Canon Digital IXUS 750

...stood out. This was the Canon Digital Ixus 750. Amazingly enough, it was the same camera my friend Peter used on our recent holiday to Zakopane, so obviously good news travels fast.

Brief description of the Camera and Its features……

The Canon Ixus 750 is a lovely design, shiny silver exterior which houses precision optics and advanced features that deliver better higher quality pictures that opposed to any camera I have ...
.../> If Connected to a Canon SELPHY CP Series printer you can also print ID photos and movie stills, I haven't personally got this printer, but never the less it is another feature worth thinking about.
The software included with my purchase of this camera to allow me to edit, organise and print my photos are Canon's ZoomBrowser EX, accessible for Windows 98 onwards, and ImageBrowser for Macintosh.
Canon Image Gateway provides 100MB ... more

I have normally stayed away from digital cameras.
I like the ease of taking pictures, then going to my Boots store and getting them developed. SIMPLE. What's more, my previous APS camera was easy to use and took great snaps so there was not any reason why I should go for a different one, especially a digital type which I have not used before.

However, after getting much earache off my friends about digital cameras being the 'business', I decided to go and buy one and give it a whirl.

So off I went browsing in my local camera store, told the assistant exactly what I wanted, something easy to use, which prints quality pictures. After he recommended a few digital cameras to me, one really stood out. This was the Canon Digital Ixus 750. Amazingly enough, it was the same camera my friend Peter used on our recent holiday to Zakopane, so obviously good news travels fast.

Brief description of the Camera and Its features……

The Canon Ixus 750 is a lovely design, shiny silver exterior which houses precision optics and advanced features that deliver better higher quality pictures that opposed to any camera I have ever personally seen.
It has a sleek perpetual curve design, all silver-white palladium plating on stainless steel, producing a starburst effect with a radiant silver ring around the lens. It is also ultra compact size, tough as nails in durability, and has high speed capabilities.
Certainly showing off a statement in style!

The Features……..

The camera is a 7.1 mega pixel digital, allowing you to get pin-sharp definition to A3 size plus.
It has a fully retractable 3X optical zoom, a 2.5 inch LCD screen with wide viewing angle, and point & shoot ease of use --- all stuffed into a package small enough to be carried around in a shirt pocket.
Built around Canon's second-generation DIGIC (Digital Imaging Integrated Circuit) II processor, which efficiently combines power management, image processing, and most primary camera functions (Auto Exposure, White Balance, JPEG compression, and Sensitivity) in one chip. DIGIC II image files are also optimised for sharp resolution, balanced contrast, lower noise, and bright colours.
The iSAPS technology analyses each scene to optimise key camera settings even before a shot is taken.

It has 15 shooting modes to allow you to take that snap just right. Nine preset Special Scene modes help with great results in tricky lighting conditions. My Colours allows special in-camera colour effects to be applied in real time to images and movies.

Not only does this camera allow you too take pictures in a range of modes, the little devil of a machine allows you to make movies too, up to 1GB in size
The movie clips you take are produced in VGA quality with full audio. You can view them on the massive LCD this camera provides or connect to a TV for full screen playback. Recording is easy, and the playback quality is outstanding.
Talking about the LCD display, I feel I must point out that for a tiny camera, it has a rather large display, 2.5" to be exact. So you can view your creations with complete ease without squinting to make out the picture.
The monitor's wide viewing angle provides improved visibility for sharing playback with friends and family. 'QuickBright' gives instant screen brightness in bright outdoor conditions. Night Display automatically improves visibility in low light for easy after-dark shooting.

It really is no wonder my friends were raving on about these sorts of cameras, if they are all like this one.

So ok. I covered that it looks stylish, and some of the features already. But what about what I really love, the prints. Sure, it's nice to look at your pictures on a screen anytime you want, but I like my creations to be put in a frame or album just as much as I am sure many of you reading this would want, well let me tell you…..

Printing…..

