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sd950 vs sd990 again

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yhbae01

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I have been searching for some comparison info between these two on this site and on other sites. I still don't have any firm answers as to which produces better IQ. Some have requested to post comparison pictures to those who own both but the responses have never materialized.

So, which is better, IQ-wise?

Price-wise, there is $110 gap. 14MP means nothing if quality is no better than 12MP. 990 has RAW and manual modes but I plan to use CHDK so in theory, that is not an advantage. I would think it would be more graceful to use manual modes on 990 since the interface is built for it.

So if you own both, I'd appreciate some feedback on this topic. :)
 
These are just my findings - YMMV

The lens is the same - the Processing has improved enough to make the 990 at pixel level actually better than the 950 by a margin so IQ wise there are no losses and maybe a bit of gain ..

the Problem is that the lens hasn't improved so the typical soft corners it gives are shown up more with 14.7Mp - also the body is quite a backward step, the shell is a plastic composite, the buttons don't seem as refined and the command dial isn't as good as the 950's Ipodesque non-moving type affair as its hard to turn without pressing something .......

In all the 990 feels cheap and doesn't handle as well - the sensor and Digic are actually better but the lens is the same slow borning cornerblurry optic (this is the real biggie) .. we got the 950 NEW for a third of the price of the 990 at the time (UK) - if they'd continued the Titanium case (or at least the stainless steel) of past models as well as the better buttons dial and stuck a better lens on which was good at the corners I'd have been glad to pay the difference but they didn't sadly..

These are just my findings - YMMV

The Ludicrous thing is that the far cheaper Ixus-90IS (SD790) is a classy jewel of a camera which feels like a block of steel in comparison to BOTH the expensive models (SD990 - 880) - strange..

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 
Adam-T said:
The lens is the same - the Processing has improved enough to make the
990 at pixel level actually better than the 950 by a margin so IQ
wise there are no losses and maybe a bit of gain ..
the Problem is that the lens hasn't improved so the typical soft
corners it gives are shown up more with 14.7Mp - also the body is
quite a backward step, the shell is a plastic composite, the buttons
don't seem as refined and the command dial isn't as good as the 950's
Ipodesque non-moving type affair as its hard to turn without pressing
something .......
In all the 990 feels cheap and doesn't handle as well - the sensor
and Digic are actually better but the lens is the same slow borning
cornerblurry optic (this is the real biggie) .. we got the 950 NEW
for a third of the price of the 990 at the time (UK) - if they'd
continued the Titanium case (or at least the stainless steel) of past
models as well as the better buttons dial and stuck a better lens on
which was good at the corners I'd have been glad to pay the
difference but they didn't sadly..
The Ludicrous thing is that the far cheaper Ixus-90IS (SD790) is a
classy jewel of a camera which feels like a block of steel in
comparison to BOTH the expensive models (SD990 - 880) - strange..
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback. So 990 does have a slight edge over 950 on IQ even at a pixel level?

Personally, I don't mind plastic build - I really don't like today's trend on all high tech devices that finishes with a shiny coats that attract finger prints like crazy. If 990 gives less finger prints, its all good for me. :)

Would SD790 compare at least the same level as 950/990 at IQ level?

The other answer I am seeking for, is whether 950 with CHDK would perform as well as 990. I don't think 950 has the real aperture, but does 990 feature one? If so, that might be another reason to get 990.
 
I owned the SD950 for a short period of time before I returned it to purchase the SD990 instead.

I really love the SD990. In my opinion, it is a bit quicker than the 950 and the low-light capabilities are a touch better. The build quality of the 990 is great, as was the 950.

You mentioned that there is a $100 difference in price, but I think you may be mistaken. Amazon.com is selling the 990 for a fraction less than the 950.

If you take "people pictures" you will like the improved face detection of the 990. Additionally, the "Quick Shot" mode is very useful in that you can take an action shot without missing "the moment." The camera has many capabilities, but I am mainly a "point and shoot" person. I am certain, however, that it does not have RAW.

IQ-wise I would say they are about equal. I did not find the noise levels on the 990 to be much different from the 950. And the increased cropping opportunities often come in handy with such a high resolution. It also has a pretty powerful flash for a point and shoot camera.

I thought the 950 was a great camera, but I've found the 990 to be a touch better as far as speed and low-light capability are concerned. Both would be excellent choices, but the 990 has a lower price tag right now and comes with the latest DIGIC IV technology.

