Product Reviews

Until recently, the words 'truly pocket-sized' and 'digital camera' didn't really go together. Sure, Canon's S10 broke all records last year when it boasted 2.1 megapixel resolution in a box which was certainly pretty small. But compare it to Canon's original Ixus APS film model, marketed as a true object of desire - now that's a small camera. So why is there a picture of it here? Well, look a little closer and you'll see the words that fans of technology and compact cameras have been waiting for: Digital Ixus.

Yes, unbelievable as it may seem, Canon has produced a digital camera in a case the same size as the original 24-48mm Zoom Ixus. Photos don't do it justice, so get out your ruler and imagine something measuring a mere 57mm x 87mm x 27mm and weighing only 190g (without battery). The S10 and S20 at 105mm x 69mm x 34mm and 270g suddenly don't seem so compact after all.

From the silvery outside, the only things to protrude are the lens when powered up, and the small zoom lever and shutter release button. Like the S10 and S20 and original APS Ixus, there's only room for a 2x optical zoom, which in the case of the Digital Ixus, is equivalent in coverage to 35-70mm on a 35mm film camera; the actual specification is 5.4-10.8mm, f2.8~4.0 and the closest focusing distance 10cm. Those who don't mind reducing image resolution can also employ a 4x digital zoom.

Speaking of resolution, the Digital Ixus features a 2.1 megapixel CCD, delivering 1600 x 1200 pixels at maximum resolution; a 640 x 480 pixel mode is also available. Like the S10 and S20 before it, the Ixus employs a relatively modest compression ratio at its highest quality setting, delivering image files measuring around 1.6Mb each. Despite looking as if it may be forced to house built-in memory, the Digital Ixus features a proper Type-I Compact Flash slot and comes with an 8Mb card as standard. Canon estimates that with this card you'll get around four images at best 'super-fine' quality, 12 at 'fine' quality, or 46 at the 640

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x 480 pixel setting. There's no uncompressed TIFF mode, and unsurprisingly, no room to accommodate the IBM MicroDrive mini hard disk.

Power is supplied by a small NB-1L 680mAh Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery pack. The supplied charger will fully refresh it in around 120 minutes, and it's good for around 85 shots composed with the LCD monitor; we certainly had no issues using it on and off for whole days at a time.

Round the back is the choice of an optical viewfinder or TFT display. At 1.5in, the display is smaller than the 1.8in and 2in screens found on bigger cameras, but it's certainly sufficient for composition, setting up and playback, in which it can also display nine image thumbnails or zoom in up to two times for closer inspection. You can also connect it to your TV. Note there's no room for a small LCD panel at the top of the camera, so you will need to use the colour TFT display to check mode, battery life and number of images remaining.

Operation is essentially automatic with a few overrides. In capture mode there are five main options: auto, manual, black and white, and a pair of stitch-assist modes which help you compose multiple frames for later joining in software on your Mac. Don't get too excited about manual mode, as it only lets you change white balance, image quality and adjust exposure compensation from +/-2EV in 1/3 EV steps. Flash options increase to include selection of auto, red-eye reduction, force on/off and a handy slow-syncro to eliminate dark backgrounds. Shutter speeds range from 1 second to 1/500, but there's no manual control over these or the aperture.

Connection to your Mac is via USB only with a Photoshop plug-in or Canon's own ImageBrowser application; a PhotoStitch utility is also supplied to automatically join those multiple shots for a nice panoramic effect. Best-quality JPEGs took around six seconds to transfer.

There's even a waterproof case available: good for depths of up to 5 metres - albeit with a £150 price tag.

On the downside, the physically small CCD suffers from a little image noise, apparent on smooth coloured graduations like blue skies. On the upside, it still pans the APS Ixus in terms of image quality and will turn out pretty respectable 8in x 6in to 10in x 8in inkjet prints. It also offers more control than most film-based compacts. Sure, many 35mm compacts will beat it, as will the latest breed of 3.3 megapixel cameras, but that would be missing the point. The bottom line is that the Digital Ixus is tiny, gorgeous and delivers sufficient quality to be the only digital compact choice.