I confess. I ordered a new camera last week. I ordered it on Thursday from B & H, a New York store and one of the most reliable online sources of photo equipment.

It’s nothing fancy, a Canon S100, essentially the current generation of the little “carry everywhere” camera I’ve been using for several years, the Canon S90.

Here’s one of the first series of photos taken with the new camera. And just click on the photo for several more taken the same morning.

Here’s a very quick review. The S100 is about the same size as the S90, same height and length, but a tad bit skinnier. That little decrease in depth makes a surprising difference, and the camera feels smaller by comparison.

The biggest difference in “feel”, though, is the black matt finish of the S100. You notice it right away. It feels good in your hand, if that makes sense.

The S100 feels faster and more responsive than the S90, no surprise, as there’s been an update to the hardware/software that processes the digital images.

It doesn’t appear that Canon has messed around with the various controls much, if at all, except for the addition of a button that goes directly to video mode without having to select the video function from a menu. And video has been much improved, now capturing full high definition. I think I also read that video includes stereo sound, although I’ve only taken one or two short video snippets and haven’t figured out how to verify the stereo claim.

The S100 images are slightly high resolution than those of the S100, although with small cameras like this, the higher resolution isn’t always a plus. In this case, though, it seems Canon’s new sensor does a good job.

Reviews have criticized the S100 for short battery life. So far, with its built-in GPS turned off, I haven’t noticed the difference. But I yet had a chance to use it enough to really challenge the battery.

–> View all of today’s sunrise photos.