This is a great camera for beginners. It was the first digital camera I bought, I was still a bit sceptical about digital, thinking I couldn't be quite so creative at the camera as I was with my Nikon F60 (how wrong I was there).
Changing from an SLR to this was a bit of a back step and I wouldn't do that again. However, this camera was a good choice to learn a bit about digital photography. The results are good quality, in the main, it's easy to use and the flip LCD is a definite advantage on sunny days.
I enjoy macro photography and, I have to say, I've had some great reslts with this. There are several programmes to choose from but, having said that, I did find it quite limiting. I like to use manual focus sometimes and found it very difficult with this camera. The lack of aperture choice in comparison with an SLR was also a bit frustrating.
It doesn't quite have the freedom of a DSLR, but then it's a bit too big to be a compact. The big disadvantage to me was, although it takes regular size batteries, it absolutely eats them, even lithium ones.
All in all, it is a good camera for those just starting to learn photography, so for beginners I wold recommended. However, for anyone intermediate level or above, I'd go for a DSLR instead.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Stylish, high zoom, quality images, easy to use, lightweight, etc Disadvantages: Difficult to manually focus on a subject, not sure if it is entirely waterproof
![Canon Powershot S3 IS Digital Camera[6MP 12 X Optical]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78535097.jpg "Canon Powershot S3 IS Digital Camera[6MP 12 X Optical]")
Jan 13th, 2009
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