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Canon have today announced the new Canon IXUS 950 IS (also known as the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS).
This 8.0 megapixel digital camera with a 1/2.5 inch CCD sensor has a 4x optical zoom, image stabilization, face detection technology (AF, AE and flash) and 2.5 inch LCD screen.
It is powered by a DIGIC III processor and has ISO of up to 1600 as well as 30 frames per second movie mode.
Get a price on the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Canon today launches the 8.0 Megapixel Digital IXUS 950 IS, an upgrade to the award-winning Digital IXUS 800 IS. Sporting a three-tone metal finish with distinctive curved lines, the Digital IXUS 950 IS comes equipped with a 4x optical zoom lens with optical Image Stabilizer and the DIGIC III image processor. Along with faster processing and advanced Noise Reduction, DIGIC III powers Canon’s Face Detection Technology and Red-Eye Correction for superb people shots.
Other key advancements include ISO 1600 with Auto ISO Shift for improved low light shooting and a 2.5” PureColor LCD screen offering enhanced colour reproduction and scratch-resistance. New creative features include Time Lapse Movie and Creative Light Effect modes.
Canon PowerShot SD850 IS Features at a glance:
• 8.0 Megapixels
• 4x optical zoom 35-140mm (35mm equivalent) UA lens with optical Image Stabilizer
• Eye-catching design with Touch Control Dial
• DIGIC III with Face Detection AF/AE/FE and
• Noise Reduction Technology
• Red-Eye Correction in playback
• 2.5” high resolution PureColor LCD
• ISO 1600 and Auto ISO Shift
• 18 Shooting modes including Creative Light Effect plus My Colors photo effects
• 30fps VGA Movies and Time Lapse Movie function
• Shortcut button for instant access to favourite functions
“Digital IXUS is where Canon’s optical heritage blends exciting design with the best of our research and development,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging, Europe. “The Digital IXUS 950 IS builds on the success of its award-winning predecessor with new technologies that will appeal to amateurs and advanced photographers alike.”
Face Detection Technology: Powering better images
Canon’s advanced DIGIC III image processor powers a range of functions related to Face Detection Technology. Face Detection AF/AE/FE automatically detects up to nine faces within a scene and optimises focus, exposure and flash exposure accordingly. Red-Eye Correction in playback uses Face Detection Technology to search through captured images and remove any red-eye it detects. Users can also perform red-eye correction manually if needed.
4x optical zoom with optical Image Stabilizer
Compact cameras are more susceptible to camera shake from handheld shots, especially in low light situations. 70 years of Canon’s optical innovation have enabled the development of lens elements that are perfectly suited to the challenges of compact photography. The Digital IXUS 950 IS employs Canon’s lens-shift optical Image Stabilizer (IS) technology to compensate for camera shake caused by unwanted hand movement. Enabling shooting at shutter speeds up to
3 stops slower than would normally be possible, the optical Image Stabilizer is particularly useful at full zoom or when using the 2cm Macro mode. The 4x optical zoom lens incorporates an Ultra-High Refractive Index Aspherical (UA) lens to achieve a focal length range of 35-140mm (35mm equivalent) without affecting the camera’s slim profile.
LCD enhancements
The high resolution (230k pixels) PureColor LCD screens gives users a number of visual benefits. Colour tones have been enhanced by 30% for vibrant, true-to-life reproduction. The wide viewing angle of the screen is complemented by an anti-reflective coating, which makes it easy to compose and review images even in brightly-lit conditions. A scratch-resistant layer provides extra protection against knocks and scrapes.
Settings for shutter speed and aperture are now displayed on the LCD during shooting. When using Auto ISO and High ISO Auto, the LCD will also display the ISO speed. These camera settings are now recorded as EXIF data for review in playback.
High ISO functionality
The Digital IXUS 950 IS incorporates ISO 1600 to facilitate flash-free shooting indoors – ideal in low-light environments where the use of flash is not desirable or appropriate, such as concert halls or galleries. A new Auto ISO Shift function prevents blur by giving users the option to boost the ISO setting – and consequently shutter speed – with a single button press, whenever the camera predicts camera shake.
