Pentax W90 for Portrait Photography

Is the Pentax W90 good for Portrait Photography?

Pentax W90 Portrait Photography Score

POOR

Pentax W90 has a score of 15 for Portrait Photography which makes it a POOR candidate for this type of photography. If Portrait Photography is important for you, we strongly recommend you to consider the Alternative cameras listed at the bottom of this page.
Read our detailed Pentax W90 Review

Pentax W90 Portrait Photography Detailed Analysis

Manual Focus Mode

You have to nail the focus perfectly for a good portrait shot. Compact cameras are not great at focusing at low light and complex lighting conditions, so manual focus mode is very useful at these times.

Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP

Pentax W90's 12.0MP resolution is not the best in its class but you can still manage relatively large prints of your portrait shots and crop without losing too much detail.

Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor

It is difficult to achieve that shallow depth of field and blurry background for your portrait shots with a small sensor.

No Image Stabilization

Lack of Image stabilization may result in blurry photos especially in long exposures and at long focal lengths

No RAW shooting capability

RAW files contains more color information compared to JPEGs, so it is easier to get a natural skin tone and colours during post processing, which is very important for portraits.

No External Flash Shoe

Use of External flash creates many creative lighting opportunities for portrait photography and built-in flashes are almost useless for portrait shots.

No Built-in Viewfinder

In the lack of a a viewfinder, holding the camera away from the body while using live view is not very stable, especial with heavy camera bodies and lenses. Besides, LCD screens are very hard to read under bright sunlight.

No Manual Exposure Mode

A correct exposure of portrait model is crucial. Even though modern digital cameras features advanced algorithms to calculate the right exposure, they still may fail some difficult conditions. Lack of manual exposure mode in these conditions means lot of shadow and highlight clipping.

Not so good Ergonomics&Handling

Good handling and existence of well placed physical controls on the camera body is very important during portrait shooting. It is faster and more intuitive to change the camera settings with dedicated buttons and knobs instead delving into the menus on the LCD.

You may also be interested in these reviews:

Pentax W90 for Street Photography
Pentax W90 for Sports Photography
Pentax W90 for Carrying Everywhere
Pentax W90 for Landscape Photography

Pentax W90 Alternatives in Compact cameras for Portrait Photography

Olympus XZ-2 iHS Compare W90 vs XZ-2 iHS	12 MP \| 1/1.7-inch CMOS Sensor 28-112 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #314 Rank in Compact Cameras: #12
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability 90 Overall Score	Portrait Street Sports Daily Landscape

Olympus XZ-10 Compare W90 vs XZ-10	12 MP \| 1/2.3-inch BSI-CMOS Sensor 26-130 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #443 Rank in Compact Cameras: #32
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability 95 Overall Score	Portrait Street Sports Daily Landscape

Canon G16 Compare W90 vs G16	12 MP \| 1/1.7-inch BSI-CMOS Sensor 28-140 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #302 Rank in Compact Cameras: #6
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability 90 Overall Score	Portrait Street Sports Daily Landscape

Canon G15 Compare W90 vs G15	12 MP \| 1/1.7-inch CMOS Sensor 28-140 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #422 Rank in Compact Cameras: #27
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability 90 Overall Score	Portrait Street Sports Daily Landscape

Nikon P7800 Compare W90 vs P7800	12 MP \| 1/1.7-inch BSI-CMOS Sensor 28-200 mm Lens	Rank in All Cameras: #248 Rank in Compact Cameras: #1
	Imaging Features Value for Money Portability Overall Score	Portrait Street Sports Daily Landscape

Olympus XZ-2 iHS

Olympus XZ-10

Canon G16

Canon G15

Nikon P7800