Best wishes in your camera purchase!
 
yhbae01 said:
I have been searching for some comparison info between these two on
this site and on other sites. I still don't have any firm answers as
to which produces better IQ. Some have requested to post comparison
pictures to those who own both but the responses have never
materialized.

So, which is better, IQ-wise?

Price-wise, there is $110 gap. 14MP means nothing if quality is no
better than 12MP. 990 has RAW and manual modes but I plan to use CHDK
so in theory, that is not an advantage. I would think it would be
more graceful to use manual modes on 990 since the interface is built
for it.

So if you own both, I'd appreciate some feedback on this topic. :)
Click to expand...
These are some things to consider. The SD990 trades a wide-angle lens and smaller screen for a 36mm lens, and a viewfinder. Personally, I don't find either trade a good idea, because the 28mm lens on my SD870/the SD880 is invaluable in landscape/party situations. If you don't mind having "only" 10 megapixels, and you don't mind giving up the viewfinder, check out the SD880. I don't own the SD990/950, so I hope you don't mind me commenting. Also, as the previous poster said the SD790 is very solidly built, and around 1/3 of the price of the SD990.

-- http://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_degilio/

Tim.
Canon A560
Canon SD870IS with 4GB Class 6 SDHC Memory Card
Sony H-50 with 1GB, 2GB, & 4GB Mark ll Memory Cards and Info-Lithium Battery
 
J Kahrs said:
I owned the SD950 for a short period of time before I returned it to
purchase the SD990 instead.

I really love the SD990. In my opinion, it is a bit quicker than the
950 and the low-light capabilities are a touch better. The build
quality of the 990 is great, as was the 950.
Click to expand...
That is good to hear.
J Kahrs said:
You mentioned that there is a $100 difference in price, but I think
you may be mistaken. Amazon.com is selling the 990 for a fraction
less than the 950.
Click to expand...
I live in Canada - I compared prices from about 10 different stores and ended up with $324CA inc. tax and shipping for 950 while $434CA inc. tax for 990. Hence $110 differences.
J Kahrs said:
If you take "people pictures" you will like the improved face
detection of the 990. Additionally, the "Quick Shot" mode is very
useful in that you can take an action shot without missing "the
moment." The camera has many capabilities, but I am mainly a "point
and shoot" person. I am certain, however, that it does not have RAW.
Click to expand...
Yes I may be confused with the RAW mode - since 990 offers manual modes I automatically assumed it also has RAW. Either way, CHDK will offer RAW mode, so I am not too concerned about that.
J Kahrs said:
IQ-wise I would say they are about equal. I did not find the noise
levels on the 990 to be much different from the 950. And the
increased cropping opportunities often come in handy with such a high
resolution. It also has a pretty powerful flash for a point and
shoot camera.
Click to expand...
If IQ is the same, I would take higher pixels.
J Kahrs said:
I thought the 950 was a great camera, but I've found the 990 to be a
touch better as far as speed and low-light capability are concerned.
Both would be excellent choices, but the 990 has a lower price tag
right now and comes with the latest DIGIC IV technology.

Best wishes in your camera purchase!
Click to expand...
Thanks for your comments!
 
CarFreak8394 said:
These are some things to consider. The SD990 trades a wide-angle
lens and smaller screen for a 36mm lens, and a viewfinder.
Personally, I don't find either trade a good idea, because the 28mm
lens on my SD870/the SD880 is invaluable in landscape/party
situations. If you don't mind having "only" 10 megapixels, and you
don't mind giving up the viewfinder, check out the SD880. I don't
own the SD990/950, so I hope you don't mind me commenting. Also, as
the previous poster said the SD790 is very solidly built, and around
1/3 of the price of the SD990.
Click to expand...
I actually considered 880 first. 10mp is definitely not a big negative - my DSLR only has 10mp too... :)

Lack of viewfinder also doesn't concern me much - I don't think I will be doing much manual focusing on these little cams.

One of the big differences I noted between 880 and 9x0 was the sensor size. I am (potentially incorrect assumption) assuming that 9x0 will be cleaner at higher ISO. SD790 sensor is also very small. Am I pipe dreaming expecting to get a very clean image from both ISO100 and ISO200 from a point-and-shoot?

