Canon Digital Ixus review

Small yet perfectly formed, the Digital Ixus feels like it's been cast out of solid steel.

A nice bit of jewellery, then, but is it a good camera?

Image quality

Does the tiny size of the Digital Ixus lead to compromises in picture quality? Not that we can tell. Fine detail is on a par with that of the other 2-megapixel cameras on test - they all seem to have extracted as much performance from these CCDs as they're capable of.

What let the Canon down was exposure control. It tended to underexpose slightly, and this was exacerbated by the bright skies in our landscape shots. You'll either need to use exposure compensation, or get busy with your image editor later. Colour balance was a bit on the blue side, too.

Features

Exactly how Canon has crammed so much into such a tiny device is a mystery. It's smaller even than the Kodak DC3800, but the Digital Ixus still manages to pack in a useful 2x zoom lens. More advanced photographers will welcome the exposure compensation and white balance controls, and while you don't get a slow-synchro flash mode, you do get four others, including on, off, auto and red-eye reduction.

The panoramic mode is smart, too, especially as you get software to 'stitch' individual shots together. The Ixus may be tiny, but it does more than enough for the hobbyist.

Overall

The Canon hardly seems big enough to fit much more in than the battery and the memory, yet picture quality is very good indeed. For something so tiny, handling is remarkable, and the colour LCD on the backplate is sharp and bright. It's just the price that puts us off - you can get an ounce more quality for a lot less cash.

Author: Rod Lawton