Review
Rather than go over every little thing (it has been done) I’m just going to comment on a few main things:
- For whom is this camera intended?
- Image quality
- RAW format with Macintoch computers
- Accidentally bumping rear control wheel
FOR WHOM IS THIS CAMERA INTENDED?
Photographers. The occasional, non-photographer user will not get enough out of this camera to warrant the price tag. Snapshooters and informal shooters will be better served by buying a less expensive SD series camera. Snapshooters will not know how to take advantage of all this camera’s features, and will likely be annoyed by these features being changed. If you normally leave your camera set to ‘AUTO’ or one of the scene modes, you are a snapshooter. If you don’t know what ‘exposure compensation’, ‘aperture priority’, ’shutter priority’ ‘RAW’, or ‘macro’ means, you are a snapshooter and would be better served by a mostly automatic camera, such as an SD series Elph or even an entry level SLR, if you don’t mind a bigger camera for higher quality images.
IMAGE QUALITY
Remembering that this is a small camera, the image quality is outstanding. It handily beats my Canon SD600 Elph. Of course, being something like 1/5 the size of an SLR with a correspondingly smaller sensor, it is not quite up to that level. It is good enough that when I go to Europe in 3 weeks, I will be bringing this instead of my DSLR. The f/2.0 lens is no joke. It really is f/2.0 at 28mm. Of course it would be nice if it were f/2.0 across its entire focal length, but then it would no longer be compact and would probably cost 0 more. At any rate, 28mm is a useful focal length indoors, just not for portrait work. In my dimly lit condo unit the first night, I took a bunch of shots at ISO 400 & 800. The ones shot at 400 were f/2.0 at 1/6 sec. If I zoom way in and get unrealistically critical, of course I can see some noise, and of course I can see that an image stabilized DSLR will be sharper & cleaner. Again, I remind the reader that such is not the point of this camera. The point of this camera is for photographers, who already own & use a DSLR, to have an option of a high quality, fully adjustable camera that is also fully portable, and has a proper wide angle lens setting. The photos are fully printable at up to 16×20 if the photographer does his part.
RAW FORMAT COMMENT WITH REGARD TO MAC USERS
I have a Macbook Pro 13″ with the 2.26 MHz Intel processor, manufactured in 2009. I was happily surprised to see that iPhoto supports Canon’s RAW format. I don’t know if this is because I had installed the Canon software and it just carried through, or if it supported it with a software update. Nevertheless, I was glad to see it. Now I don’t really have much use for the Canon software. I may try it out later to see if any of its extra features warrant my learning about it. iPhoto is not the typical photographer’s choice when it comes to software, but if you’re not trying to do super fancy stuff, it will do the trick. Cropping, highlight, shadow, exposure, rotating, color balancing, blemish removal are all easily accomplished, either on jpg or RAW images with this software. Also, there is a quick fix button that improves the exposure balance on most photos and doesn’t blow out the skin tones in the process. It is really pretty brilliant. Go into it with an open mind.
ACCIDENTALLY BUMPING THE REAR CONTROL WHEEL
I was a bit wary of purchasing this camera for so much money because of all the earlier comments on this. With a little common sense, I don’t see why this should be a sticking point for anyone. Looking at the rear of the camera, a sensible person can tell that one’s thumb is intended to go in the little divot below the main mode dial. After using the camera only a few times, my thumb naturally falls there and doesn’t interfere with the rear control dial at all. Again, I remind the reader that this camera is not intended for ham-fisted individuals who are ready to denounce anything that isn’t an DSLR. I remind the reader that DSLRs are designed to fit the user’s hand. This camera is designed to fit the user’s pocket, with the understanding that the user will need to make some ergonomic adjustment for the privilege of having such a small & highly capable camera. If you go into the purchase with this understanding, you will be a happy customer.
The front control ring has click stops and is not easily turned accidentally.
For me, the choice came down to either this camera or the Panasonic LX3. Although I prefer wide angle to telephoto in a zoom lens, I couldn’t do without telephoto altogether, so I chose the 28-105 of this camera instead of the 24-60 of the LX3. The camera is also notably smaller, which was the whole purpose of using this over my DSLR to begin with.
I’ll update this in the future (if I can find it!) with further impressions.
Feature
- 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)
Overview
The pocketable PowerShot S90 gives powerful everyday shooting. Shoot quickly with a lens control ring and get superior low-light performance with a high-sensitivity 10.0 MP CCD and f/2.0 lens.A high-sensitivity CCD sensor gives outstanding image quality in a wide variety of lighting conditions. Even images taken at high ISOs show exceptionally low noise levels and a wide dynamic range.A bright f/2.0 aperture allows exceptional versatility, capturing low-light images and fast-moving subjects at higher shutter speeds. A wide angle of 28mm lets you put more in the frame, while Canon’s optical IS reduces blur caused by camera shake.
Specifications
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Mar 05, 2010 15:20:09
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Filed under: Canon tagged 3-inch, camera, Digital, optical, PowerShot, Stabilized
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