Short & Sweet S3 IS Review

Canon S3 IS

I went into Circuit City today because I heard a rumor that they were getting in the Canon S3 IS. This is canon's latest generation of digital camera with a 12x zoom & anti-shake. It is only a slight step up from the S2 IS (last year's model).

I do a fair amount of wedding photography in the summers and I have been looking for a spare small camera to carry as backup. I have been waiting for the S3 to hit shelves for several months, so I was excited to test it out.

I took these pictures in Circuit City using the SD card that I carry in my Treo. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, but I was a little disappointed. Canon has the best reputation of all digital camera companies for having images with low noise. This was probably the weakest area of this camera.

[1] This is not a picture of the S3, it is just a test shot that I took of another camera. One of the biggest complaints that people had about the S2 was that it was a little "soft focusy" This is not the case with the S3 the images seemed to be very sharp and the colors were great.

There were two problems that stood out immediately, the LCD screens in the view finder and on the back of the camera were both too dark. The viewing angle on the back LCD was especially terrible. Fortunately this LCD flips out and rotates providing a straight on viewing angle at all times.

The other problem was only visible after I opened the pictures. They were very noisey. If you click on any of the pictures above, you will see the full picture as it came out of the camera (don't bother if you are on dial-up Internet).

[2] Another positive for this camera was its fast lens. To me this may be worth a noisey picture or two. I was in one of the darkest corners of the store and I was still able to get great, well-lit shots.

The noise in the images truly was the worst part of this camera. The focus was amazingly fast - faster than any focus I have ever used on a point-and-shoot camera and faster than on most digital SLRs. If you are shooting children or sports, this camera is worth considering.

[3]Actually, the more I consider all that this camera will do, the more I like the idea of it. I just think that it is a shame that they couldn't have put a little nicer LCD onto the back or in the view finder and I know that they could have improved the noise issue.

However, I think that when it is compared to similar cameras by Panasonic, Sony and Kodak, the S3 will win hands down due to its feature set, color, speed, and all-around cameraness. It looks, works and feels like a great camera. It is obvious that Canon addressed the concerns they have had with the S1 and S2 in this camera, I just wish that they hadn't introduced a few new concerns along the way.

If you liked this post, consider buying me a beer! [4]