As in the previous model, the front panel of the S95 is dominated by the lens, which is the same as in the S The Control Ring surrounding the lens carries over from the previous model and the LED that serves as AF-Assist, red-eye reduction lamp and self-timer indicator is also present.
Two microphone holes appear on the front panel instead of just one, enabling the camera to record stereo soundtracks with movie clips. The grip is now coated with the same material as used on the EOS 7D to improve slip-resistance.
On the rear panel, the thumb rest on the rear panel has been dramatically reduced in size. The 3-inch LCD monitor has the same , dot resolution and aspect ratio and the same cluster of button and dial controls is located to its right. But again, these are minor tweaks to an already successful design. Like the S90, the new camera comes with a wrist strap and rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which shares a compartment in the base of the camera with the memory card slot.
A metal-lined tripod socket sits to the left of this compartment. Arguably the most important new addition tis support for HD video recording with stereo soundtracks. In addition, an integrated HDMI port with CEC compatibility makes it simple for video and stills to be viewed and controlled directly via a compatible remote control not provided.
The table below shows resolutions, frame rates and recording times for a 4GB memory card. Users can choose from four movie modes: Standard, Miniature Effect which blurs part of the frame to simulate a miniature model , Colour Accent and Colour Swap. However, zooming is restricted to digital zoom and Step Zoom and focus appears to be set at the start of each clip. Most other shooting modes can be used for video capture. The maximum length of video clips is 29 minutes and 59 seconds and Class 4 or higher memory cards are recommended.
The S95 provides only one basic video editing function: trimming that enables the beginnings and ends of recordings to be cut off. The edited clip can be saved as a new file or you can over-write the existing file.
The S95 is also the first Canon digicam with Hybrid IS technology, which provides improved stabilisation, particularly for close-up shots.
The system adds an acceleration sensor that determines the amount of shift-based camera shake to the normal angular velocity sensor and can correct movements in a wider range of directions.
The diagram below shows how it works. Source: Canon. The combination of the high-sensitivity Canon claims it improves the low-light performance of the new model, enabling it to support a maximum ISO of at full resolution. Interestingly, the S90 also supported ISO at full resolution. The Low Light mode also enables faster continuous shooting, capturing up to 3. A new High Dynamic Range shooting mode records three shots in quick succession, changing the exposure to record both highlight and shadow details.
These images are combined in the camera to produce a single image with an extended dynamic range. The S95 also supports Multi-Aspect shooting, with , , , and formats available via the Fn. So if you locked the exposure with the camera reading, say, f5. Previously the only way to lock the exposure involved a fiddly combination of pushing the thumb wheel upwards while half-pressing the shutter release.
If you got the pressure slightly wrong, you could be snapping unintentional photos when you only wanted to lock the exposure. While the new S95 employs the same button combination to lock the exposure by default, the Shortcut provides much needed relief.
The PowerShot S95 has also inherited the useful Function menu system of recent Canon compacts, providing quick and easy access to common settings.
Pressing the FUNC SET button overlays a list of options running vertically down the left side of the screen which you can select using the up and down buttons. The currently selected item reveals its available settings in a horizontal line at the bottom of the screen and you can use the left and right buttons or the thumb wheel to adjust them. If Hints and Tips are enabled, the S95 helpfully offers a brief description at the bottom of the screen to explain the highlighted setting.
During Playback, pressing the DISP button cycles between a clean full view, a full view with basic file information, a thumbnail view with flashing highlights accompanied by a brightness histogram and full exposure details, and finally a focus confirmation option which shows two thumbnails, one of the entire frame, and a second showing the active focus area enlarged.
In a nice update over the S90 and a trump over the LX5 not to mention any other compact we can think of, the S95 now offers a playback view with RGB histograms. Simply cycle through to the view with the brightness histogram, then push the thumb wheel upwards to switch the exposure details for RGB histograms instead. Very classy. The S95 also uses its orientation sensor to flip images by 90 degrees during playback if you physically turn the camera. The thumb wheel on the back can also be used to quickly scroll through thumbnails, using an interface first seen on the S90 which optionally varies the thumbnail size depending on the speed at which you turn the wheel.
