Canon Powershot S3 IS

Model Design / Appearance
The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has similar curves and dimensions to its S2 predecessor. Its SLR shape looks much more attractive in the black housing though, rather than the silver frame the S2 is in; the Canon PowerShot S3 has a black frame that is built from a heavy plastic and highlighted with silver metal. The design doesn’t look beautiful, but the ultra zoom series isn’t really about beauty at all. It’s about function and… well, ultra zoom. With that in mind, the Canon S3’s body has a large lens barrel on one side and a large right-hand grip on the other side. This gives the camera an overall balanced look while its coloring gives it a more professional feel.

Size / Portability
The new Canon S3 and old S2 have identical dimensions of 4.46 x 3.07 x 2.97 inches, but the new model weighs 0.2 oz more with its 14.5 oz net weight. That measurement does not include the four AA batteries it takes to run the camera, so the total weight of the S3 definitely exceeds a pound. The heft of this camera makes it a little tricky to transport, but its symmetrical eyelets and included neck strap definitely help. When packing this model away, remember that it should really have its own camera bag. With all of its protrusions, it would be protected best in its own cushy space. And it certainly won’t fit in a pocket.

Handling Ability
The Canon PowerShot S3 IS has a large 12x zoom lens in a large barrel, but it has an even larger handgrip. The camera is a bit off-balance with the majority of the heft coming from the handgrip and the four AA batteries. This shouldn’t throw off photographers too much, though.

The camera is about four and a half inches wide on the bottom and it has a decent base with which to support its weight. The height of the camera is such that the whole hand can comfortably wrap around the grip with the index finger on the shutter release button and the pinky supporting the camera from below. The thumb can sit on the back of the camera, where there are plenty of buttons and controls for it to dance upon. When the thumb is done with its waltz, it can rest on the bumpy grip that Canon included. These little features help deal with the weight of the S3.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size
The buttons on the S2 are the same ones on the S3. There are tons of them, which makes it look even more like a DSLR. The buttons are large and nicely spaced so that pushing one will not accidentally push others. The only exception to this is the diopter dial, which is the size of a pea (really) and quite difficult to turn.

The buttons are well labeled for the most part except for a red button near the viewfinder; this is the button that activates the movie mode. This isn’t really intuitive and users will keep pressing the shutter release button and wondering why the movie is very still. The positioning of the buttons is otherwise mostly intuitive, but there are so many that it is easy to loose track of them. There are two buttons on the left side that are hard to remember; out of sight is out of mind. These access the manual focus and the macro modes.

Exposure Compensation	+/- 2 in 1/3 increments
White Balance	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash, Custom
My Colors	Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom (Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness, Red, Green, Blue)
Bracketing	Focus Bracketing, Off, Auto Exposure Bracketing
Flash Compensation	+/- 2
Metering	Evaluative, Center-weighted Average, Spot
Compression	Superfine, Fine, Normal
Image Size	2816 x 2112, 2272 x 1704, 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480, 2816 x 1584

Mute	On, Off
Volume	Startup, Operation, Self-timer, Shutter, Playback 1-5 steps
Audio	Microphone Level (1-5), Wind Filter (On, Off), Sampling Rate (11.025 kHz, 22.050 kHz, 44.100 kHz)
LCD Brightness	2 steps
Power Saving	Auto Power Down (On, Off), Display Off (10 sec-3 min)
Time Zone	Home, World
Date/Time	Mm/dd/yy, Date, Time
Format	OK, Cancel
File Numbering	Auto Reset, Cancel
Create Folder	Auto Create (On, Off), Time
Auto Rotate	On, Off
Distance Units	m/cm, ft/in
Language	English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Simplified/Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, Greek, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Thai, Arabic
Video System	NTSC, PAL
Print Method	Auto, PictBridge
Reset All	Cancel, OK

Transition	Off, Fade 1, Fade 2
Slide Show	Start, Setup (Play time 3-30 sec, Repeat on and off), All Images, Date, Folder, Movies, Stills, Custom DPOF
My Colors	Vivid, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Custom Color
Sound Recording	Up to 60 sec
Protect	Set, Back
Rotate	Set, Back
Erase All	Cancel, OK
Transfer Order	Mark All, Order, Reset

Print	OK, Cancel
Select Images and Quantity	Scrolls through pictures, marks which to print and how many
Select All Images	Cancel, OK
Clear All Selections	Cancel, OK
Print Settings	Print Type (Standard, Index, Both), Date (On, Off), File Number (On, Off), Clear DPOF Data

Ease of Use
The lengthy menus are quite intimidating, but at least they are easy to navigate through. There are a few features that make the Canon S3 a little easier to use such as the designated print button, but the camera is overall not that simple. There are tons of on-camera buttons, which keeps a few features out of the already overloaded menu system. There are onscreen directions for everything, but the directions are sometimes lost among the vast amount of other onscreen info. The camera is easy to use in the auto mode, however, where users need only to point, zoom and snap a shot.