It's really a shame that Canon killed the PowerShot S series, I loved them, and there's not really anything like them anymore.

I'm specifically talking about the Powershot S90, S95, S100, S110, and S120. There were others in the line over the years, but those are the good ones. They combined a fast lens and DSLR-level features into an extremely compact body, around the same size as a typical point & shoot.

They were real sleepers, fit easily into a pocket, but you get a ƒ/2 lens at 28mm equivalent, full manual control, a programmable control ring around the lens, and RAW support. It's pure delight to have something so capable in such a small package. Obviously, its much smaller sensor has some inherent limits over a DSLR, but even so, the only thing I ever missed over larger cameras was back button focus.

I had a S90, and still have my S100. Spec-wise, it's getting long in the tooth, but I still really like it. Some of my favorite photos I've taken were on one or the other of those cameras.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ieure/5550833905

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ieure/5601325886

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ieure/5790234323

(CW infant EC) https://www.flickr.com/photos/ieure/5337149332

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ieure/6213446012

And special mention for these shots, which I'd have gotten zero of without the manual controls. They were shot from the floor with the camera held above my head and everything preset. Any automatic anything would have entirely wrecked them.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ieure/albums/72157626610377235

@ieure i still have my s95, in good working order. a great little camera. maybe not my absolute favorite in terms of aesthetic results, and i haven't used some of the manual stuff quiiite as much as i thought i would, but it's enabled me to get all kinds of shots i wouldn't have otherwise, and i love the size.

@brennen I use mine pretty much how I use my SLR, aperture priority as the default, fall back to full manual in the rare cases when it's warranted — long exposures, very dark scenes, etc etc. It's just so nice not to have to fight with an auto exposure / AF system that doesn't want to do what I want it to.

I guess phones won the compactness wars and are coming for SLRs in terms of raw featureset. But I'll always appreciate a dedicated camera, and I wish there was something like these with 2020s specs.

@ieure totally. i always kind of had it in mind that there'd be a natural upgrade path from this one at some point, in the sort of point-and-shoot-but-you-can-tell-it-what-to-do category, but i'm just now realizing that might not be the case at all.

@brennen The PowerShot G7 X Mark III is the closest modern Canon, but:

- It's larger, especially the thickness, which is +10mm (~30%) thicker than a S120.
- The lens is still f/1.8 @24mm at the wide end (though it is much faster on the long end).
- It has crap I don't remotely want, like live streaming to YouTube.

I think the real upgrade path is a mirrorless or DSLR.

@ieure yeah. i have a somewhat abused rebel xsi, and have thought about picking up more now-obsolete dslr hardware as people transition to mirrorless systems, but i think a smallish mirrorless is where i'll go for the s95's niche.

(that or just giving up forever and admitting that any pictures i take past a certain point will be on a phone, and that i don't really take pictures anymore anyway because everyone else and their dog are already taking pictures on their phones so why bother.)

@brennen Nice, I shot a ton on a Rebel XSi. That and the S90 were the main things I shot my Project 365 on.

I went looking on local Craigslist for a DSLR for my elder child, because they're taking a photography class. I got a Canon EOS 60D in like-new condition with two lenses, three batteries, and two chargers, for like $350. I see a lot of DSLR stuff that I remember being pretty expensive getting dumped for cheap there. Likely bet that these are extra after an upgrade to a mirrorless.

@ieure did you ever play around with the sony rx100s? before i got a mirrorless i rented one a few times to take on a trip and really loved the experience, sort of reminded me of the take and go vibe of the powershots (although a hair more finicky)

@nsfmc No, I haven't. I really like Canon gear, but I'll see if I can check one of those out.