The English Language Canon Powershot S90 owner's manual / operating instructions (Canon calls it the "PowerShot S90 Camera User Guide") is now online and available for download at Canon.com (right-click and save the user guide to your hard drive).

If the download link for the S90 user manual didn't work for you, go to the Brochures & Manuals download section for the S90 and manually locate the file PSS90_CUG_EN_02.pdf.

Unlike with Nikon, Canon allows you to freely print the Powershot S90 owner's handbook without building in any password protection into the PDF. There is a watermark displayed on each page though.

The file size of 179-page Canon S90 Adobe Acrobat PDF document is 7.5 MB (megabytes).

The guide discusses the features of the S90, camera settings and how to use the camera.

You'll find details of compatible accessories for the S90 on pages 38 through 40. Two examples are:

1. HDMI Cable HTC-100
2. High-Power Flash HF-DC1

Related Posts

1. Canon S90 Price Watch and Availability
2. Canon S90 Tips
3. Canon S90 Samples
4. Canon S90 Reviews

The price of most digital cameras tend to trend downwards over time, and the same price drop should occur in the case of the Canon PowerShot S90 compact prosumer digital camera.

I'm not planning for any scheduled updates, but do check back here from time to time for the latest and best prices on the Canon S90 and related accessories.

Click on the links to access in-stock and availability information.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Canon PowerShot S90IS 10MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3-inch LCD: $349.95 ($15.04 price reduction since the last update).

S90 Accessories and Add-ons
Rechargeable Canon NB-6L Li-Ion Battery Pack: Get a second lithium-ion battery for your S90 as a backup. A second, fully-charged battery is the best way to ensure that your S90 continues to have a power source when the one inside the camera runs out of juice.

Canon WP-DC35 Underwater Housing: This waterproof case is a required accessory if you intend to take your Canon S90 diving or snorkeling for underwater photography, or to other inclement conditions.

For storage, the S90 uses SD or SDHC cards.

Refer to Rob Galbraith's SD / SDHC card write speed tests (done on a Nikon D90) to get an idea on the relative write and read speeds of different brands of cards. At the time of writing (Oct 29, 2009), the SanDisk Extreme III SDHC cards occupy the top two spots.

To ensure smooth recording of video and high resolution images, go for Class 6 or faster cards.

Good luck shopping for your Canon S90!

Price History Archive / Trend

Thursday, May 13, 2010
Canon PowerShot S90IS 10MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3-inch LCD: $364.99

Sunday, April 18, 2010
Canon PowerShot S90IS 10MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3-inch LCD: $373.54

Monday, January 18, 2010
Canon PowerShot S90IS 10MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3-inch LCD: $399.00

Thursday, November 05, 2009
Canon PowerShot S90IS 10MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3-inch LCD: $443.90

Related Posts

1. Canon S90 Manual Now Available For Download
2. Canon S90 Tips
3. Canon S90 Samples
4. Canon S90 Reviews

This post is a compilation of Canon PowerShot S90 professional and user reviews, owner opinions and experiences, tests, conclusions, ratings and feedback.

Full attribution is given by linking to the source and where available, the author's homepage or photo gallery.

David Pogue's take on the Canon S90 – David reviewed both the S90 and Panasonic GF1 in his article Big Sensors, Shrinking Cameras, and concludes:

This camera (the S90) takes better photos than any other pocket camera on the market.

[...]

These cameras proudly establish brand-new spots on the spectrum between little shirt-pocket cameras and great big S.L.R. cameras. None of them may offer Desirable Features 1 through 20, inclusive — no camera ever will. But if you’re willing to pay nearly double for better photos and less bulk, they come closer than any cameras have before.

An interesting poll on DPReview – An overwhelming majority of S90 owners say that they would buy the S90 again.

Full-resolution Canon S90 test images at DC Watch (Google's English translation)

There's a ton of full-sized images that come straight from the S90 in this article. The photos range from architecture to scenics to landscapes / cityscapes and macros / close-ups. There are even night photos taken at various ISO values (ISO80, ISO100, ISO200, ISO400, ISO800, ISO 1600, ISO 3200). High-ISO comparison shots of the same scene taken with the Panasonic LX3 are also provided.

