Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon Digital IXUS 870 IS Camera - Silver (10MP, 4x Optical Zoom) 3.0 inch LCD PureColor II

I have just bought this camera and it is living up to expectations after upgrading from my IXUS 800. It has a great 3 inch screen, good optics and good picture results, excellent quality feel about it, quick to take and review images, useful 4x zoom and the control layout has been improved so it is as about as easy to use as it could be. It may not have the HD video capabilities of some others bit this camera's claim to fame is that it does what is says better than most other camera- Great photos, easy to use and a great screen for reviewing. I have bought a screen protector though as it would be a shame to damage the screen as it is so nice!

I bought this camera to replace my Lumix which is supposed to be the best digital camera around. The ixus 870 beats it hands down.
I charged it once for 2.5 hrs before going to Lapland. The temperature there was -19 and i wasn't sure if anything would work at such low temperatures. Not only did the camera work outside in winds at -19, the battery was still going strong after 4 days of being used a lot.
It is fantastic in very low light even without flash (using the iso3200 option with the camera switch to SCN). I took a lot of photos from the back of a sled being pulled by huskies so not only was the light very low- but it was a very bumpy ride and the photos have turned out very well.
Other settings are fantastic too- such as the sunset setting, indoors, snow etc.
You can also adjust the photos during playback- remove red eye and adjust the colours. Very useful and intuitive. I still haven't read the cd rom manual.
I chose this camera above the 970 as I preferred the wider angle to extra zoom. I also prefer the design of the 870. I cannot recommend this camera highly enough.

I bought a Canon Ixus 870 due to the good experiences of older Canon cameras and I wanted a replacement for my Sony P-9 which I've used for 5 years or so, the wide angle lens was also an added bonus.
The first one from Amazon had a damaged LCD screen plus I wasn't happy with the quality of the pictures taken. Amazon replaced it very quickly so full marks to Amazon and their carriers for that.
The replacement camera arrived and the picture quality was the same as the first one. Blurred and out of focus were the main problems.I tried different settings, Auto and Programme, but in the end decided I couldn't live with a camera costing nearly £200 that took so-so pictures. Compared with my old Sony P-9 there is not the advance that I had expected and an older Ixus 400 we have also gives clearer pictures considering its age.
Checking out other cameras of 10MP and above it would seem basic "snap shot" quality has not moved on from the 4MP days.
I just want a camera that takes good pictures that are not blurry or noisy at low ISO settings and in my opinion the Ixus 870 wasn't it.

This camera is "hot off the press" and has no "expert" reviews yet! Amazon delivered it the next working day with their express delivery - well done!

BUILD QUALITY/FEATURES: The camera is small, but it has a 3" screen, 28-112 focal length, 4x zoom and 30fps movies (uses quicktime). Easy to navigate menus and large buttons which are easy to use. The thumbwheel has been improved over the 860IS. Use the thumbwheel to select auto or program, or when in scene mode to select portrait,nightshot, fireworks, snow etc.

PHOTOS: AUTO MODE: Produced well exposed shots even on a cloudy dull day or indoors. Skin tones, greens and reds were accurately rendered. SCENE MODE "sunset" - produced an orangey-yellow glow - a bit too colourful for my liking. I-CONTAST: if you take a photo and it's ruined because it's too dark, select I-contrast in the playback menu and you can adjust the exposure to brighten up the dark areas - this worked very well.

CONCLUSION: an excellent camera - you won't regret buying! NEGATIVES: 32mb card supplied, 162 page manual on CD only, camera case (DCC-75) not yet available. ALTERNATIVES: IXUS 860IS (cheaper but no i-contrast mode and intermittent thumbwheel action), Panasonic FX35 (Feature packed, but I found it over-exposed some shots). System recommendations: Core 2 duo 1.66mhz for movies.

This is a really good camera. Took it to lake district and has taken some really nice photo's, both portrait and landscape. The image quality is superb with nearly all pictures coming out sharp, in focus and with lovely colours.
Outdoors in good light it really shines. The auto mode is very good and there's plenty of manual settings to adjust if it doesn't look like its going to take the picture you want.
In practice this only really happens in 2 situations. The first is in low light - handy to have an ISO button as can increase it easily to get sharp if slightly grainy handheld pictures without flash.
The second is if you're shooting towards the sun (need to increase exposure), in which case another option is to use fill in flash.

As with most cameras the higher the ISO, the more noisy the image quality.
ISO80/100 are great. 200 is good still, 400 is good for indoor light without flash (so long as you make sure you hold steady and keep people still), 800 is slightly grainy but you will get sharp pictures inside, 1600 is best avoided in my book. The flash is reasonable. Not that powerful but it does the job and doesn't overexpose peoples faces.

Overall I'd say it was about as good as it gets for outdoor photo's short of an SLR, and indoors its reasonable and better than most compacts. It is possible to take more natural indoor pictures handheld without flash.

Ease of use is great. Easy to use controls and a brilliant 3.0 inch LCD display make taking pictures a breeze, and it can be seen clearly even in bright sunlight.

Video's also look impressive given they're only VGA and not hi definition. If you mainly video though I'd recommend either get a camcorder or a camera that shoots in hi definition mode.

If you want a desirable, quality compact camera, that fits in your pocket and can handle nearly every situation, plus produce great images then get this cannon.
I've had many cameras and none is as good as this one (Canon 950is, panasonic FX33, sony P200, fuji F30, F40, fuji FZ100) in my opinion. Some may be better in some situations (P200 at night with a tripod, fuji F30/F40 indoors without flash - so long as you hold steady), Fuji FZ100 is more compact), but none is a better all-rounder.