Canon S90 - WAITING FOR THE NEW LEICA

Thanks to digital, Photography is no longer a Joy.  Seriously.  Press the shutter release, take the picture... err,  no,,, um...wait a minute..scene gone...  PERFECTLY EXPOSED TECHNOLOGICALLY MEANINGLESS LATE SHOT, DEVOID OF MEANING OR INTENT.

OK with the "serious" Prosumer and above D-SLRs, The "time parallax" or shutter delay has finally been fixed. Not in the under $500 P&S category.  I had the opportunity to give a Canon S90 a workout yesterday.

On/off button.  Can't even Canon be consistent with the simple on/off thing?  Geeze!  My Canon G9 is in a very different place from the S90.   Get out the engineering baseball bat!  Talk to each other Canon guys!  Don't be creative here with every new model folks!  Don't be like the separate Adobe and Lightroom and Photoshop teams not talking to each other!

Here is the list items that needs some standardization:

On / Off  - same place  (Keeps changing)

Zoom  - same place

Take the Picture - Same Place

Chimping playback  - same place  (keeps changing)

Flash on off  same place - (inconsistent behavior - needs three modes all the time( Yes / No / Camera program choice)}

Macro - Same place

All else is subject of "improvement and modification."  Keep all the rest the same for the sake of restaurant waters and brand users.

The Leica sized cameras have not been fixed in the under $500 category in my opinion.  I own and love my Canon G9 for what it can do.  However, neither can hold a candle to an old technology Leica 35mm in response time.  Either in focus time or shutter release.  Slavishness to the "god of Automation" now make compact point and shoots still "toys."  Not even close to a professional or enthusiast tool for "casual" use.  Capturing the "the Decisive Moment" is not for these cameras.

Interior and dim light party setting.  Perfect for this kind of test.  Good "stand and get the group shots" on P-Program.  Not good for upward shooting in face mode where it couldn't find the lone face.  It kept searching - forever.

Like the G9, Canon still haven't fixed the flash choices.  You can choose between Flash on AUTO (it decides when it feels like firing) or No flash.  You cannot choose YES, I CHOOSE FLASH ON.  Canon wants you to believe the S90 Knows better than you do.  Many shots were taken with no flash when I knew it needed it.  No way to deliberately turn it on using a button.  You may need the INSTRUCTION manual to go three menu choices deep to discover this "feature."

So a lukewarm recommendation for the S90.

 Where is my new responsive digital Leica for under $500?