Canon PowerShot S95 Review Discussion

[Howard Creech]

Before they were discontinued in 2005, Canon's elegant little prosumer "S" series cameras were very popular with photo enthusiasts because they were designed especially for more advanced shooters and shared lots of features with Canon's top-of-the-line "G" series.

Read the full content of this Article: Canon PowerShot S95 Review

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[Jostian]

Why doesn't the review conclusion talk about IQ vs the S90? Better or worse or same and what is the iso comparisons like? Come on, most people want to know how it compares to the S90!

[Howard Creech]

First things first - I didn't review (and haven't used) the S90, so any conclusions I might have offered comparing the two cameras would be the based on matching my observations about the S95 with the opinions of other writers about the S90. With regard to the desire of "most people" to know how the S90 and S95 compare - as I said in my review the S90 and the S95 are essentially the same camera.

"Last year Canon resurrected their venerable "S" series with the introduction of the PowerShot S90. Late last month Canon introduced the PowerShot S95, which is visually identical to the S90 and differs only slightly under the hood. According to Canon, the S95 is an updated "sibling" of the S90 and not its replacement, which seems to indicate that the S90 will (at least for the foreseeable future) remain in Canon's product catalog.

You asked, "Why doesn't the review conclusion talk about IQ vs the S90? Better or worse or same and what is the iso comparisons like? Come on, most people want to know how it compares to the S90!"

So, with identical cameras (same sensor, same processor, same lens) I think it should be obvious that the image quality is probably identical. ISO sensitivity comparisons between what are essentially identical cameras seem redundant, especially in light of the fact that I haven't used the S90 and so couldn't knowledgeably comment.

[Jostian]

Hi Howard, the fact that camera's share the same sensor does not always imply that the IQ is the same, there are many instances where new models have the same sensor but different 'engines' and different (and or new) tecnologies which impact on IQ, similarly the assumption that because the sensore is the same the IQ will be the same I can't agree with...I'm not saying that there will be a big difference but there may be some difference. I see other sites have compared the 2 (iso shots between the S90 and S95) with the S95 delivering better results...with the same sensor. I just feel that people are interested in IQ generally and how a new model compares, how about comoparing it to the LX5 or G11 or something else...saying it has great IQ is fine but that remains relative until it's compared to something else.

[Howard Creech]

Hi Jostian,

Thanks for your comments and observations.

I've considered your post and I'm comfortable with my earlier position. I think your comparison -

"...the fact that camera's share the same sensor does not always imply that the IQ is the same, there are many instances where new models have the same sensor but different 'engines' and different (and or new) tecnologies which impact on IQ, similarly the assumption that because the sensore is the same the IQ will be the same I can't agree with...I'm not saying that there will be a big difference but there may be some difference.

isn't accurate.

I said, in my review "According to Canon, the S95 is an updated "sibling" of the S90 and not its replacement..." and "Late last month Canon introduced the PowerShot S95, which is visually identical to the S90 and differs only slightly under the hood. According to Canon, the S95 is an updated "sibling" of the S90 and not its replacement"

These are not similar cameras with different processors and different lenses and differnt engineering - they are virtually identical.

You said, "...saying it has great IQ is fine but that remains relative until it's compared to something else."

Well, there's the sample photos we provide with every review and in my opinion image quality is really more a subjective rather than an objective consideration.

Thanks

Howard

[brucequinn]

I'm happy with a new S95 but puzzled by one thing. Under "Menu"/Shooting Settings, the setting for Digital Zoom is grayed-out with default "off." I can't find any explanation of this in the manual. Help? The manual says that the "T" function goes out to the maximum "T" without image degradation, and then, can extend further (a second push.) I assume this is disabled if "Digital Zoom" is "Off." But since the menu option is grayed out (and the only grayed-out option) I am puzzzled.

[vegedpe]

Is your image quality setting on RAW? the camera will naturally not allow most editing functions (such as cropping) when set to raw, so if this is the case, you'll have to either save the photos as JPG or crop the photo on your PC.

[rexwilson]

i too had this problem, and started playing around with settings, and found that the culprit was my aspect ractio (which I had set at 3:2). This disables digital zoom, for reasons that are beyond me!