Full Metal Jacket

Wrapped in a gleaming costume of stainless steel, the Canon Ixus ii is the epitome of chic. Far from being ostentatious, however, the Ixus hides its wealth of features underneath a relatively simple exterior. On the front of the camera can be found a small opening for the optical viewfinder, and the most narrow of flash units. Turn the Ixus round, and the 1.5" LCD screen and plenty of buttons are set against the lustrous background. It fits easily into your pocket, being only slightly larger than a credit card. In order to make such a mini machine, Canon have had to make some changes to their usual models. The Ixus II is their first digital camera to take the SD (secure digital) memory cards which are about the size of a stamp. It comes supplied with a 16mb card, which unfortunately does not get you very far. To get real storage I bought a 128mb SD card from ebuyer.com. This cost me about £30 and has freed me from the fetters of limited memory.

As can be seen from the images uploaded to Ciao, the quality is very impressive. I have very few complaints, in fact the only one is slightly soft edges. This is not a huge problem, but it just goes to prove that even this camera is fallible. There are three settings which define the quality of the images: superfine, fine and normal. I have found that there is very little visible difference between superfine and fine. As well as altering the quality, you can also change the size of your photo; large, medium or small. Of course, the size and quality affect how many photos that can be stored on your SD card. If you "go wild" and decide to take large, superfine images, you'll only be able to fit 8 photos on the 16mb card supplied. Again this reasserts the need for more storage.

Here comes the science, things are starting to get a bit technical! You can change the autofocus on or off, giving you greater control over your photo taking. You can also alter the shutter speed, the range is 1-15 seconds, which I am reliably informed means that you can use your camera in dark conditions with a longer exposure time. After taking your photo you are able to change the colour setting between regular, vivid and neutral.

From the moment you push that power button, it takes about 3 seconds before you can take your photo, and then 1.5 seconds before you can snap your next one. For most this is perfectly adequate, though if not happy with it, the Casio Exilim range of cameras are ridiculously quick to start up. To begin with I was considering the Casio, they are much smaller than the Ixus, though in my opinion they lack the features. Back to the Canon; to take the photo you press the shutter button only half way down. Then, as the autofocus kicks into play small green boxes intelligently identify what the main subject of your photo is, and adjust the focus accordingly. This is a remarkably clever feature, though I have found that it can bring the wrong things into focus, which can prove quite annoying. In dark conditions a small orange beam is shot from the camera, which is meant to help the focus adjust. Not only this, but it also reduces redeye by narrowing peoples pupils. That is, in theory. In reality I have found that red eye is a considerable problem, that is only avoidable by using the red eye flash option.

Pictures of Canon Digital IXUS II

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ixus' view

I think I have pretty much rounded up the camera's photo-taking capabilities. But the review does not end here! (groan). Far from it, because the Ixus ii also features a movie-mode. Even if you have never set eyes upon a camera before, you will be able to work this movie mode. You simply point, then press to record, and then press to stop! The quality is surprisingly good. The colour is completely accurate, and the sound (recorded by a small microphone on the front of the camera) is spot on.

Of course one of the most important aspects of any digi-cam is the battery. Again the Ixus performs pretty well. It has a minute rechargeable lithium battery which slips into the camera's underbelly. I have found that the battery will take about 100 photos before it dies on you. And when it does, it only takes just over an hour to power it up with the supplied recharger.

Canon Utilities ImageBrowser allows you to send your photos by email, alter your photos, organise, and indeed print them. You are also given software to view your movies, and manipulate them. The final program I want to mention is the PhotoStitch software. This arranges all of your photos taken in stitch assist mode, and pieces them all together. I was happy to find that you can use this program to give 360-degree photos. As you can see from this description, Canon have been remarkably generous with their software, which testifies to the commitment they have made to this product; there are even some other minor programs which I have not mentioned (they allow you to make greetings cards, and other "fun" creations!)

For my Digital Ixus II I paid £170 to amazon.co.uk, and £30 on top of that for the 128mb SD card. Tragically for all those wanting to buy this camera, the price has risen dramatically to £199 since then. Even considering this new price, the Ixus represents extraordinary value. All of its features contribute to it being an easy-to-use machine. The Ixus is an excellent camera for those wanting great quality photos without the fuss of fiddling with this and that. For this reason I would not recommend it for professional photographers (though being professional they would probably already know this!). This robust, and svelte machine should be with me for a long time yet, and i look forwards to taking plenty of snaps for years to come.