Canon IXUS 80 IS

If, like me, you want a compact to live up to its name, then this little gem certainly does that

CANON IXUS 80IS


Let's be honest, there are times (and plenty of them) when carrying around a chunky SLR and zoom lens just isn't convenient. So what are your options if you're off for a quick walk, going to a wedding, out with the kids, shopping etc? Well, it's compact time of course, and this is where you enter a minefield. Every company and his dog is clamouring for your attention, and your business, to buy their compact cameras, and as a result it is incredibly tricky to judge just what makes one system better than the next. I've owned many of the leading brands and recently settled on the Canon IXUS 80IS
If, like me, you want a compact to live up to its name, then this little gem certainly does that, weighing less than my wallet (and I don't have much cash in it!), and measuring about the same as half a cheque book.
Of course, size isn't everything, so let me run through a few of the features that I find so impressive about this camera.


SPEED: I was amazed at how swiftly and accurately the camera performed whilst set on auto. The Auto Focus was generally very precise, especially with its very smart "find the face" technology which really does seem to hunt out the important features in the image, even when you frame them left or right of centre, snap into focus and hold it in time for you to fire an exposure before the moment is lost.

VERSATILITY: The IXUS has a great Auto setting but you can flick very quickly through a number of features that help get the shot, from macro (with which you can fill the frame with about 2cm of subject matter), to an excellent night shot that gives your flash photography a much better feel, incorporating the ambient light in the shot. There is a full manual setting too, if you want to fiddle with your photography.

USER INTERFACE: I am a terror when it comes to reading manuals for gear, and an inveterate fiddler. Some kit just defies logic however, with multiple button presses and "hold X for 3 seconds, then press enter" type commands. The IXUS is not one of them!
I managed to work my way around the camera from the moment I took it out of the box, and within an hour had dipped into the more advanced settings. I have yet to look at the manual, and am really chuffed with the ease of use.

RESOLUTION: Lots of little cameras pack in a big pixel count, but 8 Mgpxl is pretty chunky and really does deliver a very fine image. Perhaps more importantly, the contrast and hue are excellent, with very accurate skin tones, bright areas under control and detail in the blacks rivalling some of the entry level SLRs.

LENS: 3 X Optical zoom is pretty standard for this type of camera (there's a physical limit to how much lens you can squeeze into a tiny space) but I was really impressed by the digital zoom. I have rarely used this function on other compacts I've owned, but decided to give the IXUS a spin at a concert I visited the other day. In limited available light, at 100m, 1600 ISO and hand held I was able to see the drummer's eyebrows on my photographs (completely impossible with the naked eye). Very, very impressive! I'm looking forward to giving this function a run under better lighting conditions.

CAMERA SHAKE: The IS part of the name stands for Image Stabilized, and this function really does work on the Ixus. OK, if you throw your arms around, you're going to end up with a blurry shot, but give this camera half a chance and it locks on to a very stable image, reducing camera shake and so resulting in crisp images. I tested this to the extreme in low light conditions at maximum digital zoom and still had pretty sharp images.

All in all, this is a cracker of a compact: travel anywhere, work in most conditions, and I now know that it will give me shots that I otherwise would have missed.