Canon S90 Review

Jim asked for a review of my Canon S90. There a number of photo websites that offer reviews of the S90 so I’ll try not to rehash information.

What I use it for: my photography pretty much revolves around sharing my life on the blog.

Work – Occasionally I shoot a photo for work if I need to document or see something weird.

Snapshots – Quick shot of people.

Animals – I love to have animals on my blog, but they are challenging. They won’t sit still and can be in bad light.

Landscapes & Panos – I take a fair amount.

Low light shots – this includes taking photos of food in dimly lit restaurants and nightshots.

Close ups – Usually food shots and occasionally, bugs.

What I like:

Good image quality – Just about all compact cameras these days give good IQ in well lit situations, and the S90 is no exception. It even does well in moderate light.

Screen – I love big screens and the S90 has a 3-incher.

Battery life – Appears to be very good, although I haven’t used it for an extended shoot. I tend to capture a quick shot here and there.

Size – I love the small size. It’s for this same reason I don’t use my G11 much. Can you believe I think the G11 is too big now? Don’t even mention my 5D. My arm hurts just thinking about it.

Grid display – Applies a tic tac toe pattern on the screen. Not uncommon these days, it helps for hand holding pano shots. Not to forget the R.O.T. shots for my sister-in-law.

SCN – Scene modes, especially sunset. Good for the novice.

Raw Capture – I shoot exclusively RAW and then I can change parameters later.

Servo focus – Great for moving animals. Koa would be a perfect case study.

Cost – $415 which is much cheaper than a Panasonic GF-1 ($900).

Lens – 28-105mm f2.0 Lens – Pilargo el millio as the Pontiac commercial goes, or wider is better. True for photography too. I don’t care for lenses that only go as wide as 35mm. I’d love a 24mm. The fast f2.0 helps too in low light versus my G11 f2.8. Speaking of apertures, the range on the S90 is only 2.0 – 4.9. That doesn’t seem like much on the small end, but I’m comparing it to a DSLR which for me sets the standards in many areas.

Close up work – I can get as close as 2″ without a special lens, one of the advantages of a compact.

Lens Ring – I can configure the lens ring to make a quick change of: ISO, exposure compensation, white balance, focus or zoom.

Things I don’t like:

Slippery – Needs texture on the right side. You have to use the wrist strap or risk dropping the camera.

Flash – Pops up and you have to make sure your left index finger is not in the way.

Low light image quality – This is very common. The S90/G11 promised to be better – I’m not impressed. Improvements in this area will be incremental. Although I’d rather have the noisy shot rather than not have anything. I try not to go over 400 ISO.

Things I haven’t used:

Movie – That what camcorders are for. Perhaps I’ll post one.

HDMI out – To view on a HD TV. I post my stuff on the blog so I haven’t tried this.

Direct printing – I always print from the home PC or have it professionally done so I’ve never tried this. Not to mention when if I’m gonna print a photo I’ll usually work in Photoshop first.

Custom mode – You can save various settings for recall. Perhaps if i did a lot of street photography this would be useful.

Low light mode – Sets the ISO at 3200 – too noisy

Things I rarely use:

Manual exposure – Used once when shooting a pano in difficult light.

Manual focus – Very hard to use.

Things I want:

Touchscreen – Sandy has one on her SD980.

Remote Shutter – For tripod use and not to forget, drive by shooting.

Hot Shoe – Would like to use a small external flash (Canon 270EX) or IR transmitter

Internal ND filter – Like my G11, which is great for water shots.

Another tripod socket on the left side for portrait pano shooting.

Bottom line – I love my S90, I use it more than any other cam I own. I would not try to shoot a wedding with it but for everyday blog photography it is great. I like control and the S90 offers a number of them, more than those offered on most compacts. I wish the low light problem could be addressed. I can’t wait for the day when compacts can focus as fast as a DSLR.

In 2001 I got my 1st digital camera, a Toshiba PDR-M5 (I still have it). It is a crude camera by today’s standards. Nine years later my S90 is a big step forward. We’ve come a long way and I can’t wait to see what we have in 2021.