Jump to a part
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Introduction
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01.Testing / Performance
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02.Physical Tour
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03.Components
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04.Design / Layout
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05.Modes
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06.Control Options
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07.Image Parameters
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08.Connectivity / Extras
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09.Overall Impressions
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10.Conclusion
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11.Specs / Ratings
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12.Photo Gallery
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13.Comments
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Canon Powershot S3 IS
Digital Camera Review
Previous: Page 2
Physical TourNext: Page 4
Design / LayoutViewfinder (5.75)
The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has an electronic viewfinder with a nice cushioned eyecup. A dioptric adjustment sits at its left; the tiny dial is difficult to turn because of its size and the tiny grooves in its side. Still, consumers who actually use this feature should only have to turn it once – unless their eyeglass prescription changes daily. The actual viewfinder window is quite large compared to its ultra-zoom competitors: the S3 specs claim that it’s 0.3 inches, but measuring the window with a ruler revealed that it is 6/10 of an inch diagonally and a half-inch wide. This is much larger than the viewfinder on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5, which only measures 0.2 inches across. While its size and cushy eyecup are plusses, the viewfinder’s resolution is inexcusably poor. The image is pixilated and manually focusing is nearly impossible, even when the center is magnified. The viewfinder can be set, via the setup menu, to display shooting information and histograms or to show a clutter-free view. Overall, the viewfinder is best used when battery power is waning (which is often if powered by alkaline AA batteries); the larger LCD monitor which flips and folds makes a much easier viewing device.
LCD Screen (6.0)
Users can switch the view from the viewfinder to the LCD monitor with the touch of the Disp. button. This cycles between the two display screens and adds shooting information and histograms to both when desired. The LCD monitor is one of the Canon PowerShot S-line’s hallmark features. It folds out, rotates 270 degrees, tilts to almost any angle, and can fold back into the camera body facing in or out. This camcorder-like LCD monitor is similar to those found on compact camcorders. Users will have to fold and tilt often because the screen solarizes easily and needs to be perpendicular to the viewer’s eye to be seen. The image on the screen will always be right side up when the setup menu’s Reverse Display feature is on, however, and the LCD Brightness feature has standard and bright options to choose from. The S2’s monitor moved in the same way, but was only 1.8 inches. The new Canon PowerShot S3 IS has a 2-inch low temperature polysilicon TFT color LCD, but the resolution is still 115,000 pixels, just as it was on the S3’s predecessors. Its substandard resolution is a bit disappointing, considering the viewfinder’s poor quality. With both displays showing pixilated images, it is difficult to focus properly and um, see. Still, there is 100 percent coverage of the field of view, so using the LCD will always frame subjects properly.
Flash (7.5)The Canon PowerShot S3 has a built-in flash that does not pop up but must be manually pulled, though tiny tabs on its front make the effort a bit easier. Once the flash is up, the button to its left accesses the following flash modes: Auto, On, and Off. If the list looks a little short, it is. That’s because the rest of the options are located in the shooting menu. From there, users can activate the red-eye reduction function and activate the slow synchro mode. They can also tell the camera to fire the flash with the "1st curtain" or "2nd curtain." More options are elsewhere. The flash exposure compensation in the Func. menu adjusts the flash +/- 2 in 1/3 increments. Finally, in the recording menu, the Flash Adjust section lets users set the manual compensation to Manual or Auto.
The flash reaches from 1.6-17 ft at the widest focal length. In the macro mode, the flash is only good from 1-1.6 ft; most of the time it is necessary to dull the flash because of its close proximity to subjects. Using the flash any closer than a foot is totally ineffective because of the long lens’s shadow. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS is compatible with the HF-DC1 external slave flash, which retails for about a hundred dollars. This accessory lengthens the flash’s reach to about 30 ft and reduces the occurrence of red-eye, which wasn’t terribly frequent but still appeared more often than it should for a $499 camera.
Zoom Lens (8.0)
The 12x Canon optical zoom lens is one of the defining features on this digital camera. It measures from 6-72 mm, which is equivalent to 36-432 mm in the traditional 35 mm format. The lens has an ultrasonic motor, so it moves through its zoom range fairly quietly and quickly. Almost too quickly, in fact. The zoom moves so fast that users are likely to zoom in on a subject, only to find they have to zoom out because they passed up the desired focal length. Pressing with the lightest touch can finesse about 20 stops out of the zoom range, but this is quite difficult and not efficient. 
The ultra-zoom lens has incredible range. Its super macro mode can take pictures of subjects that are so close they touch the glass: it extends to 3.9 inches, where the macro mode takes over to focus, to 1.6 ft in the widest focal length. The camera normally focuses from 1.6 ft, or 19 inches, to infinity. When completely zoomed in, it can focus as close as 3 ft. This kind of range is pretty incredible; users can focus on anything in front of the lens in one mode or another.
A UD lens in the lens system is designed to keep images sharp and contrasted. Still, the outer edges of the frame show some barrel distortion. It isn’t enough to turn a rectangle into an oval, but it will make your smile a little wider. The aperture is wide enough to let in lots of light, even at the 432 mm focal length. The maximum aperture is f/2.7 in wide and f/3.5 in telephoto. The Canon S3 IS is compatible with accessory lenses such as the WC-DC58 wide converter and the TC-DC58B telephoto converter.
The camera’s flagship feature, its image stabilization system, functions alongside the Canon zoom lens. The system can be turned Off or to Panning, Continuous, or Shoot Only in the recording menu. Panning corrects vertical shake only, Continuous corrects the shake for the live view even when not recording, and the Shoot Only option stabilizes only when recording. The optical image stabilization system works incredibly well. The difference is evident in the decreased numbers of blurry still images, but is even more dramatic in the movie mode. When zoomed in on a far-away subject, the camera still keeps the image steady rather than producing the shaky videos that usually come from ultra-zoom cameras. The image stabilization only enhances the strong 12x optical zoom lens.
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