Head to head · Canon PowerShot S series

Canon PowerShot S95 vs S100: what changed, and which one to buy

On the evidence of the reviews we have read, the S100 is the better camera and the S95 is the better-known one. The S100 swapped the S95's 10-megapixel CCD for a 12.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, stretched the lens from 28-105 mm to 24-120 mm, and added 1080p video and GPS; reviewers found it cleaner in low light. It cost more at launch, matched the S95's short battery life, and was not faster in the reviewers' timings. Buy the S100 for the lens, the video and the low-light gain; buy the S95 if you find a good one cheaply or want the camera buyers call a cult favourite.

By the Digicam Atlas team · Last updated 20 October 2026 · Built only from our sourced reviews and the sources they cite · We have not tested these cameras ourselves

Canon PowerShot S95: full review · Canon PowerShot S100: full review · Our S90 review, the camera before both

What you will not find in any single review

• Is the S100 really better in low light?
• Is the S100 any faster to use?
• Why a spare battery matters more than anything else
• What did each cost, and what do they fetch now?

Side by side

Size figures come from different outlets and may be measured differently (the S100's include protrusions). For context, the S90 launched in October 2009, was rated at about 220 shots, and shot standard-definition video at $429.99.^1,5,7

What actually changed between the S95 and the S100?

A little over a year separates the two, but the jump is larger than the one from the S90 to the S95. PhotographyBLOG described the S95 as a camera that fixed nearly everything wrong with the S90, mainly the lack of HD video and the high price.⁷ Imaging Resource listed a modest set of changes: 720p video, SDXC support, an HDR scene mode, a Hybrid stabiliser, and a swap of the Power and Ring Function buttons.⁵ The S100 changed the parts that matter more, and Cameralabs said it brought many more changes over the S95 than the S95 had made over the S90.³

What changed: a new 12.1-megapixel CMOS sensor and the DIGIC 5 processor instead of a 10-megapixel CCD and DIGIC 4;^1,2 a 5x zoom from 24 to 120 mm in place of a 3.8x zoom from 28 to 105 mm;^1,3 1080p video instead of 720p;^5,8 built-in GPS;² and a grip, which Cameralabs said made the S100 easier to hold than the S95.³

What did not change: the f/2.0 aperture at the wide end, a sensor of the same 1/1.7-inch size, a lens ring, raw files and full manual exposure, a 3.0-inch screen of about 460,000 dots, and no viewfinder.^5,3,2 The battery rating also stayed where it was, at about 200 shots, and that is the point where a buyer is most likely to be disappointed (see below).

Is the S100 really better in low light?

Yes, but by less than Canon's numbers suggest. Canon claimed that the new sensor and processor gave one quarter of the S95's noise at ISO 1600, equal to the S95 at ISO 400 by its own measurements.² That is a two-stop claim. PhotographyBLOG's Mark Goldstein reviewed both cameras. He called the S95's usable range ISO 80 to 800,⁷ and the S100's ISO 80 to 1600 perfectly usable.⁸ On one reviewer's yardstick that is one stop, half of Canon's claim. The yardsticks are not identical (one is a manufacturer's measurement, the other a judgement of what looks acceptable), so treat the gap as somewhere between one and two stops.

The other reviewers point the same way without giving a comparable number. Expert Reviews wrote that the S100 produced the lowest noise it had seen from a conventional compact, with a slight loss of fine detail at ISO 1600 and a grainy but usable ISO 6400.⁴ Imaging Resource had rated the S95's noise as better than average, with good 13 by 19 inch prints from ISO 80 to 400.⁵ Cameralabs found S100 video at ISO 800 and f/2.0 indoors impressively clean for the sensor size.³

The lens complicates the picture. Both open to f/2.0 at the wide end, but the S95 is f/4.9 at 105 mm and the S100 f/5.9 at 120 mm.^1,2 By our arithmetic that is about half a stop less light at the long end, with the S100 reaching 15 mm further. PhotographyBLOG made the same point in plain words: the S100's f/2.0 applies only at the wide end.⁸ The S100 also starts wider, at 24 mm against 28 mm.^1,3

Is the S100 any faster to use?

Not in the numbers the reviewers published. Imaging Resource found the S95 sluggish: a wide-angle shutter lag of 0.64 seconds, about 2.6 seconds per shot and a flash that needed six seconds to recycle.⁵ Expert Reviews, testing the S100, called it slow for its price at 2.4 seconds to switch on and shoot and about 2.5 seconds between shots.⁴ The test methods differ and the outlets are different, so this is not a stopwatch comparison. It does show that neither reviewer found the newer processor made the camera feel quick. Our reading is that Canon spent DIGIC 5 on noise and video, not on shot-to-shot speed.

Why a spare battery matters more than anything else

Imaging Resource rated the S95 at about 200 shots, down from the S90's 220.⁵ Canon's rating for the S100 is also about 200 shots under the CIPA standard.^2,4 So across the three cameras the sequence is 220, 200, 200, and the S100 has a satellite receiver that Cameralabs warned would add to battery use.³ PhotographyBLOG named poor battery life as one of three things, with price and flash control, that kept the S100 from its Essential award.⁸

The batteries are different models, the NB-6L in the S95 and the NB-5L in the S100,^1,2 so a spare bought for one is not automatically a spare for the other. Check the code on the cell before you buy.

