Ooohkay. After using the S3IS for quite a while, I’ve finally decided to put up a personal review on this this thing. Before I proceed, allow me to do a bit of introduction.

The Canon Powershot S3IS is the third in the line of Canon’s S-series prosumer digicams [hence, S3]. The key feature that sets the S-series apart from other Canon prosumers is the fact that the they are equipped with Ultrasonic Motors [USM] and Image Stabiliser [IS] mechanisms [hence the IS in the name].

[image taken from dpreview.com]

What’s so special about that kind of lens, you ask? Okay, here’s a simple explanation. How many times have you shot at a slow shutter speed [1/20 of a second and slower] and get pictures that have undesirable motion blur, which are due to camera shake? If you’re an avid photographer, I’m sure you’ve been there PLENTY of times. Now, what an IS does is that it’s a mechanism that counters this shaking movement i.e. it stabilises the image, hence the name. [I shall not go into the mechanics and physics, I'm too lazy]

And what about USM? Well, as the name implies, USM provides you with ultra silent focusing. When you half-press the shutter, a lens without USM will go wee-wee-wee as it focuses. A lens with USM, doesn’t make a sound. Whether or not it’s faster at focusing than a non-USM lens, I have yet to conclude [I highly doubt so, btw].

Now, let us move on to camera details and highlights! I’m not too interested to look at the entire set of specs, but if you really want to, see it here. Once you’re done with that, let’s jump on to the review!

Highlights

12x Zoom [36-432mm on 35mm equivalent] F2.7-3.5 IS USM lens.
This simply means you can zoom very, VERY far. And the 1:2.7-3.5 aperture range means it can still give you a fast shutter speed even at long ends of the zoom. Excellent lens, I say. It’s practically an L lens on a point-and-shoot [PnS] digicam if you ask me.

[note: L lenses are exceptionally high-quality lenses that usually cost in the 4-digits range.]

DiGiC II Image Processor
This is the new processor that comes in the latest batch of Canon’s releases. In comparison to its predecessor, DiGiC II is EXTREMELY FAST. It can also record videos up to 1GB in size, and at a maximum framerate of 60fps. Video is recorded in Motion JPEG [*.AVI] format.

2.0″ Vari-angle LCD Screen [resolution of 115,000 pixels]
A variangle screen basically means you can flip out the screen when shooting at odd angles. A very convenient gimmick, with a high resolution and up to 60fps framerate during live preview.

ISO 800
High sensitivity means you can shoot in low light conditions at fast shutter speeds but still get well-exposed images. Will elaborate further on this one later.

The Pros
Those mentioned above are basically the camera’s major selling points, which also happen to be the reason why I chose this one over other available options such as the Fuji S9500. But since I’m not doing a versus-type review, here, let’s move on to the good points of the cam [read: the things I like about the S3IS].

• Excellent Lens
  As I mentioned before, I think the S3IS is just a fat PnS with a drool-worthy L lens attached to it. Not only does it come with IS, it’s also a very fast lens. On top of that, it has another special gimmick, simply described as 0cm Super Macro. What this means is that you can place stuff DIRECTLY on the lens and the camera can and will focus on it.

  However, this feature only yields good images if the subject is well lit [usually from behind the subject]. This is a convenient feature when reshooting flim strips or slides. Although, personally, I like to think that this only means that it provides you with a greater opportunities when shooting in macro.

• Zooming Mechanism
  Like other S-series before it, the S3 has a very interesting zooming mechanism. It’s controlled by a ‘collar’ around the shutter release button, and it’s very sensitive to amount of movement it receives. Give it light taps, and the lens will zoom in very small increments. Give a solid push, and the lens shoots out really quick. Anything in between, it will react accordingly. Another point I’d like to highlight is an improvement over the previous S-series: it can now zoom even during video recording mode! A much-needed upgrade, I say.
• A Very Powerful Image Processor
  DiGiC II is absolutely awesome. The camera starts up really, really fast. If you turn off Image Review, you can shoot image after image without having to wait. You can just keep your eyes on the viewfinder, and your shutter half-pressed as you keep shooting and shooting. This processor, on top of the things I previously mentioned in the highlights section… is a gem.
• Good CIPA Rating.
  CIPA is a standard of measuring how many images a camera can shoot on a set of fully charged batteries. Specs claim that the S3IS can last for 560 shots with a set of 4 x 2100 mAh NiMH batteries using the LCD live preview. As I use the electronic viewfinder [EVF] most of the time, I think I shot over 600 images with the same set.
• Nice Body
  The Mode Dial turns with solid clicks and the it has a very deep finger groove that lets you give it a firm solid grip. It’s also in a black and glossy finish, and I think it looks pretty damn sexy. It also allows for add-on accesories i.e filters and conversion lenses. It’s also got a metal tripod mount, so no worries of tearing it up by screwing it on too hard :D

The Cons
Okay. That’s about it when it comes to the things I like about the S3IS. Now, I’m also quite the devil’s advocate, and I always make room to analyse short comings. Here I list the cons of the S3IS [read: things I don't like].

