Canon PowerShot S90 at a glance:

• 10-million-pixel sensor
• 28-105mm equivalent zoom lens
• ISO 80-3200
• 3in, 461,000-dot screen
• Street price around £380

Canon PowerShot S90 - Introduction

Within the current Canon PowerShot range there are two compact cameras that are designed to appeal to the enthusiast photographer. Although the Canon PowerShot S90 is smaller and lighter than its sibling, the PowerShot G11, the two cameras share many of the same features. Most notable of these is the ten-million-pixel 1/1.7 inch CCD sensor.

However, the similarities don’t end there. As with the G11, two of the main selling points of the S90 are its manual exposure control and ability to save images in Canon’s CR2 raw file format. These features, plus its small size, are the S90’s main attractions. This is a compact camera the enthusiast photographer can have full control over, which, on paper at least, makes the S90 ideal for when point-and-shoot images simply won’t suffice.

Although the PowerShot S90 has only a 3.8x optical zoom lens rather than the 5x lens found on the G11, it is a 28-105mm equivalent, which is ideal for both landscapes and portraits. The lens also has a maximum aperture of f/2 and optical image stabilisation which, combined with a maximum sensitivity of ISO 3200, should make it useful in low light.

With aperture and shutter priority exposure modes, as well as an innovative control ring, the S90 looks like an interesting option for the enthusiast on those occasions when a DSLR would simply be overkill.

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