Turn it slowly and the thumbnails pass by one at a time, automatically expanding to fill the screen. This uses face detection to frame the eyes of the subjects on your photos. The Canon PowerShot S95 offers direct access to a variety of shooting modes from its main dial, from fully automatic to full manual.
Set the S95 to Aperture Priority and you can choose from 13 f-numbers from f2. By default, the lens control ring is used to adjust the aperture and shutter speed in these respective modes. Switch the S95 to Manual and the lens ring controls the aperture, while the rear wheel adjusts the shutter speed. Your best bet is to zoom all the way-in and select the smallest f-number available, before positioning the subject close and the background as far away as possible, and you can see an example under these conditions in our Gallery.
Macro shots allow a shallower depth-of-field, and the f2. On a more positive note though, Aperture Priority does allow you to select the optimum f-number to avoid diffraction. Shutter Priority also lets you choose deliberately slower-than-normal exposures to blur moving action, such as waterfalls or racing vehicles.
You can find out how to achieve these effects in our Blurring Action and Photographing Water tutorials. Meanwhile, full Manual lets you choose combinations of aperture and shutter which go way beyond normal metering or compensation ranges, allowing you to achieve massive under or over-exposures.
You can also choose very long exposures with ease. In each instance, the exposure and flash are adjusted accordingly, and the camera will even attempt to recognise a Sunset and boost the colours. Or rather than learning the icons and second-guessing the camera, you could simply relax and trust the S95 as like other recent Canon compacts it does a pretty good job of recognising the scene and choosing the best settings for it.
In practice, the camera seamlessly switches between portrait mode with face detection when pointed at a person, or into macro mode when placed close to a subject. We certainly rarely had a dud in terms of focus and exposure. This may ensure minimal chance of motion blur or camera shake, but at the cost of high ISO smearing. If you like the automatic life, but prefer a little extra control, turn the mode dial to SCN to access eight presets.
New to the S95 over its predecessor are additional Super Vivid, Poster Effect, Fisheye and Miniature effects along with an HDR mode which automatically combines three exposures to extend the tonal range.
Surely it would be more sensible to find these in the self-time or drive section, but there you go. Coincidentally, the file sizes were also within a few KB of each other. It can even remember the zoom position and manual focus distance, which is handy when shooting portraits or products. As before, Center AF focuses on a single frame in the middle of the screen. You can change the size of the frame, but annoyingly not its position. The Face AiAF mode automatically employs face detection if a person is in the frame, or switches to a traditional nine-area system in the absence of a suitable face.
In our tests this worked quickly and seamlessly, and like other recent Canon compacts, the S95 tracked human faces with great success. Alternatively you can set the camera to display an enlarged view of the focusing area after taking the photo. The S95 additionally offers Blink Detection, which as its name suggests, can spot when a subject has blinked at the moment the photo was captured. This works in practice, briefly displaying a blinking face icon in the corner of the screen as a warning immediately after taking the photo.
It will however only work if the subject in question has already been acquired by the face detection system. The new Tracking AF option displays cross-hairs in the middle of the screen which should be placed over the subject you want to track. Then after pressing the left arrow button, the camera will attempt to follow the desired subject. The S95 automatically enables Servo AF in Tracking AF mode, allowing it to continuously adjust the autofocus until the point of capture.
In use this worked pretty well, managing to track a variety of non-human subjects and keeping them in focus. Note: Servo AF can be independently selected for the other focusing modes if you need continuous AF capabilities. The autofocusing on the PowerShot S95 is certainly very swift and rarely kept us waiting, but it should be noted in side-by-side tests, the Panasonic Lumix LX5 felt a little quicker.
Pushing the rocker control left puts the S95 into its Manual Focus mode, after which you can use the thumb wheel to adjust the focusing distance in many fine increments, indicated by an on-screen scale. Alternatively you can opt for the focus bracketing mode which takes three shots: one at the manually focused distance, and the others a little closer and further.
The nearer and further increments can be set to small, medium and large. The earlier S90 not to mention the G11 were limited to shooting VGA video, which was unforgiveable for a premium compact in In an additional upgrade over its predecessor, not to mention the rival LX5, the S95 also now sports stereo microphones.
