I am in the market for a new camera. I have pretty much decided on a Canon. I am starting with researching the S3, A710, and A640. Now I can see the tech specs on the camera but can some of the gurus out there give me a better comparison on these cameras?

I am looking for a camera that has a decent speed between shots and has some good auto featues. We are not photo experts and dont know alot about all the manuals settings. We need to be able to turn it on and take pictures. I also want it to be good on batteries. I have seen some cameras out there that eat bateries.

Thanks,
Frank

I have no insight to offer on the specific models mentioned, but I will offer this- I would choose one of the A-series cameras over the S3. The reason is that the A-series uses AA batteries, and the S3 comes with a rechargable battery specific to the camera.

I own an A520. It was the first digital camera I bought, and I still use it as my "snapshot" camera. When I bought it, I invested in rechargable batteries and a charger. Not only did it solve my power problems, but by carrying four extra charged batteries around (The A520 uses 2 AA batteries) I could simply swap out batteries and keep shooting. With the S3, if you run the battery down, you have to plug in and wait for the battery to recharge. If you happen to be "in the field", you're done shooting.

In the end, it's pretty much personal preference. You could always order extra batteries for the S3 I suppose. But I've never been sorry I went the route I did.

-Joe U.

...S3 comes with a rechargeable battery specific to the camera...

-Joe U.

Correction: The S3 uses AA batteries, not a proprietary battery pack.

From what I've read over the weeks, the difference in image quality and features between the models is trivial. The advantages of each camera are:

s640: 10 megapixel = able to make HUGE photographic prints.
s710: image stabilization; smaller and lighter than the s3.
s3: I would say is the best out of this bunch; only con being that it's the largest/heaviest of the three.

If size/weight and budget isn't an issue, I recommend the S3. If money is an issue, I highly recommend you check out the S2.