Canon Powershot S2 IS: photography, help and advice

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Originally Posted by Roxyluvsme13

The only differences in the S2 and S3 are the LCD, the new sports mode, the widescreen feature, and I'm pretty sure it was something else.. I don't really care which one I get, since it's a pretty minor upgrade to the S3.

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the s3 is 6mp and the s2 is 5mp - but my Fuji was 6mp and I think that my S2 is taking far better pics course different brands and better camera.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Canon...oductDetail.do here is the S3 regular price $499.99
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Canon...oductDetail.do here is the S2 regular price $399.99
might be a minor upgrade but it isn't a minor upgrade in price!
I actually got mine cheaper then even Walmart at Best Buy and got the one gig card (which I just got another one so now I have 2) and the extended 4 year warranty for about $520.

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Originally Posted by shais_mom

the s3 is 6mp and the s2 is 5mp - but my Fuji was 6mp and I think that my S2 is taking far better pics course different brands and better camera.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Canon...oductDetail.do here is the S3 regular price $499.99
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Canon...oductDetail.do here is the S2 regular price $399.99
might be a minor upgrade but it isn't a minor upgrade in price!
I actually got mine cheaper then even Walmart at Best Buy and got the one gig card (which I just got another one so now I have 2) and the extended 4 year warranty for about $520.

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I knew I was forgetting something :P. My current camera (Kodak Easyshare CX7530) is 5MP, and I guess it's decent for $200.. :rolleyes:. I check the price of the S2 and S3 every week and give my mom an update since my birthday's in 2 weeks. I was planning on getting a 2GB card.. How many pics can you get on your 1GB?

ummmm
my one G card holds over 650 pics at the highest setting -
lowest setting is almost 6000 pics.
wow
did your mom get a new job? That's great if she did :) b/c my parents would have laughed their heads off at me if I asked for a $400 camera and a $80 memory card when I was 14. :confused: They would laugh at me NOW b/c they wouldn't know what a memory card was -
My mom even asked me why Verizon was selling razors. (RAZRs)

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Originally Posted by shais_mom

ummmm
my one G card holds over 650 pics at the highest setting -
lowest setting is almost 6000 pics.
wow
did your mom get a new job? That's great if she did :) b/c my parents would have laughed their heads off at me if I asked for a $400 camera and a $80 memory card when I was 14. :confused: They would laugh at me NOW b/c they wouldn't know what a memory card was -
My mom even asked me why Verizon was selling razors. (RAZRs)

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6000 pics? :eek:
Yeah she did. She doesn't think she's going to like it too much though, so she's still on the lookout. Plus, this one only pays $10 an hour. My mom knows how much I like taking pictures, although she thinks my other camera is fine.. but really it's getting old, and the screen is scratched.
Lmao, Razors. :p

I see - while I am not trying to discourage you - a $500 camera is a lot of $10 an hours! :( You might try looking at some of the other Canon's or Olympus - they might be just as good and a bit cheaper - I almost got this one
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Olymp...oductDetail.do
I had my eye on it for awhile - but decided I wanted to be able to hold the camera and play with it so I didn't want to buy it online. And it got very good reviews also.
If you have any other questions you can PM me or I'm sure either one of the girls with this camera since we are kind of hijacking this thread:)

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Originally Posted by shais_mom

I see - while I am not trying to discourage you - a $500 camera is a lot of $10 an hours! :( You might try looking at some of the other Canon's or Olympus - they might be just as good and a bit cheaper - I almost got this one
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Olymp...oductDetail.do
I had my eye on it for awhile - but decided I wanted to be able to hold the camera and play with it so I didn't want to buy it online. And it got very good reviews also.
If you have any other questions you can PM me or I'm sure either one of the girls with this camera since we are kind of hijacking this thread:)

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Yeah, so I'll probably go with the S2, hoping it's on Sale during the week of my birthday. My mom said it may be a little after my birthday before I get the camera, but that's okay with me. Nice Olympus, but it uses xD cards. -___- I kind of want to play with the S2 before I buy it, too. If I have any questions, I will certainly be dropping you a PM. :)

Link to a review coparing the S2 and S3. Canon Review

I am seriously thnking of the S3, though for the $90 difference, the S2 is perfectly fine!

My mom is seriously helping out to get a replacement camera. She's giving me cash as an early birthday and anniversary gift. As soon as I can afford half the camera she'll give me half the money as both gifts. Hubby is quite happy to have our anniversary gift go towards my camera (just to make ME happy... isnt he SWEET? I knew he was a good guy!)

Shais mom... lol, I agree with you! my kids know not to ask for something that expensive... even as a Christmas gift. Ashley got the $250 Canon Powershot A520 (or something like that) as her ONLY Christmas gift this year. She gets some awesome photos from that, and its now down below $200 in many places around here.

