[greypoint]

Tannin - it's always a shame that somewhere way back camera manufacturers did'nt come up with a standard lens fitting - would'nt it have made life so much easier for camera buyers! The S3Pro is slow compared to other cameras. One review seemed to suggest it was due to the huge amount of data it had to transfer. Using RAW it really does become a landscape/portrait camera I would imagine - for things that don't move! Using JPEG in the top setting - 12mp fine - it's not too bad even with a normal CF card - but you would'nt buy one for speed. On the other hand you can keep on shooting for quite a while as the camera writes to card - I have'nt actually missed a shot. As much of my bird photography is capturing shots of our swan population speed is'nt always the essence and when I get the hang of the camera I think the extra dynamic range will be a boon. As my other photographic subject is dogs I think the S3 should be perfect for getting tone and detail. Trouble is I feel I want to keep my D50 as it's just so good and will fill the gaps the S3 leaves where speed is important [and it's so small in comparison].
Wolfie - the real annoyance is jumping in too quickly - last week it was 699.00!! However, if it is a clearout of the S3 before either a new model or, as some suspect Fuji deciding to concentrate on the non DSLR side, I would assume the second hand value will stabilise after a while as it will remain a fairly desirable camera for a number of people.

One other point - batteries. It uses 4 AA batteries- using the 2300 rechargeables it comes with or the Energiser 2500 I added, battery life is excellent. I managed around 400 shots with more than usual lcd viewing, on a mornings shooting plus a fair few more pictures at home later, and the light still showed full.
Not the 1200 plus i've had from the D50 but very good, I believe some people have managed around 800 where flash is'nt used.