Canon PowerShot S95

Look and feel. Canon did a great job making the S95 compact, but with a bright lens and larger sensor than the average digital camera. Dressed all in black, the boldest element of the Canon S95 is the bright white Canon logo, embossed such as it is on the company's digital SLRs. Everything else appears military-grade, designed for stealth, perfect for street photography. Even the S95 logo the font around the lens barrel are a dark gray, unlike the S90's bright white. Other than that, little has changed on the front of the S95, except that the microphone hole has been replaced with microphone holes at the lower left and right of the lens to accommodate the Canon S95's stereo audio recording with the new 720p HD movie mode.

The upper left corner of the top

In the upper left corner of the top, you see the cutout for the flash. Unlike the LX5, the Canon S95's flash comes up in accordance with motorized power, and is deployed when the camera decides to, either because the light is too low, or because you've set the camera to Forced Flash mode. One of my minor disappointments with the S90 was its strap loop on the right side of the camera. I wanted the option of hanging the or rather prestigious camera from a neckstrap in the horizontal position, as you can do with the LX5, or rather than down sideways like a coach whistle. I wasn't alone, to all appearances, because the Canon S95 now has two lanyard loop holes in the upper left and right of the camera. Finding a neck strap that'll work with two loops however also be small and light is not easy. Canon offers the Leather Neck Strap PSN-100, yet there are no images of said strap on the Internet, so I can't be sure whether it has two lashing points or one. Gordy's Camera Straps can accommodate this need, through the use of strings and rings, and OpTech has their Mini QD Loops that work with their quick-release straps. A single wrist strap is included with the Canon S95, a big, flat, soft, shoelace design.

Sensor and processor. Canon, Panasonic, and others have backed off on the megapixel race in favor of a 10-megapixel CCD sensor that's better in low light, which was a good decision, given how soft many of the 14-megapixel sensors have been in 2010 model year cameras. Canon's now calling the combination of this new sensor and their DIGIC 4 processor the Canon HS System. In the Canon S95, ISO can be set from 80 to 3,200, and a special reduced resolution Low light mode allows you to set an ISO ranging from 320 to 3,200, plus 4,000, 5,000, 6,400, 8,000, 10,000 and 12,800.

Stabilization. Canon's new Hybrid IS works pretty so then, and during I haven't had the surreal experience I had with the LX5 of watching the image lock in space during the camera moved, I've been able to take handheld shots in some pretty low light. Hybrid IS is new innovation from Canon that compensates for both shift blur and angular or tilting camera motion. I call the S95's IS a success. It works so then that I don't even think about it.

The extreme fond of the small form factor

I'm in the extreme fond of the small form factor and rock-like feel and finish to the Canon S95. It is solid, has good heft, and looks like it means business. It's tough not to like all of those aspects. Switching back to a lower-resolution LCD, like the one on the Canon SD1300, actually shows why it's good to spend a little more on a small pocket digital camera if you can. The S95's LCD is high-res and gorgeous, easy to use indoors and out. It's so good, it's nearly bad because your images look just a touch better on the camera.