12 September 2003
Canon has today announced the ultra-compact four megapixel PowerShot SD10 Digital Elph / (Digital IXUS i. The SD10 has a four megapixel CCD and a fixed focal length lens. It has an ultra-compact metal body which will be available in four colors; White, Bronze, Silver and Black. The SD10 is only the second Canon digital camera to use SD card for storage.Also available will be the AW-DC10 weatherproof case. "This is the camera everybody wants to play with - and nobody wants to put down," says Hiroshi Komatsuzaki, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. "It comes packed with all the technology needed to look after the photography - so Digital IXUS i owners can concentrate on looking after the fun".
The Digital IXUS (IXY Digital in Japan and PowerShot Digital ELPH in US and Canada) is a series of digital cameras released by Canon. It is a line of ultracompact cameras, originally based on the design of Canon's IXUS/IXY/ELPH line of APS cameras.
The same camera models are released in Europe, the US, and Japan under different names. The cameras themselves are identical apart from the front fascia, according to the parts lists. The Canon model number on the bottom is consistent between marketing names.
All models use lithium ion batteries of Canon proprietary design, though third-party equivalents are readily available.
All models introduced before 2010 use RGBG Bayer filter (except the original Digital IXUS, which uses a CYGM filter) CCD sensors made by Sony. IXUS 300 HS/PowerShot Digital ELPH SD4000 IS/IXY 30S introduced in May 2010 and all following models have back-illuminated CMOS sensor. Images are recorded as JPEGs. Raw image files are not accessible without the use of third party firmware such as CHDK.
In 2010 Canon dropped the prefix "Digital" as well as suffix "IS" (Image Stabilisation) from the names of the new models e.g. IXUS 105. A similar change was applied to the IXY-series names used in the Japanese market.[7] The United States market naming was simplified in 2011: "Digital" and "IS" were removed as well as "SD" prefix. Newer US and European model carry "HS" suffix, that stands for "high sensitivity".
The Digital IXUS series slots above the PowerShot A in Canon's point-and-shoot lineup, with models in the Digital IXUS range commanding a considerable price premium.[9] However, since the late 2000s, with the falling prices of Digital IXUS models in Canadian and U.S. markets, they have become among some of the lower-priced models available as PowerShot A models are gradually withdrawn from the market and not replaced.