canon digital cameras

[cobaltblue]

I am looking at upgrading my dig. camera and have narrowed it down to
2.

I was wondering if the Canon Rebel XTI is worth spending the extra 500$ on.
I am also looking at the Canon S3 which has image stabilizer, and a 12X optical zoom as well as 6mp.
The digital SLR rebel is 10mp, but only comes with a 18-55mm lens., so i would also have to buy a bigger zoom lens.

Is there going to be that much of a picture quality differnece between the 2 cameras. I mostly want to use this camera taking pictures of my fish, so i really want a big zoom.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Ryan]

I have the Canon PowerShot S2. I love it. The zoom is amazing and set on the highest quality I can print flawless 8x10 color and B&W pics. The Rebels are excellent and I would love to have one, but I don't take enough pictures at this point to justify the high cost of one. I would think that for basic digital photography and standard personal use, the PowerShots are good cameras.

[terps]

Go to this site and read all the reviews. They even have a Canon forum.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/

[scolley]

I would think that for basic digital photography and standard personal use, the PowerShots are good cameras.
Ryan, if you weren't an Admin, I'd be tearing off now to check out your posts to see your pics. But as an admin, I figure you've got posts spread everywhere. So I'm just gonna ask...

Do you mean a PowerShot? Or a PowerShot "S" series?

I've got a PowerShot A95. And it has been a decent camera. Best I've ever owned probably. But I'm no pro. And no serious amateur. My pics are OK IMO, but still OH SO LACKING for fish/planted tank shots. The big problem in photographing fish with this camera (I think) is its poor light gathering ability. Poor light gathering either leads to high f-stop leading to poor depth of field. Or it leads to slow shutter speeds, which of course, leads to blurry fish pics.

And on top of that, it is crap for close-ups.

So, I'm glad to find there might be a Canon alternative to the expensive Digital Rebel line. But can you say that with your "S" series PowerShot that you do not have the issues I've described, with regard to poor light gathering, and poor close-up ability?

Thanks in advance.

[Wahter]

I have a Canon EOS 20D - it's been replaced by the 30D and they are a step up from the Rebel, but can use the same lenses (including those with IS - image stabilizer). I like it a lot more than two of my friend's "point and shoot" Canon digital cameras (being a digital SLR, it seems to be able to take aquarium photos with lower light conditions).

My previous 35mm camera was a Canon AE-1 Programme and I used it for 20 years! I'm sold on Canon cameras. ;) Most of the photos on my website were taken with this old camera (I scanned them into my PC).

Take a look at Dan's photos using his Rebel:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=54273

HTH.

[poconogal]

My husband has the Rebel and we hadn't figured out how to get good tank or fish shots with it for some reason, even though it does a great job on landscapes, etc., so I recently got a Canon Powershot A530 which takes fabulous pictures. I got it especially for taking fish pics.

Here's a sample of a pic I took with it when I had it for only two weeks and had not much clue on how to work it:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19365&d=1162073347

This shot was taken at night, with only the tank light on, no flash. The A530 can focus about 2 inches away.

[Wahter]

Here's a photo I took of one of my Leopard Snakeskin - the fish is about 6" long. I just set my Canon EOS 20D to 'non-flash' auto mode, make sure the auto focus and image stabilizer are on, and click. I'm using their EFS lens.