Canon PowerShot S90 Digital Camera Review

Canon PowerShot S90

Digital Camera Review

4 The Canon PowerShot S90 is a high-end point & shoot camera that takes great photos and  provides great manual controls for serious shooters. The video it captures is not particularly impressive, though.
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PowerShot S90 Manual

www.canon.com
PowerShot S90 Official Site
Canon USA

Sample Photos  
x Video Page 7 of 16 Playback x

 

Sample Photos


In the following sample images, clicking on the larger image will download the full resolution original. Each photo is accompanied by three actual-size crops.

Macro Sample
x Focal length: 6mm
ISO: 80
Aperture: f/4.0
Shutter speed: 1/200 of a second

This macro shot of an autumnal Japanese Maple shows what a good job the S90 can do of capturing detail; the fine veins of the leaf is well captured, as are the edges.
x x x

 

Telephoto Example
x Focal length: 22.5mm
ISO: 80
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter speed: 1/50 of a second

This shot of a rather stern looking Victorian gentleman was taken with the longest zoom setting. The camera still captures plenty of detail at this zoom length, but you can see how the edges get a little soft at the edge of the frame.
x x x

 

Low Light Example (auto mode)
x Focal length: 10.7mm
ISO: Auto
Aperture: f/3.2
Shutter speed: 1 second

In this low light example shot in the S90s full auto mode, it struggled to capture an image in extremely low light. To get the image, it had to up the shutter speed to 1 second. However, the image still has decent color and only moderate noise.
x x x

 

Low Light Example (low light mode)
x Focal length: 10.7mm
ISO: 12800
Aperture: f/3.2
Shutter speed: 1/15 of a second

Putting the camera into the low light mode made a big difference: the camera increased the ISO to 12800 and decreased the shutter speed while still capturing a better image than above. However, the resolution of the captured image is also much reduced, and there is a lot more noise in there. But the color remains good, and the compromise might be acceptable if you need the faster shutter speed to capture a hand-held image.
x x x  

 

Dramatic Example
x Focal length: 9.4mm
ISO: 80
Aperture: f/4.0
Shutter speed: 1/500 of a second

This photo was taken against a bright blue sky, but the camera did a decent job of metering for this and not overexposing the image. 
x x x

 

Color Accent Example
x Focal length: 14.98mm
ISO: Auto (160)
Aperture: f/4.0
Shutter speed: 1/200 of a second

The S90 includes a rather fun Color Accent mode, which turns the shot into black and white, with the exception of the color that you select. It's a fun effect, but the result is a little rough around the edges. For a more precise result, you could use Photoshop.
x x x

 

Still Life Examples


Below are examples of our still life setup captured at a range of ISO settings. To view the full, original file, click on any of the images. 

  Still Life Comparisons
  x x x x
  Canon S90 Panasonic ZS3 Canon SD970 IS Fuji F200EXR
ISO 80 x x x
ISO 100 x x x x
ISO 200 x x x x
ISO 400 x x x x
ISO 800 x x x x
ISO 1600 x x x x
ISO 3200 x

x
ISO 6400


x
ISO
12800



x

NOTE: The images above are not used in our testing or scoring, but are included here to show real-world examples of the differences between cameras at the various ISO settings.

See how the competition stacked up against the Canon PowerShot S90
x x x
Panasonic ZS3 Canon SD970 IS Fuji F200EXR
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