Canon USA's (www.usa.canon.com)
PowerShot SD900 continues the lengthy, successful run of the popular
Digital Elph line of cameras. Priced at $499.99, it is considerably thinner
than the first Digital Elphs, and delivers an elegant and handy package
that will fit into your shirt pocket.
The PowerShot SD900 is equipped with a 3X optical zoom lens, ranging from
a wide angle of 7.7 to a telephoto focal length of 23.1mm (35mm film equivalent:
37-111mm). The camera's aperture goes from ƒ/2.8 to ƒ/4.9. My
testing revealed some problems with this very narrow aperture range. More
on this later.
The SD900's lens sits in front of a ten megapixel, 1/1.8 inch-type CCD
imager. Minimum focusing distance is 1.6 feet in Normal mode, two inches
to 1.6 feet in Macro mode, (?) when the camera is set to the Wide-angle
mode. The SD900 also features a 4X digital zoom. However. I would not recommend
using this feature, unless it is the only way you can capture the image
you want. In my opinion, the digital zoom provides an inferior image that
will not live up to your expectations.
As digital cameras have grown smaller or more compact, more and more manufacturers
have chosen to eliminate the optical viewfinder on their cameras, usually
for space and cost considerations. But Canon has taken a different path
with the PowerShot SD900. It has equipped the camera with both an optical
viewfinder and a huge 2.5-inch TFT LCD monitor, making it possible for
you to frame your shot using either feature prior to tripping the shutter.
The monitor offers you up to fifteen levels of brightness control. In testing
the camera, I was completely satisfied with monitor visibility in every
environment, except in bright sunlight. Here, the image was washed out,
as you might expect. You can compensate for this by cupping your hand over
the monitor, and then you should be able to see your image well enough.
It is important to keep in mind that using the monitor does drain down
your battery more quickly.
The PowerShot SD900 ships with Canon's NB-5L lithium ion rechargeable battery,
and comes with a battery recharger. I found that if you use the monitor
constantly to frame your shots or to review the images you have already
captured, you can expect to get anywhere from 175 to 225 shots on a full
charge. Using the monitor sparingly should net you between 600 and 700
pictures per charge. If you are planning a trip, you may want to consider
purchasing a spare battery, priced at just under $60. The charger Canon
includes is international in nature, so you can recharge it from 100V to
240V, and 50Hz to 60Hz.
The PowerShot SD900’s four different shooting modes plus its image
playback are accessed through the Mode dial on the back of the camera body.
These include the Movie mode, Auto and Manual shooting modes, as well as "Special
Scene." Auto is self-explanatory; the camera sets both the shutter
speed and aperture. Manual, however, is different on the SD900. Manual
mode on most other cameras, either film or digital, means you get to select
the shutter speed and aperture. On the SD900 it means you get to select
the ISO (sensor sensitivity), exposure compensation and white balance,
as well as one or two other features. But that is the limit of your control.
"Special Scene" allows you to select from one of eleven shooting
scenarios, oriented to specific subjects. For example, you can choose the "Beach" or "Aquarium" setting
and your camera will be set to optimize your image in that situation. You also
could decide on "Portrait" or "Snow, two shooting conditions
with diametrically opposed requirements for capturing a properly exposed image.
Movie mode makes it possible for you to select both the frame rate and
the recording pixels. A frame rate of either 30 frames per second (fps)
or 15 frames per second is available. The number of recording pixels ranges
from the lowest quality of 160 X 120 to a high resolution of 1024 X 768.
The highest resolution is available only at 15 fps.
I was most impressed with the PowerShot SD900’s ability to capture
color accurately. The camera's color fidelity is excellent for such a small
camera. For testing purposes, I used a GretagMacbeth ColorChecker (www.gretagmacbeth.com).
I looked specifically at how the camera reproduces skin tone, and at the
additive primary colors Red (R), Green (G) and Blue (B), and the subtractive
primary colors Cyan (C), Magenta (M), Yellow (Y) and Black (K). I was extremely
pleased with the results. I believe you will be too. You’ll find
that the colors reproduced by the SD900 will be just the same as you remember
them.
However, you may be disappointed with the overall appearance of your photos.
The camera is equipped with a ten-megapixel imager. In my opinion, that
is far too many pixels for such a small camera. The imager itself has to
be relatively small to fit into the camera, and the pixels respectively
smaller to cram so many of them onto a small piece of silicon.
The SD900 has an ISO range of 80 to 1600. I mentioned earlier that the
ISO is one of the few features Manual mode allows you to select. Figure
1 shows the ColorChecker as ISO 80. As the ISO setting goes up, the imager
becomes more sensitive to light and generates more and more electronic
noise, which is subsequently "captured" by
the image. And since the camera has such a small aperture range, referenced
above, you will be forced to use higher and higher ISO settings. My test
shots at ISO settings from 400 to 1600 looked increasingly splotchy, to
the point that you could play connect-the-dots at ISO 1600 and still come
up with an ugly image (Figure
2).
In the end, if you can keep the camera set to its lowest ISO settings,
you will have a good device in hand for family gatherings and vacations.
You will be happy with the convenience of the small package and its great
color reproduction. Just be alert to some of the camera’s pitfalls.
©2007 Rick Oldano
All Rights Reserved
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