Canon Powershot S1 IS vs. Panasonic DMC FZ3?? Need your experienced advice

[foreverhis_mdh]

I would really appreciate your help. I've researched Digitial cameras for about the last month and have narrowed it down to two cameras. Any advice or expereince you have with either of them would be of tremendous help. I am looking at the Canon Powershot S1 IS or the Panasonic DMC FZ3. I am not a professional but do enjoy it as a hobby and am planning on taking classes to become more advanced in my skills. My main focus is photographing nature and portraits of people when I travel overseas. Both cameras are extremely similar and so I would like to hear some first hand advice. Thank you!!!

 

foreverhis_mdh

Rhapsody of the Seas

March 13-20, 2005

[mountainhouse]

Don't know if you looked at: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_s1is%2Cpanasonic_dmcfz3&show=all

 

They are very close. The FZ3 has a little longer zoom, and the swivel LCD is nice on the IS.

 

I doubt you're going to find someone who's used both. You might try the forums on http://www.dpreview.com. I think you'll be more likely to find someone who's used both.

 

If the IS works well on the Canon, that is a HUGE benefit to good telephoto shots, and it sounds like you'll be doing that.

 

If the IS isn't that important, pick 'em both up and buy the one that feels good. Best thing's to make a choice and get out shooting.

 

Good shooting and shopping,

[KansasScrapper]

I have the Canon and my friend has the Panasonic. She is always borrowing mine. I have not used hers. I love mine!! They also have other lenses you can buy for them I have purchased one. It did great on our cruise, inside and out. Hope that helps.

[rho88]

Both the Panasonic and the Canon has Image stabilization. I personnaly use a FZ10 and love it. It is very common for people to think that canon is the only brand that has it. Panasonic had t IS before canon did. Now even Minolta has IS.

 

I have try both the FZ3 and the S1. Both very similar. Picture quality are also very close in most cases. It's really down to which one you feel more comfortable using. The FZ3 comes with a battery and charger, not sure if the Canon does.

[foreverhis_mdh]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I think it may just come down to handling both of them and seeing which fits better. I like that the IS has it's own underwater housing and that the LCD swivels but it doesn't have the low light AF beam and the LCD is hard to see in low lights. On the other hand the FZ3 has the AF beam, the same LCD problem, but it doesn't swivel. It seems though that on the websites I've read the FZ3 has 5 stars while the IS gets 4.5. One concern I have is that I've read the contrast on the IS can be a problem. Have y'all found that to be true or have you found that the color comes out deep and vibrant?

 

Mountainhouse...I loved your pictures of Hawaii. I was born there but don't remember it so I always enjoy looking at photos of it. The pictures of the mountains with the low clouds were amazing!! Did you take those with the Nikon listed below? If so that camera takes great quality pictures!

 

Thanks again for all ya'lls help!

[ddean52]

i need your help! i purchased the canon powershot 95 which im enjoying and the one flaw i can find is the power issue. this past sunday i was in washington dc and i shot 25 pictures over 2 hours (i turned the camera off and on) at 3 museums and in the middle of this my "low battery" alert came on. i then changed the batteries and was good to go. however,is 2 hours of off and on shooting typical? let me add that i started the day with new batteries! i did not use the nim(sp??) batteries. any help you guys can give me would be helpful!

thanks

dean & alice

[CatPatER]

We have the Panasonic Z3 and love it so far. We did consider the Canon but the lack of the AF for low light shots killed it for us. The only thing we aren't crazy about in the Z3 is that it has an electronic viewfinder instead of optical.

 

 

[bluehorizonlover123]

We have the Canon and used it on our cruise to Alaska and our cruise to Panama. The Canon definitely does stabilize the zoom shots and takes nice pictures but there is one very big flaw with it........ the shutter speed is awful. We were trying to take pictures of monkeys in the trees in Panama and the shutter takes forever to take the shot. Shutter lag is the proper term I believe. Very bad with this camera. Another big flaw..... when you take flash pictures there is always a dark spot in the picture on the bottom of the frame. We have contacted the mfger on this and that said this is just a problem with the camera. No way to correct it unless you want to use auxillary lighting for all your flash pictures. Of course we wouldn't be doing that on a cruise. So that's the scope. We did buy the filter lens and the lens hood. It feels good in the hand and zoom works great on it.

