Canon PowerShot S3 IS Review

The successor of the Canon PowerShot S2 IS, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS, still has the same 12x optical zoom but has improved the sensitivity range to ISO 800. It has 6-megapixels unlike its predecessor that used 5-megapixels. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS also boasts of a few new features that include 2” LCD screen, a wide screen aspect ratio of 16:9 in the still image mode, a sports scene mode, live histogram and the modern looking body that is colored black.

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS, among all other compact digital camera from Canon, still has the most powerful zoom. The lenses of this camera use the same technologies that are used in the EF lenses of Canon. The lenses have the ability to minimize chromatic aberration in shots that are telephoto and they also provide near silent and drives rapid zoom operation.

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS also has an image stabilizer system. This feature can counteract the shake of the camera that is usually due to shaking of hands or when clicking the shutter. This can really be helpful in reducing blur. The image stabilizer system can be used not just when shooting stills but on video recordings as well.

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS’s optical zoom in combination with the digital zoom results to 48x magnification usable for both stills and videos. These can still be manipulated even more with the use of other lenses.

When shooting in dark or dimly lit conditions, it is not just the image stabilizer that works. The new ISO speed of the Canon PowerShot S3 IS also helps in this kind of situations. The ISO sensitivity is increased that enables the speeding up of shutter speeds especially in low light.

In taking movie recordings, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS has a movie button so you do not have to change modes when taking stills or recording movies. Unlike other digital cameras in the market, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS does not only produce high quality stills but high quality videos as well. A user can record a VGA quality movie at 30 frames per second with a stereo sound. A QVGA quality at 60 frames per second can also be created especially intended for slow motion playback that is sharp. One unique feature of the movie mode is that the user is able to shoot stills while video recording is going on.

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has a whopping 20 shooting modes that the user can choose from to conform to any condition or situation. The modes included are Aperture Priority Mode, Manual Mode, and Shutter Speed Priority Mode. It also has a 2.3 frames per second continuous shooting mode, a Sports mode for faster shutter speeds for those action packed subjects. The Color Swap and Color accent makes it to add color effects to movies and images.

A feature that was not present with the S2 IS, but what is now present with the S3 IS is the wide screen 16:9 aspect ratio. Now you can choose to use this aspect ration whether you are taking stills or recording movies.
When it comes to direct printing, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS has Full PictBridge support.

Pros: The pros of the Canon PowerShot S3 IS include 12x zoom, image stabilization system, digital zoom of 4x, ISO 800 sensitivity, quick shutter speed response, excellent still modes as well as movie modes, can take stills while recording a movie, a wide screen option, and Full PictBridge support for direct printer printing.

Cons: The cons of the Canon PowerShot S3 IS include noise is higher when settings are at high sensitivity, movie files are limited to only 1 GB, uses an AVI format rather than an small sized MPEG-4 format, and it has no support for RAW files.

Overall: Even with the growing number of digital camera nowadays, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS will standout among the crowd. Excellent zooming power, effective image stabilization system, and other outstanding features, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS is an all around digital camera for both beginners and pros. The best thing about all of this is that the Canon PowerShot S3 IS is also quite affordable for more or less $300.

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