grip that Canon included. These little features help deal with the weight of the S3.

**

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size
**The buttons on the S2 are the same ones on the S3. There are tons of them, which makes it look even more like a DSLR. The buttons are large and nicely spaced so that pushing one will not accidentally push others. The only exception to this is the diopter dial, which is the size of a pea (really) and quite difficult to turn.

The buttons are well labeled for the most part except for a red button near the viewfinder; this is the button that activates the movie mode. This isn’t really intuitive and users will keep pressing the shutter release button and wondering why the movie is very still. The positioning of the buttons is otherwise mostly intuitive, but there are so many that it is easy to loose track of them. There are two buttons on the left side that are hard to remember; out of sight is out of mind. These access the manual focus and the macro modes. MenuThe menus on the Canon PowerShot S3 IS are typical of other models put out this year – and in years past. Pushing the menu button is like opening a little filing cabinet that is much more organized than most photographers would be. In the recording menu, there are three folders with multi-colored tabs peeking out the top. The left tab is red and has a picture of a camera on it. The following options are from that menu.    If you’re wondering where the more useful features are, they are located in a separate menu that is accessible only when the Func/Set button is pushed. The following is its menu.   The split menu system may confuse some people, but is supposedly designed to make it easy to find the more frequently used functions. Photographers seem to have a love-hate relationship with this system. Back in the recording menu, there is a yellow tab in the center of the menu system that has a tool on it. This is the setup menu and includes another long list of options.    The third tab is all the way to the right and has an icon of a person on a blue tab; this is the My Camera menu. The following options are available: Theme, Startup Image, Startup Sound, Operation Sound, Self-timer Sound, and Shutter Sound. All of these can be shut off, but they also have three options each. The selection is the same as on previous PowerShots; there are dog howls and bird chirps and the silly picture of a yellow bird in its nest. Perhaps a nature enthusiast designed these settings. I guess they go well with the S3 IS; the long zoom and image stabilization make it a candidate for bird watchers and other nature photographers. In the playback menu, there are four folder tabs. The two on the right are the setup and My Camera tabs. The two on the left include the review and print tabs. The review menu isn’t quite as extensive as some of the other menus in the system.    The print menu is even shorter, which is fine. It keeps things simple.    The menus are quite long and some of the items get lost within them, such as the Intervalometer (can you remember where that’s at?). Still, the tabbed system organizes them to some extent.

**Ease of Use
**The lengthy menus are quite intimidating, but at least they are easy to navigate through. There are a few features that make the Canon S3 a little easier to use such as the designated print button, but the camera is overall not that simple. There are tons of on-camera buttons, which keeps a few features out of the already overloaded menu system. There are onscreen directions for everything, but the directions are sometimes lost among the vast amount of other onscreen info. The camera is easy to use in the auto mode, however, where users need only to point, zoom and snap a shot.

Modes

**Auto Mode
**Indeed, auto mode is the only mode that is truly easy to use. The Func/Set menu is shortened to only include the compression and image sizes, and all of the white balance and exposure compensation and such is not available.

When users push the ISO function, there are two choices. There is the regular Auto ISO and the High ISO Auto. The flash does not automatically pop up when it’s needed, but there is a message that appears: "Raise the Flash." The automatic mode is easy to use, as it should be.

**Movie Mode
**The movie mode on the Canon PowerShot S3 IS is highly publicized because it is complemented by the 12x zoom lens and the image stabilization system; one of the best parts of the movie mode is that the 12x optical zoom can be used while recording movies. And there’s more. The S3 has a MovieSnap function that lets users take photos while shooting video. This is made possible with the two-button setup. The shutter release button snaps still images, as usual, and the movies can only be recorded with the unlabeled red button near the viewfinder.

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS can shoot 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 pixels at quick frame rates of 30 and 15 fps. There is also an even faster frame rate available, but only in the reduced 320 x 240-pixel size. It can record 60 fps and only for one minute. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS can record continuous video for up to 1 GB. Stereo audio can be recorded with the video clips and options like the wind diffuser and the microphone level can be adjusted for better quality. Even with the defaults, the audio was great and recorded voices clearly even with background noises.

The ISO button can be pushed in the movie mode to act as a gain-up function. And of note is the image stabilization feature, of course. Canon claims that its optical image stabilization system corrects "up to three stops of camera shake correction in shutter speed equivalency," according to their web site. The image stabilization system keeps movies from looking like footage of earthquakes and is great for moms who have trouble holding their cameras still while cheering for their kids’ baseball team.

