CANON IXUS 65 - 3" MASSIVE LCD SCREEN!

What a camera this is! Well I decide to buy it after I discovered a special at Bing Lee! Yeah impulse buying I say, without any research, and it wasn't the latest model. But I trust Canon so much (sorry, but Sony just not my cup of tea, more on that later). The quality of Canon cameras captures me.

I've been looking around for a good camera for awhile. My first digital camera was a Canon IXUS v3. So this model is a few steps up. From 3mp to 6mp. By the time I bought this home and had a look at the official Canon website, I found a 10mp model just out, the IXUS 900Ti. Well that's probably why this model was on special. Anyway, enough background, time to talk about this camera.

Would you look at that massive 3" LCD screen! I haven't seen Canon have such a model before! I know that Sony and others made some 3" LCD digital cameras already, but this is perhaps the first one from Canon and I think they did a brilliant job! Maybe because my now older digital camera only 1.5" so I have been opted for a large screen for a some time.

The box is stylish and good small size.

Okay here is the picture of the front of the camera. Why didn't I introduce the front first right at the beginning? Well almost all the Canon camera has the same looking front (except this one doesn't have a viewfinder!) as well as the feature of this camera is its large display screen, and also any photographers would spend more time looking at the back than the front, correct!?

Beside the obvious viewfinder is not there (well it's a digital camera, doesn't really need a viewfinder anymore...) the flash, microphone and the camera lens are all located at the front (obviously?). This camera shoots out orange assist-focus beams rather than a white-ish one. Guess it's better for the eyes?

The top side of the camera, from the left is the mode switch that operates between "display photos" <-> "movie" <-> "photo shooting" mode. I find this switch is a bit hard to push, either all the way to the front or all the way to the back and not easy to stop it midway for the movie mode. The mode switch is a lot nicer on my older model. There is the small "power" button, and on the right is a large shutter button with the "zoom lever". On the far right is the speaker (isn't that great nowadays cameras can play sound too); The bottom of the camera has the standard hole to fit a tripod, and a cover for both battery and memory card (which takes SD/MMC compatible cards); On one side there is A/V and digital output to the TV and computer respectively.

Here is another picture of the back. See how reflective it is for the screen, can see my own IXUS V3 camera while taking the picture. On the right hand side, from the top there is a "one-push" print button, then a touch control dial which is use to set different "ISO", "flash", "shooting mode" and "macro/infinity" settings, or use as a directional pad. In the middle is the "function/set" button, which also acts as a confirmation button. Beneath the dial is the "menu" button, and further down is the "display" button.

From this angle, the camera does look a bit like my HP rx3417 PDA. Hmm, is that where they get the idea from?

Comparing to my Ixus V3 digital camera (also from Canon!), the first obvious thing is that the dimensions of the new camera are reduced. Also with a slightly bigger optical lens (can fit and see more stuffs), no viewfinder, thinner, lighter, and a much bigger LCD screen! Performance-wise, the start-up and general response time are much quicker, better and more precise photo shooting, as you would expected from a newer camera. 3x zooming instead of 2x now and the list just goes on. Overall, I'm very happy with my upgrade.

Pros:

• Great handy size
  
• Very good response time
  
• Massive screen
• Quality images

Cons:

• Mode switch is a bit hard to move around
• Quite easy to put your fingerprint marks on it

So far I am still able to find excuses over general Sony products. Like I prefer Canon cameras over Sony ones; Nintendo Wii over PS3 and Nintendo DS-Lite over PSP; Apple iPods over Sony music players. The only Sony gadget I have at the moment is my 3G SonyEricsson K608i mobile. I guess after they merged with Erisson, I prefer their phones over others. Btw, I'm blogging on my ASUS laptop and not a Sony model :)

Most of the image shots are using the Canon IXUS V3, except when comparing both of my Canon cameras, I have to use my bro's Sony cybershot.

Very soon, I will put some photo samples of my new digital camera.