Canon PowerShot S90 10MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3-inch LCD
- New 10-megapixel High Sensitivity System; DIGIC 4 Image Processor
- Improved low-light image performance, plus a Low Light scene mode for ISO settings up to 12,800
- Customizable control ring for easy access and operation of manual or other creative shooting settings
- Wide-angle 3.8x optical zoom with Canon’s Optical Image Stabilizer; bright f/2.0 lens
- RAW + JPEG shooting and recording modes; capture images to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)
By combining a 10 megapixel CCD sensor and Canon’s advanced DIGIC 4 Image Processor, the PowerShot S90 offers dramatic low light sensitivity with minimal noise. Impressive ISO 3200 capability reduces blur and subject movement for crisp photos with spectacular sharpness and clarity. The S90 boasts an incredibly slim profile and lightweight body for true pocket-sized convenience. For the photographer that never wants to miss an opportunity, the S90 the high quality camera that you can carry every day. With an equivalent zoom range of 28-105mm, Canon’s 3.8x Optical Zoom Lens captures everything from sweeping landscapes to telephoto action shots with ease. An impressive f/2.0 aperture allows you to create dramatic portraits by emphasizing your subject’s face and blurring the background with a soft, shallow depth-of-field. Boasting 461,000 dots of resolution, the 3.0″ Pure Color LCD screen of the S90 offers exceptional color and contrast for composing and reviewing photos and video. Advance
List Price: $ 348.00
Price: $ 348.00
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Lightweight, low profile compact with great low light capability,
Canon S90 IS is one of Canon high-end / advanced Canon Powershot compact camera. Its unique characteristics are slim, low profile body with great noise control in high ISO plus 28-105mm f/2-f/4.9 bright zoom lens. The other advantage is the camera is very pocket able. It fits in your jeans’ pocket.
IMAGE QUALITY AND ISO
Canon S90 IS has 1/1.7′ sensor size which is slighty smaller compare to its main competitor, Panasonic LX3 (1/1.63″). From my test, S90 IS image quality is very good across focal length but dynamic range (the difference between the brightest and darkest parts of an image) is limited . This is also a problem most of digital camera out there, but S90 is slightly worse compared to competitors.
However, regarding noise control and handling, S90 IS is excellent. The new algorithm works very well to reduce or erase most (if not all) chroma-noises which degrade image quality significantly. Image shot at ISO 1600 is very usable for regular print and web.
BODY & HANDLING
Canon S90 IS has a slim, low profile look, so it is very good for street photography. It does not attract attention like digital SLR camera.
For control, it has two main dials, both of them are round. One is located in the lens, and the back of the camera. The back dials also function as four way buttons. This design is similar to Samsung WB1000 design.
Front ring dial can be customized for several options: adjust aperture/shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, manual focus, white balance or zoom. The front dial is not like zoom barrel in the lens, it is not smooth, instead, it has several stops point. There will be a “click” sound to let you know if you hit the stop.
I usually use the lens dial to zoom. There are five stops in the dial: 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm and 105mm. All of them are popular focal lengths. I found this is much better way to zoom rather than traditional way (pull a lever on the shutter). It is faster, less noise and accurate. It is great for learning how focal length affect perspective and distortion too.
Mode dial is harder to change because they have put some resistant to it. It is to prevent accidental switch.
There is also a shortcut dial which you can customized to many function such as AF servo, intelligent contrast, face detection and many more.
Canon S90 has 3′ 4:3 ratio LCD screen with 460k resolution. It is similar to Panasonic LX3, but better than typical compact camera. It is worse than Samsung WB1000 which has AMOLED screen (over 1 million resolution).
However, build quality is not up to par with leading advanced cameras such as Canon G11 and Panasonic LX3. It made by metal but it feels plasticky. I have a sweaty hand and it registers my fingerprint! Also because of its flat design, there is no place to secure your grip. But overall ergonomic is not bad.
OPERATION & AUTO FOCUS
Start up and turn off time is fast. It only takes around 1.5 seconds for each. Compare to LX3: around 1.75 seconds, Ricoh GRD3 : 2 seconds respectively. Auto focus is typical compact., around .75 second, will take more time if you point to low contrast subject. Camera operation is very fast and very responsive upon instruction.
COMPETITORS
Panasonic DMC-LX3K 10.1MP Digital Camera with 2.5x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)
Panasonic LX3 is an arch-rival of Canon S90 IS. It shares same concept of bright and wide zoom lens. However, there are many differences between the two such as the focal length, build quality, image quality and handling, please read Panasonic LX3 vs Canon S90 IS for complete comparison.
