New camera purchase today

[JTF]

I am buying a Canon S2 IS today for outdoor photography. Some newbie questions:

1. Are there any accessories that are recommended.

2. Is the lense adaptor/extension lense worth getting.

3. Any tricks or trips for good outdoor photography; full auto; low light conditions, or tweaking?

4. How would users rate this camera out of a 5.

I found this note on the canon.ca site, any comments on it.

"Note: *1 Normal temperature (73° F/23° C). Shoot images at wide-angle and at telephoto and alternatively with 30 second intervals. Use flash every two shots. Turn camera off and on after every ten shots. LCD brightness setting by Factory default."

Thanks for any help.

[RossW]

Congratulations on your purchase. Here are some quick thoughts on your questions:

1. Absolutely get at least one set of NiMH rechargeable AA batteries in the 2300 - 2500 mAH range. Regular alkalines discharge quickly, but rechargeables in the 2K+ power range will run forever. Of course, a bigger SD memory card, and preferably get a card reader to go with it.

2. You don't specify what type of "outdoor photography" you favor, but I would say yes... a teleconverter for wildlife, a wide angle for landscapes. Highly recommended is www.lensmateonline.com for the adaptor; they also have some 3rd-party converters, but you can get those (or genuine Canon) from other sources.

3. Nothing to special; the "scene" auto pre-sets can be handy sometimes; be mindful of shooting toward large expanses of sky, snow, etc., which will throw off the auto exposure. Learn about exposure compensation, and/or get comfortable with manual or semi-auto controls

4. 4.5 at least!

And regarding the note: sounds like the test conditions they use to estimate battery life... I don't think it's a prescription for how you should use the camera! :-)

Enjoy!

Oh... one more thing. I found that the information contained in some online reviews was very helpful in learning what some of the controls and features on the S2 did, even though I had used a G5 for a couple of years prior, and have been shooting film for a long time. Search through this forum (try "S2") for some links previously posted.

[GyRob]

it packs a lot into this camera its a bit noisey above 100 iso thats about its only fault i dont like the electronic view finder but most have that the lens range is great as is the IS id give it 4 out of 5 but it would be way at the top conpared with its rivals imho.
Rob.