Canon Digital IXUS V

Advantages: Compact, good results, now good value.
Disadvantages: Menus a bit fiddly.

Having often admired the Ixus cameras but been deterred by the price, when it came to finding a compact camera to complement my wife's Fuji 4900Z, the Ixus V was on the shortlist. I was looking for something small enough to take everywhere, but with enough features and quality to satisfy a keen photographer. I paid £319 for the Ixus V, which is significantly cheaper than the Minolta Dimage X and Pentax Optio 330, the others on my shortlist. Picture ...
...size starts to show some loss of definition, but A5 is hard to fault. Colour rendition is very good as is geometry - straight lines near the edge of the frame show almost no distortion. Macro is adequate at 4cm. Handling is generally OK - I have no tendency to obscure either lens or flash with fingers (unlike some larger cameras I have tried) and it is heavy enough to hold steady. All the controls seem well made and nice to use. The LCD is brighter ... Read review

Advantages: Small, uses compact flash (cheaper and used more than SD cards), b & w looks nice
Disadvantages: movie playback has no sound, shutter speed is not variable so can blur, buttons can become sticky

I bought one of these in Dec 2002. Its worked fairly well considering the bashing its had. The thing with a small camera is that you tend to take it to places (and in situations) where you are most liekly to break it e.g. the pub, a club or the beach. I'm fairly happy with it but the buttons are sticking a bit. Sometimes the power doesn't come on properly. A couple of times the battery has died with the lense still out which can be a pain. With ...
...soon came up with problems but it may be coincidental with using it at the beach - sand etc... I'd recommend but for a fun camera not a high quality one. If you can get one in a sale then it could be a bargin - I wouldn't pay full price for it now though. I say weight is heavy as for the size it is not light - the price to pay for having a flashy metal casing:) A few more notes: - Camera does not come with a protective case although you should ... Read review

Advantages: Small, compact, light, and durable
Disadvantages: very few, i really cant think of any now

This is the most smart camera i've had so far. It takes very fine pictures, and is very small, light, and easy to hold. It's got many features, such as lighting controls, macro-mode, scene mode, movie taking with sound (even though you can't preview the sound directly on the camera), and many more things and settings for people who enjoy playing around with these types of things. The software it comes with for downloading and archiving is very good ...
...wiht the camera. Pesonally i use Adobe Photoshop 7, it does magic. Because of it's size, I can easily fit the camera into a pocket and take it around with me. It has an exceptionally good flash: I took a picture in almost complete darkness and the picture came out almost with the crisp brightness I get during normal outdoors lighting conditions. It's very good for taking portraits, as the red eye reduction flash seems to bring out people in the picture ... Read review

Advantages: compact, many picture options
Disadvantages: no case included, slow to take photos

...but I returned the camera to Canon under the 1 year warrenty and they replaced the outer casing for free. Overall I have been very happy with this camera. If I want a printed copy, the images are great at 6x4" and some can be blown up to A4 size. ... Read review

Advantages: Ease of everyday use, quality of construction
Disadvantages: Advanced menu a bit tricky

...the images printed off the Canon are as good as those I used to get off a 35mm manual in 6 by 4. The macro function seems to work very well. To give you an idea, I used it to photograph an ultrascan so that I could email it for someone. The result was as clear as the original. The rechargeable battery is very easy to pop out and charge and is working fine even though I often just put 10 mintues of charge on to top it up before we go out, so no ...
...but on an average week away, I might charge it once at the beginning of the week and once near the end. The red eye reduction seems to be fairly effective, and the camera works well in low light conditions with the flash turned off, meaning I have some great shots of historic buildings lit up at night, some great fireworks shots and some beautiful sunsets. Anybody looking for a camera that is sexy, tiny, tough and takes excellent pictures must ... Read review

Advantages: picture quality, video clip feature, size of cam
Disadvantages: none

...I was lucky enough to win this camera in a competition. I have been using this camera now for a year and a half and have been very happy with the all round quality of this product. Specs include 3.2Mpixel, 2x Digital Zoom. Picture quality is very sharp, and the colours on the photos taken are very accurate. It also features a stitch up feature which allows you to take photos of a panoramic view and stitch the photos together. Another good feature is the video clips option. This allows for up to 3 minutes of video on a 256Mb Compact Flash card. Video is recorded at up to 640x480. The small size of the camera allows it to be carried in pockets easily and is not cumbersome. The silver look of the camera gives it a professional and modern look. The instruction manual is both informative and easy to understand, covering all features... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great looks and LCD screen
Disadvantages: Very outdated now and only 3.2 mega pixels

...Canon Digital Ixus V3 History Canon started out as a company with a handful of employees and a burning passion. That company soon became a world-renowned camera maker and is now a global multimedia corporation. However, the origins of our success remain unchanged: the passion of our early years and technological expertise amassed over more than 60 years. Canon will continue using its technologies to benefit people as it pursues its objective of becoming a company that is loved by people throughout the world. Introduction The Canon Ixus V3 is a 3.2 mega pixel digital camera which has been out for over 4 years. It is a small and compact camera with a 1.5 inch LCD screen and easy to use camera taking facilities; it also has a very useful viewfinder which I use more than the LCD screen. Appearance It is a very compact camera... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: easy to use, compact
Disadvantages: crap software,

...The Canon Digital IXUS V2 is a very nice camera. Beautifully small and compact without feeling the slightest bit delicate in use. The IXUS V2 has a comprehensive array features and facilities. What they are and how to use them can be quickly learned with the aid of the concise instruction book. A task made easier by the fact most selections and options are accessed by simple on screen menus. The quality of the pictures taken by the IXUX V2 are nothing short of superb. I can find nothing to fault them whether they are taken with or without the flash. It has to be said that such top quality pictures are obtained with the camera in Auto mode too. Whilst you have the option of full manual control, I have little inclination to take the camera out of Auto mode in all but the most unusual of circumstances. The 8MB memory card supplied... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful