Product Review: Canon Powershot S90 10 Megapixel Point and Shoot Digital Camera

Canon, ever the power company, has released yet another new point and shoot camera, the Powershot S90. This camera is thin and sleek, with a completely black body with a matte finish. There's no hand grip or indentation for the fingers, the back is almost completely free of buttons, there's a tiny mode dial at the top, and the lens is retractable. Everything about this camera is professional.

If you're wondering if the nearly $500 S90 camera is worth the price, read on to find out about features, image quality, and any issues you should expect.

Features

Canon can be commended for snubbing the megapixel game with the camera, opting for only 10 megapixels instead of the 12+ being loaded into other modern cameras. It has a massive 3" LCD display, which is takes up most of the back of the camera. It has a Digic 4 image processor, as well as RAW shooting. There's dual anti-noise thrown into the mix, and full manual mode to appease the pros who will undoubtedly enjoy this camera.

There's smart scene detection, which enables to camera to choose the best settings for each scene. The best feature, in my opinion, is the ability for the S90 to capture quality 2.5MP shots in low light locations via a very high 12800 ISO up to 2.4fps.

The modes include: aperture priority, shutter priority, program AE, manual, and custom. The new menu system includes a Hints and Tips option for the majority of settings so that you can get the most from your camera. Fine custom adjustment setting is available for those who need to tweak to get the perfect picture in every lighting condition.

There is also the new Control Ring included in the camera, a feature Canon users have been clamoring over for ages. This control ring can be adjusted in increments of 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, and 105mm. In addition, ISO can be adjusted in 1/3 stop increments, as can shutter, aperture, exposure, and focus; you can feel like you're using a DSLR without the size.

Conclusion

Canon promises that the Powershot S90 produces excellent images, and given the specs released, it seems that may very well be the case. The combination of excellent features, the Control Ring and extremely high ISO being the best, as well as the thin body and large LCD makes this a camera worth watching, even if the price is a little high.