The and modes record at 30fps, while the mode records at 24fps, although plays back at 30fps. Recording will stop when the file either reaches 4GB in size, or a second short of 30 minutes in HD mode or one hour in the and modes. Like all recent Canon cameras, the S95 encodes its video using H. Canon recommends using SD cards rated at Class 4 or quicker for recording movies. This is poor for a premium compact in , but of course may not be an issue for you personally.
At the end of the clip the camera passes two bright spotlights and a strongly backlit window. Aftermarket grip. Click on the link or the image for more information. Check out Don Ellis's images after you place your order on the main site; pretty impressive stuff. I added a small grip to the Canon S95 using Super Sculpey modeling clay, which bakes into a hard, sandable, paintable solid. I'm not necessarily endorsing that you make your own grip in this case, because whatever adhesive you use might not stick well enough, and you could drop your camera, but I made this one in lieu of buying a much nicer looking grip from Richard Franiec , just as a proof of concept.
I made mine a little thicker than his to see if I could make the finger grip inside, for the balls of the fingers, which I did, but they don't really work the same on this scale.
Regardless, all you need is a little more confidence with a front grip, and your thumb raises up on the back, away from the loose Control Dial, as another reviewer pointed out. Without it, you want to move your thumb down to better oppose the fingers on the front in a tighter pinch. Either way, I've had a better experience, but with the grip, the problems I had with the S90 are a distant memory, and I whip the Canon S95 around with more confidence. Oh, and the regular-strength Command strips come off cleanly every time.
But you don't have to get out the craft supplies to make the Canon S95 yours: Canon has given you at least two easy ways to make the S95 work the way you'd like. The Shortcut button and at least the front Control Ring are quite customizable. Custom White Balance. Cameras often come to me with unusual settings from the Lab. I accidentally pressed the Shortcut button when I was first playing with the Canon S95 and was annoyed when it automatically set the Custom White Balance.
I went straight to the Set Shortcut button Menu item and set the button to "Not assigned. It wasn't five minutes later when I went back to the Menu item and turned Custom White Balance back on.
It's actually incredibly handy for today's constantly changing light sources. With so many types of fluorescent lights in my house alone, Auto White Balance systems are quite challenged.
But if I encounter a light source the Canon S95 isn't handling right, I just find a scene with some white in it and press the Shortcut button. That takes a reading, momentarily blanking out the screen, and sets the White balance to Custom. So long as there's something neutral in the scene toward the center of the frame, the setting is nearly always right. Step zoom. One of the options for the front Control Ring is Zoom, which brings up a focal length rule onscreen, covering five common focal lengths: 28, 35, 50, 85, and mm equivalent.
I like that there are fewer than are on the Panasonic LX5; but strangely the camera hesitates like a nervous kid playing musical chairs, not sure whether to move on to the next position, even when I've already clicked to the next stop. It wastes time, unfortunately, but it's not a deal breaker.
It's nice to have the presets available when I need them, and I can still zoom to a random focal length with the regular zoom toggle around the power button, so you can have quick access to both features without having to commit to either. Frustratingly, though, EV Compensation remains the standard choice for at least one of the controls in Program mode; never is "EV Off" an option.
That's all I'd like, is a checkbox that disables either the rear Control Dial or else both dials, for the person who doesn't want to be bothered with either. Thankfully, as I've mentioned, my experience has been considerably better, so I'll let it go. Just be aware that if you accidentally turn either of these dials, you might adjust something you didn't intend, so be sure to check your status icons often. Canon's new Hybrid IS works pretty well, and while I haven't had the surreal experience I had with the LX5 of watching the image lock in space while the camera moved, I've been able to take handheld shots in some pretty low light.
Hybrid IS is new technology from Canon that compensates for both shift blur and angular or tilting camera motion point your camera at the sky then the earth to understand what I mean by tilting. I call the S95's IS a success. It works so well that I don't even think about it.
I was also pleased to find bracketing in the Canon S From there, just turn the dial or use the left and right arrows to expand the options. My favorite part is from there it's automatic: just frame your image and press the shutter button and the Canon S95 will capture your three images and get ready for the next shot.
