In his S90 review, Ken Rockwell is saying that the high ISO capabilities of the Canon S90 seems the same as the Leica M9. I’ve done some research on this and it seems a bit crazy. My conclusions after the jump.
Above is a photo of what Rockwell says about the High ISOs. Notice that he speaks very positively about the camera. Also keep in mind that the sensor of the Canon S90 (same size as the Canon G11 and other similar products) is much smaller than that of the Full-Frame Leica M9. Here’s a chart for reference.
I’ve consulted the website and reviews of a photographer I’ve grown to really trust as of late: Steve Huff. Steve has reviewed the Canon S90 and the Leica M9. They don’t really show much that can be analyzed but from what it looks like through my eyes, the High ISO of the Leica M9 seems to be outdoing the S90.
However, you can closely compare Steve’s S90 1600 photo with that at Focus-Numerique and see that M9 seems to be loads better. It’s possible though that at low ISO settings that the images may look similar. Then again, consider Leica glass.
I am going to try to get some extended hands on testing with them. I’ve briefly played with both the S90 and the M9 before at Photography Bay.
Via Ken Rockwell