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General discussion

Canon s90 or wait for sx210is? Or other?

by redvolvodavid Feb 22, 2010 1:50PM PST

I like the many ISO options on both for low light, know the s90 has great reviews and takes beautiful photos, but is it worth the wait for the huge optical zoom lens and wide angle features of the 210? I want a great camera that will fit in my pocket. Photo quality, ability to shoot in low light, and being pocket sized are my post important features. If you have another option that's even better let me know. I haven't had great impressions of Nikon point and shoots...

Some of the response I have gotten is that the 210 will have a blurrier image because of the different size of the capture chip. I'm really an amateur photographer. Your help and opinions are appreciated!

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4 Posts
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In my opinion,
by jump1127 Feb 22, 2010 2:18PM PST

Canon S90 is the better P&S digital camera. S90 performs better at the low light condition. Most P&S canon I experienced, equipped with over 10 MP, has quite a noise issue. Unless you'll print out large format beyond A3 paper size, you don't have to go for anything beyond 10MP. F2.0 is sufficient for the blurrier depth of field. I'm quite happy with my S90, being my pocket P&S camera. Try them before you make any purchase. Good luck.

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re: Canon s90 or wait for sx210is? Or other?
by MarkatNite Feb 23, 2010 10:30AM PST

>"is it worth the wait for the huge optical zoom lens"

You answered your own question:

>"Photo quality, ability to shoot in low light, and being pocket sized are my post important features."

Since you did not list zoom as one of your priorities, waiting for a zoom is not worth it for you.

Plus, since you did list low-light as one of your priorities, the S90's lens is more than a stop faster (f2.0) @ 28mm than the SX210's lens (f3.1). And as you sort of hinted at, the S90's lower pixel density (fewer pixels (10 MP) on a larger sensor (1/1.7)) will be less noisy than the SX210's (more pixels (14 MP) on a smaller sensor (1/2.3)).

Having said all of that, since you're willing to wait, you may want to wait for the Samsung TL500/EX1.

In short, I say S90 or "other" - Mark

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No comparison
by pierre53 Mar 4, 2010 7:49AM PST

I have had an SX200 (which is not too different than what the SX210 will have), and I happily own an S90 now.

The SX210 is a consumer megazoom point & shoot (although with manual control as well), while the S90 is a "prosumer" compact, or in other words, a camera an enthusiast or pro might choose. The most significant difference is that the S90 has a bigger sensor than the SX line of cameras and so, it is capable of better images. In addition to this, it has much more professional-like controls, not to mention raw files for those who want that. So, these cameras are in 2 different leagues entirely.

That's not to say the SX210 isn't a fine camera, but if you're comparing to the S90, it's not really a fair comparison for it.

Now, if you absolutely do need a mega-zoom lens, then the SX210 has it. The S90 has what a pro compact user might appreciate more: a fast f/2.0 short zoom (28 to 105 mm in 35 mm camera terms). The SX210 also has HD video, which the S90 doesn't, if that's important to you. I'm an old, classic movies fan, so HD doesn't matter to me at all Happy

Nobody in the review industry seems to want to tell people this, but those megazooms aren't exactly the most desirable lenses in the world.

So, essentially, the S90 is a photo enthusiast's camera, while the SX210 is a consumer camera designed to appeal to the consumer market of big zooms and high megapixel specs.

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actually, the Sony DSC HX1 is exceptional in quality
by sunshinedeb24 Mar 4, 2010 4:23PM PST

actually, the Sony DSC HX1 is exceptional in quality and I highly recommend it. I tried the canon sx 20 and thought there was a lot of noise, and the camera was bulky and not as user friendly as the sony hx1. also, it is FAST! the canon was quite slow, and i kept waiting for it.. the speed of the sony is quite good esp for a point and shoot with megazoom.

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