I've had my S90 for about four days and I'm enjoying the process of getting to know all the functions and quirks. My main complaint about the camera is that it is hard for me to hold on to. The stylists at Canon decided to make it resemble a wet bar of soap. Holding the S90 steady with my large hands was a real challenge and it was saved from a few drops by the wrist strap. To get the best (but still poor) grip, I tended to put one finger right on the pop up flash, which was not a good thing when the camera decided to pop it up! I also found it a bit hard to locate the shutter button without hunting for it.
This seemed like a good time and place for some stick on friction material, so I looked through my supply of tape. I had purchased a roll of Plymouth rubber mastic tape to build up the grip of a pistol. The tape is sticky on one side and soft rubber on the other. It is black and 1.65mm thick. I found this roll at Home Depot.
I started cutting out little rectangles and sticking them on the camera where my fingers wanted to go. I carefully avoided any moving parts. I ended up with six pieces on the camera body. Two on the bottom, two on the top and two on the front. As the final touch, I put a tiny square right on the shutter button.
My S90 is transformed into an ergonomic miracle. It still goes into a pocket pretty well and because the tape is the same color as the camera it does not look too ridiculous. I prefer to think of it as customized, just like you would wrap the grip of a tennis racquet or golf club.
Mike Brown
5D, 40D, A720, S90
