
Canon IXUS 980 IS
Extremely stylish compact with 14.7-megapixel sensor.
Pros
- Very high resolution, sharp images, manual shooting mode, incredibly stylish
Cons
- Some corner softening
Bottom Line
Another fantastic compact from Canon, the IXUS 980 IS takes everything that was great about past units and adds manual shooting modes, a very smooth design and a higher resolution sensor, making this one of the best high-end compacts on the market.
-
Price
$ 599.00 (AUD)
One of the more interesting IXUS units to hit the market in the last few years, the IXUS 980 IS adds manual shooting features to Canon’s line of extremely popular consumer models. That isn’t to say it is particularly complicated, as Canon has managed to retain the trademark intuitiveness and ease of use of the IXUS range. As always, the camera captures fairly impressive pictures. It also looks fantastic with a new black design that is sure to go down a treat with fashion enthusiasts.
Another notable feature of the 980 IS is the massive resolution; 14.7 megapixels to be precise. This is one of the highest resolution sensors on the market and in general it performed very well. It captured some of the crispest, sharpest shots we’ve ever seen from a compact and there was little in the way of over- or under-sharpening.
Chromatic aberration performance, however, was mixed. On one hand there was fairly minimal purple fringing or haloing on high-contrast edges, but on the flipside there was a decent amount of softening towards the edges of the frame which was a little disappointing.
Image noise was a little more prominent than usual but nothing too over the top. ISO 200 and 400 all had a touch more graininess than we’d expect but it wasn’t really noticeable at small and medium magnifications. As usual, though, by ISO 800 the noise increased quite sharply and at ISO 1600 there was significant blurring and loss of detail.
Colour balance was typical for a Canon compact. Reds were somewhat over-saturated but many people prefer the vibrant look this creates. Greens were slightly too bright but blues were accurate and the overall balance was vivid and pleasing.
In our speed tests the 980 IS performed solidly across the board. It started up in two seconds and had an identical shot-to-shot time. Shutter speed was fine at 0.09 seconds and the burst mode snapped off a fairly good 2.3 frames per second.
As mentioned earlier, the key thing about this unit is that it is the first IXUS with manual shooting controls. They are a little simpler than those found on an advanced camera, with no aperture or shutter priority modes, but they do give the ability to adjust both shutter speed and aperture via the full manual mode. This will definitely be an appealing feature for people who want to start dabbling with more advanced photography, and it allows for a bit more creativity in your shot taking.
Other features include face detection, custom white balance and a variety of colour, exposure and focusing modes. The 3.7x optical zoom lens is slightly larger than normal and is supported by optical image stabilisation to minimise the impact of hand-shake.
The other awesome thing about the 980 IS is its design. With an entirely black metal body this camera looks incredible. It's extremely sturdy, too, but also a touch on the large side for a camera with a lens the size of this unit's. If you’re concerned with size you may want to look at one of the smaller IXUS units like the IXUS 90IS.
We were impressed by the implementation of the manual mode. One of the IXUS range’s best features is the simplicity of the interfaces; the 980 IS continues this trend keeping things nice and intuitive.
Brand Post

Most Popular Reviews
- 1 Miofive 4K Dash Cam review: This friendly road watcher is ‘here for you!’
- 2 Dell U3223QE review: A winning debut for an IPS Black monitor
- 3 Asus TUF Gaming VG28UQL1A review: This 4K monitor plays nice with consoles
- 4 Firewalla Gold review: Powerful home network security in a tiny box
- 5 Acer Aspire 5 review: An affordable laptop that’s enjoyable to use
Latest News Articles
- GoPro delivers Quik solution for videos and photos
- Canon embolden mirrorless offering with EOS R5 and R6
- GoPro spin off their lighting mod into its own act: the Zeus Mini
- Canon adds a new heavyweight to their DSLR lineup: the EOS-1D X Mark III
- Panasonic's Lumix S1H has all the bells & whistles and the price-tag to match
Resources
Business Centre
The latest business news, reviews, features and whitepapers

Videos
Watch our video news and reviews from around the world

Guides
Comprehensive buying guides, features, and step-by-step articles

PCW Evaluation Team
Pedro Peixoto
Aruba Instant On AP11D

Set up is effortless.
Cate Bacon
Aruba Instant On AP11D

The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.
Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti
Aruba Instant On AP11D

Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.
Tom Pope
Dynabook Portégé X30L-G

Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.
Tom Sellers
MSI P65

This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.
Lolita Wang
MSI GT76

It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.
Featured Content
- Top 10 best Android and Apple phones for under $600
- 25 Essential Party Games On PC And Console To Play With Family And Friends
- Mesh Wi-Fi vs Traditional Routers: Which is better?
- Which flagship TV is best? Sony 4K HDR Bravia 2016 versus LG 4K HDR OLED 2016
- 10 Blu-ray movies / Best looking Blu-ray movies