Canon S5 - Unmatched features?

[angelsix]

I just lost my Canon S3 in a situation too painful to recount, so am looking for a new digital camera. The S5 looks pretty good to me. Features I particularly like:

1. Anti-shake. I rarely have the time/patience/opportunity to use a tripod.

2. Gimbled view screen. I love being able to frame a shot by holding the camera over the heads of people in front of me, or a real low angle shot without getting down in the dirt. The screen on the S3 was pretty small, and it's nice Canon enlarged it for the S5.

3. AA batteries. I know Li-ions are good, but they're soo expensive, and sometimes I'm camping where I don't have a charger handy. I can carry lots of AA's.

4. Flash shoe. The built-in flash is usually wimpy, and red-eye-ee.

5. Extended telephoto. What my S3 had was fine. Anything wider and I just spliced two photos for a really wide shot. At that point we're not talking about really good viewing detail anyway.

6. Handy movie mode. I don't really want to shoot videos to show on my TV -- just mementos to look at later. I liked being able to shoot a movie, and take a still photo, without messing with the mode setting.

I keep reading how Canon is falling behind the competition. I understand there are P&S (prosumer??) digitals with bigger lenses, wider zooms, more megapixels, sharper and less distorted pictures, optical viewfinders, etc., but I've been happy with my Canon quality shots. Even when I had an SLR with a big, heavy zoom, long shots usually didn't turn out to be much anyway. Either there's haze, or too much hand shake.

I found the S3's electronic viewfinder quite satisfactory. In low light, it would actually make it easier to see what I was shooting. There's also the SLR feeling that what I see is what I'll get (but sharper). I remember seeing a complaint that it's not good for manually focusing on some really fine textured things, but I pretty much never do manual focus.

Anyway, I haven't seen other cameras that compete with the S5's feature set. If there aren't any, then I've found my new camera and just have to start shopping for price.

So -- any recommendations for other camera's I should consider?

Thanks.

P.S. I do think it's cheesy of Canon to jump from S3 to S5 for the relatively minor and incremental changes from the S3.

[Liz]

Personally, I think the S5 is a great choice for you since you were happy with the S3. I'm also looking at the S5 and have researched it pretty well. I like the larger flip LCD and the hot shoe. Just a small thing, but the S5 has a slightly better lens cap - at least it has a clasp, though a bit weaker than a DSLR cap, it has something that clips onto the lens. I've seen some really nice images from this camera.

I think you're making a good decision. I've been between the S3 and the S5 lately, but am heavily leaning toward the S5. It has a really nice feel to it (I'm used to the DSLR). I love the IS - and especially the focal length - 432 is great!

One comment. IMHO I think the hot shoe is a big plus on this camera as most p&s cameras don't do well in low light.

Regarding other cameras, with most p&s cameras you have to compromise something. I've checked out some Fuji and other cameras that are better in low light, but don't have the IS which is important especially since you mentioned you've had slight camera shake results. I have the same - slight camera shake and wouldn't get a small camera without the IS.

There is also the G7 which is awesome, comparable to the S5 in IQ - maybe a step better, but to most of us, not noticeable. The G7 focal length is 210 vs 432 on the S5 - which for me since they are so close in IQ is a no brainer.

Let us know what you decide.

Liz