Canon Powershot S90

All my pictures on this blog up to this point were taken by a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3.  Its 28mm lens with true panoramic aspect ratio, and 10x optical zoom (up to 280mm) are rare for a point-and-shoot camera.  Here is a review of the Lumix TZ3.

I bought the camera in 2007 and used it for photos and videos on my trips to Brazil, Hawaii, Shanghai, Iceland, and most recently Mexico.  It was also used in almost all social functions, birthdays, new years, etc.  My other camera, a Canon 10D DSLR is so dated and is seldom used these days.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3

Being heavily used, the Lumix has been subjected to (unintentionally, of course) quite a bit of abuse – it had been dropped on the street and onto hard ice on a glacier, and sprayed to dripping wet when I used it behind a waterfall.  The glass protecting the LCD screen has little cracks and the metal back is scratched. But it is solidly built and it still works perfectly, so I have no plans to replace it.  I was prompted to buy a new camera now because of the higher price of camera in Europe relative to the US – almost the same numerical price except in Euro.

The pictures of the Lumix TZ3 above were taken by my new camera – a Canon Powershot S90.   While I am perfectly happy to buy another Lumix, such as the LX3, there are several things I liked about the S90.  It has a 28mm, 3.8x zoom (up to 105mm), F2.0 fast wide angle lens and is really inconspicuously small.  Although it looks like a point-and-shoot, as the Chinese call these small cameras 傻瓜機 – (literally translated as “silly melon machine”, meaning idiot-proof camera), the S90 can actually be operated by complete manual controls, beside being fully automatic.  It has a control rings on the front which is programmable for adjusting exposure, ISO, white balance, etc.  The turning of the control ring is reminiscent of the controls on the lens barrel of a SLR camera.  The camera is truly pocketable and yet provides fine creative control.  In addition to JPEG files, it outputs RAW image files which are more amenable to retouching.  A detailed review of the S90 can be found here: Canon S90.

I also looked into the micro four-thirds format – was really tempted by the Lumix GF1.  Being a first generation product, it probably has design bugs.  And it is rather expensive and still a bit bulky.  I will eventually buy one as a DSLR substitute.

I intend to carry the S90 with me everywhere, especially for people pictures in restaurants at night.  The Lumix will be reserved for daytime excursions.