Just got my new S3

[EllenC]

Anyone else want to kill themselves after reading the manual? I swear my 20D was way WAY easier to figure out. The thought of having to learn what all the endless symbols that pop up all over the lcd, and how to get rid of them makes me want to chuck the little sucker.

How long did it take you to get comfortable with the camera? I'm a little electronically challenged so expect it will take me a week or two to really get comfortable with it. It's also very hard to get use to composing a shot on an lcd.

Please tell me our love will grow!

[JustShootin']

I have the S2, which is pretty much the same as your S3. It took me no time at all to get used to the settings and menus. As for composing with the LCD, I don't. I use the viewfinder. Being use to SLR cameras, I thought that the electonic viewfinder would be hard to accept, but I have gotten used to that also. I really like the camera.

[283CID]

Yeah... It has more bells and whistles than anything I have come across. The only one *I* suggest you be very careful of is the ISO BUTTON. Being 'right there' it is darned easy to accidently find youself way up there...on the ISO scale! [grainy pictures, you know]. Otherwise...Hmmm... Hey! It is easier than the Cell Phone my daughter bought me...

[JustShootin']

Yeah... It has more bells and whistles than anything I have come across. The only one *I* suggest you be very careful of is the ISO BUTTON. Being 'right there' it is darned easy to accidently find youself way up there...on the ISO scale! [grainy pictures, you know]. Otherwise...Hmmm... Hey! It is easier than the Cell Phone my daughter bought me...

Yeah, that button is in a dangerous place. But when you get used to it, it's very handy being there. So much better than burried in a menu. The button can be programed to do several other tasks besides change the ISO, but I find changing the ISO to be the handiest thing to use it for.

[_aravena]

Difficult? What is this difficult? Shoot, I bought that thing and went out immediately took some great pics. Made the shortcut my WB and life was good after that. It's all so simple with everything at your finger tips. Might dump the SLR...rofl. Yeah right......

[JustShootin']

Difficult? What is this difficult? Shoot, I bought that thing and went out immediately took some great pics. Made the shortcut my WB and life was good after that. It's all so simple with everything at your finger tips. Might dump the SLR...rofl. Yeah right......

ROFL? What's funny?

[DigitalDisaster]

ROFL? What's funny?

That he might dump his SLR is what was funny.

[JustShootin']

That he might dump his SLR is what was funny.

I know that's what was "supposed" to be funny, but I doubt that it has many rolling on the floor laughing.

[_aravena]

sarcastic much???

[JustShootin']

Ellen, if you've had much experience in photography, I think you will find that what looks like an excessive mess of icons and settings will just start falling in place for you. It's a simple camera once you get used to it. It really is.

[chicagoastronomer]

What makes the S3 a great little camera is the veratility that it offers.

Better more than less, I say.

Don't be intimidated by it. Keep it on auto for a bit, and get used to it. Next go to the "P" (program), mode. Here you will be able to adjust some setting and still take good shots with the camera making the major decisions.

In no time, you'll be shooting entirely in manual mode for dramatic images!

[gregrocco]

Made the shortcut my WB and life was good after that.

I'm an S3 owner still getting the hang of all the functions, and I still haven't programmed any shortcuts, so pardon my ignorance when I ask "What is WB?"

[JustShootin']

I'm an S3 owner still getting the hang of all the functions, and I still haven't programmed any shortcuts, so pardon my ignorance when I ask "What is WB?"

I'm sure it rerers to White Balance, gregrocco.

[beeGjay]

WB is white balance.
It's a simple camera once you get used to it. It really is. I wish I felt that way and do understand your frustration Ellen. Coming from the very simple (a few modes only) P & S world I am having major button & menu overload.

[JustShootin']

gregrocco, I have the S2, not the S3, so I doubt that the page for changing the shortcut button would be the same in our manuals. But if you just click your "menu" button (bottom right), and scroll down to "shortcut button", setting it will speak for it's self. But I'm sure someone with tye S3 will give you the exact page for that function.

[JustShootin']

WB is white balance.
I wish I felt that way and do understand your frustration Ellen. Coming from the very simple (a few modes only) P & S world I am having major button & menu overload.

The good part is, that you can still take outstanding pictures with your camera on auto, or better yet, "Program", while you are learning about all those settings. And remember, depending on the type of work you plan on doing, there's many of these features you will probably never need. Many of them are just plain ole novelity. At least to me, and many others.

[O_T]

For registering a function to your shortcut button, you can start on page 61 of the advanced user guide. Quite a few S3 owners that I have read from, including me, have the shortcut button used for metering. The default setting for the shortcut button with the S3 is image quality, and if you wish to shoot in Large/Superfine you can set that from the shortcut button by default. But, you have to be careful because hitting the shortcut button by accident is common also and you'll end up shooting poorer quality images without realizing it. That's the reason if any, to reset your shortcut button to something useful, like metering.

[wickiup]

"Just got my new S3" also (refurbished) as a replacement for an S1 that Canon could not fix.

Great little camera that does a whole bunch for the buck.

Question: How do I get this thing to allow me to stitch photos in the clockwise direction??

I can shoot either up and down or across but I must have missed something along the way.

Thank you

wickiup

[283CID]

Spin the little dial on top to Stitch... The when you see the stitch window, 'omni' to the right [or left] and keep tapping until you get the direction you want.. [I just did it again, to make sure of what I was saying]

When you forget to do that, in ZoomBrowser you can select a few files and manually open the Canon Utility program "PhotoStitch" and do your set-up and directions, etc... there. The only slight draw back to that is that in the Stitch Assist mode your exposure for the whole 'Stitch' is set with the first picture; using the program manually, your pictures in the 'Stitch' may be just a whisker different exposure...which results in a tiny difference in the blue of the sky, usually.

[wickiup]

Okay, now I can get a stack of two rows of two for four shots total. At least I think I'm gaining :confused:

wickiup

[O_T]

"omni" to the left-"omni" to the right.......

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[283CID]

Does that follow: "Circle to the Left" ....?