I've been looking at this thread and now I really want this camera. I showed it to my mom and she told me to start saving my money. My birthday is in November and then Christmas shortly after, so I'll hopefully get it then. My camera is pretty good, but stinks when it comes to macro pictures, plus it eats batteries like potatoe chips!

My parents would laugh too! I've got to work for what I want.. even if it is a birthday present!

I've been considering buying the S2. I have my canon rebel but also a Canon A95. I have the A95 if I want to take pictures somewhere and not risk having my Rebel stolen. The A95 was $500 when I bought it. I was thinking of selling it as using that money towards a new camera (S2) I don't know how much I could sell it for. I think I saw the S2 in stores for $400 or so...so even if I could get $100-200 for the A95 (no idea what it's worht right now) I HAVE the money for it, I just feel like I'm spending too much on something I don't need. I HAVE a great camera already...

Would you say it's worth it? Is the S3 a whole lot better?

ugh, what I really want is an SLR. I'll have it in about 5 years. :rolleyes: I need a job now, and after insurance and gas and repairs to my old jeep I'll have about $100 a month to save because I can only work like 15 hours max a week durring school or I'd die, and I NEED that for shareboarding. :( I guess I'll have to stick with my kodak.

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Originally Posted by slleipnir

I've been considering buying the S2. I have my canon rebel but also a Canon A95. I have the A95 if I want to take pictures somewhere and not risk having my Rebel stolen. The A95 was $500 when I bought it. I was thinking of selling it as using that money towards a new camera (S2) I don't know how much I could sell it for. I think I saw the S2 in stores for $400 or so...so even if I could get $100-200 for the A95 (no idea what it's worht right now) I HAVE the money for it, I just feel like I'm spending too much on something I don't need. I HAVE a great camera already...

Would you say it's worth it? Is the S3 a whole lot better?

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I love the S2 over the 3 Fuji's I have had in my camera experience. I don't really know anyone who has the S3 - but on circuit city the S2 got a higher rating then the S3. :)

I got my S2 in February, but I have not had near the time to play and practice with it! You guys have posted some awesome photos!!! I nned to spend some time with my camera, and see what I can do!

I took some pics at the local fireworks tonite and here are the results.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...=9Qas2bFs1UUsw

some are better then others -
most of them were on the fireworks mode.

Staci, these photos are great! :) Can't wait to test the firework mode on New Years'! ;)

I also took some more meanwhile, even though they did not turn out pefectly:

The moon last night
(12x optical zoom)

http://www.catmom.de/pix/mond2.jpg

Rain in Germany after the 0:2 against Italy:
(12x optical zoom)

http://www.catmom.de/pix/regen1.jpg

Dragonfly
(12x optical zoom)

http://www.catmom.de/pix/dragonfly.jpg

"Second Breakfast"
(Super macro mode)

http://www.catmom.de/pix/schwebi2.jpg

Duck Mom
(12x optical zoom)

http://www.catmom.de/pix/duck.jpg

Kirsten

Wow, great pictures Kristen! What's the "super macro zoom??"

Thanks! :)

Oops, sorry, I wanted to say "super macro mode". :o I'm going to edit.

Kirsten

I love taking moon shots!!
http://petevents.com/~simba/mewn.jpg

That is awesome!!! :) Looks much better than my moon picture. How did you do it? As there'll soon be a full moon, I'd like to try it! :)

Kirsten

Wow, great moon photo Kay! I was wondering the same thing as Kristen...?

Ok, so this next week we have our county fair, and I'm going to enter some pictures, but I need help decideing. These are the ones me and my family have picked out. I'm not sure how many you can enter. Its just a little fair, so its not like the pictures have to be anything fantastic, but if you dont like any of the pictures I'm posting, for any reason please say so, because I need to narrow it down.... I'm pretty sure I like the first four, not so crazy about #3... *sorry about the crazy sizes*

#1
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...s/Dsc01420.jpg

#2
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...withS2032f.jpg

#3
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...swithS2045.jpg

#4
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...swithS2034.jpg

#5
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...swithS2157.jpg

#6
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...swithS2094.jpg

#7
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...swithS2109.jpg

#8
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...swithS2159.jpg

#2, #4, #5 are my favorites. :)

I like all of them too!:)
I really like the one of the flower with rain drops

I figgered out some of the modes on my camera purely by accident -
some of them aren't as clear as I'd like but I am happy with them overall. :)
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...=9Qas2bFs1UUxA

Toby's my baby, #3, 4, 6 are my favorite ;)

Kirsten, your pictures are very beautiful. I love the dragonfly picture :)

Thanks, Sonia! :)

Toby's my Baby, I love #5! :)

I also took some new shots meanwhile:


Full Moon
The moon, again, the full moon of last night. I used a flash this time. I think more than this is not possible with this cam, at least I tried various settings and this was the best result:

http://www.catmom.de/pix/mond3.jpg


Orange Lily 2
I tried it again, without using flash. This time, the background turned out totally black, but I think it's not too bad.

