In summary
An update to the popular S90 model offering additional aspect ratios, 720p HD video recording and SDXC compatibility.Canon’s PowerShot S95 replaces the PowerShot S90, which was announced in August 2009 to immediate success. Claimed as the smallest, slimmest digicam with advanced manual control and raw file support, the S95 comes with improved handling, additional manual controls, 720p HD movie capabilities and Canon’s HS System (high-sensitivity CCD plus DiG!C 4 processing) and a more powerful Hybrid IS stabilisation system. . . [more]
Full review
Canon’s PowerShot S95 replaces the PowerShot S90, which was announced in August 2009 to immediate success. Claimed as the smallest, slimmest digicam with advanced manual control and raw file support, the S95 comes with improved handling, additional manual controls, 720p HD movie capabilities and Canon’s HS System (high-sensitivity CCD plus DiG!C 4 processing) and a more powerful Hybrid IS stabilisation system.
We received the S95 about 10 days after Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-LX5 model and, since both cameras target the same market sector (enthusiast photographers) we thought it wise to provide a comparison of their features. Click here to read our review of the LX5.
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|
Canon S95 |
Panasonic LX5 |
|
Sensor size/type |
1/1.7-inch type (7.6 x 5.7 mm)/CCD |
1/1.63-inch type (~8 x 6 mm)/CCD |
|
Effective resolution |
10 megapixels |
10.1 megapixels |
|
Lens aperture range |
f/2-f/4.9 |
f/2-f/3.3 |
|
Focal length range |
28-105mm equiv |
24-90mm equiv |
|
Shutter speeds |
One second to 1/1600 second |
60 seconds to 1/4000 second |
|
Aspect ratios |
4:3, 3:2, 16:9. 1:1, 4:5 |
4:3, 3:2, 16:9. 1:1 |
|
Video resolution |
1280 x 720, 640 x 480, 320 x 240 |
1280 x 720, 848 x 480, 640 x 480, 320 x 240 |
|
ISO range |
ISO 80, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200 |
ISO 100, 200, 400,800, 1600, 3200; ISO 6400 & 12,800 by pixel mixed readout |
|
Monitor |
3-inch Wide LCD screen with 461,000 dots |
3-inch TFT LCD with 460,000 dots |
|
Viewfinder |
None |
Optional OVF/EVF |
|
Dimensions |
99.8 x 58.4 x 29.5 mm |
110 x 65 x 25 mm |
|
Weight (body only) |
170 grams |
233 grams |
|
RRP |
$599 |
$799 |
Readers may be interested to know the S95’s predecessor, the PowerShot S90 went on sale at $799 (the same price as the Panasonic LX5 is now). Reducing the S95’s price by $200 makes this camera extremely price-competitive, which is why we’ve given it an overall rating of 9.0 for value-for-money.
Build and Ergonomics
Physically the new model is almost identical to its predecessor, which we reviewed in December, 2009. Click here to read the Canon PowerShot S90 IS review. As in the previous model, the front panel of the S95 is dominated by the lens, which is the same as in the S90. With a maximum aperture of f/2 at the wide position and f/4.9 at full optical zoom, this lens covers fields of view equivalent to 28-105mm on a 35mm camera.
Front view of the PowerShot S95 with the pop-up flash raised. (Source: Canon.)
The Control Ring surrounding the lens carries over from the previous model and the LED that serves as AF-Assist, red-eye reduction lamp and self-timer indicator is also present. Two microphone holes appear on the front panel instead of just one, enabling the camera to record stereo soundtracks with movie clips. The grip is now coated with the same material as used on the EOS 7D to improve slip-resistance.
On the rear panel, the thumb rest on the rear panel has been dramatically reduced in size. Aside from that, nothing much has changed, although the Multi-Control Dial now features a more pronounced ‘click’ mechanism to prevent unintentional changes to settings. The 3-inch LCD monitor has the same 461,000 dot resolution and 4:3 aspect ratio and the same cluster of button and dial controls is located to its right.
Rear view of the PowerShot S95. (Source: Canon.)
The Ring Function and On/Off buttons on the top panel have been swapped around and the covers to the in/out ports on the right hand side of the camera have been refined and fit more closely to the camera body. But again, these are minor tweaks to an already successful design.
The PowerShot S95 shown with bundled accessories. (Source: Canon.)
