This Tiny Camera is a Must for Gadget Lovers (Canon Digital Ixus)

Member Name: stevenkan

Product:	Canon Digital Ixus
Date:	26/03/01 (426 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Absolutely Tiny, Rechargable Battery

Disadvantages: On the pricey side, software could be better

The Canon Digital Ixus camera is awesome because it's absolutely tiny and yet packs in so many functions.

The basic functions are easy to use, but some of the more advanced functions are more difficult, just in remembering how to set them. The manual is reasonable and is written in good English.

It has 2X optical zoom (35-70mm) and ISO 100 sensitivity. Nothing to write home about, but the image quality is good even in low light situations. The flash mode also seems better than most other digital cameras: it gives even and smooth flash. The cycle time between shots is as good if not better than most other megapixel cameras at about half a second. (the flash does take ten seconds to recycle though if being used)

The battery is small and is of the chargeable LiIon type. With the LCD on you can get about 50 pictures and the battery takes two hours to recharge. A second battery is a good option if you want to take more shots than that in one session.

The included 8MB Compact Flash can hold around 12 Hi Res pictures or 48 Low res.

The software is the cameras main failing. Downloading pictures to PC via USB is fast but problematic with the enclosed software. One option is to get an external compact flash reader for your PC, but Canon really should have made the original solution better rather than require people go out and buy more third party hardware.

The styling and compactness of the digital Ixus are its "wow" factor. If you want to impress your friends, this is definitely the gadget to get.

This really is a great little camera despite a few shortcomings, hopefully Canon will remedy the software issue.

Also, as a final note there is a new version of this camera coming out the S300 which has a more powerful zoom (3x) and some new functions too, so you may want to hang on for that.

Summary: