Canon Pro90: 20 YEARS later! RETRO review
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- Опубликовано: 5 июл 2024
- I retro-review Canon's PowerShot Pro90 IS, a fantastic camera from 2001!
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Хобби
I retro-review Canon's PowerShot Pro90 IS, a fantastic camera from 2001!
Buy Gordon a coffee: www.paypal.me/cameralabs
Gordon's In Camera book: amzn.to/2n61PfI / Amazon uk: amzn.to/2mBqRVZ
Cameralabs merchandise: redbubble.com/people/cameralabs/shop
Canon Pro90 IS sample images: www.cameralabs.com/canon-powershot-pro90-is-retro-review/
Music: www.davidcuttermusic.com / @dcuttermusic
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
I like how in the early stages of digital cameras they attempted to depart from the standard SLR format into something where form follow function. Having a viewfinder moved to the left instead of in the centre makes a lot of sense.
Exactly, and yet we've actually become quite traditional now...
Gordon, absolutely loving these retro reviews! Literally everything you've reviewed I've owned at one point and it's been a wonderful trip down memory lane.
Glad you're enjoying them! What am I missing from your collection? It may be my next one!
@@DinoBytes I'm super impressed that you kept all this stuff, mine always ended up on eBay or elsewhere. Probably better for clutter, but there is one camera in particular that I've thought long and hard about picking up another copy of - the Agfa Ephoto 1280. Was the first camera I had that had manual controls and really let me explore some of the technical side of photography (I was way too cheap to experiment with 35mm!).
@@beesoffury YES! I remember reviewing that one. I must try to find one.
Yes, I totally agree! Very cool to see these reviews.
Love the video, thanks! My question is.. wow.. 20 years ago, good stabilization and a flip-out screen, something that most cameras today still don't have!!! What's wrong with this industry and progress???🌹
I know! This camera had everything!
I loved that design and 20 yrs later its still making great looking photos 📸
I thought they looked good too!
Something about the limited dynamic range of these older cameras...such a punchy, contrasty look. I love it!
Loving these retro camera reviews! Keep them coming!
Thanks! I'm really enjoying making them!
Gordon love this video. I just stumbled upon this Chanel and love it. Keep them up
Thanks for finding me! Hope you get a chance to watch some of my other videos...
Been binge-watching your reviews since I discovered your channel last night and I think this is my favourite camera so far in terms of video quality (or lack thereof!). Just the right amount of crispiness. 😄👌
Thanks for watching so many of my videos! I have many more to come, so be sure to subscribe!
I'm enjoying the heck out of these old school digital reviews. Keep these up, there's so much to appreciate about them. Also, I have a strange inclination to visit Brighton, now. I've watched plenty other photography videos of this location, but this one has given me an itch. Might be that it's probably the only video I've seen of a sunny day there!
Glad you're enjoying the videos! Living on the coast we get all the weather, but this stretch between Brighton and Eastbourne gets more sun than anywhere else in the UK.
Glad to have happened on this channel, and I love what you're doing here! My first 'enthusiast' camera was a 6mp Canon EOS 300D Rebel, a fellow US Airman in Okinawa sold it to me for a newer model. Before then it never occurred to me that 'real' cameras were going digital! What a great place and time to start a hobby in photography, been hooked ever since.
My first DSLR was also the 300D! Glad you found m channel, I hope you enjoy my other videos here!
Just received a Powershot Pro70, the predecessor to Gordon's Pro90. Quirky is an understatement ... the design owes a lot to the Olympus Infinity Superzoom and Ricoh Mirai 35mm film models. Once you adapt to this camera, it proves to be a very good performer, even by today's standards. Plus It's got Canon durability.
Nice find! Where did you get it, as it's quite rare. I managed to borrow one recently, so will be doing a video all about it soon.
See the video quality, I can imagine many pop video directors wanting a Pro90 for artsy, lo-fi footage... Amazing to see those lo-res' early digital cameras, which really did seem like desirable cutting edge tech at the time. I don't remember this Canon, but I do remember the Pro-1 as a great camera back in the early 2000s, that and the Konica Minolta Dimage 7 (??)