New creative options
A total of 18 shooting modes are provided, including new Creative Light Effect, which uses the Image Stabilizer and a longer exposure to create user-selectable shapes – including stars, hearts and flowers - around points of light in the background of night scenes.
The Time Lapse Movie mode enables users to capture changing scenes – such as drifting clouds or a bustling city street - for accelerated playback as smooth VGA-quality movie clips. Captured at one-second or two-second intervals, a scene of two hours’ duration can be condensed to a fluid eight minute or four minute movie file. Users can also record standard VGA movies with sound at 30fps and QVGA movies with sound at 60fps.
Additional Information
Printing
The Digital IXUS 950 IS features a dedicated Print menu for quick access to direct print options. Full PictBridge support means users can print directly to any PictBridge compatible printer without the need for a PC. A Print/Share button allows one-touch printing and easy uploads to Windows or Mac systems.
Languages
With the addition of Romanian and Ukrainian, the Digital IXUS 950 IS user interface supports 25 languages: English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Simplified Chinese,Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, Greek, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Thai, Arabic, Romanian and Ukrainian.
Memory Card Support
In addition to SD and MMC memory cards, the Digital IXUS 950 IS supports the SDHC format for high-volume shooting. It comes supplied with a 32MB memory card.
Software and CANON iMAGE GATEWAY
The Digital IXUS 950 IS comes bundled with the following Canon Software:
• ZoomBrowser EX 5.8 (Windows), ImageBrowser 5.8 (Macintosh): For organising and editing images, movies and slideshows, or creating and printing digital photo albums.
• PhotoStitch 3.1: For creating panoramic photos from multiple images (Windows and Macintosh).
The bundled software supports Windows 2000 (SP4), XP (SP1/2) and Vista and Macintosh OS X v10.3-v10.4. The camera supports PTP for driverless transfer to Windows XP and Macintosh OS X, along with MTP for image and movie transfers to Windows Vista.
Purchasers of the camera are eligible for membership of CANON iMAGE GATEWAY, 100MB of online ‘personal gallery’ space for sharing stills and video with family and friends.
Optional Accessories
An optional Waterproof Case (WP-DC15) allows users to bring the camera to a depth of up to 40 metres for compelling underwater shots. Specially designed Weights (WW-DC1) are available to control camera buoyancy. Other accessories include:
• High Power Flash (HF-DC1)
• Soft Leather Case (DCC-70)
• Digital IXUS Metal and Leather Neck Straps
• Compact AC Power Adapter (ACK-DC30)
CNET has a review of the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS and writes, "Images from the SD850 IS are very impressive. Colors look accurate, there's plenty of sharpness, especially for a compact camera, and at its lowest ISO settings, we saw no appreciable noise. In fact, noise doesn't even begin to encroach until you reach ISO 200. Even then, it's just a very light covering of off-color splotches that's barely visible on computer monitors and won't show up at all in prints. Noise remains similar at ISO 400, with a just-perceptible increase that still won't mar your prints much, if at all. At ISO 800, noise becomes more pronounced, robbing some finer image detail, and adding filmlike grain to prints. Surprisingly, while darker colors become washed out at this point, there's still a fair amount of shadow detail. ... There's very little to complain about on the SD850 IS. Fans of ultracompacts, such as Sony's T-series, might complain that this Canon isn't small enough, but given its excellent image quality and speedy performance, I'm not complaining."
RegHardware has a review of the Canon Ixus 950 IS and writes, "Images are generally impressive. Colours look sharp and accurate, even at the Ixus' lowest ISO settings. There isn't any noise until you reach ISO 200, but even this is just a light covering of slightly off-colour splotches that's barely evident on computer displays and won't show on prints. It's much the same at ISO 400, with a just-about-detectable increase that still won't hash up your hard copies. Noise becomes more noticable at ISO 800 resulting in the loss of a little detail, and adding a little grain to prints. ... the Ixus 950 IS has just about everything you could possibly ask for in a compact camera all contained in a very stylish, durable three-tone metal casing."
