This category has been dominated by one camera for the past few years, the Panasonic Lumix LX3. Within the past few months, the Canon S90 and Samsung TL500 both try to steal market share away from the Lumix. All cameras are compact with fast, bright lenses – feature starting aperature sizes of f1.8 or f2.0. However, all the lenses have a different focal length. The incumbant LUMIX with a 24-60mm (f1.8-2.8), the Canon with 28-105mm (f2.0-4.9) and Samsung with a very wide 24-72mm (f1.8-2.4).

I plotted these on a graph to compare the type of coverage at each focal length It becomes quickly apparent that the Samsung offers the brightest lens at all focal lengths (lower f-stop is brighter). Canon offers the most zoom and the 3 year old LUMIX soldiering on.

If the Samsung does use the same sensor as the S90 as rumored, pairing it with such a bright, wide lens will really be fun to use. The Samsung will definitely be able to capture the most light in dark situations. The Canon will provide the most zoom. Once the Samsung hits the streets look for many sites to do comparisons of the low-light performance of both cameras.

The S90 is a camera everyone has been waiting for Canon to create for quite some time. Small, compact and fitted with a bright f2.0 lens, it competes with the Panasonic Lumix LX3 and it’s Leica brethren. With it’s 28-105mm lens (f2.0-4.9), it offers a wider telephoto range than the LX3 but not as bright. Stil, the differences should be minimal and it seems to be about $100 cheaper than the LX3.

A unique control is affixed to the base of the lens. A control ring that can be turned to change various settings on the camera, depending on what mode is selected. It harkens back to the days where you used the ring on a lens to set the aperture.

No Canadian pricing was announced. It should be in stores in late September.