I will be retro-reviewing both the Pro1 and the DIMAGE 7 - you'll have seen my Pro1 in the video here.
@@DinoBytes hi, yes seeing your Pro-1 in the video reminded of one of my favourite cameras from the early 2000s. I didn't own one, a colleague did. I recall they became quite sort after..?
That shot of the flying seagull was amazing!
Thanks! I had a fair few misses!
@@DinoBytes which is to be expected of course 🙂
Excellent, home from work, cup of tea and Gordon's done another video... sweet... slurp
You are very welcome! Enjoy your cuppa!
The form factor isn’t half bad!
Those vid clips reminded me of the quality of the QuickTime movie trailers I used to watch back then on the tail end of dial-up.
it's surprisingly usable! Did you see my later review on the G1?
my grandparents gave my mother this a while ago and now it’s mine, i haven’t used it yet but i’m super excited to get it up and going
It's a classic, hope it works!
There is something magical about CCD sensors... Their colour reproduction really transports me back to exactly that early to late 2000s era.
It's quite a distinctive look!
I got into the Fujifilm system in the X-series era, but now I'm hunting for a Fuji S5 Pro just to experience the CCD magic people talk about.
Love it! I just ordered a Pro 1 to play with, after I saw your video on it.
Great stuff, did you watch both my Pro90 and Pro1 videos?
Last weekend I took out my old Minolta Dimage A2 with a 7x optical zoom for a speedway race. The batteries ran out after 2 minutes and I rarely managed to get a sharp image...
What kind of batteries did it take? If it was an old rechargeable pack, then yes, they don;'t hold much power years later! Good effort for trying though!
Great Video Gordon
I also had this camera
Probably somewhere in the basement of my father's house
I can still find this camera
You need to fire it up and try it out!
That´s another neat looking device. Man, I really miss the innovative camera designs from these days.
I had different Powershot superzoom cameras over the years, notably the S3 and S5 IS which were powered by AA batteries(a big advantage back then when original batteries were still pricy and 3rd party ones often of questionable quality). For a while I also had the S95 - a different class, but also a decent device.
I also used the BPI 511 for a while on 20D and 30D. A good move from Canon to use a battery design for several generations, something Panasonic had to learn 😁
ha wow the image quality is actually seriously impressive for its age! Surprising result! Great review!
Thanks!
I'm really enjoying these videos. Being in the photographic retail business since the early 00's they really bring back some memories to me. There were so many outlandish designs back then, it's a bit of a shame that digital cameras have pretty much universally reverted back to a pre digital form.
My first digital camera was the Fuji 2800 with a 6x optical zoom. I loved that camera and for the year I had it i literally took a picture of everything. I'm not sure if you've reviewed it yet, if not it's one I'd like to see please.
Thanks! I loved all the different designs and ideas too! I'm trying to get hold of some older Fujifilm models as we speak!
Thank you for the great video!!! In Spain we say "20 years it`s nothing", but in photography is ethernity
Yes, in technology terms, 20 years is a LOOOONG time!
Awesome video! Really enjoy the retro reviews. Some of those photos looked great. Until cameras started doing the 640X480 video at 30fps, the 320 just does not hold up 15 fps. But understandable then. The quirky digital camera designs are always my favorites.
Thanks! Yes, I loved the designs and you're right, when things moved to VGA 30fps, it improved a LOT.
This reminds me of the Canon Photura. The camera I always wanted as a kid but had no chance of affording.
WOW Gordon, I didt know you had another Channel on Retro cameras! I used to watch all yr reviews on cameras since 12 years ago! Great Reviews... looking at your old clips reminds me so so many great memories of the past! I am a camera collector from Singapore, had own hundreds of cameras and currently possess a collection of 35 assortment of digital cameras! Nevertheless good to see you around. Subscribed!
Thanks for finding me! It's quite a new channel - only 6 months old - but I'm really passionate about this old stuff, because I reviewed it all the first time around!
@@DinoBytes I am too passionate about all these old cameras too being a camera fanatic myself hehe.. Cheers. Its nice to hear from you BTW~ I used to watch all yr video chips weekly since the earlier days of yr RUclips channel while having my breakfast! :) Yr reviews determine some of my purchases too! Thanks Gordon!
