S90 sample pics and review

[tyho]

Thank you TS for this posting.
I too am searching for a compact cam which I can take good low light shots - will be bringing my kid to HK Disneyland in December and expect there will be lots of night time shot opportunities.

I have been looking at the low light cams- the Fuji EXR series, the Sony Exmor R WX1 and TX1 and the S90.

The Sony auto panning and twilight handheld modes have brought then to the top of my list (before the S90 came out). I know the WX1 has been panned for poor day light colours under AWB.

Any comments on the Exmor sensor's trick of layering 6 images to reduce noise vs the S90's larger sensor? The TX1 is about $100 less than a S90... the WX1 about $160 less. HD video also is a plus on the Sonys... but not very impt. Quite confused which is the best solution.

Lastly, does anyone know if the S90 can be bought under the Privileged Purchase Program? Have an ancient Powershot I could trade in.

 

[soons]

There is a website testing ISO from 100 to 12800 of FujiFilm F200EXR.
http://www.photoxels.com/fujifilm-f200exr-image-quality.html
Imho, S90 edges out.

 

[nuts]

Thanks for the review!
Handled it in Vivo Canon showroom.
Quite excited abt it, a real compact with good manual controls!

But during that short time I played with it, that rear control wheel seems really quite loose. Had accidentally dialed it a couple of times....

Time to retire my ixus850? Hmm......

......

About that rear control wheel... (deep breath). I can understand why it's there, and I can understand the reason it does not move in discrete steps, but spins freely. You need that to use it to change manual focusing, and you need a second control dial for a full function camera with Manual, Av, Tv mode etc. It does the job, but not very well. The whole assembly (rear control wheel, four buttons + set/func button) sort of floats on the back of the camera and moves around loosely. A little disconcerting, but when you apply a bit more force you can see that it's very secure and not likely to drop off, contrary to first impressions. The wheel is just a little too small in diameter to spin confidently like you would the dial on the back of a DSLR. Like cleaning contact lenses, for those who know what that feels like.

It does not bother me because I don't change settings unintentionally. For the record, it changes each setting by about 8-9 stops for one complete rotation of the wheel (ie you need to rotate it 40-45 degrees before it changes any setting by one stop). You have be quite deliberate about doing that. You can also use it to flip between pictures on playback, but I don't see the advantage of using a wheel vs pressing a button for that!

I've figured out that the way you're supposed to hold the camera is to pinch it between the thumb grip and the inside of your middle finger, leaving your forefinger to press the shutter button. It can be held very firmly that way, and certainly, one-handed operation is no problem at all.
.......

 

[StreetShooter]

Lastly, does anyone know if the S90 can be bought under the Privileged Purchase Program? Have an ancient Powershot I could trade in.

Yes, I called up, and was told that if they could not "economically repair" my old Ixus 400, I could upgrade to the S90. Should be 21% off the retail price, which (at $749 without GST) works out to $633 inclusive of GST.

You have to go down to the service centre, show your old camera, order the new one, then go down again about 2 weeks later to collect it.

I got a quote for a street price of $670 inclusive of GST and promotional free gifts for the set. Immediately available.

Was it worth my time, petrol and parking fees to drive down twice, spend 2 hours each trip (conservative estimate) and have to wait two weeks just to save $37?

I decided not.

 

[StreetShooter]

SS, it's a pity you don't shoot raw. I was fiddling around with the online raw files and compared them to the GF1. I found that the S90 RAW comes close to within one stop of the m43 JPEG in terms of noise performance. I know the RAW vs JPEG comparison is not fair but hey, we are comparing a 1/1.7" vs a 4/3 sensor here.

All in, all S90 RAW at ISO 800 should be comparable to ISO 1600 JPEG of m43 - plus minus.

Somehow, I also realized that somehow the RAW files of G11 seems to be a little sharper and has a marginally more details than the S90. I suspect the lens could have played a part here. However, in normal print size, the performance is really close. It is quite amazing the S90 can do...

I also see the S90 as a true pocket sized PnS with a built in automatic lens cover. I wouldn't classify the S90 and LX3/G11 in the same category.

The Advanced Compact Category:

The LX3's potruding lens base and detachable lens cap makes it less pocketable than the S90. The G11... well is just a little chunky. They also have flash mounts and supports wide angle adapter as well as some dSLR features and accessories - 1/4000 shutter speed, wireless trigger, TTL Flash etc.

I also see the sigma DP1/DP2 and some of the Ricohs in this category.

The Advanced PnS Category:

The S90 is more like the Fujifilm F200EXR - a class of PnS with 1/1.7" sensor or larger but otherwise have PnS like profiles and convenience. Maybe some Ricohs may be in this category as well (not sure, as I am not familiar with Ricohs).

I think S90 has achieved what no other cameras in this class has been able to do up till now. i.e, produce an image quality rivaling the LX3/G11 class camera while providing a true PnS convenience.

I find that RAW is too much trouble for myself, and frankly I can't find that much of a difference between RAW vs the JPEGS straight out of the camera. I do mangle my pics in post-processing anyway (ie degrade the image quality to achieve the look I like), so whatever advantage is usually lost.

I agree with your classification. Had forgotten about the protruding lens factor, the G-series and of course the Ricohs (which I find over-rated and over-priced) and of course the Fuji's. Interesting how a simple retracting lens with built-in lens cover can make so much difference.

The S90 stands out mainly because of the F2.0 lens, something I last had in the Canon G3!