• Fragile Lens
  The lens on the S3IS, though powerful, appears to be a very fragile pieces of equipment. Upon switching on, the lens barrels extends outward. Even if the zooming mechanism is mostly internal, the entire barrel does move around a bit. The barrel itself is also quite short, and there’s not much room to hold with your left hand.

  I propose that the barrel should be done like the Panasonic FZ30, with a fixed-length barrel and equipped with zooming and manual focusing rings. I believe it’s a much needed improvement.

  On top of that, the lens cap is dependent on the adapter ring. It’s not a clip-on lens cap, but rather, a cap-on lens cap [get it?]. Well, never mind. I don’t like the lens cap. It’s fussy to put on and take off. At least it’s got a string.

• No threads!
  This is my long-time gripe with Canon non-SLR digicams. Instead of providing screw threads at the end of the lens, it decides to make us buy adapter tubes! WTF WTF WTF. Canon really takes merchandising stuff to another level.
• No Hotshoe!
  Means I can’t use a slave flash or use a remote-sync flash, like how a dSLR can. Okayl, okay, the S3IS is prosumer, not an SLR. But this is a truly handy feature that a lot of Canon fans are really looking forward to! We want a hotshoe, damn it!
• Buttons at odd places.
  Button for right-hand controls can get a bit confusing. Many times when I want to adjust the ISO, I pressed the FUNC button and vice-versa, since my eyes are planted on the EVF. Speaking of which, you can only adjust ISO in one direction i.e. increasing. If you want ISO 200 but pressed it a one time too many, you’ll have to go through ISO 800, Auto, Hi-Auto, 80, 100 THEN only you will get to ISO 200 again. Tsk tsk, not good, not good.

  The focusing buttons [macro and manual focus] are on the barrel. But they’re SMALL. And I often have to take my eyes off the viewfinder to find them buttons. Fussy, fussy. Bad, bad, bad.

• IR-incapable
  I really love shooting in infrared [IR]. I have been taking wonderful IR colours through my previous PnS digicams [the A95 and A700]. I had great expectations for the S3IS, unfortuntaely it’s got a unbelievably strong IR-cut filter! Even on a bright sunny day, I get shutter speeds of over 1 second even at ISO800 and F2.7! Goddamit! Major gripe, here.
• Terrible noise at ISO 800
  Unfortunately, Canon’s sensor technology has yet to match with Fuji’s. While they may claim gold over their ISO800, in reality, it’s too noisy to provide any artistic value. If its for documentation, then i suppose it works fine. However, I’m very pleased to say at lower ISO ratings, the noise reduction software does an excellent job and still provides you with lovely images.
• Terrible Metering
  This is probably the S3IS’s greatest downfall. At semi-auto modes [Program, Aperture and Shutter Priorities] the light metering simply fails on many occasions. Especially when you use the flash. Even if you set the EV value to under-expose by a few notches, it still gives the wrong shutter speeds and over-exposes instead. Bad, bad, BAD! Damn you for forcing me to go Manual at difficult times!

Conclusion
And there you have it. An unbiased user review of the Canon S3IS. Personally speaking I love it to bits. Sure it comes with quite number of short comings, but half of them [fragile lens, lens threads and hotshoe] are demands usually only met by paying a much higher price. So, as for the other two, there are many ways to compensate, although it does take a bit of skill and patience *cough*. For sample images, you can browse the blog [not the photoblog, it's outdated], the more recent photos are from the S3IS :D

For it’s price, I say it’s definitely a good bargain for all the great things it had to offer. If I am to be honest, yes, I would recommend the S3IS to anyone looking for a good digicam with a long zoom for under RM1800. Good buy, it is.

Oh on another note, if you *are* going to purchase this cam, I’d recommend that you complement it with a few things;

• A high-speed SD-card of AT LEAST 512MB. I currently use a Kingston 50x 1GB SD card.
• 8 pieces [4 in use, 4 for spares] of NiMH batteries, at least 2100mAh ones with high-speed chargers. Good brands are like Sanyo and GP. I currently use Sanyo 2500’s.

Feel free to ask if you have any curiosities!