Which Camera? Canon Ixus 750 or ???

Zascar

Hey Guys,

I'm looking for a new digital camera. I currently have a Canon Ixus II which has serverd me very well for over 2 years. I'm looking to upgrade as I want a newer camera with better quality and more options, and the Ixus 750 looks like a very good buy. Size is very important I want to be able to put it in my pocket on nights out and not have to worry abou it. The Ixus II is small but the newer canon's are even smaller, and more powerfull too.

It gets great reviews on Amazon (its called the SD550 in the US)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AYKUUQ/002-7622605-0899269?v=glance&n=502394&n=507846&s=photo&v=glance

The only negative thing I can find about it, is that because these camera are small they haev a pretty bad red eye problem at night - I found exactly the same with my Ixus II, but I'm not sure if that problem is canon specific or not.

I was just wondering if anyone has used this camera and have any options on it, or if there are any other makes I should be looking at.

All advise appreciated.
Cheers

DotOrg

any camera with the flash so close to the lens will have bad red eye, especially in dark conditions

red eye is caused by light bouncing back from the back of the eye. the further the flash is from the lens the less chance the light bouncing back off the eye will go back into the lens and cause red eye.

for comprehensive camera reviews use www.dpreview.com

DotOrg

in fact read this:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canonsd550/
you won't get more info than that

jlang

Red eye is one thing that most basic photo software does a reasonably good job at hiding and the controls get quite simple - find the eye with the mouse, point and click, presto, no red-eyes. Not perfect and a better go can be had with more time/care/skill/software, but for snapshots (which probably covers most compact camera night-time flash pictures of people taken by people who come to boards.ie for camera advice), once the red is fixed and the eye's not ghoulish and taking over the image, there's more important things to worry about, like who's smiling and whose ear's been cut off the side of the frame and what's in the background and actually getting the shot.

Let's face it, even in the pre-digital days, a dot with a black marker on the red spot in the eyes on the print did a pretty good job. I can't believe the number of people who don't even think to go to this much trouble.

The relatively low power of the flash on these cameras affects you more by giving you a maximum range of about 10ft before your subject isn't illuminated at all. All trade-offs you really have to accept when you go for a pocket size camera

FWIW, I used a Canon Ixus 400 for a few years (the equivalent model about 3 generations back) and found the picture quality excellent and noticeably better than other ultra-compacts. Reviews I've read seem to agree that the 550 is one of the best in that bracket now.

All the above assuming you're not trying to outdo a pro - and then you're looking at the wrong type of camera altogether.