The PowerShot S3 IS is Canon’s big-zoom offering with a unique swivel LCD. It has a 6 megapixel resolution sensor and a 12x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 36-432mm on a 35mm camera). The lens is good (low distortion/aberrations), and the zoom is motor operated. It has a start-up time of 1.7 seconds and a pre-focus shutter lag (half-press to full-press of the shutter button) of 0.09 seconds. The full-press shutter lag (without pre-focusing) is around 0.50 seconds. In the High Speed Continuous Shooting Mode, the camera can take about 2.1 pictures/second until the memory card fills up. The shot-to-shot speed is 1.7 seconds (without a flash). It has another Normal Continuous Shooting Mode in which it takes approximately 1.5 shots/sec and supports a live view on the LCD (good for action photography as one can follow the subject uninterrupted). The maximum usable aperture at the tele-photo end is f3.5. The camera has an Image Stabilization feature to help avoid blurry pictures because of camera shake and full manual control options (e.g. Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, etc.) for additional versatility.. The battery life is approximately 550 shots/charge (using 4 AA-size NiMH batteries). It can support a tele-converter lens.

The camera received a “Highly-Recommended” rating at Digital Photography Review.

The H9 is Sony’s latest top-of-the-line big zoom offering. It has an 8 megapixel resolution sensor and a 15x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 31-465mm on a 35mm camera). The zoom is motor operated. It has a low start-up time, pre-focus shutter lag, and full-press shutter lag. In the Continuous Shooting Mode, the camera can take 2.2 pictures/second until the memory card fills up. The maximum usable aperture at the tele-photo end is f4.5. It has full manual control options (e.g. Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, etc.) for additional versatility. The camera has an Image Stabilization feature to help avoid blurry pictures because of camera shake. It also has a flip-down LCD. The life of the proprietary batteries is approximately 250shots/charge.