Review: Canon Digital Ixus 70 – tiny point and shoot camera
The propaganda
The Canon Ixus 70’s smart, minimalist look is inspired by the original Ixus design. It’s finished in silver and black and despite its small dimensions it feels incredibly well built and solid.
It’s a point and shoot model, but despite its tiny size, Canon has managed to pack in a 7.1 megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom and a 2.5in LCD screen.
The good
The Ixus is incredibly fast to start up. From pressing the power switch you’re ready to start shooting in less than a second, so you won’t miss that special shot.
Full res 7.1 megapixel images measure 3,072×2,304 pixels and come in at around 1.3MB at normal quality. There’s a 32MB SD card included, so you should be able to get at least 20 shots on it before it fills up. Indoor shots were reasonable, without too much noise and faithful colours.
The bad
The body is incredibly susceptible to messy finger marks – after just a couple of hours’ use the previously spotless body was covered in grubby marks that ruined its previous shine.
The menu system is also a bit complex to get the hang off – with two different menus layouts to get your head around. The controls are generally well laid out, but the zoom ring that surrounds the shutter button can be difficult to operate – especially if you’re trying to keep the camera still at the same time.
Geek Sheet
Resolution: 7.1 megapixel
Zoom: 3x optical, 4x digital
Sensitivity: 80-1,600 ISO
Focal length: 5.8 – 17.4mm (Equivalent to 35 – 105 mm on a 35 mm camera)
Memory: 32MB SD card
Dimensions: 86 x 54 x 19 mm
Weight: 125g without card and battery
Overview
The Ixus 70 has a rather high asking price of £249 for a 7.1 mepapixel model, although shop around online and you should be able to get it for significantly less than this.
If you’re after a small camera to carry with you most of the time, then it fits the bill, especially given its fast start up time. However, greasy finger marks will ruin its shine and you’ll have to contend with the slightly over complicated menu systems.
Related sites: Canon Digital Ixus 70