With this camera you get software and a USB lead supplied, which is a 2.0 high speed cable. Simply connect your lead from camera to your computer, download the software provided, and follow instruction on screen, and there you will have your photos ready to print, it takes seconds honestly.
If Connected to a Canon SELPHY CP Series printer you can also print ID photos and movie stills, I haven't personally got this printer, but never the less it is another feature worth thinking about.
The software included with my purchase of this camera to allow me to edit, organise and print my photos are Canon's ZoomBrowser EX, accessible for Windows 98 onwards, and ImageBrowser for Macintosh.
Canon Image Gateway provides 100MB of web space for sharing photos online.

So how have I found this camera so far……………..

I have had this Camera for about three days, and I have practically attached to my hands. I love it.
I like the fact that if you have a picture you don't want, delete it! Fantastic, no one is ever seeing a bad picture of me again he he.

The quality of my images I have taken have been fantastic, far better than any camera images I have seen of late. I have already tried the camera indoors such as night clubs and home, and they are just as clear as if you took them on a bright sunny day. I have already stored 150 pictures on it, ( I have been snapping away on it), and it's still going. It should allow me to take 200 images in total.

I have not even opened the manual, as I have found it so easy to use, the buttons and the screen display gives you all the information you need, 5 minutes playing with it and I got it.

The camera also comes with a rechargeable Li-Ion battery pack and a compact charger that plugs into an AC outlet.
The battery pack is small and looks more like a cell phone battery.

The Ixus 170 has a retractable lens that extends and has a lens cover that opens automatically when the camera is powered on. When the camera is powered off, the lens retracts and the lens cover closes. Again this was simple and pretty self explanatory.
The shutter speed is approx 1.5 seconds.

The camera has an on/off button on the top deck as well as a zoom rocker and a large shutter release button. The bottom of the camera has a metal threaded tripod mount and a battery and SD card compartment lid. You no longer have to slide the lid out and then swing it open. It is spring-loaded and has a spring-loaded latch.

I found it pretty much just a point - and -shoot camera, as most of the camera does all the work for you in auto mode.
However, in case you want more control, you can select one of several scene modes by rotating the dial to the red camera icon with SCN next to it. Then you can use the FUNC/SET button and the menu control disc to set the scene mode (Portrait, Landscape, Beach, Snow, etc.) and other shooting parameters.

The camera has no real Manual mode where you would be able to select the shutter speed and aperture. But you can select Manual mode, where you get access to selection of several parameters, most notably exposure compensation and ISO. In Manual mode, you can set the ISO (50-400), white balance (several presets and custom), use exposure compensation to make pictures darker or brighter, use picture effects, colour replacement effects, etc. These parameters are easy to access by a push of FUNC button and some of them now have short descriptions/subtitles due to the fact that the camera has such a large screen that can accommodate them.

I found the focusing takes less than a second at both wide angle and telephoto.

Anything which may be cause for concern?………………

Not too much to be concerned about this beauty, if anything I would have been concerned about the battery as it is such a small camera, but 3 days, 150 images and I have had no need to re-charge it yet.
The only thing that is a tiny bit disappointing is the camera's red eye reduction function is not the best, but then only a few of my images turned out this way so that really is just a little niggle.

Anything I would recommend?………

Once you power the camera on for the first time, it asks you to enter the current date and time. I suggest that you do that, because it will ask you to do this every time you turn the camera on or switch to a different mode otherwise.
And here is my conclusion…………

I am totally impressed by this. Really has shown me how advanced technology has become. I would recommend this purchase to anyone.
I would describe it as my little wonder machine, by that I mean, I just wonder what else this thing does, it's that good!

Prices range from £280 to £300, but in my opinion well worth it.
I brought mine online from www.pixmania.com for £267 inc VAT.
With this the accessories included: SD 32 Mo Card, Li-ion NB-3L battery, charger, USB cable, a/v cable, neck strap and software. Also a waterproof case.
But I did a very quick search on this, and knowing my luck, you may be able to find it cheaper.

Well that about does it folks, I am sure I have included all the relevant information, if I can help you further just leave a note in my guest book. Thanks all for reading 

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