I purchased an S90 last month and after shooting several hundred images, I took it back to the dealer. Distortion is a severe problem that I'm not willing to overlook. In my opinion, any manufacturer who wants to charge a premium price should manufacture a premium product which, to me, the S90 simply is not. It's too bad, I really wanted and tried to like this camera.
I purchased this since I've always wanted to just have a camera even if I'm not intentionally going out to "shoot." I've since taken a number of very fun images of found objects and situations. I don't do "street" photography but was having fun taking a few shots just because I had the camera. Now I'm hooked by the ease at which this camera opens up a new type of shooting for me just because it is so pocketable. I'm very concerned about my image quality, that is why I bought a 5D II and L lens, but I'm glad I bought this fun camera for doing some non-paid," just for fun" shooting. My standard body and lens combination for shooting costs about $4,000 and this cost about 10% of that, so I'm not looking for the same quality, I'm looking for enjoyment and was pleasantly surprised by how decent the quality turned out to be with this little gem.
I like it! Thanks for sharing and of course this is the right, this is the Canon forum, not Canon dSLR Forum. I've been thinking about one of these for the briefcase for a long time, this looks like a good bet. Love the form factor. One problem I keep having on P&S cameras from Canon is the little cover gizmo over the front of the lens...I've had three and on all three, it broke and needed to go in. Hope this one is better...could have just been bad luck....3 is not much of a sample, but still, makes me wonder...
Question about the 'Barrel Distortion': It seems to me that based on the posted images that the barrel distortion is being accentuated by the close macro & wide angle settings. Is the the distortion dramatically less at more normal shooting distance & non-wide angle settings? Either way, the camera looks like a great poket camera.
MSC wrote:
And agree we may be getting to the point where you can do decent street photography shots in good quality digital without a great big camera.
Yes, try something like a Pana GF1 with the 20mm f1.7...
Yeah its much more interesting reading the same threads over and over about what lens is best for going to Africa, should I switch to Nikon, should I get a 40D or a 1Ds3, is the 17-40 sharper than the 16-35, post a pic of how great you lens is and include as many pics of your cat and brick wall as you can, and pixel bating ad nauseam.
Heaven forbid a CANON camera is discussed that has a very unique niche for serious photogs that can be taken anywhere discreetly. With less than 10 threads on this camera, I can see that the Canon SLR forum is being inundated with something other than the usual hyperbole.
Everything in photography is about compromise. No one disputes the IMAGE quality of this camera versus an SLR is inferior, however for some of us the UTILITY is more important. While I am enjoying even more photographic opportunities, you can sit at your computer and argue about IQ.
I've been thinking about one of these for the briefcase for a long time, this looks like a good bet. Love the form factor. One problem I keep having on P&S cameras from Canon is the little cover gizmo over the front of the lens...I've had three and on all three, it broke and needed to go in. Hope this one is better...could have just been bad luck....3 is not much of a sample, but still, makes me wonder...