Briefly tried out the S90 today at Canon Showroom at Harbourfront - here are my initial impressions. (Disclaimer: Following are purely my own views only)
Pros:
- Very small and lightweight and truly pocketable - much slimmer profile than say Panasonic LX3
- The lens control ring is quite a brilliant concept...configurable thru the top button and can use it to change ISO, EC, aperture, focal length etc.
- Large, bright and clear 3" LCD monitor
- Noise control looks very good up to ISO 800
Cons:
- The cam is rather small and unfortunately no moulded grip especially in front which is completely flat and made out of smooth (aluminium alloy?)...may not be easy maintain a firm and comfortable grip on the camera under certain cirumstances
- Controls layout are quite small and easily mistakenly press the wrong one if one has large hands
- Rear Control dial - A major PITA in my opinion! (see below)
I had been waiting for this cam with some anticipation now, expecting it to at least equal or beat the LX3 in terms of handling/useability and IQ. From samples posted and initial user reviews it seems ISO performance is great up till ISO 800 with low noise. However the major problem with this camera is one of a design flaw...the rear control dial is much too loose and spins way too easily. Now if there was a physical toggle to turn it off or thru a custom function in the menu, that would be a moot point, but no, Canon configured the control dial such that it just about controls almost every important aspect of the camera in any mode, be it scene modes or the A,P,S,M modes, and for ppl with larger than average hands and fingers (like me) - any accidental slight nudge changes settings almost instantly.
This is a major disappointment for me and a turnoff coz Canon obviously did not consider this potentially serious design flaw and did not implement a wheel with stiffer resistance turning or implement a hardware switch to disable the control dial or by an option thru the menu. It is annoying becoz instead of focusing on the photography aspect you are subconsciously forced to "babysit" the control dial in fear of inadvertently changing its settings - and this to me mars the entire phototaking experience altogether.
I just hope Canon takes steps to rectify this design flaw - other than this the S90 is an excellent cam in its own right. IQ wise from the samples I've seen on the cam and posted by many others, its quite decent but also could be a lot better for a camera at this price range which is too close to that of the LX3 to not discount that older camera if one is deciding between both models.
At this pricing its pretty close to LX3 pricing - while I think S90 is a great new cam in the advanced compact category, its still fairly pricy for a compact digicam.
This rear control dial ring is pretty bad IMO....it is way too loose and spins just at slightest nudge - and u can't configure the rear dial to not change any settings by default. A very bad oversight by Canon, and major design flaw.... :thumbsd: