Canon PowerShot S90

Tim Grey welcomes back Canon’s S-series

In the last round of releases under the PowerShot moniker, Canon apparently decided to buck the trend for ever-increasing megapixels and focus on the real business of taking photos: image quality.

As far as we can surmise, the rationale behind shrinking resolution was simple: extra pixels created more noise while shooting in low light, while photographers would rarely be making a print the size of a bus with a compact camera. With this in mind, Canon released two cameras that use a new 10 megapixel, 0.43cm2 sensor: the G11, whose predecessor had a 14 megapixel sensor, and the S90, the latest in the long-dormant S-series.

The G-series cameras tend to make professional photographers lusty, particularly the G10, which has found its way into the back pockets of shooters who use dSLRs. The cameras have great lenses, shoot RAW and go fully manual, but despite all their high-end functionality, the Gs aren’t really that slim. Enter the S90.

Gone are some functions, the swivel screen, and you’ll have to look at the monitor rather than through a viewfinder. Continuous shooting isn’t as quick and the zoom has been shaved. None of it matters. This is a camera that’ll fit in real-world pockets and which has guts to boot.

The first feature you’ll notice is the aperture ring on the front, which is easily assignable to a number of functions, including ISO, aperture, the (probably unnecessary) white balance, and the fantastically useful manual focus, which throws a magnified section of your shot into the centre of the screen and allows you to make fine adjustments to focus. Spin the wheel at the front and Bob’s your uncle – the experience is something like using a shrunken SLR.

While it’s a feature that belongs on more compacts, the wheel itself is a bit on the tacky side, and a small turn makes the whole camera move.

Otherwise the camera is solidly built despite its stature, with few plastic elements giving you the sense it’s going to break. It’s small but not fiddly, and its particularly well designed form means it’s not really in need of extra grip.

Although the S90 forgoes a viewfinder, given the compact’s intended usage its inclusion would have been inessential. While the 3.0-inch PureColor II LCD is big and crisp, it’s still an LCD screen and you’ll struggle to see it in bright daylight. When the going gets tough you can, however, trust your histogram, which handily pops up on the viewscreen.

Of course, what really matters when it comes to cameras is image quality, and with the S90 the quality is particularly high. The 28-105mm f/2.0 is an outstanding lens, especially for a camera of this size. It’s fast and sharp glass, and you’ll be able to create shots with shallow depth of field without hassle.

The S90 also makes good on its promise to deliver better low-light performance. While the f/2.0 lens in concert with the built-in image stabilisation goes a long way when you’re shooting in the dark, the sensor design takes it a step further. Noise is still an issue anywhere above and beyond 800, but shooting at 1600 will produce usable shots.

Make no mistake: at $899 the S90 is more than a lot of people would want to spend on a point-and-shoot. But it’s a cracking camera and it’s nearly $200 cheaper than its bigger brother, while matching it in terms of performance. Discerning photographers lusting after a compact camera, eat your heart out.

Canon PowerShot S90 – Specifications

Manufacturer: Canon
Model: PowerShot S90
RRP: $899
Effective pixels: 10.0 million
Image Sensor: 7.60 x 5.70 mm, 0.43cm²
LCD Monitor: 3-inch, 461,000-dot, PureColor II
Shutter: 1/1600 to 15 seconds
ISO: 80-3200
Exposure Metering: Evaluative, center-weighted, spot
Movies: 640 x 480 at 30fps, 320 x 240 at 30fps
Storage Media: SD, SDHC, MMC, MMCplus, HC MMCplus
Interface: USB 2.0, HDMI
Battery: Lithium-ion NB-6L and charger
Dimensions: 100 x 58 x 31mm
Weight: 195g (incl batteries)

Contact: www.canon.co.nz

PROS

• Performs well in low light
• Sharp, fast f/2.0 lens
• Very compact

CONS

• Aperture ring sticks while spinning

• Expensive for a compact camera

Design                      19
Performance             17
Features                   18
Image Quality           16
Value for money       17

TOTAL 87/100

This article is from D-Photo 34. Click here to check it out.

How to blur water for a dreamy effect

How to blur water for a dreamy effect

Sony Reveals 2010 Strategy

While most camera manufacturers like to play their cards close to their chest, Sony recently gave the game away, revealing its digital imaging strategy at PMA.

The company plans to take burgeoning ‘Micro Four Thirds’ market head on, with Sony’s own iteration of a compact camera with

interchangeable lenses already in production. Using a newly developed Exmor APS-C HD CMOS sensor, which at 24mm x 16mm is larger than the Micro Four Thirds format, Sony exhibited a mock-up model at the show. Along with a range of dedicated lenses, the new compact would shoot HD video using AVCHD format.

