Canon Ixus I

I would recommend the Canon Ixus I camera to anyone.

I picked the camera up for under £100. I bought it because my super-duper digicam is hardly pocketable. This on the other hand slips into a pocket and I carry it everywhere. Last year I missed the chance of snapping a Harley rider falling off their bike because my camera was in the bottom of my rucksack. This way I have one in my pocket ready to snap any opportunity, as long as it isn't far away that is!

I bought this Canon Ixus i Digital camera in November last year, and it has amazed me how clever it is! The size of the thing is the first point to make. About the same size as 3 match boxes placed side by side, it is ridiculously small, even more so when you realise how much is crammed into that small space.

The functionality of this camera is astounding. There is everything you could want or need in this little box of tricks. Everything from a self timer to anti red eye (for the 'joe public' photographer) leading up to the white balance, colour change facility (vivid blue, vivid green, vivid red, dark skin tone, etc. these you can make one colour REALLY bright, or turn it off. A great idea for the semi-pro person but something I have never used, and probably never will!) and the 'kids and pets' setting. This one lets you alter the resolution and ISO setting (old school, me) so the pics come out correct for the setting, be it indoor, snow, fireworks (Mmm, interesting...) or underwater (strange, as the camera is not waterproof). These will broaden your ideas of what a camera can do, so go out and explore these options.

You can also change the size of the pics, and therefore store more on the removable SD card, or have huge pictures that you can blow up to poster size and not lose any of the definition. A great idea if you want some family photo's mounted on the wall, without spending an absolute fortune at the professional studios.

On the back is a 2 inch (diagonal) LCD display that shows the 5m megapixel pictures in almost breathtaking clarity and all the control buttons. The 10x zoom is good (Up to 2.4 optical zoom, then the digital zoom takes over up to 10 times magnification) so you now never need to be on top of the subject again. The movie capture facility is also very good, and with the in-built microphone, you will never need your video camera again!

The menu, as mentioned above, can be a tad confusing, but once you have the hang of it, navigating through the menu options will become second nature. In there you have a 'micro' setting for the real 'up close and personal' pictures, a portrait setting so the light is just right for the family mug shots, a landscape setting, night snapshot (never used that one...!), and either a manual 'general' setting or an automatic one, for the everyday shots.

There are also some little gadgetry touches that men will love. When using the camera for a 'portrait' shot (sideways, so the camera is on it's side) you do not need to use the shutter button on the top, just use the one below the LCD screen so you can hold and shoot with the same hand. This alone saves the fiddly 'trying to push a button that is in the wrong place' syndrome.

And, also on the same sort of thing, when looking at the shots you have taken on the LCD screen, if you turn the camera through 90 degrees and hold it sideways again, the image on the LCD screen will flip so it is the right way round. Clever, huh!

The only downside I have found with this camera (and compared with the good points, it is hardly worth mentioning!!) is the lack of a viewfinder. Under certain light conditions (blooming sunny, mainly) the screen can be a little hard to see. Nowhere near as bad as other LCD screens I have seen, but you still get a very small amount of glare if the sun is just in the wrong place. This is a very personal gripe, but after studying photography (amongst other things) I like the option of using the viewfinder if required.

I had the Canon Ixus iZoom digital camera for my birthday and it's absolutely brilliant. It is very stylish, small and compact, easy to use and it gives you great hi-res images. It's suitable for Apple iMac users too, which is a bonus!

The design of the Canon Ixus iZoom digital camera is superb. It is very stylish and sleek. You'd be a fool not to flaunt it. The 5 mega-pixel camera is more than enough for anybody who wants clear and crisp digital photos. There nothing more you could ask for.

I got the Canon Ixus iZoom digital camera for my birthday, and I have to say I'm very very happy with it. The 5 mega-pixels allows you to print high standard A3 prints with plenty of room to crop the pictures. I couldn't be happier with this camera, but it's still early days yet.

Overall the Canon Ixus I is a great camera, and perfect for quick shots at parties and holiday snaps. It has a quality build, and is a fine piece of photographic equipment. It is a definite must for someone who wants to aim and shoot, but has many more options for the more experienced.

The Canon Ixus I is everything I wanted; It's small, handy and is very easy to use. It is the perfect camera to take with you on vacation, it doesn't take up to much space and it makes very good pictures.

It is too bad that you can't zoom with the Ixus I, but I knew that when I bought it.

My perfect camera!

I bought the Canon Ixus I camera after lengthy research, I wanted a digital camera that would fit in my pocket and take good snap shots. And that's just what I got. The Ixus I has more features that I'll ever use and it has an impressive shutter delay time. It's even smaller and lighter than my mobile phone, wow, and picture quality is very good too.

What has disappointed me is that in ten months of ownership it has spent more than 9 weeks being repaired. The flash packed up without warning, so I sent it off for repair under warranty. After 4 weeks I rang Canon's repair centre to enquire when I would get it back, I have made several calls since to only to be told that I should have it back 'by the middle of next week'. This has gone on for way too long, and certainly has discouraged me from buying another Canon product. Such a shame.

The Canon Ixus I camera is great for those beginners wanting to have everything in a small lightweight and great camera.

This camera has a manual mode which allows you to choose white balance, shutter speed and aperture. It has 4 colour modes.

This camera has no optical zoom, but later versions of the Ixus cameras have optical zoom but at least the Ixus I has 5 digital zoom.

It has a magnificent 4 megapixel CCD Chip and has the ability to take movie clips. The greatest problem of this camera is that it has no viewfinder.

This camera is so compact that it can easily slip into your pocket.