The Canon PowerShot S3 IS is an advanced digital point and shoot camera with an impressive 12x optical zoom via an image stabilized lens. The LCD screen is on a swivel, allowing a lot of flexibility in shooting, and the camera has advanced manual shooting modes for the more competent photographer, as well as many scene modes for advanced auto shooting.
Focusing
The PowerShot S3 IS has a fold-out LCD screen that can be titled up or down. This screen can be used in a variety of ways. Fold the screen out and tilt the screen down at an angle to make it easy to hold the camera above your head and take shots from a different perspective, or take shots over people's heads. Fold it out and tilt the screen up to take shots of kids or objects low to the ground without having to crouch down on your legs.
The S3 IS also has an electronic viewfinder. Fold the screen in on itself and turn it so it faces the back of the camera, then push the Display button on the back of the camera to cycle to the viewfinder for shooting in bright daylight conditions where the LCD screen can get washed out.
Batteries
The S3 IS runs on four AA batteries. Use lithium AA batteries instead of standard alkalines to get seven times the battery life. Better yet, get a set of NiMH AA batteries and a charger. NiMH batteries are efficient, and can be charged up to 1,000 times.
Other ideas for prolonging battery life include using the viewfinder instead of the LCD screen, and using a card reader to download your photos to your computer. A card reader connects via a USB cable to your computer and is viewed as an external disk drive. Simply put the memory card in the card reader, open Explorer, and drag and drop your photos off the card onto your computer. Finish by putting the memory card back in the camera and formatting it.
Customize the Display
Choose what the camera shows on the display by going into the Menu system and scrolling to "Custom display." In the automatic and scene modes, you can choose to display a Tic-Tac-Toe-type grid, useful for shooting according to the "Rule of Thirds," which states that better photographs are achieved by placing subjects at the intersection of grid points, instead of in the center of the image.
When shooting in the P, A, S, and M modes, the user can also choose to display a histogram. Again, go into "Custom display" to turn it on. A histogram helps judge whether the exposure is too dark or too light, or if it is spot on. The more the graph of the histogram is weighted to the left, the darker the image, and the more to the right, the lighter.
Tags: back camera, card reader, take shots, your computer, battery life, choose display, Custom display