Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon IXUS 500 - Digital camera - 5.0 Mpix - optical zoom: 3 x - supported memory: CF

This is a dream of a digital camera - easy to use, fantastic clarity and detail, solid build quality - cannot fault it really.

For stills and video clips this camera is highly recommended.

For the price its an absolute steal.

I have owned this model of camera for 3 years and it has never failed me. I used it in temperatures as low as -20 and as high as +35. I have dropped it a number of times and it still works as good as the day I bought it. The solid case is looking a little worn now and the lens popped out of its mount once when my 3 year old dropped it with the lens fully extended but I popped it back in and it worked fine again. Picture quality indoors can be a little noisy on automatic settings but the manual settings can help with this. I have used the video function to make short music videos to amuse friends and work mates who are constantly surprised by the quality of picture from such a small camera. Its not broadcast quality but from a point and shoot camera its very good. There are enough manual settings to play around with but limited for any serious photography. It has been a great camera to keep in a pocket for spur of the moment photos and caputered many great family memories making it worth every penny. My only criticisms are that many photos lack crispness when displayed on a computer screen compared with other brands. Its easily fixed with photoshop or similar editing tool by adjusting the contrast levels but worth mentioning. Also the anti red eye function does not work at all again leading to more work on photoshop. Despite these small issues I still give the camera five starts for its quality as a never failing work horse despite the level of abuse I have given it.