Canon IXUS III

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I bought my Canon Ixus III APS Camera roughly 18 months ago, after experiencing no end of problems with the camera I originally bought, a Fujifilm Nexia 320 IX. I would have gone for the Ixus III to start with, but it was way outside my budget of £100 and the Nexia 320 IX seemed to have everything I was looking for at the time(and at 10p inside my budget).

After having two replacement Nexia 320 IX’s and still experiencing problems ...
...My other half has a Canon 35mm camera which he has had for roughly 15 years, and which still takes fantastic photos, so I thought to myself “I want a Canon”. I needed a more reliable camera, and 15 years seemed reliable.

There weren’t that many APS camera’s to choose from as Digital seems to be the in thing, but I was given a choice of two Canon models. The Ixus III was the most expensive at £179.90, but it had exactly what I wanted ... more

WARNING! Long Op (not one of my usual short and concise efforts)

INTRO

I bought my Canon Ixus III APS Camera roughly 18 months ago, after experiencing no end of problems with the camera I originally bought, a Fujifilm Nexia 320 IX. I would have gone for the Ixus III to start with, but it was way outside my budget of £100 and the Nexia 320 IX seemed to have everything I was looking for at the time(and at 10p inside my budget).

After having two replacement Nexia 320 IX’s and still experiencing problems I decided me and my Fujifilm camera should part company and I should upgrade to a better make/model.

My other half has a Canon 35mm camera which he has had for roughly 15 years, and which still takes fantastic photos, so I thought to myself “I want a Canon”. I needed a more reliable camera, and 15 years seemed reliable.

There weren’t that many APS camera’s to choose from as Digital seems to be the in thing, but I was given a choice of two Canon models. The Ixus III was the most expensive at £179.90, but it had exactly what I wanted and looked extremely stylish.

Me being me I negotiated an extremely good deal, and didn’t end up paying the whole £80.00 difference, but then I had had an extremely rough time with my previous camera.

FEATURES

The Canon IXUS III has the following features:

APS – Advanced Photo System means you can buy those dinky little APS film cartridges that just pop into your camera and load themselves (so no misloading). They are a little more expensive than your normal 35mm films, but so much more reliable and easy to use. (Available in 25 or 40 exposures.) Another great feature of APS is that you can choose from three different shapes/sizes for each of your pictures, for example if you are taking a group photo, you can select a panoramic print type which is the widest view option. Whichever one you choose the developer will print, so no hassles there.Autoflash – the flash is built into the camera itself. It looks very small, but this camera proves that size definitely doesn’t matter. There are 5 flash settings;

• Auto (for dark places and backlit conditions – fires itself when needed),
• Auto with Red-eye Reduction (same as auto but Red-eye lamp is lit before the flash fires),
• Flash On (fires for all pictures regardless of whether it is required or not),
• Flash Off (never fires), and,
• Night Scene (the shutter speed is slower so picks up night scene backgrounds better).

Self Timer – great feature when you want to be in your own pictures. You can delay the photo taking for a number of seconds so that you have time to move in front of the camera and be included in the snap. Best when used with a tripod.Imprinting – the date and time can be imprinted on the back or both sides of your photos, as can predefined titles such as “Happy Birthday”. Great for those times, you just can’t remember when or why a photo was taken.

MRC – Mid Roll Change is something I never thought I’d use, but I have found this to be a great little feature. Unlike 35mm films, APS films can be rewound half way through and changed. Part used films can then be reloaded as and when you want to use the rest of the film up. Great when you want to experiment with black and white films, but don’t use a whole one in one go.

Zoom – this is what originally attracted me to the camera. The built in zoom lens is more than adequate for my photographic needs and from memory magnifies to 2.3 times. This may not be good enough for birdwatchers and the like, but I'm sure most would be satisfied.

Other Features – there are numerous other little features, which I won’t bore you with, but which make taking photographs all the more simple and dare I say almost foolproof.

APPEARANCE

The camera itself is 98mm x 50mm x 33.4mm (W x H x D), which is pretty impressively small. It is a very plain looking thing, but at the same time very stylish and expensive looking. Everyone assumes it is a digital camera because of its size. It weighs approx 150g without its battery.

EXTRAS

The camera comes with a wrist strap, (which I find very reassuring especially when near water), a black leather case, which is very plain and sturdy yet stylish enough to encase this lovely little thing, a battery and a free film. All pretty much what you would expect really.

SUMMARY

This is an extremely reliable, easy to use, sexy looking camera. Since I bought mine these have come down in price dramatically and you can now buy one for between £99 & £140. This is an absolute bargain.

Thanks for persevering with my op! Sandra.
 

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