Samsung TL320 12MP Digital Camera with 5x Schneider Wide Angle Dual Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0 inch OLED Screen (Black)
Samsung best advanced camera is similar with S90 in one way, they are both compact and has great handling. Samsung WB1000 has AMOLED LCD screen which is a lot clearer, Samsung also has wider and longer zoom. However, Canon S90 IS is better in low light condition.
Canon PowerShot G11 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Stabilized Zoom and 2.8-inch articulating LCD
G11 is a big brother to Canon S90 IS, it has superior control and body handling, but it is much bigger in size.
CONCLUSION
Canon S90 IS is a…
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|Camera Geek Alert: Right Camera – If it’s the right job…,
Be warned, I am a self professed camera geek. I believe cameras are like surfboards; you need a quiver of surfboards/cameras for the right wave/job.
The Canon S90 is – by far – my new “go to” pocket camera and the one I will always carry with me in my flight bag. I have been using it for just about a month now and after a couple thousand shots, only now am I getting comfortable with its functionality. This is NOT the camera to buy your mother-in-law for Christmas. She will never speak to you again.
My other cameras are:
Canon 7D – with ‘L’ series lenses.
Pentax W60 (waterproof) – for surfing, sailing, biking, hiking, skiing and handing to the kids to beat each other with over the head.
Canon SD980 – which was my *quality* pocket camera but will now be relegated purely to U/W scuba photography (since I own the U/W case anyway and would live in fear that my S90 meets the same fate as my S80 and gets flooded shark diving in Tahiti).
Here’s the deal with the new Canon S90: If you are willing to delve into the sub menus and experiment it will become a very, very powerful camera in your arsenal. It can do anything the G11 can do but because of the size you might have to work a little harder initially to figure out the functionality curve. It’s like flying. Once your familiar with the controls (which takes awhile) the interface becomes transparent and you can make it do just about anything you want. But it will take a lot of tinkering. No lie.
I’ll leave the critique on picture quality for the professional sites but will just offer this: the results are very good for the size of the camera. The low light performance is best in class, period; and I’ve tried them all including the LX3 (which is also darn good but noisier – love that 24mm lens though).
Bottom line, if you want SLR quality go buy an SLR. You’re not going to get the same results with the S90. Duh. If you don’t like small cameras or have large fingers then maybe you should look at something like the G11. The S90 is *too small* for all of its functionality but that’s the dichotomy, isn’t it? The functionality is all there but by design is forced into a sometimes frustratingly cramped interface. That said, this camera is very good at what it is: a pocket camera with a wide fast lens that can shoot in RAW.
Let’s talk about size. I’ll agree that the build quality initially seems *cheaper* than what you would expect. That said, the case, dials, and shutter are all solid in real life day to day use. Especially the shutter. To be honest, it’s a bit strange but you can’t deny the light weight and I love that it’s smooth and flat and easily fits into your jeans. It’s as small as any compact with the exception of the lens ring/bulge and while I wish the bulge weren’t there, it is what it is and the functionality of that ring is surprisingly awesome. It’s definitely more pocketable than the LX3. The screen is gorgeous and I don’t miss the viewfinder at all.
The power up/down flash is irritating and I pray it doesn’t break but I got to admit there is less red-eye than most cameras (which is supposedly why they went with the design). As long as the motor doesn’t give out because I’m inadvertently holding the flash down when it tries to pop up I’ll live with it and tip my hat to Canon’s engineers.
The control ring functionality is awesome and the Ring Function button is very, very functional and remains customized for each “mode” you select. In this way you can set up your camera for high speed Av photography different than for say Tv photography. Nice.
On that functionality, making this camera do what you want really boils down to getting to know the camera. After a month, I can finally adjust aperture, shutter speed, and the four directional manual white balance without thinking about it. ISO, exposure bracketing, flash intensity, metering, and continuous shooting are just a button/spin/button/spin away. Once you’ve memorized the function layout, exposure adjustments are fairly quick and painless. And of course you’ve got the outer control ring and function ring give you instant access to two of your major settings wether that be ISO, exposure metering, manual focus, white balance, zoom, aperture, or shutter speed. You’re really wasting the power of this camera if you just leave it in Av so you can shoot “fast”.
Whew. Exhausted yet? If you are then maybe this camera isn’t for you. 😉 No, seriously.
