Amazon.co.uk Review
The Canon Digital Ixus 300 is a superb combination of style and technology that produces an excellent digital camera. It is the long-awaited successor to the hugely popular original Digital Ixus and there are various tweaks and improvements that justify the wait. The camera retains the 2.1 Megapixel resolution of the original, which is ample for producing 8"x10" prints. The most noticeable addition is the 3x optical zoom. This has necessitated a slight increase in the size of the unit, but in digital camera terms this is still one of the most compact units around. The menu system and controls have been improved. While there is still a 1.5" LCD on the back, which doubles as a digital viewfinder and onscreen menu display, the physical controls have changed. The power button on top of the unit now sits inside a small wheel that rotates to determine the mode of the camera. It works smoothly, providing simple point-and-shoot operation for taking snaps, plus facilitates some more advanced controls for the more experienced photographer. For those who don't want to delve into the manual controls, the auto focusing and light metering is well implemented and does a good job even with complex scenes and offcentre subjects. Another addition is a movie mode. This enables up to 30 seconds of footage to be recorded at a resolution of 160x120. You can also record at 320x240 or 640x480, but the recording time shortens correspondingly. It's a nice feature to have for the odd e-mail clip, but is not going to compete with camcorders.
The quality of images is excellent. They are saved in JPEG format, but the compression algorithms are vastly improved, enabling a typical scene at 1600x1200 resolution in "fine" mode to take up about 600KB on the supplied 8MB Compact Flash card, without noticeable degradation of the picture quality. The card fits into a type 1 Compact Flash slot, enabling you to add further cards for more picture capacity. Transferring pictures onto your PC is straightforward. The software that comes with the unit is largely proprietary, but is intelligently implemented. Unusually, you install the software first, prior to connecting your camera via the USB port, at which point it automatically detects the correct driver for your operating system. A TWAIN driver is also included so that you can acquire images from any other TWAIN-compatible image-editing software that you have. The Canon Digital IXUS 300 takes great pictures. It's easy to use, has all the features your typical photographer will want and it's small, lightweight and sexy. Basically, it's everything you've been looking for in a digital camera.--Jason Weston
Manufacturer's Description
The gleaming, metal cased Canon Digital IXUS 300 reveals new design characteristics to satisfy the most ardent style guru whilst delivering original and exciting advances in digital photographic technology. The pocket-sized Canon Digital IXUS 300 shares the acclaimed beauty and feel of the original award winning Digital IXUS.
At the heart of the Digital IXUS 300 is a 3X zoom lens (35-105mm in equivalent 35mm format), coupled to a 2.1 million pixel sensor delivering outstanding digital photographs. The perfect combination of style and technology / the perfect embodiment of style and substance.
For today's dynamic lifestyle you may need more than a snapshot. The Digital IXUS 300 captures precious moments as a short movie clip. Users can record 20 frames per second, up to 30 seconds. Operation couldn't be easier as once the movie mode has been selected the camera is automatically set to deliver optimum image quality every time.
For added versatility, Canon's fast new direct print capability links the Digital IXUS 300 to the new Card Photo Printer CP-10 (available separately). Users can now take a photo and create a credit card sized full colour print in minutes. With resolution of 300 x 300 dpi the quality of prints is astounding.
Canons ultra smart Digital IXUS 300 features intelligent focus and metering technology enabling the camera to identify where your subject is, whilst simultaneously recognising low-light, back-lit and flash dependant situations ensuring perfect images every time. The 3 point focusing system ensures that the camera focuses on the subject even if not in the centre of the frame.
The Digital IXUS 300 is fitted with a powerful compact internal flash unit that matches the camera perfectly. Super-fast start up and rapid-fire shutter operation mean that the Digital IXUS 300 is ready for use whenever and wherever it is needed. Users with little time on their hands will appreciate that downloading image data to a computer is fast and easy using the supplied USB interface cable.
Canon supplies a full range of drivers with the Digital IXUS 300 offering compatibility with Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME and Macintosh. A complete package of photo and video manipulation and printing software is also supplied.
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