Less surprisingly, Sony plans to continue rolling out its range of Alpha dSLRs, integrating the new Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor and HD video. A follow-up to the mid-range a700 is also in the works.

New lenses are also on the cards, with a Distagon T* 24mm f/2 ZA SSM Carl Zeiss wide angle lens and a Super Telephoto 500mm f/4 G on show at PMA.

Canon Develops EOS Movie Plugin

Canon has announced the development of a plug-in that will allow EOS MOVIE footage shot on EOS DSLRs to be edited more quickly and easily in Apple’s Final Cut Pro editing package.

Canon has revealed that a free Beta release of the plug-in will be available to download for testing and evaluation in March 2010.

What’s known as ‘EOS MOVIE Plugin-E1 for Final Cut Pro’ is being developed to provide an even smoother workflow for EOS MOVIE users who edit using the Final Cut Pro software suite. The plug-in will enable the ‘log and transfer’ of video footage from the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 7D and EOS-1D Mark IV DSLRs – all of which offer full 1080p High Definition video recording.

The plug-in will convert EOS MOVIE footage to Apple’s high quality ProRes 4:2:2 codec at approximately twice the speed of Apple’s standard conversion. Additionally, users will also be able to add timecode, reel names and metadata to footage quickly and easily – further enhancing the experience of EOS MOVIE users when editing their footage.

GCO: Samsung NX10 Compact Interchangeable Lens Camera

Kyle from Samsung presents their new NX10 camera, which is a smaller camera featuring interchangeable lenses. The NX10 allows you most of the features of a DSLR, in a smaller body, without giving up too much.

Nikon D3000 – Review – 33

Nikon’s D3000 offers a great stepping stone to the world of dSLRs, says Harley Ogier

Nikon’s new entry-level dSLR, the D3000 aims to make dSLR photography accessible to the beginner in terms of both useability and price.

The D3000 is a Nikon DX format (crop-sensor) camera, compatible with a huge range of existing Nikkor lenses. The camera is available bundled with a nice 18-55mm zoom lens (equivalent to 27-82.5mm in 35mm film terms). This is a pretty good all-rounder that beginners will find sufficient for a wide range of photography.

If you’re looking for an entry-level dSLR as a stepping stone to a more serious model, any Nikon DX format lens you purchase will be compatible with the full range of Nikon’s DX format cameras.

You can go wider, longer, whatever you need without tying yourself to an entry-level camera forever.

Though entry level, the D3000 performs brilliantly alongside Nikon’s existing DX format range. The image sensor is a 10.2 megapixel CCD, as opposed to the 12-plus megapixel CMOS sensors used in higher end models. CCD sensors tend to produce less image noise than their CMOS equivalents but operate more slowly. The D3000 does in fact produce beautifully low-noise images, though the maximum ISO speed is lower than its higher end siblings.

Read the rest of this entry »

Canon Unveils 550D

There’s a new entry-level dSLR on the block, with Canon recently unveiling the EOS 550D.

While it’s designed with first-time SLR users in mind, the new camera offers some pretty advanced features, some of them nicked from the recent sports model, the 7D.

Featuring an enormous 18 megapixel sensor and ISO sensitivity up to 12,800, the 550D also delivers full 1080p HD movie recording at 30, 25 and 24fps. Additionally, 720p video can be shot at 60 and 50fps. The ability to edit video via ‘Movie Crop’ in camera is a new addition to the 550D, a first in a Canon camera, allowing videographers to crop a scene up to 7x in magnification.

The 63-point iFCL metering system from the 7D has been used in this new model, along with a nine-point AF system. Using the DiG!C 4 image processor at its core, the 550D also manages 3.7fps continuous shooting.

While there’s plenty of high-end functionality, the 550D still caters for the beginner, integrating a range of features found on compact cameras, including face detection, Live View, intuitive metering and image correction tools.

The camera’s layout has also been overhauled, with slight design modifications intended to aid ease of use.

While no local pricing has been announced as yet, the 550D will be made available either as a body only or with a range of lenses from March 2010.

Nikon D300s DSLR

The Nikon D300s contains a 12.3Mp DX-format CMOS sensor, 920,000-dot Live View-enabled LCD, and can shoot stills at up to 7 frames-per-second.Aside from stills, the Nikon D300s can also capture 720p video using any number of Nikon optics.

Olympus E-P1 TV commercial

The TV spot for the Olympus Pen E-P1

Olympus E-P1 overview

The Olympus E-P1 Pen is a dSLR sensor in a body that’s a combination between a vintage rangefinder and a modern point-and-shoot. It has a metal shell and comes with a huge range of options