Luminous Landscape has pointed out something I forgot to mention. The camera grows on you because you can set the controls to what you want, and be able to change your settings without having to go into a menu. This is very useful for people like me, who only change certain settings, and only very occasionally.

 

[soons]

Yes, I called up, and was told that if they could not "economically repair" my old Ixus 400, I could upgrade to the S90. Should be 21% off the retail price, which (at $749 without GST) works out to $633 inclusive of GST.

You have to go down to the service centre, show your old camera, order the new one, then go down again about 2 weeks later to collect it.

I got a quote for a street price of $670 inclusive of GST and promotional free gifts for the set. Immediately available.

Was it worth my time, petrol and parking fees to drive down twice, spend 2 hours each trip (conservative estimate) and have to wait two weeks just to save $37?

I decided not.

btw, Thanks for the great review. THis S90 made a low cost and light weight night street photography camera!

 

[zcf]

http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM
LX3 and S90 photo can be compared in this website, seem like S90 28mm lens is sharper than LX3 24mm lens, but usually wider angle will have softer corner, really give and take. For noise at high ISO, they seem to use different method of noise reduction, whereas S90 more blur, but less noise, whereas LX3 more sharp, higher contrast with details, but more noise bit. So really depend on a matter of personal taste for photo style.

 

[raffaelo]

any observations on battery life so far? thanks!

 

[StreetShooter]

Pretty good battery life so far. Have only recharged it once (and it was still more than half full) despite playing with it a lot since I got it on Friday.

I would say easily 200 shots with frequent playback review and switching the camera on and off.

 

[tyho]

Yes, I called up, and was told that if they could not "economically repair" my old Ixus 400, I could upgrade to the S90. Should be 21% off the retail price, which (at $749 without GST) works out to $633 inclusive of GST.

You have to go down to the service centre, show your old camera, order the new one, then go down again about 2 weeks later to collect it.

I got a quote for a street price of $670 inclusive of GST and promotional free gifts for the set. Immediately available.

Was it worth my time, petrol and parking fees to drive down twice, spend 2 hours each trip (conservative estimate) and have to wait two weeks just to save $37?

I decided not.

Thanks. May still explore this since I am on leave tomorrow...

 

[d7t3]

Thanks for the review!
Handled it in Vivo Canon showroom.
Quite excited abt it, a real compact with good manual controls!

But during that short time I played with it, that rear control wheel seems really quite loose. Had accidentally dialed it a couple of times....

Time to retire my ixus850? Hmm......

Actually, nuts, would be interesting to compare the older ixus against the S90. Is the improvement that significant I wonder?

The 850 was no "pro" camera but its high ISOs were not bad really; I've tried it.

 

[d7t3]

From the Imaging Resource website's still-life shots, the ixus 850 is about one stop noisier than the LX3. These 2 cameras follow the "noisy but detailed" route. The S90 has less noise but loses a bit of detail too.

 

[d7t3]

Thanks zcf for the link. Comparing the Imaging Resource still-life shots, seems at ISO 800 the LX3 captures the most detail. The S90 seems about on par with the older Fuji F30 to my eyes, relatively clean but not as detailed.

At 1600 the LX3 is really noisy, even though there is detail; quite borderline. The S90 and F30 still seem about equal to me.

 

[Shen siung]

I went down to Vivocity Canonlink to test the s90 yesterday evening.
I asked for possible to let me try the camera using my SD card and the staff agreed!

Below are some of my sample photos. It is just basically some snaps, but I just try to test the ability of the camera.

Focused at 'XEED'

28mm F2 ISO200

100% crop

28mm F2 ISO400

100% crop

 

[Shen siung]

28mm F2 ISO800

100% crop

28mm F2 ISO1600

100% crop

 

[Shen siung]

I tried to zoom in until the maximum aperture changed to F3.5 (focal length = 60mm)


60mm F3.5 ISO200

100% crop

60mm F3.5 ISO400

100% crop

 

[Shen siung]

60mm F3.5 ISO800

100% crop

60mm F3.5 ISO1600

100% crop

 

[weixiang1900]

take note that i have seen sample pictures from canon singapore.. in broad daylight, it exhibits purple fringing in high contrast situations and CA.. :angry:

 

[Shen siung]

As you can see, I do not compose properly and did not double check the WB, as I was a bit in rush, also feel not good to let the staff wait for me there... He was so kind to lend me use the one lock inside the display window.

My own opinion, after using it for about 10 min (only)

1. The dial at the rear of the camera works very well for me. Probably I'm less fussy about ergonomic..

2. The 2nd thought of this camera is... it is definitely less 'roughness' then G11, but it just ok for me. Maybe I've been used to my A720IS, so the 'plastic feels' is ok for me. In fact, it feels better then the A720IS (of course, double the price....)

3. the top dial is a bit difficult to turn for me.

4. No HD video is fine for me. I've recorded a video of about 12 sec, already become a 29MB file. No space for bigger HD video.

5. I feel with the f2 lens, it really allow more lights to come in, thus makes indoor shoot very easy. I feel s90 is target on the night photography where conventionally only possible with a tripod.

I never tried the LX3, but I just like this s90. May try to find a way to test the LX3....

 

[Shen siung]

take note that i have seen sample pictures from canon singapore.. in broad daylight, it exhibits purple fringing in high contrast situations and CA.. :angry:

Oh which photo you referring to? There are 9 photos in the gallery right?
http://www.canon-asia.com/pss90/gallery.html