Canon PowerShot S90

Handling (8.00)

The S90 is a small camera, but it fits well into the hand. There is no raised ridge on the front, but there is a small ridge below the mode dial on the back that gives the thumb something to grip onto. This allows for a reasonably tight grip, but we’d recommend the use of the wrist strap if you are a rollercoaster fan. Most users will probably default to a two-handed hold when taking photos, but it works well in one or two hands.

Two hands are also needed to use the control dial on the front of the camera, around the lens.

Buttons & Dials (9.60)

The S90 includes an unusual number of buttons and dials for a point & shoot, with the really unusual one being the control ring on the front around the lens. This makes it feel a little like an SLR or an old-school film camera; you twist the ring around to change the selected feature. By default, this ring is used to control the ISO setting, but it can also be set to control exposure compensation, manual focus, white balance or the zoom setting in program mode. In the manual mode, the exposure compensation option changes to shutter speed. This is extremely useful, as it means you can go fully manual but still control shutter speed quickly with the front control ring and aperture with the back control dial. Most point & shoots with a manual mode force you to use a combination of keys to switch from shutter to aperture control.

The other controls are on the top and back of the camera. On the top is the power button , the ring function, the shutter and the mode dial. On the back is a shortcut control, playback, the 4-way control and control dial and a display and menu button. The shortcut button can be set to a number of functions, including enabling face detection, exposure and focus lock or changing the metering mode.

Menus (6.00)

The S90 has two separate menus: the function menu for the basic functions, and the main menu for everything else. The function menu is accessed by pressing the func. button in the middle of the directional control pad, and offers options for things such as white balance, color mode, bracketing, etc.

The main menu contains all the other features. It is divided into three tabs: shooting settings, camera settings, and the customizable my menu settings. The shooting settings tab is for features such as enabling/disabling the digital zoom, setting the AF mode, etc. The camera settings menu is for features such as formatting the memory card, the power saving settings and others. The My Menus tab allows you to create a customized menu that contains commonly used features for quick access.

The function menu of the S90	The main menu of the S90

Manual & Learning (7.00)

Accompanying the S90 is a 179 page manual that covers a lot of ground, from basic functions like turning the camera on to manually tweaking the white balance settings. It does so well, with clear, accurate explanations in plain language.