Digital Camera Review has a review of the Canon Powershot SD850 IS and writes, "The Canon SD850 IS is a stylish, well-built compact digital camera that produces great quality images and color while requiring minimal involvement from its operator. The camera lacks manual controls, but offers a number of specialized scene modes in addition to the standard “auto” shooting mode, as well as image stabilization, up to 1600 ISO sensitivity and good shutter response time. The 4x zoom lens lacks the focal length to bring distant objects truly close, but for normal subjects the camera performs admirably."
DevHardware has a review of the Canon SD850 IS and writes, "What more can you say about a camera that has it all? I think that the average photographer out there will be happy with this one. Even professional photographers looking for a pocket camera back-up would be happy with the SD850. This camera is very user-friendly, as are most SD cameras by Canon. The only complaint I have with it is the lack of some manual controls and the only average performance. These negative aspects should be thrown out the window, though, because they are very minor and the SD850 more than makes up for them in features and image quality."
Steve's Digicams has a review of the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS and writes, "when shooting outdoors, the SD850 captures beautiful images that with good exposure and rich colors. Images are also sharp, however I did notice a bit of edge softness present along the left hand side of the frame. Image noise is average for a consumer model, just remember it will become more noticeable in your photos as you increase the sensitivity. Image quality was what I expected from a Canon model, excellent. ... we have loved Canon's Digital ELPH's since the debut of the S100 back in 2000. And, the SD850 continues their tradition of stylish and durable cameras that capture great photos with fast performance and loads of appealing features (optical IS, 8-megapixels, 2.5-inch LCD, etc.) With 8-megapixel of resolution, the printing possibilities are almost endless, from tightly cropped 4x6s to huge poster size prints! With and MSRP of US$399 or less, it may seem a but more expensive than many other 8- megapixel modes, however, I feel it offers an outstanding value for such a versatile pocket-rocket."
Trusted Reviews has a review of the Canon Digital IXUS 950 IS and writes, "As you’d probably expect for such an expensive camera, it takes very nice photos under almost any circumstances. Exposure is reliably excellent, with perfect colour rendition and surprisingly good contrast and dynamic range for a 1/2.5-in sensor. The lens is also very good, producing plenty of fine detail, with a minimum of barrel distortion at wide angle. Overall sharpness and clarity are excellent, only really slipping at the extreme corners of the frame at wide angle. Image noise isn’t really a problem, but with such a small sensor one shouldn’t expect too much. The DIGIC III processor does a good job though, and although there is visible noise from 200 ISO upwards, the overall picture quality and level of fine detail remains good even at 800. 1600 ISO is a bit of a mess though. ... The Canon Digital IXUS 950 IS is an expensive luxury camera, but there’s no doubt that the money buys solid build quality, brilliant performance and superior picture quality too. There are many other cameras that can beat it’s specification and features list for less money, but few that can match it for sheer all round class."
LaptopMag has a review of the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS Digital ELPH and writes, "On the back of the SD850 IS is a large 2.5-inch LCD with an impressive resolution of 230,000 pixels. The only time the screen stumbled was in bright daylight, where glare prevented us from seeing the LCD. Thankfully, the camera has a tiny optical viewfinder on top that lets you frame your shots in bright conditions. ... It has some image-quality issues, particularly with excessive noise when shooting at higher ISOs. But for everyday shooting, the Canon SD850 IS is a winner. It offers everything point-and-shoot users need, and in an elegant design."
Pocket-lint has a review of the Canon Digital IXUS 950 IS and writes, "The inclusion of an extra million pixels (from the 850 IS) was a worry because of its effect on unwanted image noise, thankfully however; the image quality is rather good with a couple of caveats and issues over the focus system. ... Image detail is very good overall but there are some anomalies. Detail on landscape shots is compromised when using the Landscape scene mode and on checking, I found all the auto settings for noise in the scene modes worked overtime on detail, blending it away too heavily for my liking. And another disappointment is shadow detail or rather, the lack of it. Deep shadow areas have been filled in on many of my shots, high contrast or otherwise but on the plus side, highlight detail has been handled much better."