**Drive / Burst Mode
**A designated button near the shutter release activates the burst mode. Once activated, the camera can shoot 2.3 fps, which is respectable but not overly impressive. The amazing part about the burst mode is that it lasts so long. The Canon S3 IS can shoot 2.3 fps for almost 30 pictures before breaking pace even the slightest bit.

The self-timer can be activated from the same button. There are 2 and 10-second options and even a custom self-timer that lets users delay for up to 30 seconds and then take 1-10 consecutive shots.

A similar mode is the Intervalometer, which most users won’t even know exists. It is buried within the recording menu and is an extension of the self-timer concept. In this mode, users can leave the camera to sit and snap 2-9 shots – one every 1-60 minutes. This would be good for snapping the clouds rolling by or monitoring a construction project; when the many images are played back, it shows the progress over time.

**Playback Mode
**Viewing individual pictures in the playback mode is easy with the many features. Photos can be magnified from 2-10x and users can view histograms for each picture. The picture automatically rotates when the LCD or the camera is rotated, so the image is always facing the correct direction for the photographer. Users can add sound memos up to 60 seconds to each photo. Scrolling through images is easy too.

There is an index frame mode that displays nine thumbnails per page. If there are large amounts of files, the Jump button will make it easy to find a particular picture. It can jump to every tenth or hundredth photo, or it can jump to movies and certain dates. Slide shows can be played back with different transitions and loops and such. Users can erase one or all of the photos, as well as erase the beginning or end of a movie. There is also an entire menu devoted to printing that lets users individually select pictures and quantities of prints among other things.

Also of note is the new availability of many of the My Colors modes in the playback mode. In the Canon S2, My Colors could only be implemented before recording images. In the new models – including the S3 – the My Colors settings can be added after the fact. Not all of the My Colors modes are available though. The really cool ones, like the Color Swap and the Color Accent, cannot be added in playback. The rest of the vivid color filters and skin tone enhancements can be used though. This is a nice feature for users who try to avoid editing software and want to get interesting features straight out of the camera.

**Custom Image Presets
**The mode dial is nice and large, which allows some space for a few scene modes. Canon crammed its most frequently used scene modes onto the dial: Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene and Sports. These are all represented by intuitive icons. The rest of the scene modes can be found in the ‘SCN’ position on the mode dial. Once it is selected, the modes can be scrolled through by pushing on the right and left sides of the multi-selector. When this is done, an icon representing the scene mode and its accompanying text title appears in the center of the LCD screen. The following modes are in this menu: Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Indoor, Night Snapshot, Color Accent and Color Swap. These are quite specific and probably won’t be used as often. It is nice that the frequently used modes are included directly on the dial because they’ll be much more easily accessible.

Control Options

**Manual Control Options
**The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has an entire range of manual to automatic functionality with its Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Program modes. The S3 also has an auto mode that is very easy to use and a custom mode that saves the user’s preferences. Besides the actual manual mode, this digital camera has lots of manual options, including audio level selection when shooting videos.

**Focus
***Auto Focus
*The through-the-lens auto focus system can be selected to work continuously or only when the shutter release button is pushed. There is a yellow box that appears in the frame; this box turns green when the camera is fully focused. The S3 does not stop the camera from taking a picture when out of focus though. In fact, it’s quite easy to skip the AF Lock and snap a blurry shot.

The focus system itself is a little slow, so there is some lag time because of it. This is very apparent in the movie mode. The zoom is available while recording movies, but the focus can be seen working real hard and taking its time. The long Canon lens can focus from 1.6 ft in wide and 3 ft in the telephoto modes. It can focus from 3.9 inches-1.6 ft in macro. The super macro mode is even more incredible; it can focus from 0-3.9 inches. Yes, that’s a zero. Users can take clear shots of things that are touching the lens, which is pretty good for a 12x zoom lens. In low light, the auto focus has a little help from the illuminator on the front. It is large and fluorescent green, so it’s not very attractive – but it works.

*Manual Focus
*The designated manual focus button is on the left side of the lens barrel and must be pushed down while users scroll up and down with the multi-selector. The screen shows arrows and a sliding scale and includes numeric indicators. This maneuver is a little difficult with the heft of the camera. The center of the frame can be zoomed in upon so users can get a better view of what they’re focusing on.

**Metering
**The metering mode used to be accessible from an on-camera button on the S2, but has been moved into the Func/Set menu on the S3 model. Now that button is occupied by the ISO function. The following metering modes are available: Evaluative, Center-weighted Average and Spot. The Spot metering mode can be selected to meter from the center or be linked to the auto focus frame; this can be done within the recording menu.

**Exposure
**Also located in the Func/Set menu is the exposure compensation mode, which has the standard +/- 2 EV settings listed in 1/3 increments. This menu has live views and histograms, so users can easily choose the proper exposure. The Canon S3’s exposure modes include the Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Program modes, as well as the automatic and scene modes.

