Im buying a digital camera tomorrow, mainly cause I want to take pics of the Install, and also cause I need one...
I was thinking of getting the Canon IXUS 300, I like the size, cause the only thing that stops me from taking a camera with me anywhere is the size, I hate carrying things around :)

Anyone have this camera?, What do you think...

I've got the previous model & it's great. Roger bought a 300 just before he went on holiday 2 weeks ago, and the movie mode (the only thing mine doesn't have) is very cute :)

It's a good camera, but I recommend getting a decent size CF card (at least 32MB) and a spare battery.

Hugo

i bought the IXUS 300 several weeks ago, and have been very pleased. i did quite a bit of research (much of it at the excellent Digital Photography Review site), and had narrowed it down to a few models, including the IXUS 300 and the nikon 995. in the end, i went with the IXUS for it's size. it gives you a bit less control over the exposure than the nikon, but the convenience of being able to easily slip it in a pocket more than makes up for the loss. if you're looking for a good point'n'shoot, you can't go wrong with the IXUS 300.

as hugo suggests, i picked up a 256 MB flash card for a good price on buy.com. at the highest resolution and next-to-highest JPEG quality, it will hold nearly 500 photos. very nice.

i can email you a link to some photos from a recent vacation, if you're interested in samples.

--dan.

Wow, thank you very much for that link to DPReview.

I want a digital camera for Christmas, and wasn't sure how I was going to compare features and choose a model to write down on my Christmas list, since there are so many to choose from. That site is really incredible and lets you look up and compare features in a really easy way.

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Tony Fabris

Ditto on that. I just bought the ELPH 300 (IXUS in EU) about a month ago and i love it... wherever i go it goes 'cause it's so small. Really nice solid camera, and i've found the movie mode to come in handy more than once. I'd definitely recommend it. I picked mine up for $467US shipped from digitaldealz.com.


|| loren.cox ||

Interesting. I spent some time on that site comparing cameras without having paid attention to the names/numbers said in this thread so far.

After comparing a lot of features and sample images, I settled on the camera I wanted. Guess which one I chose? The Canon IXUS 300.

Note that it's sold in the US under a different name: The Canon PowerShot S300 Digital Elph.

Wonder why they do that, changing the name for US, Europe, and Japan? Doesn't make sense to me.

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Tony Fabris

Yeah, I spent quite a number of hours on that site a few months back.
I wanted to replace my Powershot A5 (which didn't work with my newly purchased 128 meg card).
Guess what camera I bought... =)

Note that the IXUS / Elph is not as good as some of the other cameras in low light conditions. The site mentions this, but as it was about the same as my old camera I wasn't bothered.
Highly recommended.

Jazz
(List 112, Mk2 12 gig #40. Mk1 4 gig #30. Mk3 1.6 16v)

If you're somewhat more serious about photography, you really want the extra controls on the larger cameras. I've got a Canon G1, with the external Canon 420EX flash. It's hardly a pocket camera, but you've got all kinds of flexibility. Also, you can fit it with an IBM 1GB Microdrive, which allows for some 400-odd uncompressed images, or thousands of JPEG images.

The new Canon G2 appears to have fixed an number of things that annoy me about the G1. If I didn't already own a G1, I'd be ordering a G2 right away.

What's it mean to be "serious"? If you've ever spent serious time with a manual camera and like the notion of tweaking your depth of field, doing long exposures with a flash, or if you just want access to the raw bits and don't want the camera JPEG'ing your images for you, then you want the bigger camera. Also, the nifty flip-out screen of the G1 lets you shoot from the hip, shoot from overhead, etc. It's all amazingly versatile.

Funny you should mention it. A girl came into my shop yesterday with a IXUS that wasn't talking to the computer. It didn't take long to fix but I was really impressed with the size of the camera. the quality of images I saw was quite good, but as others have pointed out, it depends what you want to do with it.
Don't forget that as long as you have a good image to start with, it is just as easy to digitally tweak the shot later.

