As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Has anyone played with this camera-at the store or otherwise? I saw it yesterday, it has some nice features that may or may not be important to you. Face recognition-not sure how this works?? It also has a hot shoe for an additional flash, it writes to the card faster, and the screen on the back is formatted for panoramic shots. It was about 499.00 I think. I love my S2, but this one sure is nice & . S
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My bags are packed.....when do we leave??
planning the next trip...
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99% of what's in the Sony review doesn't have any bearing on the Canon since it's a different lens, and since Canon's controls are much more intuitive, etc. The part that might be worth waiting for though, is to see how the S5 handles the noise (graininess). From the Sony review:
Quote:
Excessive noise reduction robs images of fine texture at anything over ISO 100
and
Quote:
Occasional strong noise reduction ('watercolor effect') artefacts at ISO 80 and ISO 100
Both these cameras are using the same exact sensor, and have the same number of megapixels. so the actual noise should be the same.
When you add more megapixels without increasing the size of the sensor (S3 @ 6MP - S5 @ 8MP), noise increases. They counter that using noise reduction math that's way over my head. But when the camera processes the raw image data and turns it into a jpeg, the processor tries to "edit" the noise out. Noise reduction takes detail out of the image though, and it seems like Sony's processing in the H9 is less than great.
Canon uses their own processors (DIGIC), and they may work some magic where Sony couldn't (S5 has the latest & greatest Canon processor in it - DIGIC III). I have DIGIC III in my Powershot and love it. And people who already own the S5, don't seem to be complianing about the noise the way the Sony is getting beat up. Be interesting to see dpreview's review though. Not that dpreview is the end all be all, bcause sometimes they're a little picky. Pointing out image quality flaws you'll never really see in real world use. They're thorough though At $500 I say wait for the review (according to dpreview it's supposed to be up pretty soon).
I think the face recognition is really cool. It's a DIGICIII thing so I've tested it it out for four or five months and love it. Locks onto faces in a scene and then exposes for that. It's something you can do yourself by setting the metering to spot meter, but the recognition setting is awesome when you're just snapping away quickly (in a restaurant, at a party, wherever). Don't have to think at all. Just shoot. The biggest advantage I've found is quick snaps with the flash. Camera adjusts the flash power for the faces so they don't get blown out.
The review for this camera did go up. Looks good. Noise doesn't look trerrible to me. If I wantred a superzoom, I'd put the S5IS high on my list. If you don't have to have the superzoom though, I'd also look at the G7. Canon litterally just announced it's replacement (the G9), so the G7 should be a steal for the next month or so while supplies last. I would say the G7 sports a little better image quality than the S5 (but doesn't have the superzoom). and will probly actually be cheaper than the S5 now. I have a G7 though so I'm a little biased
Also just announced a couple new A series cameras so some of the current A series cameras will be reduced price too. Great time to buy last years model.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Haven't had a chance to get a "hands-on" with this camera, but the talk on the Canon lists I belong to indicate that, so far, everyone that's used it it.
Funny thing - I just order this camera yesterday online for about $360 (including shipping). I went back and forth between the S5 and Sony's H9, but the S5 won out basically because of recent price reductions and the fact that I have an SD card reader on the laptop (I have to connect my current Sony via USB now). I've had good experince in the past with both Sony and Canon, but decided to upgrade a superzoom so that I could get better shots of the kids' playing sports.
Cnet's review still lists the S3 as the best superzoom (additional noise in the S5 as PP noted), but I felt that for the minimal price difference (350 vs. 270)I'd rather have larger Megapixel camera. However, if I hadn't found the S5 on sale, I'd probably have gotten the S3.
I should get the camera next week and will try to post again after I try it out....
UPS tracking (gotta love technology) says it delivered my camera today!!!! Can't wait to get home and try it out. Take out for dinner, sorry kids. LOL.
OK, so I have finally gotten a few minutes to sit down and write about the S5 IS....
The zoom is great. The two pictures of the Griffon roller coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg were taken while waiting at the Lochness Monster. In the first picture, you can see the Lochness Monster supports in the foreground with the Griffon in the background. In the second picture, I have zoomed in on the first drop of the coaster. Maximum zoom is 48x (12x optical and 4x digital). I was surprised how well the image stabilization worked. No tripod used - handheld. Some of my earlier shots were blurry, so it takes a little while to get used to.
The last picture is of my son at the indoor water park at the Great Wolf Lodge. I used the "Sports" setting to catch him in action. I didn't have time to use the built-in red-eye function before I downloaded. The response time was ok for the action shots. It was definitely better than my compact Sony, but not the rapid fire shooting of my old Canon EOS (non-digital).
The resolution of the 2.5" LCD is very good. I also liked that you can rotate the LCD screen 180 degrees, similar to most camcorders. I found that I actually preferred the EVF over the LCD. However, I'm sure my husband would prefer the LCD since he wears glasses. The EVF has all the same information that shows up on the LCD.
Most of the photos I took were on the "medium" setting for resolution. I got plenty of pictures (85) on the 2G SD card, and it wasn't close to being full. I liked the "Landscape" setting to get wider angle shots. There is also a "stitch" mode to link panoramic shots.
Overall, I would have to say that I am pleased with my purchase (found it for around $350 online). Even though it is good out of the box, I know I have a lot to learn about it....
If anyone has any questions, I'm happy to answer what I can....
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Canon S5 IS Review
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