Field-test of the Canon Digital IXUS camera. The Digital IXUS marks the first time that a Canon digital camera, whether the consumer or professional version, is being reviewed in this column. The reason for this is not a case of me preferring to shoot with film-based cameras over the digital versions but more of the pace such cameras come and go within a short time frame. In early 1998, when the EOS D2000/DCS 520 digital SLR was made available, it quickly became the favorite among news photographers, photojournalists and sports photographers. The EOS D2000 digital SLR camera has a picture resolution of 2-megapixels, which is good enough to create a 6 MB image file, the size required by newspapers and news agencies for reproduction purposes. By the time I got a demo unit from Canon to familiarize myself with my first-ever digital SLR camera, both the consumer versions and zoom lens reflex types from other makers were introduced to the market with higher resolution than what the D2000 has, like 2.1-, 2.3- and 2.4-megapixels. True, the EOS D2000 is very expensive and not many professional photographers can really afford to buy one. Most of the units used by them are actually bought by their newspapers and news/picture agencies, rather than with their own money. And, about six months after the EOS D2000 was launched, Canon unveiled its very own digital ZLR (Zoom Lens Reflex) in the form of the PowerShot Pro 70, with a picture resolution of 1.68-megapixels. As almost every EOS user already knows, the EOS D2000 is not exactly a digital camera built by Canon but rather an EOS-1N body merged with a Kodak digital back. The PowerShot Pro 70 was an indication of the best is yet to come from Canon. Before I could even get the Pro 70, Canon had already announced the PowerShot S10, a 2.1-megapixel model and later the PowerShot S20, a 3.34-megapixel type. Next came the prototype for the EOS D30 (3.25-megapixels), which was showcased at the 2000 PMA Show held at Las Vegas before being formally announced on May 17, 2000 with the Digital IXUS, which is the world's smallest and lightest digital camera*. *As of May 17, 2000 Canon's Digital IXUS (left) is smaller than a calculator Top view - how slim it is     Pictures shot can be checked on the LCD panel Shots can be enlarged on the LCD panel     Uses the slim Battery Pack NB-1L And CompactFlash card for captured images << Back to Main . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .