I've just gone back to my ancient Canon Digital Ixus 300 (you can tell how old it is because when it was made, a digital camera was so uncommon, it was worth putting in the name); it was such a new technology that the camera and few accessories cost over a thousand pounds. It's a pretty low megapixel model, but I'm so familiar with it, I take excellent photographs even half-asleep, and its moonlight mode is a godsent for culinary photographs (I have a commission to do a book called The Euro-Elite Bicycle and Comfort Food Cookbook, for which I shall be asking y'all for photographs sometime later this year). The Ixus is stainless steel, so I use it for everything, including going on my bike. I guess that, having survived more than ten years and outlasted several bikes, it is a proven tough camera.
But the Ixus is big and clumsy by modern standards. So I'd like to replace it, if I can find something suitable.
I've already failed to replace the Ixus with an Olympus D-720, which is essentially Olympus's exemplary Mu (normally given as lower case mu or just the symbol u) in a slightly larger case of stainless steel, with a 10x wide optical zoom lens, plus macro and super macro down to gnat sizes, and buttons rather than a touch screen so you can operate it with or without gloves. The reason I'm not getting along with it is unfamiliarity with the software. This surprises my wife, who gets along fine with her Olympus mu, essentially the same camera compressed into an ali case and without the wide-angle to zoom lens; we've always had several Olympus in the family. I'll sell the D-720 for £70 delivered in Europe, delivery to the States a bit more, within Ireland the price is €70 delivered; the thing has been in use for a few months so it's probably got a few marks on it; looks okay to me: it was chosen for being a camera that shrugs off handling; comes with all the bits (cables to make it work with everything, travel charger, case, strap, battery, software discs, etc,) in original packing -- I haven't even thrown out the box yet. Also works well as a video camera, and has a tripod thread for attaching to a bike; I'll throw in a handlebar/rack fitting to attach a camera if you don't have one. If nobody wants it I'll put it on Ebay. Note that the D-720, though lighter than my Ixus, isn't an ultra-lightweight like its near-relative the mu (which at a guess, one in each hand, is at least 50gr lighter): it's a strong camera in a stainless case for surviving an outdoors life; it is however very likely the smallest camera with such a good lens of such a huge range.
So, what do I want instead? I probably want another Ixus so that I don't have to learn new software. And very likely I want the one without the bells and whistles because that's the cause of my somewhat unreasonable failure to get along with the Olympus. And of course it should be from the more industrial or agricultural end of the range, so it can survive on my bike, preferably stainless steel, and either black or silver, not some poncey fashion colour. Anyone know which model Ixus I want? Price isn't an object but I'm a Calvinist who measures value for money on a cyclist's gramme-scale. Even ultra-small isn't important, as my present Ixus fits a shirt pocket and all the newer ones are much smaller.
Thanks for information and opinions.
Andre Jute