Ken Rockwell has a review of the Canon SD850 and writes, "the SD850 has more aggressive noise reduction (NR) at high ISOs. Noise reduction doesn't remove noise; it merely smudges it to attempt to hide it while not smudging sharp edges. This leads to cartoon-looking images if overdone. The SD850 appears to have less noise (grain) at ISO 400 and above than the SD700, but the SD700 is sharper at those ISOs due to less NR. The additional NR of the SD850 lets you use one stop more ISO and have about the same apparent level of noise, but the SD850 is then softer at that higher ISO. Either camera at a lower ISO looks better than either camera at a higher ISO."
PhotographyBLOG has a review of the Canon Digital IXUS 950 IS and writes, "when it comes to low light shooting without flash it's another matter. Noise starts to creep in visibly above ISO 200, becoming more pronounced at ISO 800 and really quite intrusive at ISO 1600. That said, the IXUS 950 IS is pretty good at avoiding the effects of camera shake under such circumstances, and even at its highest ISO setting the effects are not quite as obviously Impressionistic, even 'pointilist', as some of its competitors. Generally speaking this is a camera you'll be able to leave on auto and 90% of the time be rewarded with results that you'll want to keep."
Vnunet has a review of the Canon Digital IXUS 950 IS and writes, "The photos from the camera are sharp and very colourful, though detail in highlights – for example, embroidery on a white shirt – is lost in bright sunshine. Such conditions also gave rise to occasional fringing – lines of different coloured pixels between areas of high contrast – though this was only noticeable under close inspection. And if you want to avoid image noise when taking snaps without flash, stick to ISO400 or below. For the most part the 950 IS proves itself a reliable and stylish snapper, managing the feat of appearing outwardly sophisticated while actually being very easy to use."
Digital Camera Info reviews the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS where they write - 'Great pictures are hard to put a price tag on, but Canon stuck a $399 tag on this digital camera. This is high in the price range, especially when compared with other digital cameras that have similar features. The optical image stabilization does vault the SD850 into the upper echelon in terms of its pricing; the step-down model, the SD750, has most of the same Exposure modes and components, but without the optical image stabilization and a slightly smaller lens. The SD750 costs $50 less at $349. But while the Canon SD850 IS is expensive, it does take great pictures – and those can be priceless.'
Imaging Resource reviews the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS Digital ELPH and writes - 'With an 8.0 megapixel CCD, 4x optical zoom lens, image stabilization, and a well-designed user interface, the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS takes top spot by a nose in the popular PowerShot line with a compact ELPH body style well suited for travel. Exposure remains under automatic control, something novices will appreciate, and the Canon SD850's pre-programmed Scene modes help with more tricky subjects. The SD850 is a very responsive camera, with low shutter lag in daylight conditions, and good shot-to-shot speeds. It also sports very good battery life, a very capable Movie mode, and excellent download speed. The bright 2.5-inch color LCD monitor is excellent for framing and reviewing shots, and the overall design and layout of the SD850 IS is user-friendly and hassle-free.'
Digital Camera Resource Page reviews the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS Digital ELPH and writes - "Photo quality was very good on the SD850 IS. The camera took well-exposed photos, with pleasing, accurate colors. Sharpness is right in the middle: not too sharp, not too soft (and this can be adjusted if you desire). Noise is minimal until you hit ISO 400, with the ISO 800 setting being usable for small prints (ISO 1600 on the other hand, is not). Purple fringing was not a problem. The negatives in the image quality department include noticeable corner blurriness and severe redeye, both of which are common in the ultra-compact class. While there's not much you can do about the blurriness (you won't see it in all but the largest prints, though), you can use the tool in playback mode to get rid of the redeye."
Get a price on the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Posted by Darren in our Canon category on May 07, 2007