We just returned from a trip overseas and brought both the S95 and the SX260. We have owned the S95 for the past 2 years and really liked the camera but we wanted to get another camera as a backup and also to get one with a higher optical zoom. We tested both cameras in multiple situations on the trip and came to the conclusion that the S95 takes better night shots but the SX260 takes better shots in the day and the 20X optical zoom is extremely useful. The S95 allows you to go full manual but the SX260 gives you many options to play with your photo taking. Overall, if I could only take one camera I would take the SX260 because the optical zoom and picture quality is great. The night photos were pretty good too but not as good as the S95 (obviously if you are planning on taking more night shots, then the S95/100 would probably be better for you). On a side note, the GPS on the SX260 sucks battery life very quickly and the camera has a difficult time finding the GPS signal (we left it off for most of the trip) 

Question: How is the zoom?
Answer: the optical zoom and picture quality is great