Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon Digital IXUS 90 IS Compact Camera - Silver (10 MP, 3x Optical Zoom) 3.0'' High Resolution PureColor LCD II

I bought the Ixus 90 IS a month ago, having previously purchased an Ixus 75 for my wife. I was very impressed by her camera and wanted one which was equally 'portable'.

What do I think of it?

Pros -
Very portable - it easily slips into your pocket. This was my main reason for buying the camera. So often you want to take a picture of something, but forgot to bring the camera! This one is a bit like carrying a second mobile phone!
Excellent picture quality - I am very pleased with A4 sized enlargements from it.
Feels and looks good - a personal thing, but I like the shape and style, and it does feel well put together!
A really bright and clear 3 inch screen
Some good features that you might want to explore - beyond the standard excellent auto mode

Cons -
None really, if you just want a classy and very portable point and shoot which takes good pictures

Other advice -
The supplied memory card is far too small. Buy a much bigger card. I use a Sandisk Extreme III 2GB card
Buy a case for it - I bought a Lowepro Napoli 10. It is a tight fit, but is OK

Last year I bought a Canon ixus 70 for my wife.She has hardly used it as I fell in love with it and disbanded my Pentax Optio. As this was rather unfair on her,I decided I had better buy one for myself.The ixus 90IS fills the bill perfectly. It is beautifully made,has a nice substantial weight,and sports a beautiful three inch screen.Both still and movie results are great,battery life is excellent,and it even has a trimming tool so that you can crop in camera.I believe it is the first of the range to have this feature.If you don't mind the lack of aperture and shutter priority modes, which I don't think are really neessary on digital compacts,then I can thououghly recommend this camera.I added a Sandisk SHDC 4gb memory card and a Canon DCC Case - both bargains from Amazon. So, my wife now has her camera back, and I am a very happy man!

I bought this mainly for diving (along with the appropriate housing). I've only had it a few days and I haven't dived with it yet, but there are some magnificent features, and it knocks my old Fuji for six.
First, the LCD screen is 3 inches instead of 2.5. We mathematicians know that means that the area is nearly half again as big, and that makes a big difference at 15m. Second, it is one click to switch from movie mode to "underwater" still mode. The fuji required all sorts of scrolling and messing about.
Less specifically about diving, the direct printing is fantastic, as are the cropping features, the slightly gimmicky but very arty facility to shoot B&W except for one colour, the fact that you can trim videos in camera, and that the camera knows which way up you're holding it and reorients the pics accordingly, and it all adds up to a feature-packed camera that shoots high quality. I'm very glad I went for it.
My only quibble would be that the body design is boxy in the extreme, and you could certainly buy sexier looking cameras. But that's not really what you buy it for, is it?

Fantastic digital camera, portable, good solid build, great features (I'm still discovering new things 2 months after purchase), definitely worth a look if you want a quality digital camera that produces great digital photos. Also, very impressive battery life given its large screen - I think I've only had to charge it twice in the two months that I've had it and that's after pretty extensive use.

As other reviewers have suggested:

(i) Buy a bigger memory card - I use a Sandisk Extreme 4GB card with no problems
(ii) Buy a case for it - I bought a Lowepro Napoli 10 which provides a good, snug fit.

This is my third Canon which perhaps speaks volumes for my faith in the brand. My last camera was the excellent IXUS 50 which I have passed on to my daughter. I noticed that Amazon were recommending the same case (DCC-60) for the IXUS 90IS although it was actually designed for the previous generations of IXUS cameras, which are slightly smaller. Before I committed myself, I decided to try it out. The IXUS 90 did indeed fit into the case albeit tightly, but I discovered that, because of the tight fit, the mode switch was being set to Movie mode when the camera was removed from the case. This happened every time. So, I invested in a LoweProNapoli 10, which is very well made and slightly cheaper than the DCC 60. It is an equally tight fit, but the leather side panels of the case are cut away slightly, therefore, the mode switch is not altered when the camera is removed.

Moving on to the camera. It is everything I have come to expect from Canon. Style, build quality, compactness and superb images. There is no viewfinder, but who needs it with the stunning LCD display. I never used the viewfinder very much on my IXUS 50, so I think the penny has dropped with Canon, that a Point and Shoot camera just does not need one if you have a large bright LCD display with which to compose the picture.

My only reservation with the camera concerns the Control Dial, which is integral with the cursor buttons. It is not very positive, ie there are no detent clicks, it is also too easy to inadvertantly press the cursor buttons in the process of turning the dial. It is not a major problem though and practice has improved matters. That is the only reason for my giving 4 stars instead of 5 to an otherwise excellent camera.

I agree with previous reviewers, that a higher capacity SD card is essential. I bought a 2Gb card very cheaply from Amazon.