Price : 214 USD (BODY)
The IXUS 870 IS digital cameras is extremely sought after by photography enthusiasts, given the combination of advanced technology and premium aesthetic design. Boasting Canon's new DiG!C 4 Image Processor, the IXUS 870 IS digital camera captures stunning images and boasts a wide range of features.
The IXUS 870 IS is a 10 megapixel digital camera with a 3 inch screen and 4x zoom lens equipped with Canon's Optical Image Stabilizer. IXUS 870 IS weighs only 180gms with its rechargeable battery and measures a tiny 94 x 57 x 24mm.
People who use the camera will take notice of the flexibility of the model's 28mm wide angle lens. Whether trying to squish your entire gang of friends into one photograph or shooting a stunning landscape, the IXUS 870 IS will give spectacular results. A 4.0x Optical Zoom Lens, Optical Image Stabilizer and a 10 megapixels image sensor ensures your images are crystal clear and closer to the action. Featuring a 3.0 inch PureColor II LCD screen, images are simply to capture, view and share. 10 megapixels means quality pictures, allowing better photo prints up to A2 size .
The camera can be changed to video recording mode mode, scene presets and normal recordings using a three way switch at the top side of the body. The DIGIC 4 processor compresses the video with the aid of the H.264 format and encodes the audio as Linear PCM at 16 bit/44.1 KHZ. This technology allows longer movie recordings using less memory.
Certain functions make the IXUS 870 IS a great buy for beginners and amateurs alike. Traditionally a shutter speed of 1/112 is suggested to reduce camera shakes, which may be tricky to deal with by beginners. The IXUS 870is attains complete sharpness at 1/10 due to its optical image stabilisation. The IS in the name is short for Image Stabilisation, which helps in checking camera shake. It has three modes in this optical system: 'Continuous', 'Shoot Only' and 'Panning'. In Continuous mode the system operates constantly while 'Shoot Only' combats camera shaking only when you take the photo. Panning stabilizes the vertical axis when you are moving the camera horizontally. Appropriate choice of these modes gives sharp shots even at high zoom and poor lighting conditions.
The 75mm LCD screen presents a superior view of what you are taking a photo of than trying to fix the centre through an optical viewfinder. Another advantage for beginners is the automatic red eye correction that gives stunning portraits. The design of the buttons of the control panel are also solid, receptive and reliable than the touch-sensitive circle of the previous model.
Beginners and amateurs will love the handy feature of the DISP button. While shooting and/or during playback the button switches between a clear image and basic or detailed shooting information. Another page shows a thumbnail of the image and the active area of focus. If Face Detection mode was turned on while taking a photo then the enlargement will show the face of the primary subject's face. This allows you to check the expression and confirm the focus by selecting the primary or other focus points by zooming-in.
Indoor Portrait with Flash
The amount of light produced by the flash unit is overpowering. This leads to a very bright photo with some of the colour bleached out of the shot. In order to reduce the magnitude of the problem you could try reducing the intensity of the flash or consider how close you stand to your subject when taking this type of photo. The range of the flash is not that large and you may find it difficult to position yourself in the perfect place to stand.
Indoor Portrait without Flash
Considering the amount of light available for this shot the Exilim EX-Z250 does well in terms of the sharpness of the photo. It is not pin sharp, but the camera does better than many others in this test.
Colours
The colours produced by the Exilim EX-Z250 and some other Casio digital cameras are a bit different to those produced by other brands. They are a warmer and not as vivid. Colour is a matter of personal choice, so the colours this camera produces may appeal more to you than those from other cameras or they may not.
Macro
You need to have the Exilim EX-Z250 15cm away from the subject before it can focus. This is quite a distance and it makes true close ups difficult to achieve. This is not really the camera to buy if you are looking to take a lot of macro shots.
ISO 400 and ISO 1600
At higher ISO levels the camera holds its own against many cameras, including some more expensive models. Although there is the inevitable noise the colours remain true apart from in the darkest areas of the shot.
Overall
All digital cameras have good and bad points, but I found the Exilim EX-Z250 to be more inconsistent than most. I would be wary of blowing up any shots much above 7 x 5 inches.
Shutter Lag and Recycling Times
Shutter lag times were inline with most compact digital cameras. A single photo recorded 0.42 seconds and five took 15.19 seconds. With flash turned on times were still respectable at 0.56 seconds for a single photo and 16.13 seconds for five.Turning the camera on and taking the first picture was a slow process. This took 4.47 seconds. You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.
Style
This camera has a standard look. It is has rounded ends, is quite plain and unfussy. The camera is available in six colours silver, black, red, blue, gold and pink.
Dimensions
96.7 x 57.3 x 23mm
Weight
119g
Batteries
Lithium ion (NP-40). Casio suggest you should be able to take up to 280 photos in between charges.
Memory Cards
Casio have built some storage into the Exilim EX-Z250. I was able to take 24 shots before the storage was full. The camera is compatible with SD and SDHC cards.
Ease of Use Rating
Very Good There is nothing especially complicated about the Exilim EX-Z250. You will find that some of the options normally controlled through buttons on the back of the camera have been included within the menu system.
Points I Like
Options displayed on the right hand side of LCD screen - movie options
Where it Could Improve
Overall picture quality - closer macro mode
Alternatives
Based on picture quality and price I think a better digital camera with similar features is the Panasonic DMC FS20.
Verdict
Not every digital camera can get top marks. I found the picture quality struggled to match the better cameras and the price of the Casio Exilim EX-Z250 is not low enough to compensate for this.
by Cameras.co.uk
