Last spring, Canon impressed us with its stylish high-end shooter, the 6-megapixel Digital IXUS 800 IS. It had a great lens and produced great images, all in an attractive, pocketable, metal body. With the follow-up Canon Digital IXUS 850 IS, the company improves upon its previous design by squeezing in a wider lens and a higher resolution sensor.
Design
The 7-megapixel camera's tiny body is shiny, curvy, and very attractive. But it may be just a bit too stylish for its own good. For instance, the power button is a tiny, illuminated half-oval built flush into the top panel; without actually pressing it, you might easily mistake it for an indicator light or a design flaw.
The Canon IXUS 850 IS's mode dial curves slightly outward, flowing into the design of the camera, making a comfortable resting spot for your thumb. But it feels slightly slippery when switching camera modes.
Beyond those quirks, though, the IXUS 850 IS is a standard, straightforwardly designed Canon shooter, with a four-way navigation switch, additional buttons, and the shutter-release/zoom-rocker mechanism we've grown used to. The small, all-metal body weighs slightly more than 170g, and at 2.5cm thick, is just the right size for most pockets. Though small, the camera still has enough room on its body to hold both a 2.5-inch LCD and an optical viewfinder, a rare and welcome feature on an ultracompact.
Features
The 850 IS's most prominent feature is its image-stabilised, F2.8-to-F5.8, 28mm-to-105mm-equivalent lens. The 3.8x zoom range offers the flexibility of wide-angle focal lengths, while still providing a bit more zoom power than the average 3x point-and-shoot lens. Though the IXUS 800 IS had a 4x zoom lens, the IXUS 850 IS's 28mm-equivalent wide shot more than makes up for the slightly smaller telephoto factor.
In addition to the flexible lens, the IXUS 850 IS has some handy snapshot features. The camera's sensor can be boosted to as high as ISO 1,600 for low-light or high-movement shots, though you'll want to keep it at ISO 800 or lower because of image noise. You can shoot 30fps VGA video, or bump it up to 60fps QVGA (320 x 240) to capture action footage for half-speed playback. If you're looking for manual controls, however, look elsewhere; like the IXUS 800 IS, the 850 IS's aperture and shutter settings can't be changed at all, its focus modes are all automatic, and the camera's manual mode allows only exposure compensation, colour correction, metering, and white-balance adjustments.
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klins
26/06/2008, 04:24 PM
rating
8/10
for person doesn't have much knowledge of photography, like me, Canon IXUS 850IS is really a great camera.
does anybody know if an 8GB SD card works for IXUS 850 IS?
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canon eos 5d
15/05/2008, 12:51 AM
rating
7/10
Canon Digital IXUS 850 IS is the best camera i have ever seen in my life. Brings best quality digital snaps result. Stylish and unique design.
Pros: Stylish and unique design.
Good quality of pictures results.
Low price.
Cons: Nothing.
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olympus cameras
14/05/2008, 11:48 PM
rating
7/10
Good focus results. Bought this camera this camera is great for newbies just like me. Good handling with easy features. Great digital snaps results.
Pros: Digital snaps results are mind blowing.
Stylish body and good color.
Fast processing functions.
Cons: Take photo with very noise.
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lajason
23/04/2008, 01:10 PM
rating
9/10
Dear Pekka Siiskonen - I had the same problem with the shooting date. I solved it by updating the software to the latest versions from canon. I also own a EOS digital rebel and didn't install the newer zoombrowser version. The update fixed it.
Pros: Great camera, nice pictures
Cons: Little pricey
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Pekka Siiskonen (Finland)
25/02/2008, 05:50 PM
rating
4/10
"It had a great lens and produced great images, all in an attractive, pocketable, metal body"
"pocketable" Never make that mistake! The camera should NOT be kept in pocket! I have kept mine for 7 months now and it has so much dust inside that the optical unit needs to be replaced. Keeping the camera in pocket is not covered by warranty. 250+ EUR
Pros: Fast. Excellent LCD viewfinder.
Cons: Not to be kept in pocket. Accompanied download softare will change the foto date to picture transfer date. No Av-priority.
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maya
21/09/2007, 07:00 AM
rating
5/10
its okay i guess but i like my sony cyber-shot
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tim.warren
30/08/2007, 08:50 AM
rating
8/10
My IXUS 800IS went for a swim and stopped working so I bought the IXUS 850IS because I was basically happy with the previous model
Pros: Wide angle Lens
Cons: Missing battery indicator / Cheap flimsy lid to the battery-SD-Card compartment (800IS version is much better) / Timezone does not include Brisbane / Flash slow synchro mode has been relegated to the menu
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chowaiming88
16/05/2007, 09:19 PM
rating
9/10
this is one superb camera but sadly mine was sent for repairment once because the lense got stuck and i was told that the flash thingy was starting to rust so i asked them to change it altogether as well. costs my few hundreds bucks. bugger.
as for me, i don't have problems with the white circles when pictures are taken with flash
Pros: amazing image quality
wide angle lense
easy to use
enough manual functions
Cons: NO BATTERY INDICATOR!
i have no idea when to charhe prior any shooting since the low battery sign will only start to blink when the battery is REALLY LOW!
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Craig Ryan
08/05/2007, 10:33 AM
rating
9/10
This is a perfect point and shoot camera. I haven't taken a fuzzy shot in the 4 weeks I've had it.
Pros: 16:9 photo option
Excellent battery life.
Cons: No 16:9 video option.
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Phil
10/04/2007, 03:44 AM
rating
9/10
Bought the camera during a holiday in Europe and took 548 perfect pictures. Really like design and ease of use.
Pros: Size, sharpness of images, easy to use
Cons: none so far...
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