On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 01:42:52 -0400, Anen <amagee@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>Quoth Alan Brand:
>
>>On Fri, 24 Nov 2006 22:14:44 -0400, Anen <amagee@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>
>>>Quoth Alan Brand:
>>>
>>>>I took advantage of a sale today and got my birthday present a few
>>>>weeks early ... a bright ****ny Canon S3 IS ... at my advanced age you
>>>>can't depend on being around for the next bidet.
>>>
>>>That's my camera!!! I've been lusting over them on ebay for months!!!
>>
>>I'm wary of buying a camera on eBay - I've heard horror stories about
>>the fake US camera "specialists" on there. I went to my friendly,
>>local camera shop and had a chat about prices ... according to the
>>flyer in the newspaper, Sears have the camera for $449 this week, and
>>took this and the print-outs of the buy-it-now Canadian eBay listings
>>ranging from $375 ("Like New Condition") to $465 including ****pping
>>with me ... and got the camera + 512MB SD card + batteries + a big box
>>of photo paper for $449 - and we're both happy. Plus I have someone
>>useful to take the camera to if I have any problems.
>
>You have the advantage of living in (or near) a large city. I don't
>know of any source of digital cameras here other than Futureshop. Or
>maybe Black's.
Oh yeah, Owen Sound is a bustling 21,000. But we do manage to sustain
two real camera stores in addition to the chain store Black's and
Business Despot outlets.
>>>Well, OK, I've actually been lusting over the S2 IS because I'm scared
>>>to look at the S3 IS because I'll want it even more and there's no way
>>>I can afford it whereas there is a slim possibility I can scrape up
>>>the money for the S2 IS in a few months especially if the price keeps
>>>coming down.
>>
>>I had a base requirement of 5MP and 10x optical zoom (and a
>>viewfinder, regular batteries and storage) as a guideline, and spent a
>>fair amount of time on researching the whole thing.
>
>I know at least two people who recently bought cameras with lots of
>Xes in the optical zoom department only to discover that they needed a
>tripod if they wanted to zoom much beyond 4X. Which kind of defeated
>their purpose for getting a powerful zoom -- nature photography while
>wandering through the woods with their dog. The Canon has image
>stabilization.
>
>>The S2 is a nice
>>camera, but showed me another base requirement - I much prefer dark
>>gun-metal to ****ny silver!
>
>I prefer the dark metal too. Feels more like a "real" camera.
True. And it's much less noticable, so candid shots are easier.
>>I also like the bigger screen, the ability
>>to take widescreen piccies, and I *really* like the dedicated ISO
>>button too - which leads me to why the Canon ... apart from producing
>>nice pictures, it has a plethora of buttons which means I don't have
>>to futz around with an on-screen menu designed by someone whose brain
>>works in Japanese.
>
>There's got to be a nice balance between number of buttons and
>usefulness of menus. Too many buttons have you pressing the wrong one
>all the time.
I find the menus incredibly annoying - buttons are more my speed.
>Does it let you make your own set of default settings? One thing that
>annoys me in my current camera is the flash. It defaults to "auto". I
>turn it off, but every time the camera is turned on, it's back to auto
>again.
Allegedly, but I'm still in early learning mode and haven't tried it
yet. The flash doesn't flash if you don't lift it up yourself.
>>>Anne, camera-wanting girl
>
>AlanB, camera-wielding girl
>
>I'm still wielding Michael's old Nikon 950, which, except for the
>battery door problem, is solid and reliable. But it *is* old and
>there's a noticeable lag between the time you push the button and the
>time it starts to take the photo. Since my current interest is
>photographing dogs and since dogs move very fast, I end up with a lot
>of shots of empty space where a dog used to be.
"S****t" mode and "burst" (continuous shooting) are your friend.
--
AlanB, snapping girl
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