Like the S90, the new camera comes with a wrist strap and rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which shares a compartment in the base of the camera with the memory card slot. The S95 accepts SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards. A metal-lined tripod socket sits to the left of this compartment.
What’s New?
Arguably the most important new addition tis support for HD video recording with stereo soundtracks. It’s not Full HD (1080p) quality but 720p 24fps movie recording will be good enough to satisfy most users with widescreen HD TV sets. In addition, an integrated HDMI port with CEC compatibility makes it simple for video and stills to be viewed and controlled directly via a compatible remote control (not provided).
Three movie quality settings are provided, all recorded in the MOV (Image Data: H.264; Audio Data: Linear PCM Stereo) format. The table below shows resolutions, frame rates and recording times for a 4GB memory card.
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Image quality |
Frame rate |
Recording time on 4GB card |
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1280 x 720 pixels |
24 fps |
25 minutes, 8 seconds |
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640 x 480 pixels |
30 fps |
43 minutes, 43 seconds |
|
320 x 240 pixels |
30 fps |
1 hour, 58 minutes, 19 seconds |
Users can choose from four movie modes: Standard, Miniature Effect (which blurs part of the frame to simulate a miniature model), Colour Accent and Colour Swap. However, zooming is restricted to digital zoom and Step Zoom and focus appears to be set at the start of each clip. Most other shooting modes can be used for video capture.
The maximum length of video clips is 29 minutes and 59 seconds and Class 4 or higher memory cards are recommended. The S95 provides only one basic video editing function: trimming that enables the beginnings and ends of recordings to be cut off. The edited clip can be saved as a new file or you can over-write the existing file.
The S95 is also the first Canon digicam with Hybrid IS technology, which provides improved stabilisation, particularly for close-up shots. The system adds an acceleration sensor that determines the amount of shift-based camera shake to the normal angular velocity sensor and can correct movements in a wider range of directions. The diagram below shows how it works.
Canon’s new Hybrid IS stabilisation system. (Source: Canon.)
The combination of the high-sensitivity 10.0 Megapixel CCD sensor and DiG!C 4 processing has recently been tagged ‘Canon’s HS System’. Canon claims it improves the low-light performance of the new model, enabling it to support a maximum ISO of 3200 at full resolution. (Interestingly, the S90 also supported ISO at full resolution.)
If you switch to the Low Light mode, the camera can extend its ISO range from ISO 3200 to ISO 12800, capturing images at 2.5-megapixel resolution. However, this mode is like one of the Scene pre-sets, which means you can’t control aperture and shutter speed settings. The Low Light mode also enables faster continuous shooting, capturing up to 3.9 frames/second, compared with 1.9 frames/second for full-resolution shots at lower sensitivities.
A new High Dynamic Range shooting mode records three shots in quick succession, changing the exposure to record both highlight and shadow details. These images are combined in the camera to produce a single image with an extended dynamic range.
The S95 also supports Multi-Aspect shooting, with 3:2, 4:3, 1:1, 16:9 and 4:5 formats available via the Fn. menu. Examples showing how the camera crops the scene for each aspect ratio are shown below.
4:3
3:2
16:9
1:1
4:5
Smart Flash Exposure controls flash levels according to shooting conditions and can handle everything from darker rooms to bright sunlight. You can also adjust flash exposure levels across +/- 2EV in 1/3EV steps.
Owners of the PowerShot S95 can join the Canon iMAGE Gateway, an online facility for sharing photos and video movies. Launched in 2003, this facility provides up to 2GB of personal storage where users can post their pictures and video clips for online sharing with family members and friends. Mobile browsing is also supported.
Image resolution remains the same as the S90 but, although the new camera offers the same raw file and RAW+JPEG capture options, the additional aspect ratio settings increase the JPEG options. However, the range of JPEG image sizes has been cut from six to four. Typical file sizes for the 4:3 aspect ratio are shown in the table below.
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Image Size |
Resolution |
Compression |
|
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Fine |
Normal |
||
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RAW |
3648 x 2736 |
12.83MB |
|
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RAW+JPEG |
3648 x 2736 |
15.39MB |
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L |
3648 x 2736 |
2.57MB |
1.23MB |
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M1 |
2816 x 2112 |
1.62MB |
0.78MB |
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M2 |
1600 x 1200 |
0.56MB |
0.28MB |
|
S |
640 x 480 |
0.15MB |
0.08MB |
Playback and Software
Image playback is essentially unchanged from the PowerShot S90. The software bundle is also the same. Both are covered in the review of the previous model.