However, if you are willing to commit yourself Canon has given you the tools to get the shot you want. Or I suppose you could just leave it in AUTO.
I’ll see if I can figure out how to upload some sample shots but here are some real life experiences I’ve had. Day shots of the NYC skyline are beautiful. A little soft compared to a Canon 7D with an ‘L’ series lens,…
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|My Powershot S90 Has Arrived, and It’s Fantastic!,
Early Impressions
I was delighted to have finally received my Powershot S90, and without further adieu, let me say that this is one heck of a camera. It’s not perfect — you can take truly terrible pictures with it just like you can take terrible pictures with a D700 — but when used properly, the camera turns out remarkable shots that make us find it hard to accept the images are coming from a camera that fits in your pants pocket.
What struck me first upon using it? First, it’s size. This thing is small, and it’s light, too. It’s a bit smaller than my Panasonic TZ3 and TZ5, and it’s lighter, too. (The camera uses a front and back metal construction with plastic on the top and bottom, but the Panasonic’s, while also using metal, use a thicker gauge steel which adds a feel of sturdiness but also adds some weight, as well). The camera also has a high-quality feel to it. The buttons click and depress well (although the rear wheel is a bit too easy to turn, in my opinion). It has a rounded shape, so it feels comfortable in the hands, and when you stick it in your pocket, it will slide right in and out without snagging. The screen on this thing is simply gorgeous: why can’t every camera have a screen like this? It’s large, bright, and pretty high in resolution (461,000 pixels). You can’t help but admire the camera’s design once you get looking at it and using it.
Next, the camera seems to perform well in terms of speed and overall operational use. The screen has the typical lag when taking shots, but you can adjust this somewhat in the menu system to speed things up, and quite frankly, every small camera I’ve ever owned exhibits this behavior. It is easy to use most of the camera’s functions, and you may have heard about the programmable control ring around the lens on the front of the camera. It’s operation is easy, solid (the ring “clicks” with detents at different positions), and, to boot, there is the standard programmable “S” button that the Powershots “S” cameras have typically had.
But of course, I’m interested in high ISO operation, and so I immediately took it into the livingroom where it was quite dark, and just started shooting. I was quite surprised at the results. You are not going to necessarily submit these to win any contests, but for the most part, the camera took nice shots even in that bad shooting environment, and the vast majority of the photos came out quite well (I will post a few with this review). The camera is the first (along with the Powershot G11) to deploy Sony’s new ICX685CQZ sensor, a 9.31mm diagonal sensor with high performance specifications. With a little post processing, many of them look quite good. As the ISO crept into the very high ranges (800 and above) some sensor noise became apparent, but this is certainly the best low-light performance I’ve seen in a non-DSLR so far. (See my explanations, below, to see why this is possible). Surprisingly, some shots as high as 1600 ISO seemed to be acceptable as long as you are not a “pixel peeper.” I was quite surprised when I discovered that a few of the shots had been taken at this high ISO 1600 level — I’ve never had this experience before with a point and shoot camera.
Outdoor operation is fantastic. My outdoor shots for the most part have come out very well, with rich color, great detail, and little sensor noise. Like most Canon portables, these images seem to respond well to post-processing (you can sharpen them quite easily, and Canon now uses a standard meta-data tagging format that is readable by virtually all photo editor programs.) I even turned the EV down -2/3 while outside, and the sensitivity of the camera is so good that, even with this reduction in EV, my shots came out sharp and clear. Again, I will post a few shots with this review.
The camera TRULY excels at macro photography. The macro shots I’ve taken thus far are clear, sharp, and have great depth of field. In a word, they are superb: this camera is a macro shooter’s delight. (A nice touch, too, is that in AUTO mode the camera automatically shifts into macro mode, without having to press any buttons!) The functionality just begs us to keep shooting macros over and over again. I’ve been able to take macro shots that I only dreamed of before, and the camera makes it easy to do so.
And although this is not an objective measure, the camera is just plain fun to use. It works smoothly, is light, has a beautiful screen, and seems to keep cranking out one nice shot after another. Wow.
Early Pro’s and Cons
— PROS —
1. Exceptionally small and lightweight (100 x 58 x 31 mm and 175 g)
2. Increased sensor size for a portable with a lower megapixel count (Sony’s new ICX685CQZ sensor, 9.31mm diagonal)
3. Reasonably large zoom factor (28-105mm, approximately 3.8X zoom)
4. Wide end is very wide for landscape shots,…
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