GN Clock Tower/Spokane Falls

[funnelfan]

Well, today I bought a new camera after finding out that arrived in stock two days ago. I bought the Canon S3 IS (6mp, 12X optical zoom, image stabilization, and a ton of other features). This is brand new model from Canon, and I was one of the first to buy it. I had been wanting to buy the S2, but the S3 included a number of feature upgrades that made the extra money worthwhile. I didn't go the SLR route for a variety of reasons. One a SLR with various lenses would be somewhat difficult to carry around while hiking, or on the job. I also wasn't seeing the customizable features that I wanted in the lower end SLR's. And finally I like the digital viewfinder with the real-time info on the scene, instead of just looking at a mirror and wondering how your changes to exposure settings will affect the image. Taking test shots and looking at them gets a bit tedious. I bought the camera from Huppins in downtown Spokane, which has a thriving online business, so the prices are as good as you will find anywhere. After assembling the camera and inserting the 1GB card, plus a quick read-through in the manual to get the settings I wanted. I hiked around the Spokane Falls area taking photos for two hours in 90 degree heat. I'm rather glad a very active thunderstorm moved into the area in the late afternoon and cooled things off! I also took several photos of the former GN station clock tower on Havermale Island. Most people know that the area around the falls was littered with railroad infastructure at one time, but all of that except the clock tower was removed for the 1974 Worlds Fair. Here are four of the Clock Tower, some of the architecture in the park screams "1970's"

[Macster]

Nice shots! What is your opinion on it so far? Any major barrel distortion, purple fringing?

Does it do RAW?

[funnelfan]

Several years ago before Canon came out with their S series cameras, I bent a Canon Reps ear for several minutes talking about the features I liked on my then new Olympus C-730. At the time the C-730 was the only 10X optical zoom camera with more than 2MP. Times have changed, as all the digital camera makers have 10X and 12X with 5 or more MP, many also have image stabilizers. I also like the fact that the S3 is much more customizable than the Digital Rebel, allowing the user to tweak virtually every setting in any mode. There is also a custom mode and the shortcut button that is fairly standard these days, but was a pioneering item on the C-730. Anyways below is just a sampling of the photos I took of the falls today, enjoy!

[funnelfan]

Macster was kind enough to point out these reviews. Check out the train video made with this camera near the bottom of the first review. 640x460 @ 30FPS with stereo sound!

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/ca...hot_s3-review/

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons3is/

here is a qoute about the capabilities from the first review;

"You can use the zoom lens during filming, and you won't have to listen to the zoom motor either, as it's ultrasonic. You can also take full resolution still photos while simultaneously filming."

Also DP Review has made the S3 the new standard by which all other cameras in the class will be compared to.

[Tuscor]

You were always a good one to buy these types of cameras to test them out before the rest of us followed and bought one Ted. I know you were a big help to me with the Olympus C-730 I bought. I don't really see a reason to replace it yet as it works just fine and I am still pleased with the results. But when the time does come I had always planned to stick with the same type of camera over the SLR for the same reasons you mentioned. I will be very interested to see how your new camera does.

First of all how much to purchase are we talking here? The C-730 was around $450 if I recall. Have these types of cameras gone up or down in price? And do they still have the shutter lag? That was really the one disadvantage of the C-730. I hate that wait between each shot. I hope eventually this is corrected with these types of cameras.

Another dislike I have is the apparent pixelation when the raw image is compressed down to a smaller size. I find this is most noticeable in the locomotive numberboards but even some of the fancy SLR's have this same problem I have noticed. My understanding is that for webwork the size of the megapixel makes little difference. There won't be much difference between a 3MP image over an 6MP image on the internet. The difference is seen when printing out an enlargement. So I will be curious to see if there is improvement with the new camera when looking at photos of locomotives.

Have fun with the new camera!

Brian Ambrose
Renton, WA

[Macster]

Hey stranger!

I found prices between $430 and $460 for the Canon S3 IS. Reading the above reviews and information Ted has given is very promising to be my next digital camera for sure instead of the DSLR route. I had much better looking and constant photographs from my Panasonic Lumix FZ10 and my Olympus C-740UZ then I did with the Digital Rebel.

Talking with Ted online, he got his for $450, $50 for a 1gb high speed SD card and a set of NIMH extra batteries.. set him back a total around $520. Impressive for how many features this camera has.

I'm also interested in the prints as I would like to be able to print pretty good size pictures (11x13 for example) in-house or take it somewhere to do.

[Macster]

Info on shutter lag

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons3is/page4.asp

[Tuscor]

So if I read that right the time between shots is 1.7 seconds which is no doubt an improvement over the Olympus C-730 with which I have had lag seem to last forever as the camera tries to refocus and then thinks about it awhile before letting me press the shutter for another photo. By that time the train is already gone by!

The PowerShot S3 sounds real good compared to the prices of these DSLRs and the high priced telephotos needed to go with them. I am guessing that the S3 will be my next camera when the time comes. Interesting that it goes for the same price I paid for the Olympus. Thanks Brian for digging into this.

BrianA

[funnelfan]

The zoom lens is much faster, and a whole lot smoother (ultrasonic drive) than the Oly camera. In fact it's so much faster it will take some getting used to. The zoom is also varible speed, so you can zoom in and out faster or slower. Also the camera has an amazing write speed. Taking photos at the 1.5 FPS, it's nearly impossible to fill up the buffer. The testers stopped counting at 70 images! The camera can also take photos at 2.3 FPS which can take up to about 14 frames in a burst. You can also take a telephoto shot, zoom out to a wide angle and take another shot in under 2 seconds. The zoom lens goes from full Tele to full wide angle in 0.9 seconds, and then in only 0.5 seconds the camera can focus on a subject and take the photo. Of course, if you pre-focus by holding down the shutter button halfway, then the shutter lag drops to 0.09 seconds which is better than a SLR camera (no mirror to get out of the way). I'm also surprised that even with the latest 30D SLR, the lower end D-SLRs still don't have a Custom Mode like the S3 here.

[VirginiaSouthern]

I just have one question. If you've never gone the DSLR route, then how can you say from experience which one is better?

As for customizable features, how many bells and whistles does one really need? Additionally view finders don't always give you the best view of how your shot is going to look and as an added detractor, eat up batteries like crazy.