Canon Digital IXUS 105 Review

3.5

March 9, 2010 | Gavin Stoker |

Buy a IXUS 105 Brown Point & Shoot Digital Camera (12.1 Megapixel - 6.9 cm 2.7" Active Matrix TFT Colour LCD - 4x Optical Zoom - 4xMicrophone)

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Buy a PowerShot SD1300 IS Silver Point & Shoot Digital Camera (12.1 Megapixel - 2.70" Active Matrix TFT Color LCD - 4x Optical Zoom - 4x)

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Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 12 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 3Mb.

Canon cameras are noted for their reliable, consistent performance, having officially become a trusted brand in the process. That said test images from the IXUS 105 were to our eyes softer than expected - lacking a very definite 'bite' and punch when left on default settings. Once again the familiar bugbear of purple fringing is present between areas of high contrast, though it's certainly no worse than competing models and only noticeable if you're actually looking closely for it. Highlight detail can also suffer in brighter shooting conditions, something that iContrast, if it happens to be activated at the time, makes worse, resulting in a slightly washed out/faded feel to the overall image.

This is nit picking however and in general terms the image quality, though average, will be sufficient for the IXUS' target market of those wanting a portable yet stylish camera for holidays and the occasional spur-of-the-moment snap.

In terms of the camera's performance in lower light conditions, again it's pretty much what you'd expect from a point and shoot model, namely a clean bill of health up until ISO 400, detail softening at ISO 800 and noise visible across the entirety of the image at ISO 1600. Noise isn't overly 'gritty' in appearance at this top setting though, so it's an option that's usable at a push.

Noise

There are 6 ISO settings available on the Canon Digital IXUS 105. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

ISO 80 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)


ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)


ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes via the My Colors menu option.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Canon Digital IXUS 105 handled chromatic aberrations quite well during the review, with some purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)	Example 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Canon Digital IXUS 105 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 3cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot	100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Canon Digital IXUS 105 are Auto, Flash On, Slow Synchro, and Flash Off, with Red-eye Correction and Red-Eye Lamp settings available via the Flash Settings main menu option. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (28mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (28mm)


Flash Off - Telephoto (112mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (112mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On or the Red-eye Correction settings caused any amount of red-eye.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)


Red-eye Correction	Red-eye Correction (100% Crop)

Night

The Canon Digital IXUS 105's maximum shutter speed is 15 seconds in the Long Shutter mode, which is good news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 1/3rd second at ISO 800. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like. The camera takes the same amount of time again to apply noise reduction, so for example at the 5 second setting the actual exposure takes 10 seconds.