Canon Digital IXUS i

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The IXUS i is the latest addition to the Japanese manufacturer's successful IXUS line. Available in a choice of four funky colors as well as a size which would make fans of Casio's Exilim squeal, this is the strongest push from Canon to enter into the fashion market. However, this is also the first IXUS to arrive without optical zoom. Still, from its excellent lineage, we expected this camera to produce good pictures and we're pleased to say we weren't disappointed.

Simplicity With Style
With the IXUS i, Canon has for the first time elected not to include any optical zoom for its IXUS line. This camera is targeted at the uncomplicated individual who wants something easy to use and provides good pictures to boot. Still, it does make provision for 4x digital zoom. Frequent readers to CNETAsia will know we don't put much weight on digital zoom--which is basically software interpolation and, more often than not, results in less-than-desirable image quality. However, with the IXUS i, we found that with zoom settings at less than 2x, we managed reasonably acceptable image quality. There was very little artifact visible even though this is commonly expected. If all you ever do is print in 4R, we think the 4-megapixel sensor will alleviate the little compromises in quality with regard to digital zoom.

Despite its diminutive size, this little number's controls are well distributed, allowing plenty of room to rest your thumb so you can get a good handle. Since the IXUS i is built with simplicity in mind, there are relatively few buttons and even the four-way navigational pad doubles to manipulate the digital zoom. In terms of menu layout, this Canon doesn't differ from its other IXUS siblings, and is just as simple to pilot and set.

Like the IXUS II before it, the IXUS i achieves the ultra-sleek form factor by using SD card memory, reiterating the Japanese manufacturer's intention to support this standard together with the de facto CompactFlash card that has served Canon's other digicams so well.

With a small metallic eyelet placed centrally on the left edge of its body and the model insignia etched vertically, the IXUS i screams to replace the phone hanging round your neck. It's a pity the company did not include such a lanyard, preferring to stick with the norm and bundle a wrist strap instead.

Any Substance?
Although primarily a simple point-and-shoot model, the IXUS i does have a pretty complete feature set to cover most of the bases. The more advanced shutterbugs will appreciate the minute amount of manual controls offered by the unit. These include three metering modes (multi, center-weighted, spot), exposure compensation, and white balance controls. An assist lamp also finds its way into this Canon to provide excellent low-light autofocusing.

New this time around is Canon's Quick Shot mode. This new feature will primarily prove a boon to point-and-shoot users as it basically makes the camera act like a fixed-focus model with infinity focus, significantly reducing shutter lag. To enable this mode, just press the shutter down firmly and the camera will take the shot immediately with no focusing pause. Should you need to use the 5-point AiAF (Artificial intelligence Auto Focus) to ensure sharp focus on off-center subjects, you can still half-press the shutter to obtain the correct points.

When shooting stills, the unit is able to save JPEGs at four resolutions and three compression settings. In movie mode, it can record AVI clips at 320 x 240 pixels with audio, the sore point being a limit of only 3 minutes per clip. Other notable mentions include the bundled 32MB SD card.

Zippy Performer
In our tests, we found the IXUS i to be very quick, which in all honesty, is a trait of fixed-focus cameras. This Canon springs to life in just over 2 seconds when you hit the power button. Once awake the tiny lens mechanism protrudes slightly, which is unusual of fixed focus cameras. Although this slows the startup time slightly, we didn't mind as this does help to keep the errant finger off the lens--a much more common problem than you'd think with lilliputian units such as these.

Moving along to our shot-to-shot runs, the unit performed admirably with the flash off. The camera was able to keep timings to about 1 to 2 seconds for 14 shots before taking a short wait for the images to be written to the media card. With the flashed switched on the numbers dropped to about 3 to 4 seconds between shots.

The autofocusing (AF) system was also pretty good, often taking about a second for situations with adequate lighting. Under dim or bad lighting, the AF expectedly took slightly longer, averaging around 2 to 3 seconds.

Battery performance was also rather good. Under normal usage, it took about 350 shots with a mixture of flash settings before this Canon showed the low-battery warning. I should add that if the IXUS i is in continuous use for about 30 minutes, we found the unit to be rather warm--the source being the Lithium-ion battery. We noticed this same behavior on the manufacturer's older IXUS 400 as well. The higher temperature should pose no problem for most situations, but we did find heat to cause underwater cases to fog up sometimes.

In terms of image quality, the IXUS i delivered pretty good 4-megapixel photos, though not as good as the IXUS 400. Although the camera has ISO settings from 50 to 400, in our tests, we found noticeable artifacts with settings above ISO 200. The colors captured, on the other hand, were pleasing but we preferred using Canon's vivid setting to make the shots look more saturated. The camera's automatic white balance also proved average and tended to look warm under tungsten lighting.

Another Step For Fashion Cameras
Coming to store shelves at a mind-blowing S$649 (US$376), this Canon has value thrown out the door--like most fashion accessories. Without a doubt, the lack of optical zoom frustrated us occasionally. The fixed 39mm focal length was also not wide enough to "fit in" a group for those happy bar counter snapshots without moving some way back. Still, for what it lacks in features, the IXUS i definitely makes up for in style. Chances are every single person who walks by and sees it will surely utter "oohs" and "ahs". Just remember, it's probably the camera and not you.