Oh and another thing - 880 is priced $293 after taxes so it is $31 cheaper than 950. That also means 880 is $141 cheaper than 990.
 
CarFreak8394 said:
These are some things to consider. The SD990 trades a wide-angle
lens and smaller screen for a 36mm lens, and a viewfinder.
Personally, I don't find either trade a good idea, because the 28mm
lens on my SD870/the SD880 is invaluable in landscape/party
situations.
Click to expand...
Oh I forgot to respond to this section.

It would be nice to have a wider lens than at 36mm. On the other hand, I am going to try my best to carry my DSLR gear as much as possible. :) My CZ workaround lens does start at 16mm but at 10x the size and weight of 9x0 or 880.
 
yhbae01 said:
Thanks for the feedback. So 990 does have a slight edge over 950 on
IQ even at a pixel level?
Click to expand...
I think so but then it also shows up the failings in the lens more
yhbae01 said:
Would SD790 compare at least the same level as 950/990 at IQ level?
Click to expand...
No, it has the 10Mp pinhead sensor of the SD880, SX10 and SX110 - good for its sensor size but no match for the bigger CCDs of the 950 and 990. the 790 is very good value indeed but again, the 950 is the best value (in the UK it was a steal on blowout)

None of them have a real aperture - the 990's manual mode lets you select between the two apertures there are which is pretty useless and no more use than Exposure compensation really.

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 
Adam-T said:
No, it has the 10Mp pinhead sensor of the SD880, SX10 and SX110 -
good for its sensor size but no match for the bigger CCDs of the 950
and 990.
Click to expand...
Good to know.
Adam-T said:
None of them have a real aperture - the 990's manual mode lets you
select between the two apertures there are which is pretty useless
and no more use than Exposure compensation really.
Click to expand...
Oh so it only have two aperture modes... So that means 950+CHDK will not be any worse than 990 from flexibility perspective.

Hmm this makes it even harder to choose between 990 and 950. If value was higher up in the priority, I would choose 950.
 
yhbae01 said:
Oh and another thing - 880 is priced $293 after taxes so it is $31
cheaper than 950. That also means 880 is $141 cheaper than 990.
Click to expand...
On Amazon, the SD880 is $250, and the SD990 is only $299. Amazon is a great place to order, especially with its free shipping.

Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sd990

Let us know your decision.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_degilio/

Tim.
Canon A560
Canon SD870IS with 4GB Class 6 SDHC Memory Card
Sony H-50 with 1GB, 2GB, & 4GB Mark ll Memory Cards and Info-Lithium Battery
 
CarFreak8394 said:
CarFreak8394 said:
Oh and another thing - 880 is priced $293 after taxes so it is $31
cheaper than 950. That also means 880 is $141 cheaper than 990.
Click to expand...
On Amazon, the SD880 is $250, and the SD990 is only $299. Amazon is
a great place to order, especially with its free shipping.

Here is the

link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sd990

Let us know your decision.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, I live on the wrong side of the border to get those cameras at those prices... :)

I found a cheaper source for SD990, so now its down to $406CA inc. taxes. About $80 more than 950. $110 more than 880.

I am tempted to go with SD990 at the moment...
 
paulobiz said:
yhbae01 said:
paulobiz said:
Price-wise, there is $110 gap. 14MP means nothing if quality is no
Click to expand...
better than 12MP. 990 has RAW and manual modes but I plan to use CHDK
so in theory, that is not an advantage. I would think it would be
more graceful to use manual modes on 990 since the interface is built
for it.
Click to expand...
The SD 990 IS has no RAW.
Click to expand...
Yes now I know... But since I will be using CHDK anyways which will give me RAW... :)
 
I have both and I can not see a difference in IQ, maybe others can. But I like the 990 more because it looks good in black
 
Perhaps not what you're interested in, but for around $300US you can get a lightly used G9, or certainly a G7 on eBay. Both great cameras, better quality and more fun than the 950 or the 990 (but not as portable, of course).
 
fbx said:
Perhaps not what you're interested in, but for around $300US you can
get a lightly used G9, or certainly a G7 on eBay. Both great cameras,
better quality and more fun than the 950 or the 990 (but not as
portable, of course).
Click to expand...
I would have definitely considered G series if the size was smaller... I want something that fits in the pocket and not even think about it so that I can carry it no matter where I go... G series is a bit too large to do that... :(
 
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