The Canon Powershot S3 IS is a good camera with some small improvements over its predecessor, the Powershot S2 IS. It is a very capable camera with full manual controls, a good super-macro mode and a truly superb movie mode. The biggest selling point of the S3 is its movie mode which records stereo sound and is equipped with a wind-filter, for clearer audio. On the downsides, this camera produces generally soft images and suffers from loss of details starting at ISO 200. Its viewfinders are also sub-par with low-resolution and poor visibility in bright light.


Among ultra-zoom cameras, the S3 competes well but several models offer better image quality such as the excellent Fuji Finepix S9000 and the good Fuji Finepix S5200. Both these models lack stabilization but sport ISO sensitivities up to 1600. Otherwise, the Panasonic FZ5 and FZ7 are comparable as they produce sharper images but with higher image noise. Note that these Panasonic cameras also have optical stabilized lenses but their movie-mode is not as sophisticated. So if movies with sound are important, the S3 is probably a great choice.