**White Balance
**The white balance modes can be selected from a list in the Func/Set menu. The following options are included with live views: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash and Custom. The auto mode didn’t seem to work very well, although the lighting on the trade show floor is very difficult. There are multi-colored lights and brightly lit signs and fluorescent lights above and flashing lights and such, so many cameras have trouble finding the right color. The custom white balance worked much better. The frame has a tiny box within it that users uses to frame something white. There are on-camera instructions for setting the custom white balance and it’s not hard to do.

**ISO
**One of the Canon PowerShot S3 IS’s main features - like the other newly released PowerShot models that utilize Canon’s new 6-megapixel chip - is its new ISO 800 setting. This is twice as sensitive as the S2’s maximum ISO 400 setting. The higher sensitivity is useful for keeping blur out of images and shooting in low light without using the flash. The camera combines the ISO 800 setting with a quick shutter speed and the image stabilization system to reduce blur. Many manufacturers are including some version of this in their camera lineups this year.

The following manual ISO settings are available by pushing the ISO button: 80, 100, 200, 400 and 800. There are also two automatic modes: Auto ISO and High ISO Auto. The ISO button has some functionality in the movie mode as well. It acts as a gain-up mode.

**Shutter Speed
**The shutter speeds can be selected by scrolling left and right on the multi-selector. The shutter can flip as fast as 1/3200th of a second or be open as long as 15 seconds. There is a live view of the shutter speeds in the manual mode (which makes the live view image brighter with slower speeds) but not in the shutter priority mode.

**Aperture
**Like the previous priority mode, this mode also has live views in the manual mode. However, it does not have them in the aperture priority mode. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has wide apertures of f/2.7 in wide and f/3.5 in telephoto. This is very good for a 12x zoom lens. Throughout the range, there is an f/8 minimum aperture.

Image Parameters

**Picture Quality / Size Options
**Selectable from the Func/Set menu in every shooting mode are the image quality and size options. All of the image sizes are available in the JPEG Normal, Fine and SuperFine compressions. As users scroll through these, the number of available pictures that can fit is displayed; this number changes to reflect available memory. So while users may be able to get 140 shots from the Normal compression, they can only get 90 from the Fine setting, for example. The image sizes have that helpful option too; the number can be viewed in the bottom right corner of the LCD screen.

The following image sizes are available: Large (2816 x 2112), Medium 1 (2272 x 1704), Medium 2 (1600 x 1200), Small (640 x 480). There is also a widescreen-optimized 2816 x 1584 pixel mode that is formatted in 16:9. This is a new feature on the Canon PowerShot ultra zoom series and facilitates panoramic-style pictures. Despite this setting, there is still a Stitch Assist mode that lets users snap pictures left to right and right to left to their hearts’ content. The editing software stitches the pictures together when they are uploaded to a computer.

**Picture Effects Mode
**In some previous PowerShots, the My Colors mode has had its own real estate on the mode dial and has been only available in the recording mode. The new Canon PowerShot S3 IS makes some changes to the protocol. Instead of being on the mode dial, the color effects have a new home within the Func/Set menu. It is here that these options can be found: Vivid, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone and Custom Color. The more interesting Color Swap and Color Accent modes can be found within the scene mode menu. The longer list is available from the playback menu as well, but users cannot swap their red shirts for blue ones or accent their red lips on their black and white faces in the playback mode.

Connectivity / Extras

**Connectivity
***Software
*The Canon PowerShot S3 IS will come with the Canon Digital Camera Solution CD-ROM, although the specific version is not known.

*Jacks, Ports, Plugs
*There is a flimsy rubber door on the right side of the camera that covers the DC in and USB jacks. There is a tiny dent in the top of the door for users to grip, but it is incredibly small and still difficult to pry open. Still, the door snaps in tight and isn’t left hanging. The USB jack is 2.0 high-speed compatible, helping expedite image export to your computer. The A/V out cable connects to the other side beneath a circular rubber door. The video system can be selected to function in PAL or NTSC format from the setup menu.

*Direct Print Options
*Despite its relatively difficult setup, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS has a Print/Share button on the back that also doubles as a Shortcut button. The printing button has an LED that lights up when connected to a printer. The camera is DPOF version 1.1 compliant and PictBridge compatible as well. The S3 IS can connect to any PictBridge printer, but has certain functions available only with Canon printers. The ID Photo Print and Movie Print functions are only possible with Canon CP

and Selphy Compact Photo Printers. Canon also markets the S3 as having a face brightening editing function for backlit subjects, but this is only on the Canon printers too. Users can access a print menu from the playback mode. This is where users can select images and certain quantities for printing.

