GoerginaA - Canon Ixus Cameras

[Gillian76]

I went into a camera shop to "play" with some cameras as you suggested. Well worth it - DH's Kodak is indeed a brick!

I was blown away by how small the Ixus was. They didn't have a 30, but had a 40 in stock. Looked fab. BUT, the sales guy said he didn't think it was worth the money. He reckoned the photos would be comparable to any other 3MP camera. He felt you were paying for the sleek image. Recommended a few cheaper cameras - Fuji, Samsung, Canon A75 (which was quite heavy).

So... what's so amazing about the IXUS? I looked on Which? and they rate Canon above average as a brand. Along with Sony, I think. Kodak et al were average according to them. Which also said the flash on the IXUS was only OK. How do you find it?

Sorry for all the questions. You do seem like a bit of an expert though

You around, Georgina?

I have an ixus (but the first model that only had 2mp memory but still a great camera)

and we've just bought a sony

think the sony pips the ixus (just) if you have £200 to spend because of the ease of taking movies (although no automatic stabiliser so look a litle like old cine film) / pictures

I have no photographic talent, am a point and click kind of girl but like both cameras a lot

We have 3 IXUS and the three are a disaster. First one started failing after only one year of use. Second one, a digital has some strange delay in it (have checked every single page of the manual but the camera still takes a second or so to shoot after we press the button) so no good for the spontaneous kind of pictures that I like. The other one we have is a APS one, you can get far better pictures with a normal 35mm one. I would preffer to carry a heavier but more reliable camera.

Thanks girls. Twiglett - not sure we can stretch to £200 for the camera, as we'd have to fork out for memory card, etc. Are the Sony memory stick thingies hideously expensive?

Oh dear, Chandra Hope your next one is better.

There won't be a "next", believe me

Presumed you'd be going for a different model.

Bumping for Georgina

DH bought it and I thought the memory card came with it (gullible I am)

MY sister has just bought a Cyber Shot s40 (I think!) and the memory stick is £50

We have had 2 Ixus Digitals and they have been excellent. Great quality and really easy to use. I've had mine a little while now and it is still in excellent condition.

Sorry, didn't see this earlier - was keeping an eye on the other thread!

The most amazing thing is size and weight, you may well get comparable photos from another camera (although I think the digital photo magazine rated it highly for picture quality as well - it wouldn't have made the number 1 slot just on weight alone) but would you carry around the comparable camera as much?

The flash is great - not least because you can adjust the brightness of it (I found on both Canons the standard brightness setting was a little too bright, I read the manual, found that you could adjust it easily in the menu, did so - it's now fab) - no idea if the other models will let you do this. Red eye reduction isn't as good as it could be though - my ancient (5 years old) Kodak had a better red eye reduction, so that's worth considering.

You can take movies on the Ixus too - although be aware that taking movies on any camera eats up memory card space.

Chandra: all digital cameras have a delay writing to memory from the CCD chip, there are ways of minimizing it (for example, focussing by a half press of the button ready before you take the photo) - the more expensive the camera, the quicker the write time.

Best thing to do Gillian is if you see another one you think you really like, I'll have a look at the specs and highlight the differences.

PS, I seriously disagree with the sales guy's opinion that they're overpriced - I suspect some of the models he was comparing with were entry level point & shoots (like the A75) rather than truly comparable cameras.

Hi Georgina

The chappie in the shop said not to worry about the red-eye as you can always sort it out with your software. Does that sound right?

I didn't really like the ones he was suggesting - the Fuji was a little too basic for my liking, although I don't doubt there are more exciting models. The Samsung was OK. Can't remember the number. Digimax something? The Canon A75 as I said was quite heavy as it had 4 batteries.

Was also considering the Canon Powershot A510/20. They're comparable in price to the Ixus, I think. Perhaps slightly cheaper. The main difference seems to be the 4x zoom. They are a bit bulkier too.

Although saying that, main difference on the A75 seems to be weight and type of memory card!

Yep - just about any software you get has a red eye repair tool, it's not a big problem. It's an imperfection in the Canons I can live with! I'll have a look at the others now

Good review on the 510 here ... scanning through. Seems very good for the price, good quality pics etc... criticism on speed though... Reading properly now, but you might want to take a look yourself.

A520 review

It's got 9-point AiAF focus - that is REALLY nice for a point & shoot - I love this on the ixus, really intelligent focussing system...

Sorry for spamming, just commenting as I read bits.

To summarise, the A520 looks the nicest of those. His conclusions are:

Conclusion - Pros

• Good resolution
• Bright, vivid - though natural - color
• Good edge-to-edge sharpness
• Useful new 35-140mm equiv. 4x zoom lens
• Reliable focus and exposure
• Lots of manual controls
• Excellent build quality for a budget camera
• Very little purple fringing
• Excellent flash exposures and color
• Good screen
• Excellent battery life from 2x NiMH batteries
• Zoom-linked flash
• Usable manual focus
• Playback histogram
• Excellent value for money

Conclusion - Cons

• High noise at ISO 400
• Focus can be slow - especially at the long end of the zoom
• Flash recycle way too slow
• Minimum two-second shot-to-shot time
• Slow start-up

Going to see what he said about the ixus now.

What's AiAF. SOmething to do with focus, I know, but not sure what?!

I assume it stands for Artificial Intelligence Auto Focus. What happens in practise is that when you focus instead of getting a little box in the centre of the screen, you get lots of little boxes - it picks what it thinks you're trying to focus on and highlights boxes in the area where it intends to focus. If you think it's got it wrong then you half press again and it'll pick a different subject.

Most times I find it pretty accurate but it's not ideal in all situations - you can switch between the two focussing modes.

The A520 looks a damn nice camera for a good price, it has to be said. You've got lots of different things to play with if you get "bored" of point and shoot without paying too much extra for them. It's a Canon, so the lens is good quality. I don't think any of the cons are particular deal breakers. Unfortunately that site hasn't done a comparable review of the ixus 30, so comparison is harder.

The A520 seemed to get good customer comments on that site.

Would you still stick with the Ixus, though? The A520 seems priced between the Ixus 30 and 40.

Hmm... tough call.

Pros of the ixus is it's size, weight, and I think speed but can't confirm that yet - trying to find some hard stats.

Main pro of the A520 is more functionality.

Have you held the A520 yet? What did you think?

slightly better megapixels and zoom on the A520 too by the looks of things.

520 feels much lighter than the A75 I tried, but it has 2 less batteries for a start! Seemed easy enough to navigate and the LCD is quite big, with bright images.