Overall this camera is very well designed and its going to be the right choice for a lot of people. The falling prices, increasing user friendliness, and growing availability of older generation DSLR cameras is going to challenge the S9000 for its more advanced buyers, but for the hobbyist and general consumer who is looking to take some great shots, its a smart pick.

Positives: Excellent image quality. Excellent colours. 28 mm equivalent wide angle. 10.7X zoom. Powerful flash. High resolution EVF. Adjustable monitor. xD and CompactFlash I/II slots. Excellent ergonomic design. Negatives: Image corners less sharp than the centre with wide angle shots. Compression a touch too strong at the highest JPEG image quality. Not enough compression choices. No image stabilization system. Bundled software does not take advantage of the RAW format.

In conclusion, then, the S9000 is a camera that promises much, and for the most part delivers on that promise. I think it’s stretching credulity a little to suggest it’s a direct competitor for an entry-level SLR system, but for many users the image quality differences will be marginal compared to the appeal of live preview and so on. Good, very good in fact; not perfect, but then what camera is?

For a retail price of $699, there are certainly easier models to use that take great pictures. And there is always the option to upgrade. Consumers can now purchase DSLRs online for around $700

The S9000 looks like an SLR, and in some respects it performs like one. If you don’t want to fool with interchangeable lenses (or you prefer framing shots with an LCD panel), and you don’t need the gee-whiz features found on other advanced models, the S9000 is a good compromise. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that you can get an SLR for only a little more.