The IXUS V3 camera can fit comfortably in your pocket. But does it have enough features to satisfy? Read our Australian review to find out.

Sleek and small, the Powershot Digital IXUS V3 is finished in a stylish stainless steel casing. It is a little heavier than it first looks at 180grams. The 3.2 megapixel IXUS V3 can be picked up by most novices and can easily be used as a point and shoot camera. However the camera does include some advanced features that can extend past the novice user without a steep learning curve.

Canon has built the new DIGIC (Digital Imaging Core) image-processing chip into this camera. This may not mean a lot to the average user, but is designed to deliver enhanced image quality, as well as improved autofocus and processing speed. It's also responsible for the IXUS V3's video clips.

The four way buttons at the back of the camera make for navigation that can configure most simple functions quite easily. Diving a little further we noticed that the 3.2 Mega pixel IXUS V3 allows the user to adjust white-balance settings, long exposure settings for up to 15 seconds, selectable light sensitivity from ISO 50 to ISO 400, two auto focus modes, and a selection of photo effects.

The IXUS V3 can take video with sound for up to 3 minutes at 640x480 resolution. A nice feature of this is that you can edit your videos in the camera without having to download the file to a computer for editing. If you are looking to take video, you may want to purchase more expandable memory than is provided by Canon with the IXUS v3. Running in at AU$999 we expected to see more than a 16MB memory card come standard with this camera.

Transferring your pictures or video is made quite easy with the software provided that is supports both PC and Mac users. Connecting via a USB port the 16 MB of pictures and video taken took only a few minutes to transfer to a PC. If you do not have a PC handy you can also show off your shots via the included AV cables to a television. The Digital IXUS V3 can also directly connect to any Canon Direct Printer, skipping the intermediary PC stage.

The IXUS V3 offers 4 resolution settings ranging from 2048x1536 pixels to 640x480 at the lowest setting. The photos that we took with the IXUS V3 showed a generous amount of detail even at the lowest resolution setting of 640x480,

Battery life is always an issue with digital cameras. The IXUS V3 comes with a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery that lasted well over our testing period at ZDNet Australia. When the battery does run out it takes approximately 3 hours to recharge. It would be good to see Canon support conventional batteries as well as the lithium battery as recharging batteries always seem to run out at the wrong time.

If you like to spend time on or under the water, Canon makes a housing for the IXUS V3 that is waterproof to 30 Metres that comes as an optional extra, although we had no chance to test this.

Overall we were impressed with the Canon´s IXUS V3 as it provided great shots, was relatively easy to use for both novices and more advanced users, and can fit in your pocket. Selling for AU$999 the Canon is expensive for those who just want a point and shoot camera, but ideal for those who want use the more advanced features with a relatively small learning curve.

Canon Powershot Digital IXUS V3
Company: Canon Australia
Price: AU$999
Distributor: Selected resellers
Phone: 1800 021 167

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