Mini Marvelous (Canon IXUS II Extreme APS Camera)

Member Name: jokoo

Product:	Canon IXUS II Extreme APS Camera
Date:	26/02/04 (572 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tiny, lightweight, big pictures (panoramic)

Disadvantages: no lens atatchments, no flash sync, no filters

This camera is has been on the market a few years now, and has been superceded by subsequent versions, however it is still a stylish and very desirable little camera I have found mine very useful. This camera uses what APS technology, which was new when the camera came out. I think APS was the film camera industries answer to the increasingly popular digicam market which was replacing compact film cameras because the APS film system is more versatile, than standard 35mm photography. Whereas on a digicam you can delete photos you do not want to keep, with APS you can also delete pictures you do not want to have printed.

APS is a development of 35mm photography, it allows you to manipulate the films you have in your camera more than you would be able to in a conventional camera. For instance you have a film of 36 shots and you are up to no.25 and the light conditions change, say up to now most of the photographs have been outdoors and the film you have been using is suitable for this kind of photography, in terms of ISO rating. There are 11 shots left on the film and you want to take some interior shots, a historic building interior, inside a cathedral, or just indoors at home the film you have been using will probably be too fast and you will have to change to a suitable film with the correct ISO for interior and darker shots ie not daylight. There is a problem you either just use up your film and compromise the quality of your work, or you have another camera set up for this not always practical or possible, or you waste the remainder of the film change film and continue in this manner. With APS you can stop, rewind the film , replace with a suitable film and continue, stop again rewind the film after a few shots, replace the original film fast forward to the place you stopped no.25 in my example and continue to use the rest of the first film. In other words you can have 2,3 4,5 or as many films as you like on the go at any one time, partially used until

they are finished. The advantage to this is as I have already stated different films for different purposes and conditions.

There are also different formats available to the APS photographer inside the camera. The Ixus II features C print ( Classic), H print ( wide angle) and panoramic ( superwide angle). The most exciting of which is the panoramic mode. Basically it is the size of two normal photographs stuck together side by side so you have a long thin photo like those old fashioned school photographs with the whole school on. They really are great for landscapes, it like having a super wide angle lens built in to the camera, which in itself is smaller than a cigarette packet, the best of both worlds. The camera can also be set to record data such as the time and date the photo was taken which can be printed on the front or back, other information such as the exposure setting etc is also recorded. Also a variety of data (IX information) is recorded onto the film which is used at the processing stage to produce better quality prints, exposure, aperture etc. You can also have your pictures pu on to CD ROM at time of developing these days, so if you do not own a digicam you can view your pictures on your computer, upload on to the internet, email them etc. If I had the chance to buy this camera again I would probably by the digital version which was not out when I bought this.

The zoom on this camera is 2x and not much really in terms of a telephoto, it is of most use for composing the picture rather than zooming in on distant objects.

This camera performs all the APS functions with style, it?s a great little camera. They were about £175 a couple of years ago but I saw one a few months back for about £100 and it was new. I am not sure if they are still making them, you do not see them promoted like you used to, but I know they are still available if you look around. A good choice if you do not do a lot of photography do not
want
to get into digital and just want something to slip in your pocket if you are out for the day. Also very stylish.

Summary: