Sony DSC H5 or Canon S3 IS

[nikhilpoddar]

Hi Guys,
I am really into a great dilemma. After reviewing tons of cameras, i have narrowed it down to this two. Further, i can't decide which is the best. Plz help me in deciding as i want to buy one in this week.

[Elisha82]

H5 has a huge gorgeous LCD screen and supposedly the pic quality is better.
too bad it uses Sony MemoryStick.

[Sintares]

Umm, and like thats a deal breaker...

The price of two, one or two gig cards averaged over the lifespan of the cam is hardly going to break your wallet.

However 'tis a pity the Canon (unlike the Sony) does not come with an adapter tube for addon lens and filters, and a charger with rechargeable batteries ...

[Karl Rove]

Umm, and like thats a deal breaker...

The price of two, one or two gig cards averaged over the lifespan of the cam is hardly going to break your wallet.

However 'tis a pity the Canon (unlike the Sony) does not come with an adapter tube for addon lens and filters, and a charger with rechargeable batteries ...

Are there any lenses that you can attach to the S3?

[flippedgazelle]

Umm, and like thats a deal breaker...

The price of two, one or two gig cards averaged over the lifespan of the cam is hardly going to break your wallet.

Elisha92 didn't mention price at all regarding the Memorystick. Perhaps the universality is the point.

However 'tis a pity the Canon (unlike the Sony) does not come with an adapter tube for addon lens and filters, and a charger with rechargeable batteries ...

Being that the Canon is generally cheaper than the Sony, the savings could purchase those accessories.

From what I have seen and read, the Sony H5 seems to do a bit better at ISO 200 & 400 than the Canon S3. The H5 may have a touch more purple fringing than the S3. As Elisha82 has pointed out, the H5 has that huge 3" LCD, whereas the S3 has a smaller 2" LCD that swivels, which can be useful for some shots. I enjoyed it with my Canon A620 and miss it now that I don't have it.

Personally, I'd go with the Sony H5.

EDIT: to answer Karl's question, Canon makes wide and teleconverter lenses for the S3.

[nikhilpoddar]

But canon s3 has 1/3200 max shutter lag while sony has only 1/1000. Will this make any big difference in terms of performance.

[Elisha82]

But canon s3 has 1/3200 max shutter lag while sony has only 1/1000. Will this make any big difference in terms of performance.

highly doubt it.....he's not trying to catch the Flash or Superman in action.

[speaklightly]

I realize that this is essentially a Canon oriented website. However, in all fairness, when one really looks quite critically at what the Sony H-5 can do in comparison to the Sony H-5. It is the Sony H-5 that has, IMHO, the real advantage, quite clearly.

I happily post a Sony H-5 image, taken at ISO 400, handheld, and ask that anyone who might be a Canon S-2, or S-3 user to post an image that shows better color, less noise, and more sharpness.

Speaklightly

[mattdm]

But canon s3 has 1/3200 max shutter lag while sony has only 1/1000. Will this make any big difference in terms of performance.

That's not shutter lag, that's shutter speed, which is a whole different issue. Having higher shutter speeds will let you take wider aperture shots in brighter light, and freeze action better when you do have that light -- but in most cases, not really an issue. (And, at the widest aperture, the S3 is actually limited to 1/1600th.)

Anyway, both of these cameras have shutter lag slightly under 1/10th of a second, which is acceptable but not great.