The Canon Powershot S90. A small compact camera for DSLR owners.
Best compact camera on the market?
I currently own a Nikon D200. A lovely camera, but it is very heavy and sometimes I miss what could be a good shot because I couldn’t be bothered to take my camera with me int he first place. So I decided to buy a small compact camera that I can carry with me all the time. Many DSLR owners do this once they've spent one too many days lugging a heavy bag round with them on holiday.
So with a small compact camera in mind, I still require really good picture quality, a wide-angle lens, good performance in low light and the possibility to shoot in RAW.
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| ' The most important thing for me is to enjoy photography and with the S90 I do' |
I had been looking at the Canon Powershot G10, now replaced by t he Canon Powershot G11 but it felt a tad too heavy for my needs. But the Canon Powershot S90 was announced at the same time as the G11 and I couldn’t wait to try it.
When I first saw the Canon Powershot S90 I was amazed by how small it is, you can easily carry it in a pocket or handbag.
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Another thing that really impressed me was the lens control ring, which enables control of camera settings such as zoom, exposure, focus, and ISO. I really like that you can use it to zoom because it almost feels like using a Digital SLR.
I kept the S90 for a week and tried it on many different kinds of photos like: night images, macro, portrait, and sport.
| The low light performance is impressive as it has a bright f/2.0 aperture, although when I took it to a party, where it was very dark I had to use the flash. The Pop-up flash did impress me and together with a long shutter speed I got some good shots especially for a camera of this type. Low light performance is so good it was even used in a comparison test in gig photogaphy against the G10/G11 in the article Canon Powershot S90 and the Canon Powershot G10/G11 review.
The Canon Powershot S90 is easy to use and has got lots of different scene modes, which are very clever and help you to choose the right settings for different conditions.
One scene mode that I really like is “nostalgic”. This gives the images an analogue feeling with lots of noise and contrast. However I personally like to control ISO, shutter speed, colour balance and aperture myself, and this camera allows me to do that. It is not as easy to change the settings as on my D200 but you get used to quickly. The possibility to shoot in RAW is a great advantage when you need high picture quality and want to edit the pictures on the computer.
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As I was used to a DSLR camera it was quite hard to accept that the picture quality was not as good with this camera (mainly because of a smaller sensor size). However the Canon S90 has other advantages, the compact body for example. The most important thing for me is to enjoy photography and with the S90 I do, because it doesn’t give me any hassle and I definitely think that I would start taking more pictures if I owned one.
So after borrowing one, reviewing on at living with it for a week, I went out and bought one.
I have now had the Canon S90 for a few months and I am very pleased with it. I have still got my Nikon D200 as well and I have learned to use my cameras in different ways. For example when taking portraits I still prefer my D200 as you get a depth of field that you can’t get with a compact camera. I have always got the S90 with me using it to take lots of snap shots that occasionally turn out to be great. I also use it to capture my ideas and sometimes return to take the picture again using my D200 for a more professional shot. For the price I paid for the S90 I have to say that I got very good value for money and I have still not seen another compact that I would rather have.