Video: from a spec-sheet item to something you might use

On the S95, 720p at 24 frames a second was a new feature, but PhotographyBLOG pointed out that neither the optical zoom nor autofocus worked while filming.^5,7 On the S100 the same reviewer called 1080p with continuous autofocus, stereo sound and full use of the zoom the icing on the cake.⁸ Expert Reviews was less generous. It limited clips to 16 minutes, found that exposure and focus settings were ignored in movie mode, and heard the lens motors in quiet scenes, though it also noted slow-motion modes up to 240 frames a second.⁴ If video matters at all, the S100 is the camera of the two to pick.

What did each cost, and what do they fetch now?

PhotographyBLOG's launch prices give a tidy series: the S90 at $429.99, the S95 at $399.99 and the S100 at $429.99 in the US, with the same pattern in pounds and euros (S90 at 449 pounds and 519 euros, S95 at 399 and 479, S100 at 439 and 509).^7,8 Imaging Resource put the S95 about $30 below the S90.⁵ In other words the S95 was the cheap one, and the S100 went back to the S90's price. PhotographyBLOG listed price first among the reasons the S100 missed its top award.⁸ (Other outlets quote different UK prices for the S90, so we use one outlet for this comparison.)

The market has since flipped the order. A B&H buying guide calls the S95 a cult camera, says its writer paid $130 for one in 2023, says the going rate has more than tripled since, and suggests the S100 as the cheaper, less loved alternative.⁹ That is a retailer's guide, not sales data. We do not print used prices, because eBay's licence forbids deriving them; the sold-listing links below show what each one fetches today.

Handling: grip, rings and the flash

The S95 had no grip, and its pop-up flash rose into the user's finger.^5,7 Imaging Resource still liked it: the swapped buttons were a necessary fix and there was now room for the thumb on the rear dial.⁵ The S100 added a thin plastic bar on the front and a rubber thumb rest on the back;³ Expert Reviews praised its two rings, one around the lens and one around the navigation pad, and said exposure changes were quicker than on most mirrorless cameras.⁴ PhotographyBLOG wanted more control over the S100's flash.⁸ Neither camera has a viewfinder, so think about how you feel composing on a screen outdoors.

Who should buy which?

Choose the S100 if you want the wider and longer lens, 1080p video you can zoom during, GPS tags on your pictures, and the better low-light result of the two. Carry a spare NB-5L and turn GPS off when you do not need it, as Cameralabs advised.³

Choose the S95 if you find one in good order for clearly less than an S100, or you want the model with the reputation.⁹ Know what you give up: the longer lens, GPS, and a video mode that can zoom and refocus while it records.⁷

The S95 has a CCD and the S100 a CMOS sensor.^1,2 None of the sources we read describes a difference in the look of the pictures that follows from that, so we do not claim one. We have not tested either camera ourselves.

What the reviewers said at the time

What to check before you bid

• S95. The lens ring should turn cleanly and the rear dial click properly; the flash should rise and retract.⁵
• S100. The lens should extend and retract cleanly with quiet motors, both rings should turn smoothly, and GPS is worth switching off.^4,3

Looking for one?

• PowerShot S95: Recent sold prices on eBay Live eBay listings Canon NB-6L battery on Amazon
• PowerShot S100: Recent sold prices on eBay Live eBay listings Canon NB-5L battery on Amazon

Affiliate links: we may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We print no used-camera prices; the sold listings show what these actually fetch.

New to the jargon (CCD, ISO, xD cards, IXUS vs ELPH)? Read our plain-English digicam glossary. Card questions: memory card guide. All comparisons.

Sources

These are the original sources our reviews were built from. We have not tested these cameras ourselves; where we do arithmetic or draw a reading of our own, the text says so.

1. Canon Camera Museum: PowerShot S95 (specifications, S90 lineage, HS System, marketing date)
2. Canon Camera Museum: PowerShot S100 (launch text, specifications, marketing date)
3. Cameralabs, Canon PowerShot S100 review by Gordon Laing (23 Dec 2011)
4. Expert Reviews, Canon PowerShot S100 review by Ben Pitt (16 Dec 2011)
5. Imaging Resource, Canon S95 review by Shawn Barnett and Zig Weidelich with overview by Mike Tomkins (1 Oct 2010)
6. Canon Asia: What SDHC/SDXC memory cards are compatible with this camera? (page dated 22 Aug 2013)
7. PhotographyBLOG, Canon PowerShot S95 review by Mark Goldstein (1 Sep 2010)
8. PhotographyBLOG, Canon PowerShot S100 review by Mark Goldstein (24 Nov 2011)
9. B&H eXplora, “How to Succeed at the Digicam Trend Without Over-Buying” (a retailer's buying guide)
10. TechRadar, Canon PowerShot S95 review (page dated 29 Jul 2011)