Picking a Powershot camera

Grislo

I could use a little advice on which Canon Powershot camera to go for.

I'm torn between the S3 IS PowerPlus and the G7.

I'm mainly interested in taking pictures. Video is a bonus, but shouldn't be considered.

It seems like the G7 might be the better still photo camera, but the S3 has some nice optical zoom.

So, eh, help? If anyone has some experience with either or both models, give me some pointers.

(Should this go in G&T? I've noticed people posting camera threads here before)

Pheezer

I'd argue to always err on the side of greater optical zoom for point and shoot cameras.

Deusfaux

eh... but in this case the disparity is pretty great because they are targeted at different users.

S3 is a super-zoom. do you see yourself taking pictures of say... birds, or sports or something like that?

while the G7 is something of a pro-sumer model, focus on manual features, robust, etc.

neither are particularly compact or pocketable, and less point and shoot than the A, S, or SD series.

if you're more serious about photo taking than your choices would be a good thing. if you want to snap pictures of random stuff, parties, etc, than Id say aim lower.

if you were really serious about photography, ideally you'd have something like an SD, and an SLR like the digital rebel to cover both ends of the spectrum, and not a single camera in the middle thats jack of all trades but master of none.


www.dpreview.com

Grislo

I'm not really looking for a compact, and I don't feel that I really need to step up to an SLR. I did briefly consider the Nikon D40, though.

I guess I'm leaning towards the G7, it seems like they sacrificed some things on the S3 to make it more alrlound, and to include better video features.