Canon Powershot SD900 IS Review



Record Modes & Menus
The screen display in the Automatic record mode. Icons across the top and left indicate that
metering is Evaluative, single frame drive, auto flash, and Auto exposure mode. The image
size is Large, quality is Fine and there's space left on the SD card to take 365 more
pictures.
When the color LCD is turned on and you half-press the shutter you will see which of the
nine AF points (green rectangles) were used for the focus lock.
Manual exposure mode is like Auto in that the camera selects both the shutter speed
and aperture for a correct exposure but you now have access to a multitude of
Function and Menu options.
Manual mode Function options:
Exposure Compensation - Override the metering +/- 2.0EV in 1/3 steps White Balance - Auto, day Light, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom one-push WB set My Colors - Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, B&W, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, or Custom Color Metering - Evaluative, Center Weighted Avg., Spot Image Compression - Superfine, Fine, Normal Image Resolution - 3648x2736, 2816x2112, 2272x1704, 1600x1200, 640x480, Postcard(1600x1200), and Widescreen (3648x2048)
Manual mode MENU options:
AiAF - Face Detect, On, Off Digital Zoom - On or Off Slow Synchro - On/Off Red-Eye - On/Off Self-timer - Custom set AF Assist Beam - On or Off Review Time - Off, Hold or 2 - 10 secs Auto Category - On/Off Display Overlay - Enable or disable Grid lines, 3:2 Guide, Off or Both Date Stamp - Off, date, or date&time (only works in 3:2 Postcard mode) Long Shutter - Allows selection of a long shutter speed
When you touch the 4-way controller, this heads up menu is displayed until you lift your finger off.
To set long shutter speeds, first set Long Shutter to ON in the main menu.
In the Function menu, highlight exposure compensation then press the Menu button.
The shutter speed is displayed at the bottom of the LCD; select a value from
1 to 15 seconds using the left and right buttons of the 4-way controller.
Depress the FUNC./SET button to return to shooting mode. The LCD viewfinder's
live image provides a preview of the exposure; adjust the shutter speed for
the exposure you want.
Noise Reduction is applied for exposures of 1.3 seconds or longer.
The camera has a very respectable macro focusing mode with coverage from 2.0 in.- 1.6 ft./5-50cm (WIDE), 1-1.6 ft./30-50cm (TELE).
Scene modes are selected via the Function Menu when the mode dial is set to the SCN position.
You can choose from 11 different modes like ISO3200 shown above. These are pre-programmed to
give you the best possible pictures for a wide variety of different shooting situations. In
all Scene modes, Exposure compensation, Image compression and Image size settings are
available via the Function menu.
The Stitch Assist Panorama mode is available from the Function menu with the Mode dial in
Manual. It aids you via on-screen prompts to achieve the proper overlap of sequential photos
for later "stitching" with the PhotoStitch program. You can capture up to 26 images in either
left-to-right or right-to-left orientation. After the first picture is taken the white
balance and exposure is locked until you exit the StitchAssist mode. The use of a
tripod and a bubble level is recommended. Since the SD900 will not output video in this mode,
this screen capture was taken from the PowerShot S400
review.
You can record movie clips with audio at a variety of resolutions and frame rates. The SD900 is the first Digital ELPH to feature an XGA (1024x768) 15fps movie mode. Standard movies can be recorded at resolutions of 640x480 or 320x240 with frame rates of 30 or 15 fps. Compact movies are recorded at a resolution of 160x120 with a frame rate of 15 fps. These clips are captured in Motion JPEG format and saved as AVI files.
Both the video and audio portion of movies can be replayed on the camera thanks to the
built-in speaker. Full audio-video playback is also possible when connected to a TV
monitor or a compatible PC after downloading.
Movie mode recording options:
White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom one-push WB set My Colors - Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, B&W, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, or Custom Color Frame Rate: 30 or 15 fps Movie Size: 640x480 or 320x240
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