Owners of the Canon S3 IS please chime in

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: funboy42
I had the S2 IS. Dont sell yourself short. the Panasonic FZ series is a much better camera IMO. This is coming from ownership of the Canon and ownership of a FZ20 and FZ5 from Panasonic. The problem I had with the canon is the auto focus. It was getting 75% of them off and for shots that were right off the cuff I was getting pissed because they were out of focus and missed alot of shots. Also I dont know about the S3IS but the S2 did not have a low light light and in low light you can tottaly forget about an in focus shot at all.

The only thing I dont like about the Panasonic is its movie format is in quick time and needs to be converted over if your going to put on disk to play on a dvd player or edit. Other then that I can say, and review can back me up, that it gets 99% of its focus all the time. Before getting rid of the S2 IS I took the same shot with the Canon and the FZ5 and dare I say the FZ5 looked alot better. The pictures are clear and chrisp, and in focus. So if your going for thoes once in a life time shots where you turn it on and have to take the shot or lose it, chances are you will get it wilth a panasoinic. Dont get me wrong though, when the Canon did get the shots right the picture was sweet, but it did me no good for 90% of my shots of are nature and my family, and need the shot taken of the moment, and cant tell an animal or my son when he is doing something of the moment, to go do it 3-4 more times because the camera was out of focus.

Just food for thought, check out all the reviews on the canon and on the panasonic FZ 5, 7, 20, and the new 30 has a manual focus ring like the professional film cameras. Also all of them have a a professional Lecia Lens and 12x optical. And please what ever camera you look at if your going for close ups make sure to get the best Optical zoom and NEVER use the digital if you can help it for it makes the pictures suck.

I have had my FZ5 for over a year now and well over 5000 shots taken without a single problem. Yes it has its own battery, I think all the panasonics do, but you get more shots off the panny battery then you would the aa type and extras on ebay are super cheap. I picked up 2 extra batteries for my camera for under $10 shipped.

Pics taken with my camera:

Text
Text
Text
Text
macro
bears
ring
a fvcked up looking bug
dog smiles
brown recluse
the moon

More coming, just need to upload the ones my father, a professional photographer, took with my camera.

damn. you just made my decision a LOT harder. damn you!
no, but thanks for your input. Im definitely gonna go check out the panasonic line at my local shop

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: Aharami

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser
I got my wife a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7K about a month ago for $258 and she loves it. It is lighter and smaller than the Cannon and has a larger 2.5" LCD. It has about the same specs as the Cannon too. Even a point and shoot dummy like me can use it.

Im a canon fanboy, so im relectant to move away from canon. But I'll go check this camera out at CC or BB

No one should be a fanboy of anything but their MONEY and what they get for it. Not the brand this or that but, HEY heres my money what are you, brand XXXX, going to provide me for it.

Im not a fanboy of Panasonic, though it may sound as though, but if something else were to come out that would take as good of pictures as the panasonic for sheaper or offer me more features, or what have you, as long as I thought it kicked ass and was a damn good buy then other brands thats where my money goes. This fanboy sh!t IMO is stupid as hell. Its your money, the camera may suck and there is better ones out there but because its slapped canon, or what ever, people wold take it up the ass then move onto something else thats better for for your hard earned cash. Thats when you have moved from being people to sheeple and the man has worked his magic on you.

Sorry for the rant I just cant see how people cannot be more of a fanboy to their money then some brand and end up buying crap because it has a brand name on it. Ive owned every camera brand out there in the $500 below range. I have no problems selling my Panasonic when it comes time if something else, made by someone else, comes along. Fvck panasonic. I just wanted you to spend your money wisely is all. But I can promise you something if you go get the Canon S3 IS and they didnt fix the problems they had with the S2 IS, YES you will be happy with the movie feature (like everyone else is), but when your missing quick action shots left and right your gonna say "damnit, funboy was right.

OH and the diff between the FZ7 and the FZ5 that I have is just 1 MP and mine can be had for around $200. Got more pics comming up for you to look ast, image shack is acting up and not loading right so its taking me a looooooooong time. Just keep a look out for a thread by me, been meaning to show off these shots my father took, they look really nice.

 

[HomeAppraiser]

A few pics my wife took with her Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7K

berries

lookingup

yellowtree

 

[funboy6942]

Sorry it took so long, image shake was messed up all day yesterday. But here are the pics my father took using my Panasonic FZ5

 

[Ika]

Honestly, comparing between the FZ5/FZ7 and the S2/S3 doesn't have much to do with the camera. The two cameras are similar enough that any real discrepancy between pictures is all due to the photographer's skill. If you're picking between the two, IMO the important features to look at are size, battery lifetime, battery TYPE (S3 uses AA batteries), lens cap, LCD, etc etc etc....

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: Aflac
Honestly, comparing between the FZ5/FZ7 and the S2/S3 doesn't have much to do with the camera. The two cameras are similar enough that any real discrepancy between pictures is all due to the photographer's skill. If you're picking between the two, IMO the important features to look at are size, battery lifetime, battery TYPE (S3 uses AA batteries), lens cap, LCD, etc etc etc....

Not when the reviews on the S2 are saying it doesnt have a low light light and the camera has a hard time getting the focus right in well light or dimmly lit situations on the first or second time. When you trying to take that action shot thats a once in a life time it means getting the shot you want or a fuzzy as POS that is wasted. Im not sure if the S3 has a low light or not or if they fixed the focus problem the S2 had though.

But at that point it make a huge difference IMO between the two cameras if your doing alot of shots that will require it to be spot on when your press the shutter the one time. Not have to take several shots or switch to manual mode to get the shot your going for, which by that time the shot has passed and your pissed wanting to take a hammer to your camera

I know I wanted to do that with my S2 IS and alot of other owners as well. Yes it takes great video but damnit thats not the main reason I bought the camera. I want a video camera I will buy a video camera. . I couldnt get that damn S2 IS to get a good focus right away to save my life and was super pissed off I traded my Panasonic FZ3 for it, then sold the Canon and bought my FZ20, then a FZ5. Gonna get a FZ30 when I can for the manual focus ring unless someone else makes a camera that can get the focus on right away with a huge zoom and a manual focus ring for cheaper, oh and take great pictures. Till then I will stick with my FZ.

 

[SZLiao214]

I had a pretty similar desire that you had here. I wanted dslr but knew i wasnt serious enough to go for a full dslr so i looked at the s3 as a compromise. From what i read online the pictures come out very well and there aren't any major complains about the camera. I am also looking into its older brother the s2.

 

[0roo0roo]

image stabilization:thumbsup:;

 

[HomeAppraiser]

dpreview