Megapixels and Zoom
The Canon IXUS 970 IS is a 10 megapixel digital camera with a 5x optical zoom lens. The amount of zoom available can be increased by a maximum 2.3x when shooting at lower resolutions. 4x digital zoom is a further option.
The focal length of the lens is equivalent to 37 - 185mm in 35mm format. The maximum aperture is f/3.2 (wide) - f/5.7 (tele).
Basics
- Special resolution for widescreen television playback
- Self timer
- Colour options - Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Color
- Up to 60 second voice memos per image
Focusing
Focusing options include a special face detection setting for portraits. For close up work the IXUS 970 IS can focus from 2cm away from the subject.
Viewfinder and LCD Screen
The IXUS 970 IS is one of the diminishing numbers of digital cameras offering a viewfinder. It also has a 2.5 inch LCD screen. The screen comprises of 230,000 dots. I found the screen quality to be excellent and it was able to cope well with sunny conditions.
Flash
The built in flash unit has a maximum range of 3.5m. This falls to 2m when the zoom lens is in use. The flash modes are automatic, on and off. Slow sync speed and red eye reduction can be switched on and off via the menu system.
Red eye correction can be used after a photo has been taken to clear up any red eye in the shot.
More advanced flash settings such as flash exposure lock and flash exposure compensation for face detection are also available.
To increase the capacity of the camera's flash system you can also buy Canon's High Power Flash (HF-DC1).
Scene Modes
A number of predefined scene modes are available. These are: Portrait, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, Indoor, Sunset, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks and Aquarium.
Movies
TV quality movies can be recorded at a maximum resolution of 640 x 480 pixels and a maximum speed of 30 frames per second. Up to one hour or 4GB of movie footage can be recorded. Sound can be captured. Optical zoom can be applied before recording starts, but once the movie is in progress only digital zoom can be added.
Time lapse movies of up to 120 minutes are also an option. A time lapse movie is a series of single shots taken at a predefined interval.
Advanced Features
More advanced options include metering (Evaluative (linked to Face Detection AF frame), Centre-weighted average, Spot (centre)), exposure compensation (+/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments), ISO sensitivity (AUTO, High ISO Auto (incorporating Motion Detection Technology), 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600) and white balance (Auto (including Face Detection WB), Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom).
Shutter speeds are determined automatically by the IXUS 970 IS. The maximum range of shutter speeds is 15 - 1/1600 seconds.
There is a continuous shooting option. This shoots at a maximum rate of 1.2 frames per second until the memory card is full.
Computer - Printers - Television
All the necessary cables and software are supplied to attach the Canon IXUS 970 IS to a computer, television set and compatible printer.
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