Back when I was a university student working part-time at a camera store, there was one compact camera that stood head and shoulders above the rest—the Canon Digital IXUS. Sleek, tiny, beautifully built, and surprisingly capable, it wasn’t just easy to sell; people genuinely wanted one. For a few golden years, it was the definition of a premium compact camera.
Canon’s Digital IXUS line (also known as the IXY Digital in Japan and PowerShot ELPH in North America) was more than just a consumer electronics product—it was a design icon. It borrowed the luxury styling cues of the original APS film IXUS and packed in impressive digital guts. When the first models hit the shelves in the early 2000s, they were engineering marvels. In fact, the first Digital IXUS was the smallest 2MP camera you could buy at the time, wrapped in metal, with a real optical zoom and actual buttons—back when touchscreens weren’t a thing.
Over time, the range got even better. The shift from CompactFlash to SD cards made them slimmer. Canon added Digic processors and upgraded sensors, even slipping in tech from their higher-end G-series. Models like the IXUS 960 IS and IXUS 980 IS were basically PowerShot G9s and G10s in your shirt pocket—without the bulk or the brag.
I still remember the titanium-bodied IXUS 960 IS. It felt like something James Bond would carry. There was also a cult following for these cameras in the kite aerial photography (KAP) world because they were light, sharp, and—thanks to CHDK—hackable. You could even set them to auto-fire photos at intervals, turning them into little robotic scouts in the sky.
And yet, like so many great things, the Digital IXUS met an untimely decline. Not because it wasn’t good enough—but because smartphone cameras got good enough. Today, it’s hard to justify a compact camera when your phone’s already in your pocket, always connected, always ready to post. That said, a part of me misses the ritual of using a real camera, however small. The reassuring click of the shutter. The control. The joy of charging a battery that actually lasted more than a day.
The Canon IXUS 70, pictured here, was probably my favourite because of the way it looked.
Canon quietly stopped using the “Digital” prefix in 2010, and by the mid-2010s, the IXUS line had more or less faded into obscurity. But I’ll always remember it as a high point in digital camera design—before the smartphone era cannibalized everything below $1,000.
If you’re lucky enough to find one in good condition today—especially a later model with the larger 1/1.7” CCD sensor—they still hold up surprisingly well. Not in megapixels or connectivity, but in feel, image quality, and simplicity. The Canon Digital IXUS wasn’t just a camera. It was the compact camera. And for those of us who sold them, used them, and loved them—it still is.
