The 'End All' Canon S3 IS thread

[vessxpress1]

Ok, I've done a search and I've seen a lot of seperate posts concerning people who were recently buying the camera, but not a lot of follow up. I just got one recently and am trying to learn how to use it. There has to be quite a few here that have had one for 6 months to a year now so I'm hoping we could compile all the data/pics here and see what everybody has come up with. Such as great setting, tips, must have lenses, filters, etc.. I have the adapter with 3 filters and the sunshade.

As I've said, I just got mine a month ago and really haven't taken too many shots with it. I've read the manual but I'm still not clear on a lot of things. Such as, I see how to shoot in macro mode, but I still don't even know how to get into super macro mode. When I press the macro button again, it goes back to normal. I can't take a good close up shot with it yet. Always blurry, no matter what ISO setting I set it to.

I mainly got the camera for an upcoming vacation but would like to be able to take nice tank shots with it too. I've only seen a couple people here that look like they really had it figured out.

Here's a few pics I took today of some flowers sitting on my wood stove:

This was taken on regular auto mode with no tri-pod, no extra filters or lenses. There's two windows nearby and the light metering chart was high to the left. How do you adjust for this?

Here's a couple more:

I really like this camera so far. I'm just not using it to it's full potential yet.

 

[edwing206]

nice pics. looks like a good camera. so it's a P&S and a SLR mixed? can you change the lenses?

 

[ahuxman58]

Heres a review on that camera you just bought there are many reviews I picked this one for you http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/canon-s3-review.shtml

 

[vessxpress1]

Hey, thanks for the review.

edwing: It's not an SLR camera. It does have the digic II processor that the higher end models have which helps speed things up.
It is more of a P&S with a few more manual controls than the elph line. You can't change the main lense out but you can add lenses onto it. There's a release button on the front that lets you take the ring off. Then you can twist other types of lenses onto it or like I've got for now, an adapter that locks onto it. Then you can thread a filter lens, like a UV filter into the adapter and the sunshade screws into the filter lens.

 

[vessxpress1]

Any S3 IS users around the photography forum anymore? I need some tips.

 

[Rosseau]

Your wife is a lucky lady .... or are these makeup flowers?

jokes...


sorry, no experience here with the S3. The now out of production powershot pro1 was my camera for a few years and I was able to get great results out of that one. It has a different sensor and lens than the S3 though, I believe...

 

[Rosseau]

When you say the "metering chart" you must mean the histogram that comes up? Really it's showing light vs. dark areas. Dark areas appear on the left hand side of the graph, light on the right.

A "properly" exposed photograph will have a more or less even distribution across the entire graph.

http://www.naturescapes.net/092004/gd0904.htm

that has a few tips, however was randomly pulled up in google. I'm sure better sources are out there as far as that goes. Worth looking into IMO.

 

[kryppy]

Hold the macro button in for a second and a 'S' will come up in the flower.

 

[vessxpress1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9447147#post9447147 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kryppy
Hold the macro button in for a second and a 'S' will come up in the flower.

Hey thanks! I should have known. The users manual doesn't even say how to do it.


On a side note, I bought a 0.5x wide angle lense for it last night off ebay. I'll post an update on how that goes when I get it.

 

[kryppy]

I shot all the pics in this thread with my S2IS at the LFS.
A couple are nice.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1067767

 

[vessxpress1]

Kryppy, you still around? I just saw your response now. The pics in that thread are awesome! You're MILES ahead of me with the close up shots. Well, at least I know the equipment's capable of doing something.

This thread needs you. lol

I seriously need help with closeups. I've found you can't use macro mode in many of the settings and then when I am able to turn macro and super macro on, the camera doesn't let me zoom in. Even in manual mode. I just get a small green box on the screen and have to take the pic like that. Then you can digitally zoom way in once you've taken the shot. This can't be right.

As for zooming in, the camera won't focus when it's close up. My wife's minolta Z2 takes great shots in super macro, completely zoomed in, with the lens on the glass. As soon as I touch the zoom button in any mode on my S3, it goes blurry and won't focus. It's pretty frustrating.

 

[vessxpress1]

0.5x wide angle lense attachment update

0.5x wide angle lense attachment update

Well, in the mean time, I took some new tank shots tonight. In the first two shots, I'll compare the 0.5x wide angle lense to using the regular lense with a diffuser filter. The first pic is with the wide angle lense on. The lense is exactly 2' - 2" away from the front glass. This was the closest I could get the camera, to the tank, with this wide angle lense attachment on, and still get the full lenght of my 3 ft tank in the shot. It is a little rounded, but I'd bet it would be less noticeable in full landscape shots.

(Camera is on a tri-pod for full-tank shots):

And here's the camera in the same position, minus the wide angle, using only the camera's regular lense with a diffuser filter on the adapter. You can see all 4 sides get cut being this close:

The rest are just some free-hand shots around the tank with the same setup, in manual mode using various ISOs and F stops:

Spoiled by micro-bubbles:

This last shot, I was able to use manual focus and focus a little better on this softy. MF works for me about 20% of the time:

 

[vessxpress1]

Outside in the snow

Outside in the snow

I wasn't going to do it but I really like these shots. Before anybody asks- Yes, the sweater stays on all winter. Yes, she likes it. No, I didn't buy it.

Anyway, I think this camera really excels outside and can run with the best of them. Here's a couple shots I took a few weeks ago before all our snow melted off. This is our Boston Terrier outside in it's 'trench'.

These were shot on the tripod, using only a UV filter and the sunshade. At the time, I didn't know how to mess around with the ISO settings or F-stops so these were on plain old auto.
Otherwise, I might have been able to get the snow a little whiter.

 

[Nyles]

This is a few, I am still working out the bugs of the camera but first 3 I liked with the s3 IS

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/nyleswright/Reef Tank/3-21-07-053.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/nyleswright/Reef Tank/3-21-07-043.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/nyleswright/Reef Tank/3-21-07-027.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/nyleswright/Reef Tank/3-21-07-021.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/nyleswright/Reef Tank/3-9-07063.jpg


But like I said still trying to grasp the camera... I read the whole manual and it does tell you how to get into super macro mode however for pics like the ones above I was about 36" away, and macro is worthless.

 

[kryppy]

Ok, I have another thread with a bunch more S2IS photos,

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1077312

99% of the shots I take are on "M" I like AV and TV also, I just realised you can control he flash and exposure real finely in TV.

I'll tell you, flash and auto white balance will help you get some super sots at first. I do most fish like that.

You can not zoom in super macro, and nor would you want to. The big problem is the lens blocks the flash when you are that close, I just got a remote slave flash and bracket. It is really helping. Matter of fact, zoom will cause the focal length to be so long you need to be five feet away.

Most of the non fish photos need a tripod and the 2 second timer due to the long exposure. I think the exif data is in the 500th post party thread pictures, you can look at that and get some pointers.