canon

Canon PowerShot S95 Review

August 31, 2010 by Jeff Geerling

Jeff's Rating:

Average: 4 (1 vote)

Summary:

A great pocketable camera that shoots RAW, gets pretty good low-light results, and has a sharp new HD video recording mode.

Canon PowerShot S95 on Table

After having used an excellent RAW-capable point and shoot, the Canon PowerShot G11, for about 6 months, I sold it on eBay and bought the new Canon PowerShot S95, the G11's smaller sibling. I had originally been looking into buying the S90 (another excellent camera), but thought the G11's flip-screen and handling would be worthwhile assets.

Unfortunately, I had bought the G11 to be my pocketable 'vacation-cam,' and though it worked pretty well, it wasn't quite pocketable. I had to keep it in its case, and it was another item of luggage to carry around wherever I took it.

The S95's form factor allows me to truly pocket this camera, and not sacrifice the quality of image I can get with it too much. It's a heck of a lot better than my iPhone 4's camera, but still nowhere near as amazing as my D90 SLR paired with a good lens. To better convey a sense of how the S95 works in my life, I'll break down this review into a few relevant categories.

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Canon PowerShot G11 - Digital Camera Review

October 18, 2009 by Jeff Geerling

Jeff's Rating:

Average: 5 (1 vote)

Summary:

Is this the SLR owner's dream pocket camera? Almost! It will do for now, but a tiny bit better lens and image sensor would make it perfect.

Canon Powershot G11

The Canon PowerShot G11 comes from a long line of G-series advanced-amateur digital cameras, and is very much like the most recent PowerShot G10 in all the best ways, but differs a little bit by improving on one of the G10's greatest weaknesses: the image sensor. Another major win for the G11 is the fold-out swivel screen, which comes in very handy at many of the events at which I (and many other SLR owners) will be using the camera.

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Canon PowerShot G11 Arrives (Plus Link to Review)

October 11, 2009

[UPDATE: For a full review of the camera, please visit the Canon PowerShot G11 Review on MidwesternMac.com]

After a few weeks of phone calls, store visits, etc., I've finally found a Canon PowerShot G11. And none too soon, as I'm leaving for Rome in less than three days, and really wanted to get this camera as a 'pocket' camera for walking the streets of Rome!

Canon PowerShot G11

I was almost taken in by the Canon PowerShot SD780IS (one of the IXUS models... and the svelte black one, not the crazy colored ones) due to it's infinitesimally small size (it's about the size of a deck of cards... maybe smaller), but once I found a Best Buy with a G11 in stock (found online), I immediately called the store and ran over to pick it up. Another worthy candidate (if small size is what matters most, and you don't mind losing a lot of the physical buttons and flash hot shoe, is the PowerShot S90. However, I'm a fan of the super-tough body/controls on the G series, and had an older S40 flake out on me a few years back.

The two main reasons I'm spending twice as much for the G11 are: the much larger image sensor/RAW capability, and the plethora of physical buttons. This camera feels much more like my favorite film SLR of all time, the Minolta X-700! It has ISO and EV selection dials on top, tons of switches and buttons to control everything, and has a nice flash hot shoe to boot (no pun intended)! If I like the camera while in Rome, I might just keep it on as a backup body to my D90 while shooting weddings, events, and the like. We'll have to see how it performs in high-ISO situations, to be sure.

I'm charging the G11's battery right now, and will start taking it through its paces this afternoon... then the rest of the month in Rome!

I was planning on bringing my D90 with my 20-40mm zoom lens, but I wanted something less obtrusive, and, more practically, less heavy (I walked the streets of NY, DC and Chicago over the past few months lugging the D90 + 2 lenses, and that's not a very happy proposition!).

A review will soon be posted on Midwestern Mac's website, and I will be posting some pictures (hopefully in the 'Pictures' section on this website!) over the next weeks. More to come!

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