New S3 Owner and quite pleased...

Fellow Digital camera researchers,

I recently got a Powershot S3 and quite happy with it overall, but as an astronomer who desires astrophotography with it - it falls a bit short. More on that later.

I researched the digital world extensively, desiring to upgrade from my trusty Kodak DX 3215, as it was quite limited and I needed something more robust. I looked into obtaining a strict DSLR, but the prices are in the high hundreds and low thousands...out of my price range. And I wanted the capability of shooting video. The S3 had everytning I desired...and more. The movie feature is quite nice, even at it's lowest settings.

Baseline prices were averaging around $399.00, with small variations. On-line deals were slightly better, but not much, and...I prefer to pick up my electronics in person to examine the product. I saw an ad from OfficeMax offering the S3 for $369.00 - with an instant $30.00 in-store rebate. They threw in a free 512mb SD card and the option to purchase a $100.00 Canon photo printer for $30.00. I took the offer, but declined the extended warrenty of $79.00 for two years. I could have waited till the prices came down some more, most likely after Christmas, but I liked the deal offered. I am happy with the purchase.

It has plenty of zoom (12x), takes very good images, and the sharpness of the images are quite good. I have plenty of experience with my old 35mm Nikon film camera, and the S3 exceeds it in many areas. I do not miss at all lugging around various lenses and accessories, and this camera has plenty of features to satisfy the photographer.

The 4 AA batteries it takes instead of an odd shaped and expensive battery was a big plus. Although there is no real time battery level indicator, it does show you a low flashing power level indicator. This allows you to squeeze out about 10 more shots before it shuts downs. The batteries last quite awhile, and using rechargables, it costs practically nothing to run. Fits well in the hand and feels like a real camera - not a pocket point and shoot.

It could use a better rubber eyecup for the viewfinder and the camera tripod mount threads are plastic. And it could really use a hotshoe. The add on flash set up Canon offers is quite palty, but there are good independant slave/bracket flash units available. But these are minor observations.

I have experimented with the manual controls and find them exceptional, with real time results. The auto focus gets some getting used to, as it wants to focus on everything. I use the AF only when the shutter is depressed halfway down, and it saves batteries. And as an additional benefit, everybody who has seen it, has complimented me on the purchase...even die hard strict DSLR users. I will look into aftermarket Lens hoods and tele-converters to enhance the performance.

ASTROPHOGRAPHY -

I needed a camera for astrophotography, and I hope this one will serve well, but one nagging observation...

It's remarkable that I have been able to record stars, constellations and nebulae with just the camera lens, but I find it bothersome that I cannot focus stars down to pin points, it just stops short. I don't know if this is inherent to all digital cameras, but maybe it's just mine.

There are examples of my practice begining astrophotography efforts with the Powershot S3 here:

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=ps3&thread=1166148281&page=1

and here

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=ps3&thread=1166148281&page=1

I have yet to attach it to a telescope, but I anticipate the results with this camera.

Other than the difficulties of obtaining pin point stars, I highly recommend this camera.

Respectfully,

Chicago Astronomer Joe
Administrator
www.chicagoastronomer.com