The PowerShot SD900 is among Canon's pricier Digital Elph compact cameras. For $450 (as of February 15, 2007), you get a tough, attractive titanium body equipped with a generous 10-megapixel sensor, though the camera does lack a few of the high-end features available in its siblings.
Canon PowerShot SD900 Digital Camera (10.4MP, 3548x2736, 3x Opt, 32MB Internal Memory, SD/MMC/SDHC)

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- Spec Navigator
- Digital Format
- Display
- Exposure
- Image Processor
- Included Hardware
- Included Software
- Lens
- Shutter
- Storage
- LCD Screen
- Exposure Controls
- Dimensions
- Power
- Flash
- Lens Features
- Connectivity
- Other Features
Image Processor
| Number of image sensor pixels | 10 megapixels |
| Image sensor | CCD |
| Maximum horizontal image resolution | 3648 |
| Maximum vertical image resolution | 2736 |
| Image sensor quantity | 1 |
| Image format | JPEG |
| White balance | 0 |
Lens
| Accessory Lens | No |
| Lens Model | 3X Canon Zoom Lens |
| Telephoto Aperture Maximum | 4.9 mm |
| Wide-Angle Aperture Maximum | 2.8 mm |
Exposure Controls
| Maximum shutter speed | 2000 |
| Minimum shutter speed | 15 |
| Bulb setting | 0 |
| ISO equivalencies |
|
| Exposure settings | 0 |
| Exposure compensation range | 0 |
| Number of scene modes | 11 |
- Lab Tested
- How We Test Cameras »
Pros
Accurate portraits using face detection
Takes very sharp photos
Cons
Lacks image stabilization
High price
Bottom Line
The SD900 is high-priced and lacks a few fancy features, but face detection mode delivers attractive portraits.
Canon PowerShot SD900
PowerShot SD900 Digital Camera (10.4MP, 3548x2736, 3x Opt, 32MB Internal Memory, SD/MMC/SDHC) Review, by Paul Jasper March 13, 2007
You don't get the optical image stabilization of the SD800 IS model (which costs $400); and the lens zooms to just 3X, compared to 3.8X for the SD800 IS. The SD900's 2.5-inch LCD, meanwhile, is smaller than the SD630's 3-inch screen, but it's exceptionally bright and sharp, offering a higher resolution of 230,000 pixels. It also leaves room for a small optical viewfinder, which you'll appreciate when shooting under bright lighting conditions (the SD630 lacks a viewfinder).
The controls on the right side of the camera seemed a bit cramped, but they were easy enough to use. The manual mode doesn't give you full control over the aperture and exposure settings, but it does let you customize in several ways how the camera takes your shots. You can adjust the exposure compensation to bring out highlight or shadow detail better. A nighttime mode lets you set long exposure times. You can set contrast, sharpness, and saturation independently, and a variety of color settings are available.
Like the SD800 IS, the SD900 has a face detection feature. When the camera detects human faces in the frame, it automatically selects the best focus and exposure. A green box appears around your subject's face on the LCD when you hold the shutter release halfway. If more than one person is in the shot, the camera settles on one as the most prominent and displays gray boxes around up to two others. I was surprised at how quickly it locked onto the faces of people as they walked past my table at a local cafe. Since it picks up only human faces, it's no help for cute pet pix, but it worked well for a range of skin colors. In order for the camera to detect a face, the person must be upright and looking in your direction with both eyes in view. If a face is not recognized, the camera defaults to its regular auto-focus operation. My portraits of various friends came out well, with their faces sharp and exposed correctly. Also, I managed to avoid a problem I occasionally encounter, in which the auto-focus locks onto a strongly contrasting edge in the background instead of on my intended subject.
In tests conducted by the PC World Test Center, the SD900's 10-megapixel sensor produced exceptionally sharp photos with little distortion. The camera also earned high marks for exposure accuracy, though it performed better in natural light than with a flash. Color accuracy could have been better; the SD900 received an average score for this attribute.
Turning up the ISO sensitivity or shooting with longer exposures tends to produce digital noise with random colors in the image. As an informal test, I took a few nighttime shots with the SD900 mounted on a tripod and compared them to similar shots from a digital SLR (an 8.2-megapixel Canon EOS 30D) and an older compact camera (an 8-megapixel Canon PowerShot S80), also mounted on a tripod.
I noticed significant amounts of noise in the SD900's shots as I increased its ISO sensitivity above 400, but it performed better than the S80 at the same ISO settings (the S80 tops out at ISO 400). The 30D was far superior: Its noise level at ISO 3200 was comparable to the SD900's at ISO 400. That's probably because the 30D's sensor is much larger. You'd be wise to save the SD900's higher ISO settings for when you're forced to take a low-light shot, regardless of the results. Or you could use a high ISO when you have plenty of light and want to eliminate movement by using a faster exposure time; normally, you'd simply increase the camera's shutter speed to achieve this result, but the SD900 doesn't let you adjust shutter speed.
The SD900 comes with a 32MB SD Card that can hold only about six shots at the camera's highest resolution and quality settings. However, it does accept the new SDHC memory card format, which comes in sizes of 4GB to 32GB. The included travel charger is about the same size as the camera, with prongs that fold inward for easy portability. We averaged 257 shots on a single charge of the lithium-ion battery--a bit below the average mark for cameras we've tested.
If you're looking for the greatest number of megapixels, the SD900 won't disappoint. Until Canon adds image stabilization and a longer zoom, this should remain one of the best compact point-and-shoots around.