Excellent, love retro digital cameras 😉
@@DinoBytes I have, just caught up on the previous videos 👍
Another great video. I waited until the sensors hit 8MP and VGA (or better) video before switching from scanning film to digital. The Pro 1 was one of 2-3 cameras I looked at for my first digital, but went for the KM A2. That was really ahead of it's time, but I replaced it with the horribly slow Nikon 8800 after half a year. The KM A2 was clearly better in most areas, but I wanted the 10x zoom and didn't regret the switch (most of the time). The Nikon was my only "compact" for many years until I got a RX10 IV. The 8MP sensor actually did quite well in IQ at base ISO - I compared it to a bunch of 1/2.7" and 1/2.3" based cameras. Both superzooms and more traditional compacts and found no IQ reason to upgrade for many years. The 8800 was of course surpassed in almost all other areas fairly fast.
Gordon, my digital experience began with Canon PowerShot SX20 IS - with an electronic viewfinder which i've been missing many years - till this year when i bought at last my Canon R system. Mirrors are good, but since SX20 IS i really missed it as then i could see the image before it was produced in the result of shooting. LiveView on the backscreen did not give that feeling of stabilizing the camera when you look through the viewfinder.
Big con of all ulttrazooms - is that they cannot blur the for and back ground. To blur at leas a bit - i had to zoom at max, come close to the model and place the model as far from the background as possible. That's why i bought my DSLR. Crop changed to FF, now - to mirrorless.
Thanks for the feeling of nostalgie :)
Did you see my photo of the statue? That was fully zoomed to 10x and the only way I could get a little blurring in the background!
@@DinoBytes yeah! During times of ultrazooms there was even a matrix of distances to an object and background to predict bluring)) when I bought my first camera I thought I bought all the lenses between 28 and 560mm) this was a marketing trick though. But anyway, thank you for the video, it reminded me once more why I always was not happy with my dslrs - absence of EVF. That thing really rules the world
Very nice video how Sting taking about digital cameras 👍
My first digital camera was a Sony that took 3.5" floppy disks. lol.
Then I went to Canon Elph, S50,S60,S70,S80, G9, G15, etc all the way to 77D and M50II.
Neat checking out the vintage stuff again.
Check out my retro review of the first Sony Mavica which recorded onto floppies!
Waiting for these to be treasured in 2050 like film SLRs right now.
Yes, it'll be interesting to see if they become popular as vintage tools...
I love seeing these reviews. The funny thing is my very first digital camera was a phase one back when it was called a light phase right after that I bought a nikon coolpix 995 to take fun pictures I still have it and I think it even still works!
The COOLPIX 995 was excellent - did you see my video on the 900?
@@DinoBytes of course I never miss a video! I have co-workers in Brighton, they know I am a fan the texted me a few months ago the saw you out near the fishing museum. Testing a camera, they were going to tell you that a pro photographer in San Francisco was a huge fan!
These retro reviews are great. Any chance of going even further back--to what were known as digital still video cameras?
Thanks and yes, I would love to review some of those... they are harder for me to find though...
1300$ in early 2000's...that's why i never heard about this camera before...🤔🤭🤗
Yeah, it was on the high-end!
@T T blimey, was it really that much?
@T T that sounds more like it. I think most good digitals around that time were 700-1000.
I have one for sale still in the box. I just bought a brand new battery port.
I love this channel Gordon! I would love if you could challenge yourself or someone you know to take few pictures that can be printed and then ask random people what they think about quality etc. :) Many people dont go serious about photography, because they think that they need to spend like a $1000 to start, but in reality even old Canon 450D or Sony A300, both of which cost below $100 are good enough for portraits and even some event photography.
Another idea - what if we apply new technology (AI Upscaling, AI Denoise) on 20 year old DSLR photo? Can it be accepted on stock photography site? How much can we improve these old photos? How much has RAW editors changed - very old Lightroom vs new.
and don't forget about vintage lenses! Maybe try to pair vintage lens with Canon 300D? :)
Yes, that could all be fun! As for lenses, what would you put onto the 300D? The lens of that era was the first EF-S 18-55 which wasn't particularly exciting!