Performance
Not surprisingly (since they use the same sensor and lens), the review camera’s performance was in most respects similar to its predecessor. The general appearance of still images was much the same, autofocusing and metering were just as fast and accurate and the image stabiliser was equally effective.
The new HDR mode didn’t record the three shots quickly enough for the camera to be hand-held. This meant any part of the scene that moved during the three-shot exposure period was blurred in the final image. As recommended in the user manual, this mode is best used with static subjects and the camera should be tripod-mounted.
The image above shows what can happen when you photograph a moving subject with the HDR mode if the camera is hand-held.
Unfortunately, Adobe hadn’t released an update for Camera Raw with S95 compatibility when we conducted our Imatest tests so we have had to rely on Digital Photo Professional (which delivered slightly lower resolution than we expected for raw files from this camera).
Imatest showed JPEG resolution able to meet expectations for a 10-megapixel camera. The highest resolution in our tests was recorded at longer focal lengths and apertures around f/5.6. The graph below shows the results of our tests.
Despite a slight reduction of raw file resolution, we noticed an improvement in resolution at higher ISO settings, particularly with JPEG files. This was borne out in our test shots with and without flash. The graph below shows the result of our Imatest tests at different ISO settings for both JPEG and raw files.
Edge softening was low at the longer focal lengths but apparent in wide-angle shots. The zoom lens showed only slight rectilinear distortion at the shortest focal length setting and none was obvious thereafter. However, its design made it quite flare-prone and coloured fringing was visible in outdoor shots with high-contrast subjects. (An example can be found in the Sample Images section below.)
Auto white balance performance was similar to the S90. Shots taken under incandescent lighting retained a slight colour cast while shots taken in fluorescent lighting were colour-neutral. The presets produced neutral colours with both lighting types.
Video quality was very good as long as the ambient light levels were high. In dim lighting (late afternoon and/or shady conditions as well as regular indoor lighting), the camera found it more difficult to maintain focus. Resolution also declined and some artefacts could be seen in most clips. Audio quality was better than expected for the camera’s tiny microphones but wind noise was an ever-present problem with outdoor shooting.
The review camera powered up in just over one second and we measured an average capture lag of 0.4 seconds, which reduced to a consistent 0.1 seconds when shots were pre-focused. Shot-to-shot times averaged 2.25 seconds, extending to 3.1 seconds with flash. It took 2.5 seconds, on average, to process and store each Large/Fine JPEG file, 3.1 seconds for each raw file and 3.8 seconds for each RAW+JPEG pair.
In the continuous shooting mode, the review camera recorded 10 JPEG frames in 3.9 seconds. Switching to the Continuous AF mode slowed capture rates, extending the time to record 10 shots to 4.5 seconds. Processing appears to be on-the-fly as each burst was completed three seconds after the last shot was taken.
It took 9.3 seconds to record a burst of 10 CR2.RAW files, largely because capture rates were slowed by the need to clear the buffer memory after each shot. With RAW+JPEG pairs, capture rates were even slower – for the same reason. By the time eight shots had been recorded, shot-to-shot intervals were longer than two seconds. In both cases, however, processing had been completed within 3.5 seconds of the last shot taken.
Buy this camera if:
– You want an ultra compact camera that can record raw files and is small enough to fit in s shirt pocket.
– You’d like the ability to shoot 720p HD video clips.
– You want effective image stabilisation.
– You’d like most of the controls and functions offered in serious DSLR cameras.
– You require high resolution and low noise levels at high ISO settings.
Don’t buy this camera if:
– You require high burst speeds and buffer capacity plus fast cycle times for processing shots.
– You have large hands or fingers or limited dexterity.
IMATEST GRAPHS
For JPEG files.
For CR2.RAW files processed with Digital Photo Professional.
SAMPLE IMAGES
Auto white balance with incandescent lighting.
Auto white balance with fluorescent lighting.
6mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/125 second at f/5.6.
22.5mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/125 second at f/4.3.
Digital zoom; 22.5mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/125 second at f/4.9.
Close-up; 6mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/79 second at f/2.
Long exposure at ISO100; 15 seconds at f/2; 9.3mm focal length.
Long exposure at ISO 800; 15 seconds at f/3.2; 9.3mm focal length.
