Canons IXUS Series Compact Pocket Cameras

Canon's stylish IXUS range of digital cameras is aimed at the pocket camera market. These designed to impress cameras are slim and light weight and easily fit in the pocket or purse. They are not for pro photographers, however for their size they pack a lot of punch and match the superior image quality expected from Canon.

The IXUS Range

Most of the cameras in this range employ Canons advanced DIGIC III processor, though the more recent models have the DIGIC 4 processor. Besides they use Canon's high power flash HF-DC1 and rechargeable li-ion battery for power. All models provide image stabilization and face detection technology and an orientation sensor that displays your images the right way up whichever way you hold the camera. They look fairly similar and some models have various body colour choices. All have 32MB built-in memory and take SD, SDHC or MMC cards and connect to a computer over USB 2.0. The main variation is in the megapixel count, optical zoom, CCD1 and lens parameters.

Settings common to all models include:

• Minimum Focusing Distance: 3cm.
• Metering Modes: Evaluative, Centre-weighted average, Spot.
• AE Lock: On/Off.
• Exposure Compensation: +/- 2EV in 1/3 stop increments.
• ISO Modes: AUTO, High ISO Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600.
• Shutter Speed: 15 - 1/1500 sec.
• Still Image Type : JPEG compression (Exif 2.2)
• White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom.
• Flash Modes: Auto, Manual Flash On/Off.
• Drive Modes: Single, Continuous, Self-Timer.
• Shooting Modes: Auto, Manual, Digital Macro, Portrait, Night Snapshot, Color Accent, Color Swap, Stitch Assist, Movie, Special Scene (Kids Pets, Indoor, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Aquarium, Underwater).
• Photo Effects: My Colors (My Colors Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Color).

All IXUS cameras have a solid feel and images are extremely sharp and clear. Though very high shutter speeds and ISO modes upto 1600 are available, the best picture quality is obtained upto ISO 400; after that expect pictures to be noisy. Without flash low light performance is good though pictures do become noisy in very low light and then the flash must be used. Face detection works but could have been better. The flash is very powerful and while this an advantage in some cases, in some cases it can ruin the colours and mood of the scene. There are plenty of settings available to tweak but there is always an Auto option for those who would just like to click away without bothering with the settings. Though I did find that rather than use the auto mode, tweaking the ISO to 400 and switching off flash greatly improved the quality and naturalness of my pictures.

The Individual Cameras

7.1 Megapixels

IXUS 70 is the first camera in this series. It has a silver and black body. It uses DIGIC III and has a 1/2.5" CCD, 3x optical zoom, resolution upto 7.1 megapixels, focal length 35 - 105mm and a 2.5" LCD screen. Movies upto 640 x 480, 30fps are supported and saved in AVI format with motion JPEG compression.
The IXUS 75 is almost identical except that is lacks a viewfinder2 and uses the saved space to provide a slightly larger 3.0" LCD.

8.0 Megapixels

IXUS 80 is similar to the IXUS 70 and reintroduces the viewfinder and a 2.5" LCD. It however increases the megapixel count to 8.0 and focal length is increased to 38 - 114mm though optical zoom is still 3x. The body is a bit more curvy and three colours silver, pink and brown are available. It is a very popular under £100 model.
If you want more zoom, go for the IXUS 950 with a 4x optical zoom and 35 - 140mm focal length or IXUS 860 which has a 3.8x optical zoom and a 28 - 105mm focal length, no viewfinder and a 3.0" LCD.

10.0 Megapixels

IXUS 85 increases the megapixels count to 10.0 and the CCD used is larger 1/2.3". Focal range is back to 35 - 105mm and optical zoom still 3x. All other features are identical to IXUS 80. The body is boxy and comes with a silver and black colour very similar to the IXUS 70. If you want more zoom the IXUS 970 has a 4x optical zoom with larger 37 - 185mm focal length.
The IXUS 90 again exactly like the IXUS 85 simply drops the viewfinder and instead provides a 3.0" LCD.

The IXUS 95 is the first in the series to use the DIGIC 4. It is otherwise identical to the IXUS 85 with a viewfinder and 2.5" LCD. It has a new drive mode called FaceSelf-Timer, which simplifies group shots or self portraits by waiting until the user enters the frame before shooting. Another Exposure compensation also uses i-Contrast for automatic dynamic range correction. It is available in many more colours than previous models, including blue and bright pink.
If you want more optical zoom go for the otherwise identical IXUS 870 with a 4x optical zoom, 28 - 112mm focal length, no viewfinder and 3.0" LCD.

12.1 Megapixels

The IXUS 960 increases the megapixels count to 12.1 with a very large 1/1.7” CCD and 36 - 133mm focal length, but is otherwise identical in features to the IXUS 85 and uses the DIGIC III.

IXUS 100 follows from IXUS 95 with DIGIC 4 and increases the megapixels count to 12.1 keeping the 1/2.3” CCD3 of IXUS 95 while reducing focal length to 33 - 100mm. It is the first to support HD movie (1280 x 720, 30fps) recording and also has an HDMI Mini Connector. The movie format is changed to MOV (H.2644 + Linear PCM (monaural)). The body has rounded corners and colours deep black and deep read are also available.

The IXUS 110 keeps all features of the IXUS 100 but increases the optical zoom to 4x changing focal length to 28 - 112mm. The minimum focusing distance is reduced to 2cm in macro mode. Again it drops the viewfinder and increases the LCD to 2.8". The body shape is changed to be narrower and rounder and looks more oval than square. If you want more zoom go for the IXUS 990 which offers 5x optical zoom and 37 - 185mm focal length but is otherwise identical to the IXUS 110.

14.7 Megapixels

The IXUS 980 boasts 14.7 megapixels and has a large 1/1.7”, 3.7x optical zoom with 36 - 133mm focal length. It is otherwise comparable to IXUS 100 in terms of features. It however does not support HD movies and falls back to recording at 640 x 480, 30fps. No mini HDMI port either.

Model Comparison Summary

1. 1. Most digital cameras use either a CCD image sensor or a CMOS sensor. Both types of sensor accomplish the same task of capturing light and converting it into electrical signals. Smaller sensors are less sensitive to light and inherently more prone to noise.
2. 2. A viewfinder is a real benefit if you're shooting in very dark conditions or a burst of continuous shots when screens are virtually useless.
3. 3. Cramming more megapixels onto a small censor often causes problems with digital noise, especially at higher ISO settings.
4. 4. H.264 is a standard for video compression.