Canon S90 vs Canon SX160 IS

The following is a detailed assessment of the Canon S90 versus Canon SX160 IS, former is a Small Sensor Compact while the other is a Small Sensor Superzoom and they are both manufactured by Canon. There exists a noticeable gap among the sensor resolutions of the S90 (10MP) and SX160 IS (16MP) and the S90 (1/1.7") and SX160 IS (1/2.3") provide different sensor dimensions.

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The S90 was launched 4 years prior to the SX160 IS which is a fairly sizable difference as far as camera technology is concerned. Each of the cameras have the same body design (Compact).

Before getting straight to a complete comparison, here is a short synopsis of how the S90 scores against the SX160 IS in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall mark.

Below is a sample of the gallery pics for Canon PowerShot S90 & Canon PowerShot SX160 IS. The complete galleries are provided at Canon S90 Gallery & Canon SX160 IS Gallery.

If you're intending to travel with your camera, you are going to need to think about its weight and volume. The Canon S90 provides physical measurements of 100mm x 58mm x 31mm (3.9" x 2.3" x 1.2") along with a weight of 195 grams (0.43 lbs) while the Canon SX160 IS has sizing of 111mm x 73mm x 44mm (4.4" x 2.9" x 1.7") with a weight of 291 grams (0.64 lbs).

See the Canon S90 versus Canon SX160 IS in our newest Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Bear in mind, the weight of an ILC will differ dependant on the lens you are working with at that time. Below is a front view sizing comparison of the S90 compared to the SX160 IS.

Factoring in dimensions and weight, the portability score of the S90 and SX160 IS is 92 and 86 respectively.

Sometimes, it is difficult to visualize the gap in sensor dimensions simply by going through a spec sheet. The image here will help offer you a far better sense of the sensor measurements in the S90 and SX160 IS.

As you can see, each of the cameras have different resolutions and different sensor dimensions. The S90 due to its larger sensor is going to make achieving shallower DOF simpler and the Canon SX160 IS will produce more detail utilizing its extra 6 Megapixels. Greater resolution can also allow you to crop images a bit more aggressively. The more aged S90 will be behind in sensor tech.