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.
ISO 80 (100% Crop) |
ISO 100 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
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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.
Original
(100% Crop) |
Sharpened (100% Crop) |
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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:
| Chromatic
Aberrations (100% Crop) |
Chromatic
Aberrations (100% Crop) |
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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.
| Macro Shot |
Macro Shot (100% Crop) |
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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.
| Flash Off - Wide Angle (37mm) |
Auto Flash - Wide Angle (37mm) |
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| Flash Off - Telephoto (111mm) |
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.
| Flash On |
Flash On (100% Crop) |
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| Flash - Red-Eye Reduction |
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.
| Night Shot |
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.
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