Just like the Sony WX50 the Canon Powershot ELPH 190 is another little pocket camera that is limiting and no frills; but I like it a lot more then I should.
This camera is the last of the ELPH series Canon made in 2016; and you can still find them new on store shelves on at times. It is also the last Canon Camera to have a CCD sensor. CCD sensors may have met a swift end in the early 2010s in DSLR Cameras, but they live on in pocket cameras even to this day in cheaper brands (IE Kodak, Vivitar) that still make Digital Cameras.
The ELPH 190 has a 1/2.3" 20MP CCD Sensor, one pretty standard for its class. Its small, sleek and has a solid 10x optical Zoom (which I didn't use much in this test due to it being winter but I have from photos taken with it in the past). It also marked the end of an era (mostly) for low-end budget pocket cameras. Higher end pocket cameras from major brands like the Sony RX100, Canon GXx series and Panasonic ZS200 would press on and are still made today. However the era of the under $200 brand new pocket camera of major brands is coming to an end.
I bought this camera in 2019 as a Birthday present for myself. It was available in blue which happens to be my favorite color and brought a splash of color to my otherwise gray and black pocket camera shelf.
Unlike the Sony WX50 this camera doesn't have any sort of AI processing in it. However with its CCD sensor it gets really vibrant high contrast photos so long as you have good lighting. This is where the camera shines. Unfortunately this week I didn't get outdoors much, so most of my test shots below are really pushing the camera's limit indoors instead and aren't quite as good as the camera is when being taken to an outdoor shoot.
The Canon Powershot ELPH 190 is very quick and responsive which are a must for a camera that was once a daily carry. There is no real startup, shutdown or shutter delay. Turn on, point, shoot, turn back off and put in it's belt case and move onto the next shot. The 10x zoom is also really quick to span its entire range so I have zero complaints about its performance- something I have already ran into with a few of the cameras I reviewed so far (and have many more in my collection that are going to be far far less responsive then this camera is).
This camera was a stop-gap in my pocket everyday carry after my Panasonic LX100 died and I was less then impressed with its replacement (A Sony RX100 mark I). There were two major features this camera had that I looked for its replacement as a daily shooter by my Panasonic ZS100 in 2020: a 10X Zoom and wifi transfer. Both of these made this little camera very versatile in the field in spite of its shortcomings (that the 1" sensor ZS100 overcomes somewhat). It had a great zoom range for Street Photography, could do limited nature photography in a pinch, and I could transfer photos to touch up on to my phone and post up in the field.
It's a basic camera: It can't shoot RAW (without the CHDK custom firmware), shoot in any Manual or Priority modes, and has a very limited usable ISO due to it's sensor. The lens isn't that fast but it does have a good range and is sharp enough to render images from it's sensor well. It's not going to win any awards but for a basic throw in the car camera to go anywhere it does a fairly solid job.
And now here's some photos that really test this camera's limits. All things considered it still did a decent job with these mostly indoors photos. It's not a great camera at all for taking action photos, but knowing it's limits in this regard it can still be used to get some fun creative content to take advantage of its higher resolution CCD sensor.
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