Canon IXUS 60 Review

The Canon IXUS 60 is a six megapixel digital camera with a three times optical zoom lens. It is an ultra compact digital camera and you should have no problem slipping it into even a small pocket.

The build quality of the camera feels impressive and it is also one of the more expensive models in this category. There are one or two interesting features, but the camera remains primarily easy to use. Therefore the IXUS 60 is likely to appeal to anyone who is looking for a straightforward, point and shoot camera that they can take anywhere with them.

Yesterday I reviewed the Sony DSC W50. That camera has a similar specification and design. There is not too much difference in the standard of photos taken with the two cameras, but I would say the IXUS 60 comes out marginally ahead.

Looking at the outdoors landscape type shots this camera produces images that are noticeably sharper. In the first test shot there is a building and both the brickwork and tiles on the roof are more keenly focused with the IXUS 60. This marks out the IXUS 60 as one of the sharpest pocket sized digital cameras around. The shots also remain in focus towards the edges. This is another sign of a good quality lens.

Taking a further look at the outdoor shots there are a number of other plus points as well. The colours are strong and the detail in light and dark areas shows up well too. The white wooden slats on the building often cause a problem to digital cameras owing to the amount of glare that shines off them. This camera handles this very well.

The outdoor portrait is another photo I am pleased with. Here I especially like the warm colour it has. The photo was taken on a cloudy day. To compensate for this I used the cloudy setting for white balance and was well rewarded for this.

Moving indoors the most noticeable point is how well lit the two test photos are and the fact the camera manages to produce more sharply focused shots, this time in poor light. The shot of beer bottles underlines this as it was taken in almost complete darkness. There is a negative point and this is there is a touch of red eye showing in the indoor portrait.

The test for colours produces a strong result too. The colours are well balanced without one clearly dominating. As is typical of Canon digital cameras the IXUS 60 is especially strong with blues and greens. This should enable you to capture pleasing landscape type shots.

The macro shot is also a success. Once more the shot is sharp and clear. I would not go as far as recommending this camera if your main interest was macro and close up photography, but you should be able to take good quality macro shots.

Noise levels at ISO 400 are not as bad as with some digital cameras I have tested, but are still very noticeable. At ISO 800 there is a clear deterioration in picture quality and I would suggest only using this setting in an emergency where nothing else will allow you to get a picture.

I was able to take a single photo in 0.40 seconds and five photos in 7.73 seconds. To be honest the time for a single photo is a bit disappointing. It is in line with other cameras I have tested in this series, but I would like to have seen an improvement this time around.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

The 3x optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 35 - 105mm in 35mm format. The lens has a maximum aperture of f2.8 (wide) and f4.9 (tele). For close up photography the camera has a macro mode that allows you to get in as close as 3cms. The camera also has a 4x digital zoom feature giving a combined zoom capacity of 12x. Using digital zoom will lead to a loss of picture quality.

Fewer and fewer ultra compact digital cameras have viewfinders these days. Canon have found room to include one on the IXUS 60. This is an optical viewfinder. In addition to the viewfinder there is a large 2.5" LCD screen. This is made up of around 173,000 pixels. You can adjust the brightness of the LCD screen to help make it easier to see in bright or lowlight conditions.

The built in flash unit has a range of 3.5m. This falls to around 2m when the zoom lens is being used. The flash modes available are Auto, On and Off. You can also access red eye reduction, slow sync and flash exposure lock.

To help you take the best possible photo there are a range of pre programmed scene modes available. By using one of these scene modes you instruct the camera to use the stored settings it believes are best for the type of photo you are about to take. The scene modes available are Portrait, Night Snapshot, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater, Indoor, Kids & Pets, Colour Accent and Colour Swap.

There are a comprehensive set of colour manipulation settings. These allow you to work with the colours in a photo. The colours settings are Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black and White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Colour.

There are two different types of movie mode. The first is the standard type you will find on any digital camera. In this mode you can shoot up to 1gb of footage. The top speed is 30 frames per second and the maximum resolution is 640 x 480 pixels. Zoom is available during the recording of a movie.

The second type of video is much shorter. You can record up to one minute of footage at a resolution of 320 x 240. The maximum speed is 60 frames per second. This allows you to playback the movie in slow motion. This can be helpful if you would like to review a golf swing for example.

Other features include a self timer with a two or ten second delay, a histogram and the ability to record commentary against a still image. The commentary can be up to sixty seconds and helps to preserve the memory of when the photo was being taken. There is also a stitch assist setting to help you produce panoramic shots.

To help you get the best colour tones and add warmth to your shots there are a number of white balance settings you can use. These are Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent and Fluorescent H. There is also a Custom white balance setting. When you use custom the camera will calculate the correct white balance based on your own instructions.

The camera has a number of more advanced controls for you to access. These include three light metering modes (Evaluative, Centre-weighted average, Spot (centre)), exposure compensation (+/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments) and ISO sensitivity (AUTO, High ISO Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800). There is also a continuous shooting mode. This allows you to take still images at a rate of up to 2.1 frames per second until the memory card is full.

Shutter speeds are set automatically by the camera although there is a long shutter mode available. Shutter speeds range between 15 - 1/1500 seconds.

All the necessary cables and software are supplied by Canon to connect the IXUS 60 to a computer, television set and a PictBridge compatible printer.

Among the more useful accessories you can buy to go with the camera is an underwater case. This is the WP-DC4 and is waterproof to a depth of 40m. There is also high power flash unit (HF-DC1) you can buy to boost the range of the built in flash unit.

There are certainly a few different features thrown in with this camera. This does mean that it will take slightly longer to get to grips with than many of its competitors. It is not terribly difficult or anything like that and you can just stick with the default controls if you do not feel like exploring.

All the key controls are easy to find. To zoom in and out there is a zoom ring on the top of the camera. Other features such as flash, self timer, macro, image review and movie mode are all controlled by buttons and sliders on the back of the camera.

You can pick up a Canon IXUS 60 for around £200. This compares to around £165 for a Sony DSC W50, £145 for a Casio Exilim EX-Z60 and £275 for a Nikon Coolpix S6.

This camera is one of the more expensive six megapixel ultra compact digital cameras. Whether it is worth the extra money depends on what you are looking for. If you like the style of this camera and you feel a viewfinder is very important then it could be worth the money.

Although the IXUS 60 is a fairly typical rectangular box there is something about the camera that suggests a touch of extra quality and class. I would describe the design as clean and simple. There are no real frills.

Weighing in at 140g it is slightly heavier than a standard pocket sized digital camera and I wonder if it is this that adds to the feeling of extra quality. Its dimensions are 86.0 x 53.5 x 21.7 mm.

Power is supplied by a rechargeable lithium ion battery (NB-4L). Canon estimates you should be able to take around 160 shots before the battery needs to be recharged. Canon supplies both a battery and charger with the IXUS 60.

Images are stored on SD (Secure Digital) cards. A 16mb card is supplied as standard with the camera. Although this is more than some digital cameras offer in my view it is still on the mean side. In fact I was able to take just six photos before the card became full. Therefore I would recommend picking up a high capacity card to go with the camera.

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Picture quality
Style
Build quality
Viewfinder

Small SD card supplied with camera

If you are looking for a pocket sized digital camera then the Canon IXUS 60 is one for your shortlist. The most important feature of any digital camera is picture quality. The IXUS 60 scores highly here. You will also find some additional features compared to other pocket sized models. This does not come cheap though and you will have to be prepared to pay a premium to buy one.

Canon IXUS 60 Front View

Canon IXUS 60 Back View

Canon IXUS 60 Top View

Sample Menus




Canon IXUS 60

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Canon IXUS 60