Here’s a nice little objective review featuring some feedback from some of Australia’s most prolific technology magazines. This supreme little gizmo from Canon has captured the market’s heart since its release in 2009, and continues to calibrate a loyal following from digital camera lovers world-wide.

Rated 6/6 by Australia PC Authority, and 9/10 by Photo Review, you can’t go wrong with this stylish beauty. It’s perfect for those who can’t quite find the excuse to carry around a chunky DSLR.  Not to mention save a grand or two…

The Canon IXUS 80 is an excellent camera for consumers and ‘prosumers’ alike. Versatile and small, it produces a nice image quality for a compact digital camera. Its curved edges, small frame and strong weight demonstrate that it is made from quality materials and that Canon has done its homework in design.

Some star features include optical image stabilization, 8 pixel resolution, 3x optical zoom lens and 2.5-inch color LCD screen covering two-thirds of the back side of the camera. The on-screen menu is straightforward and easy to read, even in bright conditions.

Something fun about this camera, which we notice many reviewers have left out, is the surprisingly useful ability to color swap within your photos. For example, if you want a Schindler’s List style of retaining the vibrancy of one color over others, or alternatively swap colors, you can do this all within the camera itself. No Photoshop required. You can even play back your photos to check and alter exposure, focus, levels, and to even edit video.
It’s amazing how clever these digital cameras have become.

In addition to face detection, this camera can detect how much focus, exposure, flash and white balance your photo needs. In addition, its Motion Detection Technology allows the camera to shoot at a faster shutter speed for when you want to freeze the action by automatically raising its ISO.

Noise is mitigated up to ISO 400, where you’ll start to see noise in shadows but the image will still appear relatively sharp. When it reaches ISO 800 however, don’t try to print the final photo image bigger than 4×6inch if you want to retain quality.

Its predecessor, the Canon IXUS 70, was the top seller in 2008. But its younger sister, the IXUS 80, has certainly led the way in the past year.

The editor’s rating of Cnet Australia gave this a 7.6/10. Just below the user rating of 7.8/10.

Here is a quick summary of what they said,

“One of the most popular cameras of last year wasn’t a big fancy digital SLR, or a pimped-out super-zoom, it was Canon’s somewhat understated Digital IXUS 70. Its combination of a nice, though not extravagant, feature set. It’s a nice and convenient small size, and boasts a relatively low price which has proved to be quite appealing to camera buyers. This year, with the Digital IXUS 80 IS, Canon has updated the aesthetic design, switched to a slightly different zoom range, and most importantly, added optical image stabilization. Of course, they’ve also raised the resolution to 8 megapixels from last year’s 7.1 megapixels and refined some of the camera’s other features.” If you haven’t done so already, it’s highly recommended that try one out in your local digital camera store or do some research online, see for yourself, the Canon IXUS is amazing!

A digital camera, or digital camcorder, relies on a photosensitive device, known as a “Charge Coupled Device”, or CCD, for short, which converts incident light – in the form of an image, or a series of images – into an electronic, or digital, signal. This means that the images so produced can be stored on digital storage media, such as removable memory expansion cards, and transferred easily to a computer, for manipulation, or distribution via the Internet, or electronic mail.

Key Features

The maximum “resolution” of a digital camera, or camcorder – usually quoted as the total number of picture elements, or “pixels”, or “megapixels” (1 megapixel = 1,000,000 pixels) – is a measure of the maximum level of detail that can be contained in a captured image, and, therefore, of the overall quality of that image. Generally speaking, the higher the quoted resolution, the better; a basic two, or three, megapixel camera, such as the Minolta Dimage, may be perfectly adequate for holiday snapshots, and the like, but for more serious photography, a higher resolution camera, such as the Canon G6 Powershot, with a resolution of 7.1 megapixels, may provide more satisfactory results.

Other considerations, such as the degree of flexibility of manual versus automatic settings, storage capacity, and, of course, the overall price of a camera, may also depend on the type, and regularity, of use. Basic digital cameras are available for as little as £30, or less, but if you are looking for a high capacity, high performance camera, with full manual control of aperture, shutter and other settings, the cheapest SLR (”Single Lens Reflex”) digital camera may set you back over £300, for the camera body alone, with individual lenses priced at over £100, and upwards.

You will, however, find that there are many models on the market, from many different manufacturers – Canon, Fuji, Konica Minolta and Olympus, to name but a few – specifically designed for the basic, intermediate or advanced level photographer. You do need, of course, to make an assessment of which category your photography falls into, but, that aside, you should find that your choice is wide, and affordable.

Conclusion

Digital cameras & camcorders, unlike the traditional, analogue, alternatives, offer the facility to view, and, indeed, delete, a captured image, or images, immediately. This eliminates the uncertainty, and waste, often associated with analogue film, and, of course, there is no necessity to buy replacement rolls of film. Complete control of the final image, too, is placed in the hands of the camera, or camcorder user, via computer based editing software.