The crops are taken from the original images, saved as High Quality JPEGs in Photoshop CS2 and presented here at 100%. Each number represents 100 lines per picture height (lpph), so a figure of 20 means a resolution of 2000 lpph.

In terms of resolving power, the Canon Ixus 860 IS / PowerShot SD870 delivers 1950 lpph of horizontal and vertical resolution, which is roughly equivalent to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX33. Both cameras are measurably below what the 12 Megapixel Fujifilm F50fd and Sony W200 can resolve in the same test.

As in our previous test, the Panasonic crops looks much less sharp than the Canon, but look closely and they contain roughly the same amount of detail – the difference in appearence is mostly down to image processing. Now let’s see how the Canon handles at different sensitivities in our 860IS / SD870 IS noise results.