Anything shot with an S90 - S120 class pocket camera

[drmikeinpdx]

I have an S90 and an S100 that are very handy to have with me when even my Rebel-class bodies are too large. If you know the limitations of these little pocket cameras and have some Lightroom skills, you can get pretty good images of your vacation adventures.

Photo hint: use the slider if needed to view the whole image.

This maximum zoom image was taken in the Columbia River Gorge today at the Cape Horn Overlook:

This one is self-explanatory. I believe the sail, aka: conning tower, is from the USS Sturgeon.

This is a wide angle view of the Trieste version 2.3, looking into the sun. Wish I had about 20 speedlights with me.

And once again, this is maximum zoom on the S100 with some major cropping. Would have been a nice place to have a DSLR with a 500+ mm telephoto lens, but since I didn't happen to have one on this motorcycle trip, the S100 filled in nicely.

 

[Click]

Cool series, drmikeinpdx.

 

[Tyroop]

After I got fed up with the inconvenience and discomfort of carrying around heavy, bulky SLR gear for general photography a few years ago I bought an S90. These S class cameras are so small you carry them around effortlessly and, as you say, they are capable of good images ... in the right conditions.

Outdoors in good light - like your samples - there is no problem. However, indoors and when the light starts to fade a little it is a different story. I took some great poses of my kids, but when I attempted to produce largish prints the image quality just wasn't there. This happened a number of times and it started to get frustrating.

I then switched to the EOS M. The system was bigger and heavier than the S90, but the APS-C sensor and some good EF-M lenses fixed the IQ problems I had experienced with the S90. It was still a lot smaller than a DSLR system. I could also use all of my EF and EF-S lenses with the addition of an EOS M to EF converter.

The EOS M system isn't without its frustrations. In most situations it is OK, but sometimes the AF won't do what I want it to do, there is a limited range of EF-M lenses, and Canon's marketing strategy with this system up to now has been a joke.

I'm on the fence now whether to continue with EOS M or to go with a small SLR and pancake lenses. The rumours here about a possible M4 and SL2 both interest me.

But yes, I basically agree with you. If you understand the limitations of these cameras they can be very handy and they are absolutely no hassle at all to carry around because of their small size and weight.

Here's a write up of my S90 that I did when I was using it as my every day walkaround camera. It includes sample images and some of my thoughts about the camera.

http://phil.uk.net/photography/canon_powershot_S90.html