Small, yet functional and powerful, the Canon Ixus 130 is an ideal travel companion.
- Published: 9/06/2010 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: Database
It was fun to have a Canon Ixus 130 compact camera while travelling on my recent trip to Hong Kong. This was because Canon's thinnest-ever model can take both still images and video clips with just the slide of a switch, after which you just point and shoot.
The Canon’s thinnest Ixus 130 is a namecard-sized camera with a big 2.7-inch LCD screen.
Designed with rounded corners, the camera looks fashionable and comes in a choice of four colours; silver, black, pink and orange. The 2.7-inch LCD screen is also big, which makes for easy shooting and reviewing.
It is also incredible light at only 133 grammes in weight (including battery and a memory card). It is barely the size of a name card and this impressed me as I could easily slip it into and out of my jeans pocket at any time.
Apart from the design, the functions are also notable. The turn-on time is very quick as it took only two seconds for the camera to be ready to shoot. This is thanks to the latest Canon DIGIC 4 processor, which improved the start-up time and response time and enhanced the overall performance by up to 30 percent when compared to DIGIC 3.
Functions
The fishbowl effect option can lead to hilarious results.
Designed for the consumer, the Ixus 130 is easy to use. It has 'Hints and Tips' that provide prompted messages about each function while navigating the menu. For example, when setting picture size to L, it shows the total numbers of images you can be recorded on your SD card, and at what size they can be printed.
The camera supports 26 languages, including Thai, Chinese, German, French and Arabic.
Once you are ready to shoot, you only need to press the shutter button. Then the camera can automatically adjust light and modes to fit the present scenes, such as macro, indoors and portrait. Thanks to Scene Detection and Motion Detection Technology, the Ixus 130 can calculate distance of a subject (either moving or still) with a light source and colours to make shooting scenes perfect. You can also do a pre-set mode from 22 set or effect scenes to fit your needs, such as underwater, low light, or the miniature effect scene which makes a normal picture looks like a miniature set.
I enjoy using the fish-eye mode while taking pictures of landscapes and people. The result is often hilarious as people's faces are distorted.
The Ixus 130 also comes with the new 'Smart Flash Exposure' technology, which can automatically synchronise the flash light to the distance of the subject. The result is the right skin tone when taking portrait of people under dim light.
Lastly, the handy camera also features video recording. Just shift the shooting mode to video, then press the shutter button to begin recording. You can also zoom in by up to four times. Unfortunately, you can not zoom out. Then press the shutter button again when you want to finish. One clip can be as long as you like. The video clip in safe in '.mov' file for QuickTime Media Player.
Edit mode
The Ixus 130 has an editing programme allowing you to crop pictures, change contrast levels, fix red-eye, resize any pictures or change colours to vivid colour, neutral tone, sepia, black and white, and to lighten or darken skin tone.
I like the crop function because I can also use the zoom button of the camera lens to further trim the picture. And those editing pictures will be saved as new files.
Print mode Like other Canon cameras, the Ixus 130 also has direct print technology allowing you to connect the camera with a printer and to print your pictures right away.
It also has an option to print all pictures in index style or one by one. You can also select an option for only certain pictures to be printed. The printing quality is also nice.
After testing
After using the camera for five days, I was tempted to buy one right away. Although the night shooting function is average and results tend to blur without a tripod, the immediate switch to video mode is very attractive. I considered the Ixus 130 to be my travel companion.
About the author
- Writer: Karnjana Karnjanatawe
- Position: Reporter
No comments:
Post a Comment