Review based on a production Sony DSC-S90
Despite some speculation when announced in February 2005, the S90 is not the successor to the highly-rated S85, but is one of two near-identical entry-level four million pixel cameras from Sony (the other being the S60; the main difference is that the S90 has a 2.5-inch screen and ships with rechargeable batteries). Although ostensibly a budget camera (with a street price of around $290) the S90 has more than its fair share of features, including seven scene modes, Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar 3x zoom, full manual exposure mode, VGA/30fps MPEG movie mode and a claimed 420-shot maximum battery life (using the CIPA standard).
| Street price | • US: $300 • UK: £190 |
|---|---|
| Body Material | plastic |
| Sensor | • 1/2.7" Super HAD CCD |
| Image sizes | • 2304 x 1728 |
| Movie clips | • 640 x 480 @ 16 / 30 fps • 160 x 112 @ 8 fps • Limited only by the capacity of the memory card • MPEG VX with sound |
| Lens | • Carl Zeiss 39 - 117mm equiv. (3x optical zoom) |
| Focus | • 5-Area Multi-Point AF • Center AF • 5-Step Manual • 10cm macro mode (Wide) |
| Shooting mode | • Auto |
| Shutter Speeds | • 1/8 – 1/1000 sec (Auto) • 2 – 1/1000 sec (Program Auto) • 30 – 1/1000 sec (Manual) |
| Apertures | f2.8 – f5.6 (W), f5.2 – f10 (T) |
| Metering | • Multi Pattern • Spot |
| Sensitivity | • Auto • ISO 80 • ISO 100 • ISO 200 • ISO 400 |
| White Balance | • Auto • Daylight • Cloudy • Fluorescent • Incandescent |
| Image parameters | • Saturation (3 levels) |
| Continuous | 0.7 fps up to four frames |
| Flash | • Built-in • Modes: Auto, forced on, forced off, slow sync, red-eye reduction • Range: 1.6 – 12.5 ft. (0.5 – 3.8m) |
| Storage | • Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO • 32MB internal memory • No removable media supplied |
| Viewfinder | • Real Image Optical |
| LCD monitor | • 2.5 " TFT, 115,000 pixels |
| Connectivity | • USB • A/V out • DC-IN |
| Power | • 2x AA type battery (alkaline, NiMH, NiMM) • 2x AA NiMH 'STAMINA' batteries + charger included |
| In the box* | • DSC-S90 camera |
| Other features | • PictBridge and DPOF compatible |
| Weight (inc batt) | 253 g (8.9 oz) |
| Dimensions | 108 x 52 x 26mm (4.25 x 2.1 x 1in) |
* Supplied accessories may differ in each country or area
If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital
Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help
you understand some of the terms used).
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Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C. |
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This article is Copyright 2005 and may NOT in part or in whole be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author.
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