Pros: Big, sharp LCD display, Manual controls, Very good images in all light levels, Shoots 720p HD video
Cons: Short battery life, Dawdling camera speed, Optical zoom doesn't work with video
The Canon PowerShot S95 is the descendant of the popular S90, a pocket-sized camera that offers a lot of proficient features. Aimed at the dedicated photographer looking for a accomplished compact, the new Canon S95 features improved handling and greater levels of manual control. When Canon shipped its PowerShot S90 about a year ago, it made a big impression on advanced photographers. Tiny with a wide-aperture lens and all the essential manual shooting features, it was practically irresistible for DSLR luggers. It did have a few flaws, however, some of which Canon has attempted to address with the successor, the S95. These include a 720p video-capture upgrade, improved image stabilization, and some minor tweaks to the design and feature set. Performance, though, remains on the slow end of acceptable.
The image quality is top-notch for a compact, although it's a shame that Canon doesn't offer a less-compressed JPEG option. One of my photos shot in best-quality JPEG was about 7:1, but most of them come in at about 12:1 compression. There's a visible difference between raw and JPEG shots.
The image quality is top-notch for a compact, although it's a shame that Canon doesn't offer a less-compressed JPEG option. One of my photos shot in best-quality JPEG was about 7:1, but most of them come in at about 12:1 compression. There's a visible difference between raw and JPEG shots.
That said, the S95's JPEG photos are exceptionally clean and relatively usable up to ISO 400; plus, you can probably squeeze out a stop more if you shoot raw. That's a lot better than your typical ultracompact. The lens is sharp and bright, but there's some asymmetrical distortion at its widest. Metering and exposure are both good and consistent. The defaults may be found pushing the color saturation excessively, though quantitative test results report that the S95 has relatively accurate color; the neutral color setting is not available in raw+JPEG shooting. The colors are similarly overwrought in videos, but overall the movie quality is pretty good, and despite being tiny, the stereo mics produce a surprisingly full-bodied sound for a compact.
The S95's performance improves over the S90's in some respects; unfortunately, it falls behind it in others. With a time of 2 seconds, it takes about 0.2 longer to power on and shoot. It's about 0.1 second faster at focusing and shooting in bright light, but the same duration slower in dim: 0.4 and 0.7 second, respectively. For two sequential JPEG and flash shots, it's slower by at least 0.5 second, running 2.3 seconds for JPEG and 3.3 seconds for flash, compared with 1.8 and 2.5 seconds for the S90. That's flipped for raw shooting, however, with the S95 clocking at 2.6 seconds shot-to-shot vs. 3.4 seconds for the S90. Burst shooting rises to 1.9 frames per second, but at low speeds like that it's immaterial. We don't yet have performance data for the S95's competing models, but aside from the one exception of daylight shooting, the S95 feels like it operates at a leisurely but not overly frustrating pace. The image stabilization works well, but the fact remains that the battery life is pretty short.
One would have to admit: the S95 just has a body that feels nice. It's well built, with a slightly more textured finish than the S90. It's the smallest and lightest among its class, but as a tradeoff it's also the only model that lacks a hot shoe and the option for a viewfinder. Though it was nice to review a camera that fit comfortably in my front pocket for a change, it might feel a bit too small for some photographers.
The front ring can be set to control shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, exposure compensation, manual focus, white balance, stepped zoom, i-Contrast, or aspect ratio. The functions can be set independently of shooting mode, so that, for example, it can control focus in Manual mode or shutter speed while in aperture-priority mode. It's a nice design, and because of it one may end up holding the camera more like a DSLR than a compact.
One not-so-pleasant holdover from the S90 is the inconvenient flash placement. Although it makes sense from a red-eye prevention perspective, most people hold their fingers right where the flash pops up. Though the camera isn't big on whizzy features, it does incorporate a now-common HDR mode, which automatically brackets and combines three exposures.
You'll still have to schlep your DSLR to photograph kids, pets, wildlife, and anything else that moves quickly or randomly, but the Canon PowerShot S95 is probably the best, if expensive alternative that an advanced shooter will find in such a small package. Though we'd like it to perform better, DSLR shooters looking for a sidekick camera will find the Canon PowerShot S95's top-flight photos and a full manual feature set worth a purchase of its compact size.
The S95's performance improves over the S90's in some respects; unfortunately, it falls behind it in others. With a time of 2 seconds, it takes about 0.2 longer to power on and shoot. It's about 0.1 second faster at focusing and shooting in bright light, but the same duration slower in dim: 0.4 and 0.7 second, respectively. For two sequential JPEG and flash shots, it's slower by at least 0.5 second, running 2.3 seconds for JPEG and 3.3 seconds for flash, compared with 1.8 and 2.5 seconds for the S90. That's flipped for raw shooting, however, with the S95 clocking at 2.6 seconds shot-to-shot vs. 3.4 seconds for the S90. Burst shooting rises to 1.9 frames per second, but at low speeds like that it's immaterial. We don't yet have performance data for the S95's competing models, but aside from the one exception of daylight shooting, the S95 feels like it operates at a leisurely but not overly frustrating pace. The image stabilization works well, but the fact remains that the battery life is pretty short.
One would have to admit: the S95 just has a body that feels nice. It's well built, with a slightly more textured finish than the S90. It's the smallest and lightest among its class, but as a tradeoff it's also the only model that lacks a hot shoe and the option for a viewfinder. Though it was nice to review a camera that fit comfortably in my front pocket for a change, it might feel a bit too small for some photographers.
The front ring can be set to control shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, exposure compensation, manual focus, white balance, stepped zoom, i-Contrast, or aspect ratio. The functions can be set independently of shooting mode, so that, for example, it can control focus in Manual mode or shutter speed while in aperture-priority mode. It's a nice design, and because of it one may end up holding the camera more like a DSLR than a compact.
One not-so-pleasant holdover from the S90 is the inconvenient flash placement. Although it makes sense from a red-eye prevention perspective, most people hold their fingers right where the flash pops up. Though the camera isn't big on whizzy features, it does incorporate a now-common HDR mode, which automatically brackets and combines three exposures.
You'll still have to schlep your DSLR to photograph kids, pets, wildlife, and anything else that moves quickly or randomly, but the Canon PowerShot S95 is probably the best, if expensive alternative that an advanced shooter will find in such a small package. Though we'd like it to perform better, DSLR shooters looking for a sidekick camera will find the Canon PowerShot S95's top-flight photos and a full manual feature set worth a purchase of its compact size.
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