Picture Perfect... almost. (Canon IXUS M-1)

Member Name: monalipschitz

Product:	Canon IXUS M-1
Date:	09/08/01 (367 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Speed and ease of Use, Great Quality, Stylish and light.

Disadvantages: Price, Flash

I've always loved cameras but they never liked me much. Ever since I can remember I've been fascinated by those little boxes and by the fact that other people can create such beautiful pictures. But for me they were always blurred, dark, askew or just double-exposed. So when my sister bought me this for my 21st Birthday with the assurance that all of the above would change I didn't believe her... How wrong could I have been.
For the photographically challenged this is 'the best thing since sliced bread' and for the more technically minded it still has loads to offer. For a start it is smart and stylish, compact and relatively light - a must for travelling. The carry-case has a useful way of attaching to your belt leaving your hands free, which is again ideal for sight-seeing.
The most obvious advantage of a Camera such as this the Advanced Photo System which allows the film to be loaded astonishingly easily. All you have to do is slide the film in, shut the compartment and hey presto, all the work is done for you with no danger of damaging the film in the process. And once loaded it is easy to operate. Plus there's no possible way I could lose the lens cover as it's attached. The choice of three different types of photo (Classic, and Panoramic) help the beginner enormously with choosing how to take a particular shot and consequently each picture os of better quality. The shutter is easy to locate while peering through the view-finder, which I personally feel could be a little larger.
Due to the fact that the entire camera is rather small, all the controls are also very little. This could have been a problem but Canon have found a way around it by providing a little plastic thing (I can't think of another way to describe it) that is attached to the Camera's wrist strap and which aids in the setting of the various functions. Of which there are many.
Some of the most useful functions are the 'red-e
ye reduction', which really works, and knowing that you can take pictures in semi-darkness and that they wil come out is quite liberating.
It has a fun side too. It is possible to set the camera so that it prints a message such as 'Good Luck' or 'I Love You' in one of 6 languages on to the photograph. A great way to say 'Thank You' to a friend. I also found the fact that the camera automatically prints the date the photo was taken on the back to be most helpful. It eliminates all those dull Sunday afternoons spent trying to remember when a picture was taken!
There are only two things that I can think of which could have been improved upon. The first is that the camera automatically uses the flash, unless you specifically turn it off at each useage. This could get annoying, especially if a flash is not allowed. The other area in which this camera could change for the better is the price. At over £70 it is quite expensive and so are the films and thier developing. These all wil, I dare say, reduce as time passes but nevertheless it is something that I believe the manufacturers should address.
All in all I have found the Canon IXUS to be a wonderful camera. It has transformed the way I take photos and I'm not sure that I could go back to focussing and film loading manually. It does cost a lot but this camera will last for a long time (I hope) and the ease with which I can operate it means I use it so much more. All I need now is to figure out a way to get rid of the rogue men which have become a feature of my photography. I don't think a camera can help with that one. LOL!

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