You don't have to remember what shot you're on or even press the shutter three separate times while trying to maintain the framing. I'm not really a fan of the overblown use of HDR that's rampant in the photo world, but I've also too often been in places that defied capture thanks to bright skies and deep shadows.
I happened to try it on a day when the sky was filled with fast moving, mostly dark clouds, with the Sun peeking through now and then. The sky was interesting, but it wasn't possible to properly expose the scenery while maintaining the texture and shape of the clouds, even though they were darker. Because it's a Scene mode, you're offered no control over the span of exposures captured in HDR mode, nor how they are combined. The Canon S95 takes three shots and combines them in-camera, taking about two seconds to capture the images, and four to combine them.
Unlike Sony's HDR and low light modes, the Canon S95 does not microalign each image, and it won't intelligently delete objects that have moved between exposures. So you need a tripod at least, and it's preferable to have a static scene. I tried several subjects, and enjoyed the results enough that I also added a few color options. With this particular target, the rebuilt Woodstock Train Station, these effects added a nice touch. It's another thing I don't normally do, but since I've taken this shot probably 50 times, it was a nice change of pace.
The HDR mode controls just about everything else, including white balance. Menus are mostly Canon's standard design, and thankfully Canon has returned to the far better Function menu, rather than the slot-machine style that they had on some of last year's high-end PowerShots. Each tab in the main Menu has more items than can fit on the screen, and you can either scroll up and down with the arrows or use the Control Dial. If you use the arrows, the menu wraps to the top when you reach the bottom of the list; if you use the Dial, it stops.
To move to the next tab, you have to either scroll to the top to highlight the tab, or use a little-known PowerShot trick and use the zoom toggle, which jumps from tab to tab regardless where you are in the menu. Low light. I didn't get as much low light shooting in as I did with the LX5; just the luck of the draw in terms of family events and such.
But where I did shoot it, the Canon S95 did quite well. There's some noise even in low ISO images, especially in the shadows, which is strange for a Canon product.
When I printed the images in question up to 11x14, though, I didn't see the noise. It was mostly luminance noise, and it just blends in. Many indoor shots are a tad soft, thanks to noise suppression, but again they make good prints, so it's hard to complain about that.
I wandered in to get some shots of my daughter sleeping in her crib. With just the light on from the bathroom some 20 feet away--not direct light either, light you could fall asleep in, she looks like she's in daylight at ISO 3, with a 1-second exposure, braced against the top rail of the crib.
At least onscreen and in our thumbnails. But zoomed in it's pretty mottled. I found better quality at ISO 2,, with fewer yellow blotches. The Low light mode, indicated by a candle on the Mode dial, didn't even come close to what ISO did, and it was a 2.
Clearly that mode is meant for more light than this, and even then it's fairly soft detail compared to what I remember 2-megapixel cameras putting out. I prefer to shoot at full resolution with some kind of help from a tripod or other brace to get a better shot. Incidentally, 1 second was the limit in Program mode, but I could have done 15 seconds in Shutter speed mode.
The camera held the image steady, thanks to Hybrid IS, but very often my subjects moved. Autofocus takes a little longer than the Panasonic LX5, about twice as long, at 0. That's a little slower than average for most pocket digicams, but telephoto is 0. Prefocused shutter lag is 0. Cycle time is pretty slow, taking 2. In RAW mode, it's 2. In Continuous mode, the Canon S95 turns out 1. Continuous RAW, though, dips back down, at 0. Flash recycles in 6 seconds, a little slower than average, but not badly.
Movie mode is improved, now with p HD resolution, but unfortunately you cannot zoom optically while shooting a movie, and autofocus is locked. Given the zoom motor noise, it's understandable that you'd not be able to zoom, but still unfortunate.
There are three "effects" modes available when recording movies, including Miniature Effect, Color Accent, and Color Swap. One aspect I didn't like about using the Canon S90 was that it didn't update the auto exposure information until you half-press the shutter button.
For example, if I was in Aperture priority mode adjusting aperture, I didn't see a preview of what shutter speed the camera was going to choose until after I pressed the shutter button. It's only then that you find out that the camera might have to set a shutter speed that's outside the camera's ability, in which case the maximum or minimum shutter speed is shown in red.
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