Buying an S3 - some feedback and pictures, please?

[Jake2]

Hi photographers,

I've made my decision to by an S3 in November or December and I've heard it's a great little camera. Could you S3 owners out there give me some feedback on your experience on the camera? A few pictures of the actual camera itself, and some of the camera's macro shots would be appreciated too, if possible. I'm interested to see some macro shots at full res, actually.

Thanks. :)

[The_Scorpions]

Let go to these threads to see many wonderful S3 pictures:
S3 pics: http://dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21728
Marco: http://dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22516

[cat]

flickr ... just do a search for the S3 and macro ;)

[XaiLo]

Thanks guys :)

[stephaneonline]

If you don't mind the slow download, you can see some example of me playing around with the Macro mode on the S3, I don't remember but there probably all at the SuperMacro mode.

http://www.projetsurbain.com/example/IMG_4404.JPG

http://www.projetsurbain.com/example/IMG_4409.JPG

http://www.projetsurbain.com/example/IMG_9854.JPG

http://www.projetsurbain.com/example/IMG_7518.JPG

[stephaneonline]

I forgot the first part of your question.

I bought my S3 last may and already took more than 7000 pictures with it, it is a great camera, great zoom, really good handling, incredible Macro mode, the battery life is also incredible (around 600+ shots if you don't use the LCD all the time).

But I have a couple of things that bother me :
- The ISO button is too easily press, I'm always changing the settings
- The menu button falls under your thumb so you can activate it too easily (i did miss a couple of shot like that)
- Just a little big for carrying everyday (I do it but I'm thinking of buying a smaller camera for that reason alone)
- The auto-focus can be frustrating at the full zoom

But some feature are really good and you don't really see them on many compact camera
- Possibility of adding lens
- One button to record video and the possibility of taking picture at the same time (with a gap in the video)
- One customizable button to put something like exposure lock (I use it all the time but it's not really well placed if you use the viewfinder)
- An actual viewfinder with information, I'm still missing a good manual focus like my old 35mm camera
- When viewing photo, a simple half-press on the shutter put's you in capture mode... really nice

I started to think about buying a smaller camera either as a second camera or replacing my S3 when I came back from my last trip. The S3 is great but a little bit big, and always having to carry a backpack/camera bag to put it get annoying after a while. Also, event if the swivel screen is really interesting, I find that it's gets in the way when traveling, always flipping it and playing with it.

I still love the S3 very much and apart from it being just a little bit and heavy to carry all the time (with a spare set of battery) it is a very enjoyable camera, takes great pictures and is really versatile.

Hope that helps

[XaiLo]

Nice work stephaneonline it would be great if you would share some with us in the "Some S3 Pics" thread.

[Jake2]

Thank you very much stephaneonline.

[NickyPick]

How does this camera rate on motion capture shots? I take photos of horses often and I've yet to find a good digital that can really freeze motion (although I admit, it's been several years since my last camera purchase).

[gary_hendricks]

I tend to have a real love/hate relationship with this camera. It has some really great points about it but at the same time there are some things that I really dislike about this camera as well. Some of the things that I really like about this camera is that its 12x zoom and optical stabilization makes it fast and yet you will still get excellent image quality. As far as quality is concerned, I especially like the fact that it has great color accent. Now for the things that I don’t like about this camera… There is no RAW mode, the LCD screen is small, the lens cap is flimsy and falls off easily, you cannot autofoucus in the dark and it is noisy. With all of these things in mind I must say that this really does make a great camera for amateurs who are just starting to experiment more with digital photography.

[Vric]

I just got a S3 and I'm a macro fan too. I'm coming from a Coolpix 950 (8 years old) and all I can say about the macro is: It really can't compete with Nikon coolpix macro. (and very far from it) Don't get me wrong, I like the S3 (and I keep it) but my first accessory I ordered is some macro lens. I think with a +4 macro lens, it will be about the same as my Old Coolpix. So if you are a macro fan, be ready to order some macro lens. The details on the pics are very good (better than my Coolpix) but the focus distence and magnification isn't on par with the good old macro king.

[truflip]

what do u mean the macro is better on the nikon? like.. u can be farther away n get close up macro shots? while the Canon u have to be close? or does the nikon lens have a rating of +4 for macro? sorry not quite sure what u mean here :o

[cdnphotographer]

at the moment the only thing I don't like is the fact you can't get a bright picture indoors w/o using the flash. :rolleyes: which wouldn't be too bad EXCEPT I like using the continuous shoot and you can't do that with the flash

[truflip]

you would need higher ISO to get bright pictures.. for continuous shooting indoors.. i would suggest F2.7-3.5 and anywhere between 1/50-1/70 shutter speeds.. may get some blurs but any lower than that may lag your con. shooting :(

[cdnphotographer]

yes I've noticed anything below 1/30 and you get into the lag... I will try the higher ISOs of course. Thanks.

[Vric]

what do u mean the macro is better on the nikon? like.. u can be farther away n get close up macro shots? while the Canon u have to be close? or does the nikon lens have a rating of +4 for macro? sorry not quite sure what u mean here :o

Nikon Coolpix macro is the best around. You can focus as close as 2cm at about 70mm-90mm. Just imagine the Canon SuperMicro mode which wouldn't be stuck at wide angle. The S3 isn't bad (probably one of the best right now) but it's not as good as the old Nikon. You have to use a 950, 990, 995 or 4500 to know what I mean. the 4500 is still considered one of the best camera for macro (if not the best) It's just sad Nikon don't release any "prosumer" camera anymore.