Canon PowerShot S90 Digital Camera (10 Megapixel, 3.8 Optical Zoom) 3.0 inch LCD

Product Information

Before Canon discontinued the S series from the Powershot range, they were big, cumbersome cameras that felt as though they were made out of granite. The S90 is a more modest and delicate reworking of the lost classic and looks quite nice. Gone is the sliding front cover and optical viewfinder. Instead a 3in LCD screen is used as the only source to preview your shot. In natural light I found it's best to use the preset white-balance modes because the camera will get it slightly out from time to time and it's difficult to work out when it will or won't. Daylight was the most accurate giving a balanced reading in auto on most occasions but in cloudy conditions, the auto setting gave a slightly magenta cast which was unfortunate. Sporting a relatively modest 3.8x optical zoom, the built-in lens is image stabilised, it has a bright aperture of f/2.0 and a wide-angle view of 28mm. At wide-angle there is a slight amount of barrel distortion which only shows on straight lines that run parallel with the edge of the frame. Manual focusing selects the centre of the screen for fine tuning. A proximity level sits to the right. The command dial on the top is small and firm. If you ask me, it's a bit too firm and so far is the only thing going against a thoroughly enjoyable little camera.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the new design is the new Control Ring built around the lens, which can be set to control exposure (i.e. aperture or shutter speed), AE compensation, step zoom, manual focus and a selection of other functions. Finding a way of offering usable manual controls has proved surprisingly difficult for the normally ingenious designers of ultra compact cameras (although we've suggested a traditional 'aperture ring' like this on many occasions); this seemingly simple addition has a transformative effect on the utility of the S90's extensive manual controls. Auto (including Face Detection WB), Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash, Underwater, Custom. A similar category to high-end compact cameras are mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras ("micros"), some of which are in a compact form factor (with a similar-sized body), such as the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, Olympus PEN E-P1/ E-P2, and Sony Alpha NEX-3. Micros differ however in being significantly larger (with lens attached), and significantly higher-end, featuring much larger sensors and interchangeable lenses. The almost 4-year gap between the S80 and the S90, compared with intervals of 6 months to 1 year between prior versions, led to the line being popularly considered discontinued, and thus the S90 as a revival, rather than a strict successor. The popularity of such a seemingly exclusive camera must have come as a bit of a revelation to rival Canon, who had previously been the undisputed king of advanced compacts with its long-running and highly successful PowerShot G series. The LX3 put a dent in the sales of the PowerShot G10, so it comes as no big surprise that Canon’s new Autumn line-up includes not just the impressive new PowerShot G11, but also today’s review camera, the PowerShot S90. It’s a welcome return for Canon’s long-dormant S-series of advanced compacts. The S90’s most recent predecessor was the PowerShot S80 launched in 2005.Sport - Great, score 35, ranks in the best 20% of its category. Canon PowerShot S90 is perfect for Sport photography, one of the best in its class. DxOMark provides objective, independent, RAW-based image quality performance data for lenses and digital cameras to help you select the best equipment to meet your photographic needs. Fitting a full set of manual exposure controls onto a small compact camera is bound to present a challenge, but Canon’s designers are a pretty inventive bunch. The S90 has an unusual rotating bezel control around the lens which is used to adjust various parameters. In manual and aperture priority modes it adjusts aperture, while in shutter priority mode it adjusts shutter speed. In auto and program modes its default setting is ISO adjustment, but it can be customised to adjust one of list of other parameters. It’s a novel idea and might appeal to owners of older SLRs and rangefinder cameras, but to be honest I found it slightly awkward to handle, and the changing function depending on the shooting mode was somewhat confusing.

However, the technical performance of your camera should be put in context. Indeed, depending on the type of photography you are interested in, each individual camera feature can impact your pictures to a different extent. This is the reason why we developed the iCamRank. iCamRank has been designed to weight all the individual technical specifications of each camera in the camerarace database, depending on different shooting conditions. Thus, here is what we suggest, depending on the photography type you like most: Canon have fitted the iContrast feature to the S90 which increases the dynamic range of the camera to add more detail to dark areas and cap the highlights. It gives the picture an air of being a HDR shot which it is, but without the use of multiple exposures merged together. Everyday - Great, score 59, ranks in the best 15% of its category. Canon PowerShot S90 is perfect for everyday photography, one of the best in its class. There was only very mild chromatic aberration on high contrast areas showing as a thin purple or green line. Auto*, Program AE, Shutter priority AE, Aperture priority AE, Manual, Custom, Low Light¹, SCN (Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, Indoor, Sunset, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Aquarium, Underwater, Color Accent, Color Swap, Nostalgic, Stitch Assist), Movie

The lens is the obvious highlight of this camera, with its f/2 aperture capturing twice as much light as f/2.8 lenses. However, credit also goes to the 1/1.7in, 10-megapixel sensor, which is designed for low noise rather than a headline-grabbing megapixel rating. Canon’s autofocus systems have always been among the best available, and the S90’s system appears to be the same as Canon’s other recent compacts such as the IXUS 110 IS or the 990 IS. It is fast and accurate in all lighting conditions, and thanks to a very bright AF assist lamp it can focus in darkness at a range of several metres. The S90 is noticeably smaller (and crucially, a lot slimmer) than the Panasonic LX3 - and a lot lighter too. Image noise control has long been a Canon strong point, and the S90 produces excellent results with smooth colour gradients at 800 ISO, although 1600 and 3200 ISO do lose some detail. As is usually the case with Canon’s excellent noise reduction system, even where there is noise it has a pleasant granular texture reminiscent of high-speed film grain. So, what can we conclude from the above? Well, the one message that comes across loud and clear is that, for those who have eyed up the likes of Canon's G11 flagship bridge model but concluded that even that was too bulky for their purposes, the S90 offers a more portable - and let's face it, a whole lot cuter - alternative.