Canon Powershot Pro S3 IS for Beginner

[Sleepy_Sentry]

I want to get into photography and will be getting a new camera soon. After much looking around, I think I'm decided on the Canon Powershot Pro S3. The camera seems to have a lot of features for the price. I would get an SLR, but I want to wait and see how much I get into photography first. Upgrading to an SLR later on if I really like photography isn't a big issue.

I plan on using the camera for:
1. night photography and lightning
2. landscapes, skies, and some urban shots.
3. Learning HDR (I already have Photoshop CS2)

Is this a good camera for me? Are there any other SLR-like cameras I should look at, like the Powershot Pro S5 or the Olympus SP-550UZ?

I also plan on getting this 4 GB SD card and this book and this book for learning photography basics. Is this a good start?

 

[six-five-two]

It's good for everything you've listed. I have also made a few decent HDR shots out of it. However, there is quite a bit of noise... even on ISO 80. However, if you are printing the image nobody would probably notice it.

 

[Sideburns]

The S5 IS is really a nice camera, might be worth the upgrade...

But, you won't be too disappointed with the S3 I'm sure.

The books look to be fine. I don't know how useful they'd be, but they're better than nothing. A class or two might help.

 

[solrac8126]

the s5 only uses SD cards, the one on the link is a CF,

 

[plentygood]

I own the S3 and it's a pretty good P&S camera. The only big complaint I have about it is the noise. Also, with low lights you get worse than usual shutter speed and grain in my experience.

I think I'd go for the s5 now that the price difference is down to like $50-60 (if money isn't a big issue, that is)