ProtoPhoto has the perfect summary on the huge appeal that S90 presents to the photographic community:

If however, you are like me in that you are DSLR owner who doesn't want to carry a bag at all, but wants a true shirt pocket alternative… then such a small camera that has RAW, IS, extensive manual controls, and a fast lens with a large (for a compact) sensor that is specifically designed for low light conditions… are there any alternatives? I don't think so, not really.

This is why I am so interested in the S90 specifically, rather than some of the other enthusiast grade "compacts".

If you're still on the fence deciding whether to purchase the Canon G11 Canon S90, read the two-part forum post extravaganza by ebrandon (Part 1, Part 2), which details the differences and similarities between the Canon G11 vs Canon S90.

Ken Rockwell points out an outstanding usability feature on the S90:

First compact camera with two click-stopped direct control rings, which is better than DSLRs! Few compacts have even one control ring, and DSLRs have maybe one.

This means you can make your settings directly and instantly, without the stupid press-and-spin nonsense of DSLRs. The S90 lets you set your camera instantly, just like cameras of the old days. You can program the rings as you want. I program the ring around the lens as exposure compensation, and the one on the back as ISO. In manual mode, you can set one for aperture and another for shutter speed — just like a real camera!

You can flick the big front control ring with one fingertip. This is worlds better than the dorky top-mounted thing on the G10 and G11.

HardwareZone previews the Canon PowerShot S90

Alvin Soon focuses on the handling aspects of the camera in this review, and has this to say about the control ring:

In real life, we found that using the control ring takes some getting used to. Unlike a DSLR which has some size and weight to keep it steady when adjusting the lens' zoom or focus, the S90's small size and light weight means that when you adjust the control ring, the camera tends to jiggle about.

Is the control ring useful practically? Yes, it's a marvelous tool to get into and change settings like aperture immediately when you're in aperture mode. You can also set the control ring to control other settings (one at a time though), like ISO, zoom and exposure, so you'll always have a single, quick way to adjust those parameters on the fly.

At the same time, because the camera tends to move about while using the control ring, we found ourselves focusing, adjusting, and re-focusing again. So while the controls offer you as much power as a DSLR over settings like aperture and shutter speed, it doesn't offer you the power as conveniently as a DSLR.

How easy would it be to put the S90 in your pocket compared to the Panasonic LX3? Tom Hoots says:

The LX3 is fully two inches thick at the lens cap. I've always carried it in my front left jeans pocket, but it's just about the biggest thing you can barely fit in there.

The S90 is less than one-and-one-quarter of an inch thick — dropping three-quarters of an inch off of a camera's thickness is HUGE when it comes to "pocketability." Plus, the S90 is substantially smaller in its other dimensions. Plus, it is smooth, with rounded corners, and everything is "flush" — whereas the LX3 is a veritable porcupine with things poking out everywhere. The S90 is first and foremost a "pocket" camera — definitely, it's a big part of what appeals to me about it so much.

The S90 is only a few millimeters larger than the SD880IS — seven millimeters thicker, maybe ten millimeters wider, and one millimeter taller. And people have been pocketing cameras in this size range for years — the S90 should be as pocketable as any SD-series camera.

"Zoom Resume" on the S90 – Tom Hoots explains this feature:

If you're into Zoom Resume (camera starts up with lens at the focal length you last left it), you can assign the Zoom function to the control ring, and so long as you use that to adjust your zoom, the camera will indeed turn on and move the lens to the last zoom setting you chose.

This makes it very convenient to take multiple photos of the same scene (say, a still life or product photo) with the zoom at the last position you had it at before the camera goes into automatic power-off.

The same "resume" feature, unfortunately, isn't available for manual focus.

Night photos with the G11 and S90

Ebrandon has shared two sets of images of night scenes taken with the Powershot G11 in two forum posts. The two posts also compares the G11 to the S90 with regards to low-light shooting.

In the first post, Ebrandon mentioned the following noteworthy points:

1. … the S90 and G11 are both exceptionally good P&S cameras for night, indoor, low light, or artificial light shooting.

2. First, the AF (autofocus) is very fast and very accurate in low light. You just forget about this as an issue and shoot away.

