Canon Powershot S3 IS

Manual Control Options
The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has an entire range of manual to automatic functionality with its Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Program modes. The S3 also has an auto mode that is very easy to use and a custom mode that saves the user’s preferences. Besides the actual manual mode, this digital camera has lots of manual options, including audio level selection when shooting videos.

Focus
Auto Focus
The through-the-lens auto focus system can be selected to work continuously or only when the shutter release button is pushed. There is a yellow box that appears in the frame; this box turns green when the camera is fully focused. The S3 does not stop the camera from taking a picture when out of focus though. In fact, it’s quite easy to skip the AF Lock and snap a blurry shot.

The focus system itself is a little slow, so there is some lag time because of it. This is very apparent in the movie mode. The zoom is available while recording movies, but the focus can be seen working real hard and taking its time. The long Canon lens can focus from 1.6 ft in wide and 3 ft in the telephoto modes. It can focus from 3.9 inches-1.6 ft in macro. The super macro mode is even more incredible; it can focus from 0-3.9 inches. Yes, that’s a zero. Users can take clear shots of things that are touching the lens, which is pretty good for a 12x zoom lens. In low light, the auto focus has a little help from the illuminator on the front. It is large and fluorescent green, so it’s not very attractive – but it works.

Manual Focus
The designated manual focus button is on the left side of the lens barrel and must be pushed down while users scroll up and down with the multi-selector. The screen shows arrows and a sliding scale and includes numeric indicators. This maneuver is a little difficult with the heft of the camera. The center of the frame can be zoomed in upon so users can get a better view of what they’re focusing on.

Metering
The metering mode used to be accessible from an on-camera button on the S2, but has been moved into the Func/Set menu on the S3 model. Now that button is occupied by the ISO function. The following metering modes are available: Evaluative, Center-weighted Average and Spot. The Spot metering mode can be selected to meter from the center or be linked to the auto focus frame; this can be done within the recording menu.

Exposure
Also located in the Func/Set menu is the exposure compensation mode, which has the standard +/- 2 EV settings listed in 1/3 increments. This menu has live views and histograms, so users can easily choose the proper exposure. The Canon S3’s exposure modes include the Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Program modes, as well as the automatic and scene modes.

White Balance
The white balance modes can be selected from a list in the Func/Set menu. The following options are included with live views: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash and Custom. The auto mode didn’t seem to work very well, although the lighting on the trade show floor is very difficult. There are multi-colored lights and brightly lit signs and fluorescent lights above and flashing lights and such, so many cameras have trouble finding the right color. The custom white balance worked much better. The frame has a tiny box within it that users uses to frame something white. There are on-camera instructions for setting the custom white balance and it’s not hard to do.

ISO
One of the Canon PowerShot S3 IS’s main features - like the other newly released PowerShot models that utilize Canon’s new 6-megapixel chip - is its new ISO 800 setting. This is twice as sensitive as the S2’s maximum ISO 400 setting. The higher sensitivity is useful for keeping blur out of images and shooting in low light without using the flash. The camera combines the ISO 800 setting with a quick shutter speed and the image stabilization system to reduce blur. Many manufacturers are including some version of this in their camera lineups this year.

The following manual ISO settings are available by pushing the ISO button: 80, 100, 200, 400 and 800. There are also two automatic modes: Auto ISO and High ISO Auto. The ISO button has some functionality in the movie mode as well. It acts as a gain-up mode.

Shutter Speed
The shutter speeds can be selected by scrolling left and right on the multi-selector. The shutter can flip as fast as 1/3200th of a second or be open as long as 15 seconds. There is a live view of the shutter speeds in the manual mode (which makes the live view image brighter with slower speeds) but not in the shutter priority mode.

Aperture
Like the previous priority mode, this mode also has live views in the manual mode. However, it does not have them in the aperture priority mode. The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has wide apertures of f/2.7 in wide and f/3.5 in telephoto. This is very good for a 12x zoom lens. Throughout the range, there is an f/8 minimum aperture.