*Battery
*The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has the same DIGIC II image processor that the S2 had; this processor claims better power consumption than the original chip. According to Canon, the Canon S3 IS can get 110 shots from alkaline batteries and 550 from the rechargeable set; it takes four AAs to make it work. The battery life is impressive if users purchase the optional NiMH rechargeable batteries and the optional battery charger. The alkaline AAs get sucked dry too quickly though.
*

  • *Memory
    *The memory card fits into a slot protected by a door on the right side of the camera. It is a plastic door with a hinge, so it’s much better quality than the port door above it. The Canon S3 takes SD or MMC cards and comes packaged with a tiny 16MB SD card. Since this card will only be able to fit 4 full-resolution shots, users will definitely want to pick up some more memory.

Overall Impressions

**Value
**The Canon PowerShot S3 IS will retail for $499 in May. This isn’t an amazing bargain, but is still competitively priced with the rest of the ultra zoom digital cameras this year. For having a 12x zoom lens and an optical image stabilization system, the price tag isn’t bad at all. Sure, Canon skimped on the 16 MB of memory so consumers will have to drop another fifty bucks or so for media, but they’d probably have to do that for any camera.

**Comparison to the Canon PowerShot S2 IS **

The Canon PowerShot S2 IS was popular in the ultra zoom market in 2005 with its 5 megapixels and 12x zoom lens. The lens is the exact same one as the new S3, and so is the accompanying image stabilization system. Still, the S3 adds a megapixel, increased sensitivity, and a few features here and there. The two PowerShots have the same body with the exception of the slight proportional difference of the LCD monitor on the back. The Canon S2 IS has a 1.8-inch LCD screen with 115,000 pixels that flips just like all the other vari-angle screens on the PowerShots. The S2 has the same movie mode with the simple editing and MovieSnap functions. The new model has an ISO 800 setting, while the S2’s range only reached to 400. When tested in the lab, the Canon S2 produced noisy images and average color reproduction, but did well in low light and had a decent burst mode. The burst shoots 2 frames per second and does so for a very long time. Its impressive endurance lasted a hundred shots at full resolution. The S3’s burst goes a few tenths of a second faster and also has good endurance. The Canon PowerShot S2 IS was introduced at the same $499 price point, but can be found for a lot less now.

**Who It’s For
***Point-and-Shooters –* The Canon PowerShot S3 IS isn’t the easiest camera to use and does way more than point and shoot. This model is an option for users who are stepping into more creative areas of digital photography.

Budget Consumers – At $499, the S3 is priced similarly to other ultra zoom digital cameras. With its functional image stabilization system and 12x zoom lens, the 6 megapixel S3 IS has a good foundation for a good camera. It tops that off with interesting features like the My Colors modes and the intervalometer.

*Gadget Freaks – *Gadget freaks could get a kick out of the aforementioned intervalometer and may enjoy playing with the image stabilization system. The Color Swap mode could also prove very entertaining. The S3 doesn’t have anything jaw-dropping, though.

Manual Control Freaks – The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has a whole list of manual and automatic modes and options. There is a manual mode with the traditional shutter speed and aperture adjustments. Users can also customize and save their most frequently used settings to the ‘C’ position on the mode dial.

*Pros / Serious Hobbyists – *This crowd may not be so impressed with the S3’s guts; they are the exact same as the skinny SD700 IS with the 6 megapixel CCD and DIGIC II image processor. However, it could still serve as a camera to tote on vacation or throw in the bag in case of a massive catastrophe with camera number one.

Conclusion

**Conclusion **

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has a lot of solid functions, but its actual image quality has yet to be tested. Its predecessor, the S2, produced noisy images that didn’t have great colors for a Canon. Still, the S3 has a whole new image sensor. With a 6 megapixel 1/2.5-inch CCD that is more sensitive, the Canon S3 has completely revamped and hopefully improved inner workings.

This PowerShot has an optical image stabilization system that has been one of the main characteristics of the Canon ultra zoom line since its inception. This image stabilization mode works very well and keeps the bumps out of video and the blur out of still images. With the addition of the new ISO 800 setting, the camera adds an additional layer of blur protection, along with increasing the camera’s low light recording capabilities. The camera body has a 2-inch LCD on the back that folds outward and rotates. The screen solarizes, so it must be rotated frequently, but many people like the camcorder style. The Canon PowerShot S3 isn’t an incredible bargain, but does have more pros than cons and is priced right among its competitors at $499.

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Emily Raymond

Emily Raymond

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Emily Raymond is a valued contributor to the Reviewed.com family of sites.

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