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PowerShot S90 Review!
PowerShot S90 Get The Best Price Now!..
Camera Geek Alert: Right Camera – If It’s the Right Job
By surfbum
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 PowerShot 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 PowerShot S90 meets the same fate as my PowerShot 80 and gets flooded shark diving in Tahiti).
Here’s the deal with the new PowerShot 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 PowerShot S90. Duh. If you don’t like small cameras or have large fingers then maybe you should look at something like the G11. The PowerShot S90is *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, but like I said before, duh. The same shot at night can be accomplished without a tripod at about 1/60 of a second. No blur. At an English Beat concert the other night I was snapping away at f2.0 (wide) and 1/100 of a second. Not always fast enough but about five times what I could do with my SD980. Stepping it down from ISO100 to 800 sped it up and while a little noisier, fit the concert like feel. Ice skating at night at Rockefeller Center (well lit) I was taking photos without the flash as if it were daytime. In summary, this camera rocks.
UPDATE: Low light photos uploaded to Amazon. Look for NYC skyline and adjacent concert pics. Unfortunately Amazon resolution is limited but you’ll get the idea of what you can get away with.
The one thing I don’t get is the 640X480 movie mode. I ask why, why, why knowing full well that there is an engineering answer that hasn’t found its way on to the Interwebs yet. Somewhere in the software/hardware mix there must be an answer because not including HD video is inexplicable to me. On the other hand, most video I take with this kind of camera just gets uploaded to YouTube anyway so 640X480 is fine. That’s what I’ve got a dedicated HD camcorder for. One thing I will add, the sound quality is noticeably better than any other mono point and shoot I’ve used. I’m not sure what’s up with that but it’s noticeably clearer with deeper base. Kind of a nice surprise, really.
At the end of the day this is a great camera and a very worthy successor to my beloved (and flooded) Canon S80. If you want the smallest *quality* camera you can currently buy the PowerShot S90 is it. There are a few issues but that beautiful fast lens makes them bearable. If you want an SLR like interface and are willing to sacrifice the size, then you should take a serious look at the G11 (or similar). This camera is too small for that kind of interface and while the top level functions are intuitive (aperture, shutter speed, ISO) you’ll have to commit yourself a little to go any deeper. The beauty is, you can!
Bottom line: If I lost this camera today I’d buy another tomorrow. From a camera geek that travels the world, that says a lot.
PowerShot S90 Read More Reviews…
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