I have a pretty nice point-and-shoot camera, but I don't use it for point-and-shoot-type activities anymore. Most of my photography now is plane-spotting, so I need something with MUCH more zoom.

I started looking at DSLRs, and that's a lot more than I want to spend. But there are some "DSLR-like" cameras out there that have 12x optical zoom, which sounds like about what I'd get with a 400mm lens, and some of them are in a price range I'm comfortable with (especailly since I'd sell my point-and-shoot).

In particular, I'm looking at the Canon S3. Does anyone have this camera, and if so, how does it work for spotting?