Canon Digital IXUS 870 IS review

Performance
As for performance, the 870 IS is fractionally slower than the first-rate 860 IS. Time to first shot is 1.2 seconds and you can shoot again in 1.9 seconds. Shutter lag was great -- just 0.4 seconds in bright conditions and 0.8 in dim. The only marked decrease in speed is if you're using the flash: the shot-to-shot time extends to 3.2 seconds, which is a generally slow time and nearly a second longer than the 860. The typical burst speed is a respectable 1.4 frames per second. The 76mm (3-inch) Canon PureColor LCD II performed well in direct light and has a wide viewing angle.

More impressive than the SD880 IS's speed is the picture quality. Colours were always natural and vibrant. White balance was accurate and pictures showed good detail and sharpness at ISO 200 and below. Also, if you take a lot of landscape photos, note that the 870 IS is prone to fringing. Video is better than average considering it tops out at 640x480 pixels.

Image quality starts to noticeably degrade at ISO 400 showing detail loss, image softening and noise. There's so much noise at ISO 1,600 that even at small sizes they wouldn't be useful

Worth noting, too, is Canon's new Intelligent Contrast setting (i-Contrast) that theoretically just opens up shadow areas. It can be applied either automatically when you're shooting or after during playback. We recommend using it only in playback as more often than not it lightened the entire image, not just dark areas. In playback you can apply the effect in gradual levels as well and create a copy, whereas the camera decides on the level if you shoot with it on.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time (flash)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (dim)

Shutter lag (typical)

Canon Digital IXUS 860 IS

0.9 

2.4 

1.6 

0.7 

0.4 

Canon Digital IXUS 870 IS

1.2 

3.2 

1.9 

0.8 

0.4 

Kodak EasyShare M1033

1.7 

2.4 

1.7 

0.9 

0.4 

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T70

1.5 

3 

1.3 

1.2 

0.4 

Olympus 1030 SW

1 

4.1 

2 

0.6 

0.5 

Conclusion
There's plenty more to talk about with the Canon Digital IXUS 870 IS, but it only reinforces how good a pocket camera it is. If the 860 IS was on your short list, the 870 is definitely worth the small additional investment.

Edited by Lori Grunin
Additional editing by Nick Hide