Canon SD500 Ixus 700

If it's a cheap budget camera you want, go and buy a cheap budget camera, this is not for you!

If it's an affordable(ish) camera that packs a fair punch with bags of style in abundance this slick Canon Ixus has got be the one...Period!

I am no photographer, in fact far from it, just a keen happy snapper with a camera that makes me look good most of the time.

I bought the camera for a new baby arriving, (Not the camera...a real one), so my list of things it had to do was fairly vast. Being a bit of a gadget lad first of all it had to look cool and it does; secondly it had to take crisp and clear pictures with little fuss and it does, it also is wife proof. A two-minute show and tell and the wife was happily snapping away at her new pride and joy (again the baby not the camera). I also like things to have good play with ability aside from it's main function and this camera does. Nice little things like black and white with colour are cool little add-ons along with colour swap and a great photo stitch function for those extra panoramic snaps, all are actually functional for the more creative mind. It also has some pretty cool functions for the less creative, like the portrait mode, which puts out of focus things behind the object whilst keeping the subject pin sharp in front of it, just like full scale SLRs.

I also like they ultra fast boot time, "Quick she's smiling" out with the camera and in 2 seconds flat, Bam, it's there to keep in high res forever, also it keeps snapping away in between pics so no wait in between snaps for at least 5-6 goes (with flash) pretty endless without flash.

7.1mp is an awesome amount of pixels, and will give you ultra massive poster type prints, I have tried this at on an A1 sheet, the results where stupendous; in fact the resultant photo at poster size was framed and now hangs in a good friends study. The downside too these mega photos is of course file size, and the supplied 32mb card just isn't up to the job, Some of the files go up to 4mb at full res, so unless you want to spend this kind of money and take 10 snaps at a time, I recommend purchasing at least a 1Gb card you should get a fair few pics on this, without putting the res down.

The video function is the best I have seen on any camera, almost digi-camcorder quality what more can I say; you are only limited by the size and speed of you memory. Comes in very handy for that baby in the bath shots.

The thing that lets it down is low light shooting. I think this is symptomatic of all digi-cams, it is better than most but does get on your nerves having to revert to the flash, (which is a bit too strong).

That aside though it is a truly awesome bit of camera finery, and for the money you will be hard pushed to find any camera with the power or the beauty! Canon has done it again with the top of the range Ixus, style with punch, the Mohammad Ali of the digi-camera world!