[Singinman]

I know a little about the Panasonix FZ series. I took an FZ10 to Alaska last May. See our Diamond Princess pictures on this forum. The FZ20 which I have reviewed and handled is a nice improvement over the FZ10. The menus are better and the electronics are better. Now one reviewer says the FZ3 is an improved 20 with fewer MPs. That would decide it for me.

 

The Leica lens on the Lumix FZ series is awesome.

 

I just looked at your two choices on my favorite camera web site,

 

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

 

The first review I read convinced me that I would choose the Panasonic over the Canon here if all things, other than the lens were equal. If not I would go with the one that fit my hands best and had the main controls like shutter and zoom close to my finger tips.

 

Jim from VA

 

P.S. shutter lag does not seem to be a problem with most of my uses of the P. and there are no dark spots in any of our pictures.

[zackiedawg]

Typically, Panasonic's FZ series has very fast focusing and reasonably short shutter lag. Canon's older technology Powershot S1 has slower autofocus and a little more shutter lag. Note that Canon will very soon introduce the Powershot S2, which will likely address these issues. The Canon G6 on the other hand is very quick with very low lag, though their focus speed still falls behind Panasonic and Sony. Of course, the G6 doesn't have the long zoom of these other two.

 

All of Panasonic's FZ series have Image Stabilization. The smaller zooms of the Canon G6 and Sony V3 do not...only Panasonic so far has offered IS on cameras with less than 5x zoom. The S1 is probably a touch behind the Panasonic technology-wise...and the long-end of the telephoto doesn't have the speed of Panasonic's - low Leica managed an excellent F2.8 throughout the zoom range I have no idea! Also, I'd expect Panasonic's battery to outlast the S1.

 

Dean and Alice, Were you using non-rechargeable batteries in your Canon A95? That could be the reason for the low battery life. The rechargeable batteries have significantly longer life in digital cameras than standard alkalines...though some cameras can use them, I'd recommend only using alkalines in an emergency or as backup batteries. Make a habit out of using the rechargeables the camera came with, or a fresh new set if your rechargeables are older and don't seem to be holding a charge anymore.

[foreverhis_mdh]

Thanks for all y'alls help and advice. I've been watching the pre-PMA announcements on Dpreview.com closely. I've heard rumors of the new S2 and so I decided to wait on purchasing a camera till after the show to see what comes out. Also hoping the prices will drop a little on last years models. Can't wait till Canon announces this years new line up. Thanks again for the advice!:D

foreverhis_mdh

Rhapsody of the Seas

March 13-20, 2005

[KansasScrapper]

I have the Canon S1 and still love it. I use rechargable battiers and take the charger with me. I have 3 sets of them (you can get them for about $10 for a pcak of 4). I have a set newly charged and in the camera, a spare set in the bag and a set charging. I never had ANY problems with low batteries. I took photos of Monkeys and no problems there either. No black marks at all. I do have an extra lenses for it and have used it. I also bought a small tripod for it and it works as well. Everyone likes different brands for their own reasons. That is why there are SO MANY to chose from. I use Nikon on my SLR (and will one day buy the digital Nikon). I am looking at getting another "point-and-shoot" for my hubby. I am looking at the Nikon 5200. I will NOT give up my Canon S1. It was a HARD choice between the Nikon 5200 over the Canon S500. It came down to having him hold them and he liked the feel of the Nikon.

[Wennfred]

I just took my Canon S1 IS on the Carnival Spirit and took some great pictures, easy to use and hold.. I use a 1 Gigabite CF Card, u can get them really cheap at TigersDirect.com the Movie on the Canon came out great with great sound.. and the IS, Image Stabilzer worked well, I used it during a bus ride to the Mayan Palace, no blurred pics there. Before the S1 IS, I owned a Canon A20, and that little carmera works well also. I been a long time fan of Canon so thats one reason why I went with the S1 IS, also the Price on it is down to like

$304.00 Now which is a great price.

 

Wennfred, San Diego Ca.