Digital Cameras Reviews > Canon Digital Cameras Reviews > Canon PowerShot Pro90 IS reviews

Canon PowerShot Pro90 IS

Canon PowerShot Pro90 IS Canon PowerShot Pro90 IS ReviewPhil Askey, January 2001

Review based on a production PowerShot Pro90 IS, Firmware Version1.00Exactly two years ago I was handed the first ever camera reviewed on this site, it was Canons Pro 70.. And, at the time it was most definitely the class leader, I gave it a positive review, there were definitely a few drawbacks but image quality was not one of them. Since then many people have cried out for an update to the Pro 70, well guess what folks? Its here...The new Pro90 however is definitely a very different beast, sporting a 3 megapixel sensor (producing a 2.6 megapixel image) that big 10x optical stabilised lens which we heard about a while back, a TTL electronic viewfinder and the ever popular flip out and twist LCD. Essentially the Pro90 is based on the G1s engine, features and functionality are very similar, obviously the major addition is the big lens.

Canon PowerShot Pro90 IS Just 2.6 megapixels?

Its the same story as SonysF505V, put simply, the lens doesnt create an image on the CCD largeenough to cover the whole imager area, so Canon mask the imager down from3.3 megapixels to 2.6 megapixels (1856 x 1392). So are we disappointedthat its not a full 2048 x 1536? Well, yes, to be frank, it would havebeen nice to have a full 3 megapixel image though Im sure as most F505Vowners will agree its not THAT much of a loss, its a compromise betweenzoom length and image size. The diagrams below (borrowed from the F505V review, top down view) show the relative sizes of each component of the CCD sensor, the final image shows the amount unused by the Pro90 (the red portion). Diagrams below will appear about three times larger on your monitor than in real life.


ICX252 2088 x 1550 effective pixel area (green) 7.20mm x 5.35mm	Masked ICX252 1856 x 1392 effective pixel area (green) 6.40mm x 4.80mm

	Plastic chip package (13.8mm x 12.0mm)
	Glass cover (12.7mm x 10.9mm)
	Effective pixel area
	Unused (wasted?) pixels on Pro90 IS

Canon PowerShot Pro90 IS Putting things into perspective

With its 2.6 mp the Pro90 has 34% more pixel area than a 2.1 megapixeldigital cameraWith the full 3.1 mp youd gain 192 pixels horizontally and 144 verticallyI f youre new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this review (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Photographs of the camera were taken with a Canon EOS-D30, 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 (normally 1024 x 768 or smaller if cropped) 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 Adobe Gamma 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.

This review is Copyright 2001 Phil Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact: Phil Askey.