Review: Canon S90 Powershot camera

Review: Canon Powershot S90

Canon s90 - looks businesslike, feels quality to handle

Get ‘em while they’re ‘ot, they’re luvverly.

I think this model camera has been officially made obsolete / end of life by Canon but I still see plenty of places selling them (notably eBay sellers).  I also see them now at significantly less than the prices you see in the reviews you will find written (by competent people) from when the S90 was launched.  These reviews are judging the S90 as a £400 Camera and when I bought mine a few months ago they were selling more like £250.  Also as in incompetent amateur I think I add a certain additional balance to the mix.

OK, first thing you need to ask yourself is why are you looking at buying a compact camera?  They are probably the most compromised format with the exception of those built into mobile phones. For me it was because it’s hard not to look like you fell off the special bus producing a D-SLR with off-body flash gun on a romantic dinner for two or a kids 2^nd birthday party.  If you don’t need the “stealth” factor then maybe looking at the bridge and other intermediate cameras is a better bet for best actual photographic results.

Top view. Flash is top left. Controls are well laid out and easy to use.

The problem is that the compromise of the compact camera is in performance and quality and most of us with a D-SLR are going to be even pickier than the average consumer when it comes to both of those scores.  I am famously picky anyway.  Don't mistake this for "skilled" or "competent".  The S90 is reputedly a quick camera for a compact and again its reputation suggested quality of image too.  Winner?  Add to this fully manual modes and RAW file format and its got to be “the one”.  Right?  Yeah, pretty much with a few minor reservations.

I planned to use the S90 indoors a lot, so its “low light” mode was of interest.  OK, the less light there is the more noise you get and it is fully possible to get shots you could compare to those of a cheap phone-cam if you really try, but on the whole I find that “low light” gets some nice shots – it’s quick and unobtrusive.  People act more natural when there isn’t a flash going off in their face so you get better pictures that way.  You can set aperture and ISO manually if you prefer, but I like to have less to think about when I’m in party mode.  And yes, I think there is one of those on the camera too...  There is of course the option to play with software like Noise Ninja to correct these kinds of shots but, yeah, it’s better to get the picture right in the camera than have to mess with it later.

The focus ring feature may seem a bit of a gimmick, but if you are used to twisting the lens on an SLR to adjust focal length then you’ll love it.  The ring changes function with mode by default but you can set it to do one thing only in all modes with a little perseverance.  Other controls can give you quick access to aperture, shutter speed, etc. as you see fit.  The pop-up flash is neat but one’s instinct is to hold the camera in such a way that your finger blocks the flash.  Ooops.  Canon pre-dates iPhone4 in the “you have to hold it like we tell you” stakes. But it’s no big deal.

So its quick, it’s configurable, it works well in low light and it has a decent zoom for a pocket-ish sized camera.  What else is to know?

Well, there is evidence of barrel distortion at the lower focal lengths, especially with closer subjects.  I was snapping a group of 4 kids playing and the backgrounds turned a bit “house of fun” if you know what I mean.  For the most part this isn’t a problem, but it is there and it will spoil some of your shots.  The other thing I find is that the colours are a bit cold without adjustment.  I have tweaked the camera to warm it up a bit, adding some pizzazz to the otherwise occasionally dreary reds and oranges.   A few shots taken in some of the automatic modes (there are loads of these to choose from) needed to be tweaked with software afterwards to get the richness into the image.

But it’s a compact camera:  Its compromise time.

I’m more than happy with my S90 for the price I paid (£250ish).  It takes a good photo and it allows me to shot places and ways I wouldn’t necessarily be comfortable taking my D-SLR.  It’s not got the highest pixel count (but there are reasons why that’s an advantage) but it’s a nice toy, feels quality to handle, has good ergonomics.  Akku recommends this product or service.