I wasn't even born yet when this camera launched. As for the images, it seems like we have entered the era of images looking like they were captured using something fairly modern (under ideal lighting conditions at least). The biggest giveaway that this is an older camera is the horrific amounts of chromatic aberration and fringing. I guess now we need to wait for the era of cameras where lenses were better designed.
Also with regard to fringing, would shooting in raw then using lightroom (assuming it can read the format) fix the fringing or would that degrade the image even more considering the format is a really old raw one?
That's an excellent question regarding the correction on RAW files and the answer is I haven't tried that yet, but I'll give it a go. As you suspect, most modern cameras and lenses employ a LOT of software correction to compensate for a variety of evils, and this is where older models miss out. It was also a long zoom range for 2001.
Nice!
Good work! :)
Thanks!
My first "real" digital camera was the Olympus 2100uz. Great photos even for just 2mp, 10x optical zoom, and more... the only disadvantage was it used those smart memory cards that disappeared completely not long after.
It sports a CYGM filter too, so esentially a subtractive/additive colour science very similiar to a Eastman Kodak film stock. You can feel that in the density of the colour.
Yeah, I should do some side-by-side comparisons of different CFAs
@@DinoBytes if you’ve done a Kodak Nikon F5 DCS 720 let me know that’s the last CYYM CFA camera on the market.
I love these retro reviews. It's not all about the Mega-Pixel count.... Stills look fine... video may not be good enough these days.
however in a retro way, the video can be quite fun!
The photos are amazing Gordon except the flower which seems a bit blown out. I need one and they aren't cheap!
Yeah, these ones are quite hard to find at good prices
BTW Gordon, I used to Own Canon Pro1, I had Canon SX1, S3IS, S5IS, S10, Sx20, Sx30, Sx40 (current), SX60(current)... I used to own G series from G2-g15.... Amazing lovely canon cameras. I have too much assortment of various brands of old cameras too! My first dslr was the Canon 300D ... So much memories...~~~
Do you still use any of them? I'll be doing a review of the Pro1 soon!
@@DinoBytes Currently I have around 32 Digital cameras. Some oldies apart from others collection mainly from (2012-2014) which are my favorite ones would be Canon S5IS Olympus C8080, Kodak P880(Awesome rare camera with really true to live photos), Konica Minolta A2, Minolta A200, Panasonic FZ50, Leica Dlux (similar to FZ50)... Old Micro4/3 GF1, GF2, olympus ep2...etc .
Looking forward for the Pro1 review! Its the only 1 of its kind with L lens!
I cut my teeth on a 4 MP PowerShot G2 and an IBM microdrive. Great memories - I put together enough of a corporate portfolio using that rig to secure a pretty decent multimedia contract that lasted over 6 years of full time work. Thanks Canon! 😃
II have the G1 here and intend to make a video about all the models!
@@DinoBytes Fantastic! I look forward to these. I think vintage digital will become a thing. Maybe it already is and you’re just way ahead of the curve. I’ve seen great photographers rave about the sensor in the original Fuji Xpro1 and xe1. The XT1 sensor is also legendary.
And yes, I miss the days when Canon threw all known technologies in their prosumer models! It enabled some of us to make a decent living with relatively inexpensive gear.
@@LyndonPatrickSmith yeah, it'd be interesting if the trend for vintage film cameras turns into one for vintage digital! It would have to be certain models though that still worked easily today as many are very hard to use now. I hope it does happen!
@@DinoBytes Twenty years is a long time and I forgot who (Fred Miranda?) posted images taken with his new G1 on DPreview and many of us found them good enough to buy one. I did and a few months later, the Canon D30 (including the IBM microdrive too).
My first one was a BenQ DC E300 point and shoot. Pretty awefull, but did the trick on my first solo vaccation in London when I was younger.
Hope you still have those images!
@@DinoBytes I do. And I made a photo book with them
@@danielhenzphotography nice one!
That is the Minolta-est looking Canon I've ever seen.
