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Canon SD890 IS Performance


Timing and Performance

Good to slightly slower than average speed for a consumer camera.

Startup/Shutdown

Power on
to first shot

 2.0 seconds

Time it takes for LCD to turn on, lens to deploy and picture to be captured.

Shutdown

 1.3 seconds

How long it takes to retract lens.

Buffer clearing time

 2.0 seconds
(2 seconds buffer clearing in LSF JPEG)

Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared.

About average performance here.

 

Mode Switching

Play to Record,
first shot

 2.3 seconds

Time until first shot is captured.

Record to play

 1.3 seconds

Time to display a large/super fine file immediately after capture.

Display
recorded image

 2.1 seconds

Time to display a large/fine file already on the memory card.

Mode switching times are a bit on the slow side of average.

 

Shutter Response (Lag Time)

Full Autofocus Wide

 0.73 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position.

Full Autofocus Tele

 0.83 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position.

Full Autofocus,
with Flash

 1.73 seconds

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position, flash enabled.

Prefocused

 0.068 second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

Shutter response is just on the slow side of average at both wide angle and telephoto, at 0.73s and 0.83s respectively, but still pretty good. Enabling the flash adds about one second of delay. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in a lag time of only 0.068 second.

 

Cycle Time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode
Large SuperFine JPEG
 2.09 seconds

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.

Single Shot mode
640x480 JPEG

 2.00 seconds

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.

Early shutter
penalty?

 No

Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.

Continuous mode
Large SuperFine JPEG

 0.82 second (1.22 frames per second);
20 frames total;
2 seconds to clear

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.

Continuous mode
Large Fine JPEG

 0.82 second (1.23 frames per second);
20 frames total;
1 second to clear

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.

Continuous mode
640x480 Normal JPEG

 0.81 second (1.23 frames per second);
20 frames total;
1 second to clear

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.

Flash recycling

 7.4 seconds

Flash at maximum output.

*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a Kingston Ultimate 133x SD memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity also affects cycle times and burst mode performance, with higher ISOs generally increasing cycle times and reducing burst performance.

Shot-to-shot cycle times are a bit slower than average, at about 2.09 seconds for large/superfine JPEGs, though the camera does capture frames continuously at this rate. (That is, given a fast enough memory card, it doesn't have to pause every few frames to wait for the card to catch up.) The PowerShot SD890 IS also drags a little in its Continuous modes, with a frame rate of 1.23 frames per second, though it appears to capture continuously at this rate. The flash takes 7.4 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is about average.

 

Download Speed

Windows Computer, USB 2.0

 4,868 KBytes/sec

Typical Values:
Less than 600=USB 1.1;
600-769=USB 2.0 Low;
Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are very good.


Bottom line, the Canon PowerShot SD890 IS won't be up to the task of keeping up with fast action shots, but is responsive enough for most everyday shooting opportunities.

Battery and Storage Capacity

Battery
Above average battery life for a lithium-ion design.

Operating Mode Number of Shots
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery,
LCD On
(CIPA standard)
320
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery,
LCD Off
(CIPA standard)
800

The Canon PowerShot SD890 IS uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Although battery life is above average, we recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on either a fresh set of disposable batteries or a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Canon PowerShot SD890 IS accepts SDHC/SD/MMC memory cards, and comes with a 32MB card.

Image Capacity with
32MB Memory Card		 SuperFine Fine Normal
3,648 x 2,736
Images
6
11
24
File Size
4.6 MB
2.7 MB
1.3 MB
2,816 x 2,112
Images
11
18
37
File Size
2.9 MB
1.8 MB
849 KB
2,272 x 1,704
Images
14
26
52
File Size
2.1 MB
1.2 MB
610 KB
1,600 x 1,200
Images
29
52
99
File Size
1.1 MB
610 KB
322 KB
640 x 480
Images
111
171
269
File Size
288 KB
186 KB
119 KB

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SDHC or SD memory card at least a 2GB card, preferably a 4GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings and video. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)

 

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