http://www.catmom.de/pix/lilie2.jpg


LOL; edited because I just noticed: Maybe I should unite these two pictures somehow (unfortunately, I don't know anything about digiart) as a symbol for my girls. "Luna" and "Lily", you know... ;)


Say "Cheeeese"!
I'm a bit upset with this one. It looked just perfect on the camera's display, but once downloaded to my computer, I found the contrast is too high, and it's also not really sharp.

http://www.catmom.de/pix/frontal.jpg

Kirsten

LOL, I just "played" a bit and here's Luna's and Lily's new "emblem":

http://www.catmom.de/pix/luna_lily_symbol.jpg


Kirsten

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kirsten

LOL, I just "played" a bit and here's Luna's and Lily's new "emblem":

http://www.catmom.de/pix/luna_lily_symbol.jpg


Kirsten

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I love that :D.

I could not find Orange Lily #1 back to compare the background, but you were very lucky with this shot! Do you have an idea how it turned black?

I bought a mini tripod and wanted to try catching the moon yesterday, but it was behind the clouds! :( I'll try another day.

Wow great photos everyone :D. Awesome moon shots, i too am interested in how to do that (Might work with my camera). Staci i am just checking out your lastest set of photos at the moment, they are lovely so far :).

great pics Kirsten!
Love the digi-art one!

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Originally Posted by cloverfdx

Staci i am just checking out your lastest set of photos at the moment, they are lovely so far :).

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THANKS! :D

Beautiful photos Kristen!! How did you get the backgroud to turn out completly black on the Lily photo?

Gosh, you all are making it SO hard for me to decide what pictures to choose!! I have to enter them early thursday morning, and I haven't even picked them out yet!! I still need to pick them out, print them, and frame them! :eek: Gosh...I guess I'll have to decide for myself ;) Thank you everyone for your help!

Thanks! :)

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How did you get the backgroud to turn out completly black on the Lily photo?

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Well, I don't know... I used the tv mode (F7,1, exposure time 1/320, no flash, spot focus). The sun was shining onto the blossom. I was surprised it turned out completely black.

Kirsten

Kirsten, yesterday night I tried again the moon shots. It does not turn like yours at all, like this one for example:

http://www.catmom.de/pix/mond3.jpg

I know that my teleobjective is more limited than yours on my camera (x14 at maximum, comprising the use of digital zoom), but still, I should be able to catch the details of the moon, even if the moon would be smaller than yours in the centre of the picture. Can you indicate me the parameters of your picture?
And also, did you crop the picture you posted or is really this size on the original picture?

Sonia, I noticed that moon shots turn out best in the landscape mode of the camera. Strange, isn't it? LOL

The picture above was taken with an aperture of F3,5 and an exposure time of 1/60 seconds. I also had the flash on. Noticed that the moon is looking clearer with a flash. As I have no tripod, I put the camera on a "corn cushion". I used the zoom to the max (12x opt. + 4x digital), and in the original, the moon is as least twice as big. With my software (Corel Photopaint) I removed some brightness and added some contrast to get clearer colors, and I sharpened the picture - that's all. :)

Kirsten

Thanks, I'll try again! I don't think I can get F3.5 with the full zoom on my camera, but I'll try something approaching. I think my problem is that I have too much light, because the moon looks uniform. I will try reducing the exposure time. And the flash, I did not think about it! What ISO speed do you use? I used 400, may be it was not good. But with the automatic landscape mode, I have no choice anyway, it will be ISO 50. Does it matter in this case?

He-he, I usually never retouch my pics (may be a lack of time also), when they are not good I throw them away and I try again. Except if it is a precious picture of my cats that I cannot take again ;) What I am interested in, is what the camera can do (and me via the camera) more than the computer possibilities. This is also why I am so bad in Digiart :D

Sonia, try to reduce ISO. I took mine with ISO 50.
And does your camera have a spot focus? It also helps to reduce the light of the moon.

Kirsten

OK, after looking and commenting at pics from the others, here are some of mine!


http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...ia59/lupin.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...leurDeBilt.jpg

Macro flowers
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...59/Oeillet.jpg


This is the very first flower I took with the macro mode, I am not completely satisfied, but I find the flower beautiful
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...eurPrunier.jpg


http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...a59/pommes.jpg

Insects
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b310/Sonia59/Ver.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...59/Abeille.jpg

Snail
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...MtStMichel.jpg

Playing with the color switch!
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...vacheBleue.jpg

Most of the macro pics were taken in the shadow, so I could not get very sharp pictures, but they look a bit brighter in the original full size pictures than in these ones.

Very beautiful! :) Love the one of the white flower, and the insects, but what have to done to that cow!? LOL :) It looks like a fan of the Argentinian football team with these colors! ;) Great job!

Kirsten