Murray
Go-Wit-Da-Fro

I've been a frequent visitor pf Dpreview almost as long as I have been on this site.
It's the reason I picked up a Minolta DIMAGE 7.
5.2 mega pixels, takes some really nice photographs a bit more $$ But it shound fit the Empeg crowd well.
I also have and use a Cannon Powershot A20 for regular stuff, takes great pictures and is only slightly larger as compared to the IXUS 300. also has a 3X zoom as compared to the 2X in the IXUS 300.
Other than that the features and specs are almost identical.
Oh and it's cheaper.
They are both excellent cameras but will always choose the DIMAGE 7 for serious shots.

12Gb MKII 080000516 Blue

Nah, the Ixus V has a 2 times zoom but the Ixus 300 has a 3 times optical (up to 7.5 with digital option).

Jazz
(List 112, Mk2 12 gig #40. Mk1 4 gig #30. Mk3 1.6 16v)

i'm sure i will buy a "prosumer" model next year, for exactly the reasons you mention. in the meantime, i can still use my SLR for those situations and be quite happy.

despite the nearly identical features and stats between the A20 and the ELPH/IXUS 300, i went with the more expensive 300 because it is just enough smaller to easily fit in a pocket, which makes it more likely that i'll carry it around and use it. you can't capture that "perfect shot" if you decided not to bring the camera with because it was too much of a bother.

--dan.

Just to shove this sucker even farther off topic, any of you use these cameras near water? or in mildly unfriendly environments?

I am a kayaker... mostly lakes and sloughs, not the crazy river stuff. I've been looking for a nice camera that I can use both for artistic reference and while kayaking. Knowing the horrors of what can happen to electronics near lake water I'd like any input on how well these operate. Any tips on protective gear for digital cameras would also be welcomed.

thanks...

Brian H. Johnson
MK2 36GB Blue
"Honey, you're wasting ammo..."

Canon do a Waterproof Sportcase for the Ixus 300 (For use when diving with the camera, probably a bit extreme for kayaking... =)

I'm sure other manufacturers have similar items available.

Jazz
(List 112, Mk2 12 gig #40. Mk1 4 gig #30. Mk3 1.6 16v)

Yeah, like Jazzwire said, that camera has a specific waterproof enclosure option for it. It looks really serious and beefy, very Jacques-Cousteau-looking. I get the feeling its small size combined with the waterproof casing option would make it the perfect camera to take kayaking.

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Tony Fabris

Wow... Thanks. I've done searches for such items in the past. They were typically a little "extreme" for my needs. Tony's Cousteau reference scared me as most I've found are literally giant lucite cubes with dual joysticks. But this was a couple of months ago. I haven't seen this one before...

A little overboard, perhaps, but looks like it will do the trick.

Thanks again,

Brian H. Johnson
MK2 36GB Blue
"Honey, you're wasting ammo..."

I'm back from holiday; it's actually an Ixus V; and I'm very impressed with the results. Unfortunately, I had to blag some CF cards from Hugo before I left, because the 128Mb I ordered hadn't arrived before leaving.

Roger - not necessarily speaking for empeg

Tony's Cousteau reference scared me as most I've found are literally giant lucite cubes with dual joysticks.

It is a lucite cube, yes, but remember that this camera starts out being very small to begin with. So the addition of the lucite casing wouldn't make it into a giant camera. That what I meant when I said that the camera's small size would be an advantage.

There are pictures at the DPReview site, check it out.

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Tony Fabris

Just found cheap CF cards at a UK site :

http://www.expansys.com/category.asp?cat=MEM

Worth a look.



- --
Rod , UK Mk2 64gig Red S/No.341

Yeah, that's a little cheaper than the one I bought from dabs. They still haven't shipped it, though -- they're waiting on the soft camera case. Still, I guess I'll not be going on holiday again too soon, so I can wait.


Roger - not necessarily speaking for empeg

Piggy bank is running on empty then, or you like the cold wet UK weather so much you don't want to leave ?

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Rod , UK Mk2 64gig Red S/No.341