Canon Digital IXUS 900 Ti Review
(also known as the Canon Powershot SD900)
Review Date: February 13th 2007
Author: Gavin Stoker
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were captured using
the Superfine JPEG setting with the large (3648 x 2736/10M)
image size option producing a file that is between 2-4Mb.
Noise
The Canon Digital IXUS 900 Ti has 7 ISO settings. The Canon
Digital IXUS 900 Ti's 80-3200 ISO range should enable photographers
enough flexibility to capture images in both bright and dull
illumination. Noise creeps in at ISO 800, and lends shots
an Impressionistic feel at ISO 1600 (so steer clear). Selecting
the ISO 3200 equivalent option in scene modes produces a less
noisy image than ISO 1600, curiously, if only because a lot
of detail is ‘smoothed out' to compensate. Here are some 100%
crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.
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 at the
default setting are just a little on the soft side and benefit
from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop.
Alternatively you can change the in-camera sharpening level
if you don't like the default results.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Canon Digital IXUS 900 Ti performed well. If we're being
picky there's some pixel fringing visible between areas of
high contrast. Here is a 100% crop which shows the typical
chromatic aberrations that you can expect:
Macro
The Canon Digital IXUS 900 Ti offers a Macro setting that
allows you to focus on a subject that is 5cms away from the
camera. The first image shows how close you can get to the
subject in Macro mode (in this case a compact flash card).
The second image is a 100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the Canon Digital IXUS 900 Ti are Auto,
On, Auto Red-eye Reduction, Slow Synchro and Off. These shots
of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.
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Auto Flash - Telephoto (111mm) |
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And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither
the Flash On setting or the Red-Eye Reduction option caused
any red-eye.
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Flash On (100% Crop) |
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Flash - Red-Eye Reduction (100%
Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Canon Digital IXUS 900 Ti maximum shutter speed is 15
seconds in Long Shutter Mode, which is good news if you're
interested in night photography. The shot below was taken
using a shutter speed of 1/8th second, aperture of f/2.8 at
ISO 1600. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what
the quality is like.
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Night Shot (100% Crop) |
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Overall Image Quality
Utilising the new face detection feature didn't make a great
deal of difference if I'm being honest, as there's the tendency
of the user to pre-focus on the subject – and obviously a
face if taking a portrait – before fully pressing the shutter
button anyway. But it's another talking point. Although some
highlight detail was occasionally lost during our test due
to the harshness of the low winter sun, on the whole the Canon
Digital IXUS 900 Ti made a decent fist of exposure, with metering
being pretty spot on. As expected from previous use of Canons,
colours are naturalistic bordering on warm, especially when
it comes to skin tones, which is no bad thing. And of course
there's the added ability to adjust these in camera if so
wished. If we're being picky there's some pixel fringing visible
between areas of high contrast, but that again was expected.
There's plenty of detail here, particularly visible when taking
macro images. Used almost exclusively as the point and shoot
it is intended to be, the Canon Digital IXUS 900 Ti delivered
impressive results when it came to both while balance and
choosing ISO settings. The latter deliver acceptable results,
though noise creeps in at ISO 800, and lends shots an Impressionistic
feel at ISO 1600 (so steer clear). Selecting the ISO 3200
equivalent option in scene modes produces a less noisy image
than ISO 1600, curiously, if only because a lot of detail
is ‘smoothed out' to compensate. Summing up, there is little
here to fault when it comes to image performance. Despite
the lack of optical stabilization, I got surprisingly few
blurred images, even when shooting at night. If you're after
crisp, colourful images that stay just the right side of realistic,
the Canon Digital IXUS 900 Ti delivers.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Canon Digital IXUS
900 Ti have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
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