3. Second, the IS (image stabilization) works exceptionally well on both cameras.

4. Third, the auto white balance (AWB) on these camera is nothing short of miraculous. I have shot Canon 20D & 5D & Rebels, Nikon D3, Olympus E-3 & E-520 & E30 & E-P1, Panasonic LX3 & ZS3 & G1 and have never seen auto white balance performance like this.

5. Next the evaluative metering was exceptionally good too. In this picture I pointed the camera right at the bright lights and did a half-shutter press. 99% of cameras would have underexposed the scene, giving you two lights against a black background. These Canons were smart enough to know that that's not the picture I was trying to take. Time after the time, the evaluative metering got it right like this.

Ebrandon concludes:

As for usage, both cameras were easy to use in the dark. A lot easier than some DSLRs actually where you have to hunt for a little button that briefly lights up the window that shows your settings.

The S90 was easy to use because the two main controls — the ring around the lens and the back wheel — are easy to find in the dark, and the settings appear on the back screen very clearly as you change them.

The G11 was particularly clever. It has little amber "courtesy lights" always on beside the exposure compensation wheel and the ISO wheel which allow you to read your settings in the dark. Beautiful.

Both LCDs at minimum brightness were at comfortable level.

I want to emphasize that the S90 is a really good low-light point and shoot, maybe the second-best in the world. It's just that the G11 is a tiny bit better.

In the second post, ebrandon posts some G11 vs S90 comparison pictures, and notes that the G11 has a slightly better color accuracy compared with the S90. He also shares a link to his Smugmug comparison gallery where full-resolution images from both cameras are properly labelled and can be downloaded.

Jim Boutilier's first impressions of the S90:

On the plus side, its startup speed is incredibly fast for a compact. I'm moderately impressed with noise and clarity through 800 ISO. Tried a couple shots at higher and while they are quite usable I'm not sure I'd want to print them very large. Still ISO 800 in a very compact package is impressive and higher ISO values are actually usable (which it wasn't on my G10). And I've been shooting jpg with no tuning yet.

Related Posts

1. Canon S90 Price Watch and Availability
2. Canon S90 Manual Now Available For Download
3. Canon S90 Tips
4. Canon S90 Samples

Full attribution is given by linking to the source and where available, the author's homepage or photo gallery.

jasontb suggests a use for the front lens ring:

What is the most efficient use of the front lens ring? I think the answer is ISO.

I, personally, want the quickest and easiest access to ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. I think you get that when the front ring is set to ISO.

M mode: Front ring controls ISO. Rear wheel controls aperture and shutter speed. Toggle between the two by simply pressing 'up'.

P mode: Front ring controls ISO. Rear wheel controls exposure compensation.

Tv and Av modes: Front ring con trolls ISO. Rear wheel controls exposure compensation and either shutter speed or aperture (depending on if you are in Tv or Av) and you toggle between the two by simply pressing up.

Related Posts

1. Canon S90 Price Watch and Availability
2. Canon S90 Manual Now Available For Download
3. Canon S90 Samples
4. Canon S90 Reviews

This should help in determining if the image quality of the Image Stabilized (IS) S90 meets your expectations.

Bear in mind that the majority of these photos are re-sized, and may have gone through post-processing, retouching or other edits. I just thought that it would be interesting to see, at a glance, what Canon S90 owners and users are shooting with their camera.

Full-sized images, where available, will assist with judging the image quality.

Attribution is given by linking to the source and where available, the author's homepage or photo gallery.

Canon G11 and Canon S90 side-by-side shots by Mikegoat

The images are reduced in size, but for what it's worth, this comparison shows that it's difficult to distinguish the differences, if any, in image quality between the G11 and S90.

Mikegoat took these photos in RAW mode and had them processed via the bundled Digital Photo Professional software.

"Nostalgic" scene mode on the Canon S90 – Two example photos, by ebrandon

You'll find both images at the end of ebrandon's post. Ebrandon remarks:

On the plus side for the S90, it has a "Nostalgic" scene mode which can take either straight black & white pictures, or somewhat gimmicky but really cool high-contrast grainy black & white pictures. The G11 lacks this mode.

Related Posts

1. Canon S90 Price Watch and Availability
2. Canon S90 Manual Now Available For Download
3. Canon S90 Tips
4. Canon S90 Reviews