Comments on: Canon PowerShot S90IS 10MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3-inch LCD

By: Larry Fischer

Larry Fischer — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 12:05:07 +0000

Why oh why are these potentially great cameras leaving out optical viewfinders? I swear, every time I find a camera that seems perfect for me, it lacks a viewfinder. I realize that the LCD display is more popular than ever, but is that really any reason to leave out a standard optical viewfinder? Am I really the only person that feels this way? (Am I really getting that old?)
Rating: 3 / 5

By: Mela

Mela — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 09:25:32 +0000

For those contemplating between these 2 cameras, as I did: for what it's worth, I decided to go with the Lumix DMC-LX3. I really was about to take the Canon. But I went to a store and compared the two in hand. Without a doubt, the LX3 won me over. The S90 felt cheap, overly too-simplified, and looked cheap. I am not commenting on use nor quality of photos. I know LX3 already has a great reputation, felt solid in my hand, and looked like a more serious camera. I really didn't think I'd be swayed by the superficial looks, but as the S90 was pretty unknown and I had a bad experiences with recent Canons, I decided the LX3 was for me. Don't get me wrong: I love Canons, and I had a fantastic one (S30). But for some reason, Canon's point and shoots started to go downhill for me. The quality wasn't as sharp, and they seemed to just die on me suddenly (I also owned the Canon A95).

After feeling the LX3 in hand, and then the S90, I knew I had to take the LX3. Sure, there are some inconveniences of the LX3 (lens cap, protruding lens, having to go through a menu of items), but I know I will have a tried and true camera (with a Leica lens, nonetheless!), and a resellable camera if needed (which I don't ever plan to sell!).

I highly recommend that those undecided between these cameras go and see them in a store. I went to J+R.

PS: I'm not a professional photographer, but I like a camera I can grow into, with custom settings, and can take everywhere with me. Considering these cameras cost about the same, I am glad I took the LX3. Colors are not as "saturated" as the Canon, but the quality, in my opinion, is far better. Rating: 2 / 5

By: Mediahound

Mediahound — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 08:06:46 +0000

This camera does not do HD videos and in fact the videos out of this camera look no better than what smartphones can do. This is a huge oversight and a camera that costs this much should be able to do HD, something other cameras in this price range and size have been able to do now for over a year.

Also, the battery life is quite bad and will typically not even last you through the day of usage.

Another negative is this camera exhibits some pretty bad barrel distortion which can be easily seen if you take a straight on picture of a building for example. What's a bit insipid about this is that the camera's LCD screen does not show this, it actually corrects the image for display on the screen. But, transfer the picture to your computer and it will look distorted. The only way to fix this correctly currently (as of this review) is to shoot RAW and use Canon's DPP software.

For me, these negatives outweigh any positives given that there is a camera that performs better image-wise, can do HD videos and has longer battery life, the Panasonic LX3 or Leica D-LUX 4 (these two are basically the same camera). Rating: 2 / 5

By: P22nut5

P22nut5 — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 08:00:52 +0000

I was very excited when I received this camera…well my excitement was short lived. I may have gotten a lemon because the pictures taken with my canon sd990 was a lot clearer, sharper and cleaner. My sd990 would take low light picture at iso 400 and s90 would take it at iso 800. Both were set on Auto. I compared those pictures that were taken at the same iso 800 and the pictures of s90 was blurred and noiser. Some has white patches on it. I have no choice but to return it back.
Rating: 1 / 5

By: Robert Dickerson

Robert Dickerson — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:11:33 +0000

Canon touts the new S90 as a camera for photographers, a camera I waited for all summer. I purchase one locally the day they became available, and after shooting several hundred images over a week, I took it back to the store. The S90 exhibited some of the worst barrel distortion I’ve seen from any camera, much worse than my SD780IS or my even older SD950IS. To me, the S90 is a camera that does most things pretty well but nothing exceptionally well. Endless Scene Modes and video are not things I find necessary, but virtually every camera in the upper-end point-and-shoot arena offer these “Features” which further serves to make the S90 nothing special. I’m now waiting for the Leica X1, it also is advertised as a camera for photographers..we’ll see.
Rating: 1 / 5