Canon's premium compact from 2010 — the PowerShot S95 with f/2.0 lens and RAW shooting.
The Canon PowerShot S95 is a premium pocketable compact from Canon's S-series enthusiast line, introduced in 2010 as the successor to the S90. It offers extensive manual control and RAW capture in a genuinely shirt-pocket-sized body, competing with the Panasonic LX5 and Olympus XZ-1 at launch.
The S95 uses a 10-megapixel 1/1.7-inch CMOS sensor paired with a 3.8x optical zoom covering 28–105mm equivalent, with a lens control ring enabling quick exposure adjustments, IS optical stabilisation, RAW+JPEG capture, 720p HD video, a built-in ND filter, and exposure modes down to full manual.
The control ring around the lens barrel is the S95's distinctive ergonomic feature — it can be assigned to ISO, aperture, exposure compensation or other settings, enabling rapid adjustment without menu navigation. The f/2 maximum aperture at 28mm is exceptionally fast for a pocketable compact and provides meaningful low-light and shallow-depth-of-field capability. RAW capture supports full post-processing control.
Test the lens control ring for smooth rotation and accurate detent response. Verify RAW capture and confirm it functions correctly with current editing software. Check the built-in ND filter operation. Test IS effectiveness. Inspect the battery compartment for corrosion and note this model predates WiFi connectivity.