I'm split between thinking 2001 wasn't that long ago and being surprised that canon already had things like IS, electronic viewfinders, and raw files in a PowerShot.
That moire in the video though, oof. Also I was dying for you to do a whip pan to see how bad the rolling shutter is 😃
As it has a CCD sensor there is no rolling shutter effect.
Believe it or not, the G1 had everything apart from IS a year earlier!
As I watch these videos in order the photo capabilities are becoming more and more ‘acceptable’ as the cameras progress. But I remember the early video capabilities being exactly as your example, and such tinny audio. That’s how video capabilities on mobile phones remained for way too long if I remember correctly. We are spoilt nowadays!
Yeah, when presenting photos full-screen in a video like this, you'll find them looking pretty acceptable around the 3-4 Megapixel mark, although some aberrations remained visible for a while due to lack of software corrections. But video was terrible for a looong time! Panasonic's GH1 in 2009 was the first decent video hybrid.
@@DinoBytes What about Canon EOS 5D Mark II? It might not be considered a hybrid by many; however, it was the first DSLR used by many tv and cinema productions.
Wonder how the first DSLR stacks up today and what camera is was anyway
There were a few back then, the first were collaborations between Kodak and either Canon or Nikon in the mid-Nineties. I mention a couple of them in my Canon PowerShot 600 review, check it out!
Can you please review the $99 Aiptek PalmCam from 1999?
I've not heard of that one!
Wow, actually looks better than the latest smart phone cameras that are 105 megapixels of gabage
Love the design - I had a Konica dimage z6 which has a similar look
I must try and get hold of a DIMAGE soon...
@@DinoBytes I wish I had kept mine - it ran on AA batteries, and used SD cards so it wouldn’t have been a problem!
@@lim2001burger yeah, it's sad what we get rid of. I kept a lot, but also lost a lot too.
the 1:1.8" 3Mp sensor was cropped to 2.6Mp because the lens unit was designed for 1/2" sensors - the 2Mp Olympus C2100UZ used this same 10X stabilized lens unit prior to the Pro90 as canon made lenses for many makers back in those halcyon days. I get the feeling that Canon themselves were originally going to make the Pro90 a 2Mp 1/2" sensor cam and then Sony launched the 3Mp device so they made use of it.. the Sony 505V used the 505s lens hence why the same happened as the orig 505 used the 2Mp 1/2" sensor ..
I think you're right
Yeah - Canon were rife with making lenses for other cameras - IE:- the G1 lens appeared in various Casios as well as a couple of Panasonic models (Yup, Panasonic and its Leica Digilux 1 version had the G1 lens badged for themselves) so when the 10X IS zoom was made for the Olympus C2100UZ, it was an ideal platform for the Pro90 , as I say, I`m guessing that the development for the camera took too long (it may have originally been targeted to launch alongside the Olympus and be 2Mp likewise) and in the meantime, Sony launched the 3Mp 1:1.8" device and redesigning the 10X zoom would have been costly. when my C2100UZ finally died (mainboard failure) , a Pro90 owner repaired his camera with my lens ...
I found the less bulky C2100UZ to be a nicer camera despite the lack of twisty screen or CF cards (the later ill fated E100RS variant of the C2100 used CF cards and shot video) and back then taking AAs was a big benefit - it was a clever design, basically a C2020 with a canon 10X IS lens stuck on and was very popular even way out of its sell by date amongst DP review forumers - worth a review ? ....... thanks for the review as always Gordon ..
@@Adam_T Thanks! I'm trying to get hold of some Olympus models as we speak...
It was like the Cambrian period - an explosion of evolutionary weirdness.
You haven't seen the half of it yet! More unique-looking cameras to come!
Looks like the eos R at least from the grip and screen
Yes, there's some DNA there!
What about the Powershot Pro1? The First and only compact to have a L Lens? Oh God, I loved that camera.
I talk about this near the end of the video, I have one here and will be making a separate video about it soon.
@@DinoBytes Thank you so much! I should never had sold mine.
@@lrfarias my upcoming video will be just for you then!
J'ai pareille
Mais j'arrive pas à tirer mes vidéos et images. Je sais pas comment faire pour tirer les vidéos monsieur
I recall Pro1, it was said it had better image than 30D,even 400D....
