GoodPhotos
Carpe lumen!
Stradibarrius
Established
I have been looking at this camera as well as the G11. Any thoughts from some of you who have gone through this comparison?
kuvvy
Well-known
Nice shots Darkhorse. Having just got the G11 myself I'm enjoying the Canon colours too. So much so my LX3 is taking a back seat and will possibly be up for sale soon.
dexdog
Veteran
I was looking for a walk-around camera, and looked at both G11 and S90. I opted for the S90 because I wanted something small and pocketable. I also favor wide angle views for most shots, and for this reason was not particularly interested in the larger zoom range of the G11. The S90 did everything I wanted, and while the G11 has a ton of features, I decided that I really would not use most of them.
After having used the S90 for a couple of months, I really love the ring function because it is so versatile, and think that it makes for easier use of non-automatic exposure modes than the G11.
Stradibarrius
Established
RAW is a must for me which both cameras have. smaller size is nice, but I shot a D300, and RB67 and a Mamiya M645 so the G11 is small too...Have you explored the manual features much and their ease of use? The image quality of the S90 is outstanding from all of the photos I have seen.
dexdog
Veteran
I think that the manual features are easy to use, once you get used to the function ring. The only manual feature that is not as fast or easy to use is the manual focus feature, which works well, but is a bit slow. That said, the autofocus on this camera works very well for the great majority of shots
shenkerian
Established
How do you find the rear command wheel? When I saw the camera on a sales floor, it felt flimsy and spun freely - the G11's felt much better. Do you find that it's too easy to accidentally change settings?
yes
drives me nuts. ive killed countless pics by accidentally adjusting exposure compensation with that wheel.
dexdog
Veteran
I agree with jonmanjiro that the rear wheel is easy to accidentally touch and change exposure (or other settings, depending on choice of function ring). I don't think that it has a flimsy feel, but it does spin too easily. It would be better if turn-resistance was stiffer, or was click-stopped like the function ring.
click stops would be a huge improvement!
shenkerian
Established
Thanks guys. I completely agree - the G11's rear wheel felt good, and the S90's front ring felt great. I wish Canon had added click stops to the S90's rear wheel. On balance, though, I guess you like the S90? I'm seriously considering it as a smaller replacement for a Contax T3 for instances when I need flash.
Compared to the S90, I much prefer the ergonomics of the Ricoh GRD III. Waaaaaay better!
I'd enjoy using the S90 a lot more if there was a way to disable the control dial while shooting in any of the shooting modes.
I'd enjoy using the S90 a lot more if there was a way to disable the control dial while shooting in any of the shooting modes.
GoodPhotos
Carpe lumen!
I do wish the read dial on the S90 was click stopped like the G11, but adding Richard Franiec's S90 Grip to the camera makes accidentally hitting the rear dial a lot less of a problem for me as well as making the whole rig a LOT easier to hold firmly. The G11 is a great camera, but I wanted the faster lens and a much smaller camera than my little Nikon D60 is...I so rarely zoom tighter than 28 or 35 so the S90 just made more sense.
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Fenwick
Established
The Richard S90 grip is a great idea but a little pricey if you ask me
dagabel
Established
I am also thinking of either a G11 or S90. When I recently had time to play with both, I was a bit turned off by the G11 full manual setting; you have to toggle through the metering selector (where you choose spot, center-weighted, etc) in order to switch between aperture and shutter speed. Whereas of course with the S90 you can assign one to the front ring and the other to the back ring.
Duane
Duane
GoodPhotos
Carpe lumen!
Yes, but for me the camera was a gift, so I didn't mind tricking it out a bit at my own expense.
I ordered the Lensmate 37mm filter adapter for it tonight. Picked up a snap on auxiliary Raynox .5 wide angle 'lense' to use with that adapter today. I now don't miss the 24/2.0 equiv. that the LX3/Digilux 4 offers! The Raynox is much better quality 'auxiliary wide' than I've ever seen. Hardly any weird artifacts or extreme softness in the corners.
I did end up removing the Promaster LCD protector. The S90's LCD glass is flush with the metal that surrounds it...the Promaster protector was in contact with the LCD glass and causing a Newtons Rings effect. Not all that noticeable when the camera was on, but bugged me otherwise.
I'll just endeavor to be careful not to scratch it.
fotomeow
name under my name
Night shot w S90, wide open f2.0
Night shot w S90, wide open f2.0
I have had an S90 a few months now and am quite impressed with IQ for its size. I've read that some believe the G11 has a slightly better IQ only b/c of a bigger lens and less aberration. However, both cameras have the Digic 4 processing, which supposedly cleans up a lot of the distortion in the camera after snapping the shot. This interested me b/c it seems that these large manufacturers are putting more R and D into the computer software to cover up the flaws of the glass. I assume this is more cost effective to them. However, it kind of saddens me, that lenses, which appear to have an art of science of their own, will now be overlooked in favor of computer processing ( I imagine many may agree, given our love of film, the artistry of fotography, and the RF equipment we coddle).
In any case, 2 things I love..........Well, 3 things I love about the S90: 1. the focus ring for less menu scrolling, 2. the "short cut" button, for less menu scrolling, and 3. fast 2.0 lens.
Here is an example of a shot I took off my balcony about midnight. Its a 15 second exposure with the shutter wide open at 2.0, and ISO at 80. Although this is not a high ISO, I still think it shows the cameras competence at f2.0 in the setting of the dark night. And I dont see the reciprocity effects I would otherwise get with my flim.
Night shot w S90, wide open f2.0
I have had an S90 a few months now and am quite impressed with IQ for its size. I've read that some believe the G11 has a slightly better IQ only b/c of a bigger lens and less aberration. However, both cameras have the Digic 4 processing, which supposedly cleans up a lot of the distortion in the camera after snapping the shot. This interested me b/c it seems that these large manufacturers are putting more R and D into the computer software to cover up the flaws of the glass. I assume this is more cost effective to them. However, it kind of saddens me, that lenses, which appear to have an art of science of their own, will now be overlooked in favor of computer processing ( I imagine many may agree, given our love of film, the artistry of fotography, and the RF equipment we coddle).
In any case, 2 things I love..........Well, 3 things I love about the S90: 1. the focus ring for less menu scrolling, 2. the "short cut" button, for less menu scrolling, and 3. fast 2.0 lens.
Here is an example of a shot I took off my balcony about midnight. Its a 15 second exposure with the shutter wide open at 2.0, and ISO at 80. Although this is not a high ISO, I still think it shows the cameras competence at f2.0 in the setting of the dark night. And I dont see the reciprocity effects I would otherwise get with my flim.
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GoodPhotos
Carpe lumen!
I agree. I can pull images from it that I've not been able to produce with anything but DSLRs until now...
(Portland Maine, The day of New Years Eve.)
(Portland Maine, The day of New Years Eve.)