Long exposure at ISO 3200; 8 seconds at f/6.3; 9.3mm focal length.
Flash exposure at ISO100; 22.5mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/60 second at f/4.9.
Flash exposure at ISO 800; 22.5mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/60 second at f/4.9.
Flash exposure at ISO 3200; 22.5mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/60 second at f/7.1.
Coloured fringing and edge softening at short focal lengths; 6mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/60 second at f/6.3.
100% crop from the above image showing coloured fringing and edge softening.
Portrait; 15mm focal length, ISO 1600, 1/20 second at f/4.
Image stabiliser test; 8.9mm focal length, ISO 1600, 1/8 second at f/2.
Veiling flare; 12.8mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/403 second at f/4.
Lens flare; 6mm focal length, ISO 80, 1/79 second at f/5.6.
Wide dynamic range subject; 22.5mm focal length, ISO 800, 1/30 second at f/4.9.
6mm focal length, ISO 500, 1/30 second at f/2.
Still frame from HD video clip taken in bright conditions.
Still frame from HD video clip taken in low light levels.
Still frame from VGA video clip;
Specifications
Image sensor: 7.6 x 5.7 mm High Sensitivity CCD sensor with 10.4 million photosites (10 megapixels effective)
Lens: 6.0-22.5mm f/2-4.9 zoom lens (28-105mm in 35mm format)
Zoom ratio: 3.8x optical, 4x digital
Image formats: Stills – JPEG (Exif 2.3) RAW (CR2.RAW); Movies – MOV (Image Data: H.264; Audio Data: Linear PCM Stereo)
Image Sizes: Stills – Raw: 3648 x 2736; 4:3 aspect: 3648 x 2736, 2816 x 2112, 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480; 3:2 aspect: 3648 x 2432, 2816 x 1880, 1600 x 1064, 640 x 424; 16:9 aspect: 3648 x 2048, 2816 x 1584, 1920 x 1080, 640 x 360: 1:1 aspect: 2736 x 2736, 2112 x 2112, 1200 x 1200, 480 x 480; 4:5 aspect: 2192 x 2736, 1696 x 2112, 960 x 1200, 384 x 480; Movies -1280 x 720 at 24 fps, 640 x 480, 320 x 240 (both at 30 fps)
Shutter speed range: One second to 1/1600 second
Self-timer: Approx. 10 sec or 2 sec delay, Custom, Face Self-Timer
Image Stabilisation: Optical (Lens Shift Type), approx. 4 stops
Exposure Compensation: +/- 2EV in 1/3EV steps
Focus system/range: Contrast-based TTL autofocus (Single, Continuous, Manual); Face Detect with movie support, Centre and Tracking AF modes; range 5 cm to infinity; macro 5-50 cm
Exposure metering/control: TTL metering with Evaluative, Centre-weighted average, Spot modes; Program AE, AE Lock, Manual, Intelligent Contrast Correction, Program Shift, Safety Shift
Shooting modes: Intelligent Auto (with Scene Detection), P, Tv, Av, M, C, Low Light, Special Scene (Portrait, Landscape, Kids & Pets, Smart Shutter, Super Vivid, Poster Effect, Colour Accent, Colour Swap, High Dynamic Range, Nostalgic, Fish-eye Effect, Miniature Effect, Beach, Underwater, Foliage, Snow, Fireworks, Stitch Assist); Movie
ISO range: Auto, ISO 80, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200
White balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom
Flash modes/range (ISO auto): Auto, on, off, Auto Red Eye Correction, Red Eye Reduction, Face Detect, Slow Synchro, FE Lock; range – 50 cm to 3.5 m
Sequence shooting: Approx. 1.9 frames/second (max.)
Storage Media: SD/SDHC/SDXC and MMC cards
Viewfinder: No
LCD monitor: 3.0-inch Wide LCD screen with 461,000 dots; 4:3 aspect ratio
Power supply: NB-6L rechargeable lithium-ion battery; CIPA rated for approx. 200 shots/charge
Dimensions (wxhxd): 99.8 x 58.4 x 29.5 mm
Weight: Approx. 170 grams (without battery and card)
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Ted’s Cameras
1800 186 895
Big range of cameras and photographic products with stores in most states and online.
Rating
RRP: $599
Rating (out of 10):
- Build: 9.0
- Ease of use: 8.5
- Autofocusing: 8.5
- Image quality: 8.0
- OVERALL: 9.0