Paul Jasper
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- Rating Breakdown
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79
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75
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87
- See Complete Lab Results »
Performance Comparison with Similar Cameras
79
83
74
71
Performance
| Battery Life (minutes) | 140.75 |
| Battery Life Score | Good |
| Image Quality Score | Very Good |
| Image Quality, Color | 59.6 |
| Image Quality, Distortion | 61.1 |
| Image Quality, Exposure | 60.4 |
| Image Quality, Exposure--Flash | 52.4 |
| Image Quality, Exposure--Normal | 63.9 |
| Image Quality, Overall | 56.1 |
| Image Quality, Sharpness | 50.7 |
| Number of Batteries | 1 |
| Number of Shots | 257 |
Average User Reviews for Canon PowerShot SD900 Digital Camera (10.4MP, 3548x2736, 3x Opt, 32MB Internal Memory, SD/MMC/SDHC)
- Latest User Reviews 2 reviews
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Reviewed by: FabioGondim
Duration of ownership: 3 Months
Strengths: Titanium body, small size, DIGIC III processor, big sensor (and image quality), performance.
Weaknesses: IS lack that brings too noisy pics, AiFi almost unusable (better turn it off), all pictures taken at night uses slow speed shuter and couldn't be taken by free hands, small zoom (only 3x??).
Overall: I've owned some Canon and Sony digicams. I must confess that SD900 was the one that a liked less. I readed all the manuals, asked many experts but nothing could make it work properly. It's simply impossible to take photos at night or closed rooms. The shotter speed is always slow and you get an blurred image. Even if you try to take a pictur with flash 1 or 2 meters from the object, it uses shutter speeds below 1/60 sec... I didn't like it and I'm already selling it to other one who could like it. I had a great disapointment....
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Reviewed by: garymcgirr
Duration of ownership: 1 Month
Strengths: Fantastic Resolution Build quality
Weaknesses: None
Overall: Takes awesome pictures. Lack of Image stabilization has not been an issue. Great camera for its intended work - quick fantastic pictures on the go!
Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
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Reviewed by: joelkirzner
Strengths: 10MP, Compact, Titanium Body, Image Quality
Weaknesses: NO battery meter!!! Exposed LCD monitor
Overall: I absolutely love this pocket elph from canon. I especially like the 10 mp images as well as the high resolution videos.The body build is outstanding and it can definitely take a beating, although I wish it's LCD was protected by a bit of hard glass--Sony changed this on all their cybershots a few years back and it really helps. I'm always afraid I'm going to scratch or puncture the lcd.My other issue is that Canon, for whatever reason, still does not integrate a battery meter on this! It really drives me nuts and is totally ridiculous that they can't put one in. Almost every other camera I've used has one, and my old sony ones had it down to the minutes remaning. This one will start blinking that the battery is low, which means you're basically screwed within 5 or 10 minutes; therefore, buy an extra battery.Overall though, the camera takes incredible pictures and videos and I highly recommend it.
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Reviewed by: xxzab
Strengths: Small, can do SDHC memory cards, comes with well made software, easy to use
Weaknesses: the cover for the usb is a little weak but works fine
Overall: Over all this is a nice camera even thou it does not have the SI I have no bad pictures the pictures are very clear and the indoor ones turn out well too. Just read the manuals before use and you should not have any problems.
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Reviewed by: WeQuick
Strengths: Amazing pictures, beautiful video quality, titanium casing.. you name it , I LOVE it !
Weaknesses: None !
Overall: I was having a very hard time when choosing a camera and looked for over a month before I finally made my decision. I finally came down to trying to decide between the Canon SD800IS and the SD900 ... I liked the fact that the SD800IS had Image-Stabilization and .8 more zoom,but I liked the titanium casing, 10MP, longer zoom (the SD800IS has more zoom, but not as long, it is more wide-angle) and the SD900 has way better video quality. I came to the conclusion that the SD900 was actually only a little bit shaky at its longest zoom so I tried them both in store and I just shot the picture with a little less zoom on the SD900. I enlarged it on the computer and it looked better then the picture from the SD800IS because of the extra megapixels. I guess the only little complaint I could make is the stupid memory card that comes with the camera... You can only fit like 4 pictures on it ... I had bought an extra 2GIG SD card at the time of purchase anyway, but would have been very disappointed if I hadn't. I have only grown more attached to this camera since I purchased it and have gotten many compliments on the amazing quality of my pictures from people who had no idea I had just bought a new camera...
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Reviewed by: wccarrolljr
Strengths: Light and compact enough to fit into shirt pocket. Great pictures!!
Weaknesses: No real weakness that I have found, so far.
Overall: Great camera. Small and light, but strong, enough to put in your shirt pocket for easy access. The only slightly negative thing to say is that it shipped with a small 32 MB memory card. A camera like this should have come with 1 GB.
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Reviewed by: Elixer
Strengths: Very Durable, Lightweight, Small, Good Features, Many Features, Mega pixels, Screen size
Weaknesses: No Image-Stabilization
Overall: This camera is probably the best I have ever had, it is small enough to fit in your pocket, but large enough to be able to have a great sized screen. The only thing that the camera lacks is Image-Stabilization. With certain modes, the camera can become very sensitive to the smallest shake, causing a slight blur, and reducing the clarity of the image, but the large sized pictures makeup for it, being able to resize a picture and reduce the blur. I use programs like Photoshop and Picasa so this camera compliments them finely. I suggest you get this camera if it is in your price range, because it really is great.
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