I made a sad decision yesterday, to retire my faithful old Canon Ixus V.

The Ixus V was my first digital camera back in 2002. Back then it cost me a fortune (about £400) for what was, just a year or few later, laughably low spec - just 2.1 megapixels, less than most phones come with now, with a measly 2x zoom and basic auto-mostly features. But it was, and mostly still is, a brilliant little camera capable of great pictures. In 2002 it was about the smallest and most pocketable digital camera you could get, and it's still a good size now, sturdily built with all-metal construction, perfect for chucking in your pocket and going just about anywhere.

Six years, and some 7,000+ images later, it has gone pretty much everywhere I've been in that time, from Mexico to the more exotic Isle of Wight, and it's taken just about every picture of mine you'll find in the gallery here. But, things move on, and the higher the resolutions of newer cameras go, the more I can see the limitations of that early 2.1mp sensor... it just doesn't have the detail that we're all becoming used to seeing in digital pics. Meanwhile, I've been given a slightly newer 4.0mp Ixus 400 by a generous donor, and although I initially took a dislike to it for, well, not being exactly the same as my Ixus V, I've decided that's silly, and I should really try and perservere...

So, farewell then, trusty Ixus V (the V stands for Video by the way), and thanks for all the memories. I will lay you to rest in a little case under the bed, safe from dust, to sleep and be occasionally taken out by Lisa to snap pictures of the cats.

The Ixus is gone. Long live the Ixus.

PS - obviously I'm not yet completely wedded to the Ixus 400, so if anyone has, say, a 970 IS kicking around in the loft, just let me know.
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Delete! Delete!