Camera People! Canon Powershot S2 IS

[PWCorgi]

Is this a good camera?
I am getting a new camera soon, and I want a good one, right now I have a really crappy one that only works half the time.

If it's not a good camera, could someone please show me a good one? I definitaly want a digital one, and I don't want to spend probably more than $500.

Thanks,
Ren

 

[Southpaw]

I just got this camera for my birthday.

I really like it. Here are some pics I've taken with it~
This picture I took from the other side of my bedroom, zoomed in all the way.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/SingedWhiskers/General/IMG_0226.jpg

My cat, sitting a few feet away from him, zoomed in quite a bit.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/SingedWhiskers/Cat/IMG_0267.jpg

My rat, this time zoomed in just a little bit.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/SingedWhiskers/Rats/IMG_0418.jpg

The pictures I posted of Lucy today were also taken with this camera.
I don't know what exactly you're looking for in a camera, but I really just take pictures of my pets and I *love* it.

 

[AndrewF]

Just quickly (as I'm on my way to work), the only thing that I would mention - which may or may not be a consideration is there's now an S3 IS - meaning the S2 IS would be out of date/dropped from production and if the S3 IS is near the same price, you may want to go for the newer version.

As for the camera itself, a friend of mine has the s1 is and is very happy with it so I'm confident the s2 and s3 are also very good.

Just some quick reading for you about the s2 and s3 cameras:
S3 IS
S2 IS

 

[PWCorgi]

Thanks, the S3 is about $100 more, so I might just get that instead, I'll have to talk to my mom, lol.

 

[Southpaw]

Yeah, my dad considered getting the S3 for me instead but he didn't want to spend $100 more, and the person at whatever store he went to said it has the same features as the S2, it just has more megapixels. Oooor something like that.

 

[Kama]

Remember that besides the camera, you are going to have to spend another $50 to $100 bucks for the memory. It doesn't come with it.

I just bought the Canon SD 600 for my dad. It is an ultra-compact. So, it means that it can easily fit into your pocket. 6 Megapixels and and large lcd screen. It has some pretty good reviews.

So, if you want something less bulky you could look at the SD 600. Do a search on google for comments on it. or checkout cnet.com for digital camera reviews.

 

[whatszmatter]

lots of people get caught up in the mega pixel thing, but if you have a small camera anything over 3 is going to give you very good pictures. Some of these cameras are cramming so many mega pixels thru the same processer as the model below it, the quality of picture is the same.

I have a SD500, and it takes very good pictures. I almost got the S2 IS but my wife won out because she wanted one that would fit in her pocket as well. I liked the zoom on the S2, but wanted to take action shots, that's my biggest concern. The S2, although, labeled an in between camera of a point and shoot vs a SLR, doesn't have a fast enough focus (for me) to even campare to an SLR. Since there was no way I was being allowed to get the digital SLR I wanted we just settled for a point and shoot. the zoom isn't as nice, but 90% of our pictures are taken of something in the same room anyway so we went with size over the zoom.

But seriously go to a camera store and have them show you examples of what each camera takes, don't get caught up in the megapixel games. For regular photos 3 or more is plenty. I've seen poster size blow ups from 3 mega pixel cameras that have amazing clarity.

 

[MomOf7]

When looking at a camera megapixels are good but optical its better. More life like pictures. The more optical resolution the better the pictures.

 

[whatszmatter]

When looking at a camera megapixels are good but optical its better. More life like pictures. The more optical resolution the better the pictures.

on that note, don't fall for great zooms on other cameras, they sometimes add optical zoom and digital zoom together to give you the zoom capabilities of the camera. Not the case with the S2, i believe it has a 10X or better optical zoom, very nice for a point and shoot.

Digital zoom is worthless IMO and should not even be a consideration when looking at zoom capability.

 

[RD]

Not the same camera but rather similar - I have the S1 IS and it's actually a neat little device and not too pricey at all. I've managed to get some nice, clear pictures with it. On the other hand I've had a ton of photos turn out terribly, but that's more my fault than the camera's.