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S90 ISO settings ...

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Photofreak7

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... interesting that Canon has given even more flexability with ISO 80, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200 vs the standard ISO 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 on the G11 (I guess the top dial would have been too busy with all the in-between settings?) - I just wish they had added a dedicated ISO button, also the lens were faster beyond the f/2 WA and that the top shutter was 1/4000s like the G11 -but- even so the S90 still looks like an interesting effort by Canon.
  • Matt
 
A dedicated ISO button makes sense only if there is any other usable ISO except for 80 :D
 
Radu P said:
A dedicated ISO button makes sense only if there is any other usable ISO except for 80 :D
Click to expand...
Well the theme seems to be that thru ISO400 is usable on most of Canon's (past/present) P&S cams so I'd expect maybe 800 now? - or let us aim high and go for 1600 LOL.
  • Matt
 
I guess it depends for what you mean by usable. If you want to get some crops, or large prints, anything above 80-100 is not usable (to me) for such a small sensor.

If you just do small prints or resize the image so that it will fit on a normal monitor, I guess you can go to ISO 800 or so.
 
Radu P said:
A dedicated ISO button makes sense only if there is any other usable ISO except for 80 :D
Click to expand...
You bet. An "ISO dial" is the biggest waste of camera body real estate I've ever seen, on a point-and-shoot camera. It's either base or auto ISO for me, usually. I can dig through menus the other three times per year I want to use some other setting.

Tom Hoots
http://thoots.zenfolio.com
 
Photofreak7 said:
... interesting that Canon has given even more flexability with ISO 80, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200 vs the standard ISO 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 on the G11 (I guess the top dial would have been too busy with all the in-between settings?) - I just wish they had added a dedicated ISO button, also the lens were faster beyond the f/2 WA and that the top shutter was 1/4000s like the G11 -but- even so the S90 still looks like an interesting effort by Canon.
  • Matt
Click to expand...
Although not dedicated, the control ring can be config'd to adjust ISO in 1/3 increments. I agree, it's nice to have a dedicated ISO dial. I like to use C1 and C2 on my G10. For all their saved custom settings they inherit ISO real time from whatever the dial is set to. I shoot a lot of shutter priority so fast and frequent access to ISO to optimize sharpness due to subject motion and quality due to noise is important to me - even in a compact like the G10.
 
I agree.
Tom Hoots said:
Radu P said:
A dedicated ISO button makes sense only if there is any other usable ISO except for 80 :D
Click to expand...
You bet. An "ISO dial" is the biggest waste of camera body real estate I've ever seen, on a point-and-shoot camera. It's either base or auto ISO for me, usually. I can dig through menus the other three times per year I want to use some other setting.

Tom Hoots
http://thoots.zenfolio.com
Click to expand...
 
Personally I would turn this option off. I just prefer for ISO full stop change.
I never fine tune my exposure using ISO.
 
I disagree.

S90 is not a regular P&S as it comes with lots of manual possibilities and a premium price tag. It is meant as a compliment for more serious photographers that already have ad DSLR but are tired to carry it around all the time.

During the past years I have been asked so many times by my friends "What camera to buy". When I told them that LX3 is the best compact around nobody wanted to pay so much for a camera.

Given the LX3 is the obvious intended target of S90, the ring, the extra ISO settings, the reduced pixel count are all meant to make a DSLR owner happy.
 
I can't see the point in having so many different manual ISO settings.

In Auto mode most Canon compacts will pick one of those values, but to have them manually configured is overkill is it not?

Personally I would be happier with an configurable ISO range.
Auto is usually 80/100-200, on my G9 anyway.
Hi is usually 200-1600 - pointless.

If you could configure your own ISO range that would make more sense to me.
 
Yes, that would be something. As we are dreaming anyway, way not take it to the next level and have a programmable shutter speed, let's say between 1/20 to 1/80 depending on the zoom level, from minimum to maximum.

Then for your specific zoom you get a specific shutter speed that you don't want the camera do exceed. If the exposure calculator would like slower shutter speed than it would simply continuously increment the ISO in order to maintain the lowest speed you want to allow.

At least in aperture priority mode that should be easy to implement.
 
btw some samples show iso 8000 and even a well-exposed iso 12800 !

Labelling error? or some kind of high-sensitivity setting?
 
Tom....Man you really hate the G series! :> )
--

 
cyg said:
btw some samples show iso 8000 and even a well-exposed iso 12800 !

Labelling error? or some kind of high-sensitivity setting?
Click to expand...
It's the latter. From Canon's website:

"In addition, a new Low Light mode lets you capture images in an astonishing range of conditions. The camera automatically adjusts the ISO speed from ISO 320 to ISO 12800 in relation to ambient brightness, subject movement and camera shake."

 
I rarely feel the need to set the ISO more finely than the usual options. On the other hand, using the dial when I need to manually focus would be great. It's a nuisance to hold a little button until the butterfly is in focus, and would be much easier to turn a dial.

Do you know if that's one of the possibilities?

Actually, I'd probably set the ISO to intermediate number from time to time, but I care more about having a dial interface for other stuff.
 
PuzzleGal said:
I rarely feel the need to set the ISO more finely than the usual options. On the other hand, using the dial when I need to manually focus would be great. It's a nuisance to hold a little button until the butterfly is in focus, and would be much easier to turn a dial.

Do you know if that's one of the possibilities?
Click to expand...
Yes, focus is one of the things you can assign the control ring to do.

From Canon:

"The PowerShot S90 features an intuitive lens Control Ring, which enables users to adjust the settings of various functions by twisting the selector at the base of the lens barrel to the left or right. The Control Ring can be used as a quasi-manual zoom offering a closer view of subjects in 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm and 105mm steps."

"Additional settings can be assigned, such as ISO (in 1/3 stop increments), shutter, aperture, focus and exposure compensation - giving photographers a satisfyingly tactile experience."
 
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