I think we should put that to the test!
It had an L-grade lens.
If i have one right now how much should i sell it?
Not much I'm afraid. Most of these older cameras go for about 20-50 depending on condition and demand.
Funny thing the videos dynamic range and colors are really really good lol way better than modern canon cameras hahahha
Hmmm, not sure about that!
Phenomenal. Now do the EOS D2000 🤣👍
Thanks for commenting! Did you see my one on the PowerShot 600? I do have a D2000 body and would love to power it up, but I need a power supply for it to charge the battery... do you have one?!
@@DinoBytes 🤨 Post a picture of what you have, and if at all possible, what you need.
@@CanonEurope I have a D2000 body, but only need the AC adapter for it. It used a 3-pin circular plug that was common to all the Kodak collaborations with Canon and Nikon as well s their own branded DSLRs at the time. You can see it on this page if you scroll down to the photo of the ports: www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/Kodak/index3.htm
Algún día aprendere inglés, y podré disfrutar de contenido como este de mejor manera
Do the subtitles work?
Me again,does anyone have a "Digital nostalgia" like in analog film photos seing this pictures/video footage?🤭🤗
There is something about them!
C'mon Gordon, admit it! That's a green screen with fake sun and blue skies added! All kidding aside, an impressive machine that, once again, I paid no attention to at the time. I really wish Panasonic would update their FZ2500. That thing is an almost perfect all-around, but it needs a smaller form factor, better viewfinder and flippy screen and state of the art firmware/software. Ah well, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. 😉
We have great weather down here! But today was pretty misty.
@@DinoBytes I will take your word for it, and also be a bit envious, since it will hit 44 °C here in Tucson later today . . . 😓
2.6 Megapixels? No problem. I can just use Topaz Labs Gigapixel AI to blow it up to a 4K resolution xD
I have similar
But I can not pull my videos and pictures. I don't know how to do to shoot the videos sir
Just turn the mode dial to the movie position.
@@DinoBytes
thank you very much sir
but do we sell the cable alone, the one used to copy videos to the computer
@@tounkoudaba just get a compact flash card reader.
Where can I find that T shirt? 😍
I bought it in a shop in Barcelona! I was with Jordan Drake from dpreviewtv and he bought one too!
Thanks! Probably won’t help me here in Tasmania, but next time I’m in Barcelona I’ll keep an eye out 😂
@@TheBasementChannel ha ha! Tazzie's not that far!
Could we have modern consumer cameras with CCD sensors? I'm fairly certain most of the defects can be overcome today... They're just somehow better at producing film-like color.
Yes, that would be interesting. I suspect not though as they're terrible for video which is pretty much mandatory on a modern camera.
@@DinoBytes Are they really that bad for video? The readout speed is better than most CMOS sensors though, right?
@@xmlthegreat I always remember video / live view on CCD being a challenge 20 years ago, but you're right, tech could have evolved it to a point where it's ok now.
@@DinoBytes I think the problem was mostly about heat, wasn't it? Also they would cost way more to produce now that all still cameras switched to CMOS, unfortunately. I really like their distinctive look as well.
@@arthurvoirin6430 yes, there was a power issue as I recall...
… so really back then: the color science of Canons Pro90 is much better than the Sonys a7S III today. a perfect skin color! 😆
Hmmmm, I don't think anyone would want that video quality!
@@DinoBytes … of cause not. 😂
My Dad has one of these. Don't think it still works though.
Thanks for checking out several of my videos!
Is it just me, or these are usable picz today... Litlle software and voilla....
They're a bit flat-looking to me personally, but you can still use them of course! There's a certain look to them which might work well for some situations.
I was born in 2001 😂
Well this is what was going on when you were a little one!
Looks like you could take a great photo using a potato
I'll give that shot!
i renember that everyone laugh at t his camera back then. It was made from tresh plastic and even with this spec it was expensive and bad. Sorry but it is my opinion. You dont need to agree with me.
I don't remember anyone laughing at it - within my friends of photographers and journalists, we all thought it was pretty good.