Around 20 months ago, beginning of October 2013, I bought my very first Ixus, the 135 in a very fetching blue colour. The Digital Ixus series of cameras were first produced by Canon in 2000 and like some other Canon models the name was previously used on a series of film cameras. The Ixus has gained a name for itself as a solid high quality metal bodied compact camera. It was kind of inevitable though that Canon would rationalise its low-end camera ranges and the Powershot A series which was basically plastic equivalents of the Ixus, have been phased out. But instead of keeping the traditional metal body of the Ixus, the new models are now plastic and definitely aimed at the budget market. Since my 135 is now playing up, with a lot of lens errors occurring for no obvious reason, I will have to replace it soon.
My choice of replacement will be the SX170IS, which is rather larger with a much longer 16x lens. It is a descendant of the SX150 which I have had mostly in a cupboard for the past two years. The 170's main advantage over the 150 is the switch to lithium batteries which although proprietary, make the camera smaller and easier to use and hold their charge very well. I had used AA battery Canons for so long that I was very anti anything else, but I have made the jump across to lithiums quite strongly in the last few years and now I don't want a bar of AAs at all. Both models are otherwise quite similar with the PASM exposure modes and manual focus being strong points of the design. It lets you have a fully manual capable camera at quite a good price even if its low light perfomance and burst speed, among other features, aren't super hot.
But while I am saving up for the SX170 at around $250, I will be going back to using the SX150 for a while. It means having to carry extra AAs with the camera which is annoying but that is what will have to happen for a few weeks anyhow. Once upon a time the Powershot A series cameras were all the rage as a camera range that were all AA based but as time has gone on the use of AA batteries in these cameras has gradually diminished to the point the A series had all gone lithium about three years ago and the SX 1xx series looked a bit odd as a reversion to AA battery power. Now even this series has changed over to lithiums and there are no AA battery cameras left by Canon at all. When I got my Powershot S1 ten years ago the fact it used 4 AAs seemed almost normal but now it seems quite dated. The Fuju Finepix cameras however continue to use AA battery technology in a number of series, most notably the ultrazoom S range, with no sign of diminishing this trend in the near future. When I bought my Powershot S1, a Fujifilm S series was the main competitor, and I was pleased I forked out a bit more for the S1 as it was undoubtedly better than the Finepix which was a bit cheap and basic in its design, but quite popular amongst the more cost-conscious and less quality-discerning camera user community. I think it was the S5000 that was the equivalent model to the Powershot S1 at the time, one of its unfortunate features being the lack of a lock on the battery door that could cause it to disgorge its contents at a mere bump. Yes, I chose the more expensive Canon and have never purchased any other brand since.
So of course I will want to get switched to the SX170 as soon as I can but naturally it has to wait until I can stump up the dosh for it. But it will be good to go back to a fully manual capable camera in my belt pouch again which has only been possible in the last 10 years with the SX150 as every other camera I have carried therein has been auto-only capable. These have included the Powershot A400, A450, A460, A2000, A2300 and the Ixus. One of the reasons AA batteries have fallen out of favour in the compact camera community is their low current delivery, typically this results in quite slow flash recharge times. Another of course is the bulk which makes smaller lighter cameras harder to deliver. The Ixus range has always used proprietary batteries as well as of course the EOSs, so I have no real difficulty with that design aspect becoming more established but the batteries are relatively expensive to buy and you need to make sure you have a spare if you don't want to get caught with a flattie.
