I received my Canon Pro90IS on August 1, 2001. It replaced my Nikon Coolpix 950, which I have been very happy with over the past year that I have been using it. I selected the Pro90 for a variety of reasons, but the main reasons were the flash hotshoe and 10x zoom lens. I am still in the process of learning how to use it fully and most of my pictures so far are of the testing variety.
Above are links to my Pro90 pictures. This page will be updated very regularly, so make sure you check back frequently. In order to preserve as much of the quality of these pictures as possible, I have sized them to 1024x768 with minimal JPEG compression. This produces files of 500-700k each. While this may take a bit longer than you might like if you are on a modem connection, I feel that it is worth it in order to show what the camera can do.
Here are some of my thoughts on the Pro90:
* The 10x zoom is great, not only for bringing stuff that is far away close up, but also for framing your subject.
* The camera is not as large as I anticipated. It feels very good in your hands -- much better than my Nikon 950 did. The grip is nicely contoured and has a very comfortable rubberized finish.
* It is quite a bit heavier than my Nikon. I'm sure most of this weight comes from the image stabilization system. I just have to learn to support most of the weight with my left hand under the lens rather than with my right hand holding the grip.
* The EVF viewfinder is nice. The picture is not as clear as it is in the flip out LCD but it is very usable. Speaking of the LCD, it is very sharp and very readable even in bright sunlight -- two thumbs up to Canon on this one!
* This camera feels faster shot-to-shot than my Nikon did. Despite the fact that the image files are almost twice as large as those produced by the 950, it writes them to the card much quicker.
* RAW mode is excellent, as is ISO50. This combination produces some amazingly clear shots. The only problem is that the conversion from RAW to JPG takes a long time on my computer (about 16 seconds per picture using Breezebrowser.) Even so, RAW is the way to go if you want the absolute best picture quality. Having said that, the lowest compression (highest quality) JPG mode is amazingly good, as it uses very light compression. I think that for day to day snapshots, I will use JPG and for critical pictures it'll be RAW.
* The autofocus isn't the best thing in the world. I have had several pictures where the camera has focused on something in the background rather than my subject. I knew this was an issue when I bought the camera and it is something I will have to play with and see if I can find a workaround. The manual focus mode is actually quite usable and comes to the rescue when necessary.
* This camera doesn't meter quite as well as my Nikon did. It has a tendency to blow out highlights. You can fix this with exposure compensation but you just have to remember to set it for each particular situation.
* I need the 500D macro lens. I didn't realize how much I took the macro mode on my 950 for granted, but I really enjoy taking macros and the 500D/Pro90 combination has produced some of the best I have seen.
That's about it for now. As I discover more about my camera, I will be updating this page with the information.
