Power Shot straight to your Pocket
In the incredibly crowded digital camera market there seems to be more cameras than situations to you use them. Would you like night time shooting? Super-sized zoom capability? As many mega-pixels as you can hope to carry? Do you need small, or is bigger better? How about becoming a paparazzi? Fancy yourself as photo-journalist extraordinaire, or perhaps the next great landscape snapper? Maybe you just want to take pictures of your beloved at the beach and catch your co-workers re-handed at the office party?
The list goes on of the types of photographers we might choose or wish to be and the list of cameras to match is equal to the task and more. One area you might count yourself in is the 'prosumer' category. That is the neat segment for those that might have a tendency to lean towards professional quality picture taking while at the same time reside quite often in the camp of savvy consumer - a hybrid of 'professional' and 'consumer'. You'd like to take high quality professional pictures with the best gear but at the end of the day you're also a consumer like the rest of us and would like to have a decent machine at your side just in case...
Step forward the new Canon Powershot S90. Released in September and now available locally this neat little machine is high-end pocket picture taking material. And then some.
Canon has returned to the S-series line up with a camera they hope will rival the Panasonic Lumix LX3. That photographers camera has gathered a great following for its great features and small form factor. A combination of good lens (Leica) , quality images, high ISO capabilities, RAW shooting and full manual control. It has taken Canon a while to catch up. They have of course been concentrating on the S90's bigger brothers, the excellent G10 and now G11 units, which are more than adequate for the task.
Full featured, light weight.
The S90 has many of the features of the larger and more rugged G11 – the same Digic 4 processor and the same large sensor - 1/1.7", 0.43 cm² – also with reduced 10 megapixels capacity. The S90 has a bright F2.0-4.9 28-105mm stabilized lens. Current wisdom is to reduce the megapixels in order to allow more light to the sensor. That transpires into one of the key features of the S90 - that is the ability to shoot in low light without a flash with very fine results. It has an almost 4X zoom (28–105mm equivalent).
Another key new feature is the front side control ring around the lens which allows you to control key aspects of the settings from a neat old-style dial interface – which is metal and solidly clicks into position. The control ring can be used to change aperture, zoom, ISO, white balance and other settings assigned to it. This mini marvel also allows customization of a shortcut key on the back side as well as allowing direct access to settings via the D-pad which neatly falls under your right thumb. The combination of topside and backside controls along with the control ring make the camera a pleasure to fiddle with and have almost all settings readily available for quick access.
The S90 is smaller and thinner than the LX3 and can be easily pocketed in trousers or shirt. This makes it incredibly easy to carry around and with higher quality images such as seen on the G11 providing real power in a highly portable package.
Picture quality is fantastic with much the same output as the G11. Great sharp pictures with the ability to work in many variable low-light scenarios. With RAW shooting capability alongside Canon's DPP post-processing software (supplied with the camera) there is the possibility to finely tune your results. High ISO capabilities shine through.
Style is minimalist and classic black – the housing is tough metal and therefore strong. The camera feels solid and substantial.
For those wishing to have the portability of a point-and-shoot camera with higher-end manual controls, customisation, RAW shooting and low-light photography alongside the great sensor and processing technology of the bigger G11 then you may have found your photographic companion.
A very smart and well designed powerhouse of a camera to suit your niche or photographers mindset.
Canon S90 Key Features
• Lens Control Ring
• 10 million pixels sensor
• RAW shooting
• Fast f/2.0-4.9 maximum aperture range
• Lens covering the classic 28-105mm range
• Dual Anti-Noise System (high sensitivity sensor and Digic 4 noise reduction)
• 3.0 inch PureColor II LCD
• Optical Image Stabilization
• Smarter Scene Detection
• Low Light mode
Price: 17,900 Baht