One Side R shape CANON IXY 510IS
A review and photo examples of the Canon compact digital camera IXY 510IS.
Table of contents
Gallery
Review
1．Overview
A variety of models have been released. From the following year, 2010, there were more compact digital cameras released than you could count the fingers on both hands, so this camera was released just before the compact digital camera boom.
It is equipped with a 12.1 megapixel 1/2.3-inch CCD sensor and a zoom lens equivalent to 28-112mm in 35mm format.
The camera has a good startup time and shutter response, and the lens pops out when you press the power button, adopting Canon’s standard style. The battery is NB-4L, with specifications of 3.7V, 760mAh, 2.8Wh, and the nominal number of shots taken when fully charged is 200. The shortest shooting distance is 2cm from the tip of the lens at the wide end in macro mode. The body is available in four colors: silver, gold, blue, and pink.
The top of the camera has a slide switch to switch between video and photo, a power switch, a zoom lever, and a shutter button, and the back of the camera has buttons for image playback, menus, and functions, as well as a select dial, and basic operations can be performed with the buttons and dials. Functions are assigned to the four directions of the dial, and since the functions are displayed on the LCD screen when the power is turned on, there are no printed instructions on the surface of the body. The following functions are assigned to the dial.
- Top: Timer
- Bottom: Change display
- Right: Flash settings
- Left: Shooting mode (macro, landscape)
The FUNC SET button in the center allows access to menus such as recording resolution, exposure compensation, and ISO settings. It felt a bit cumbersome to have exposure compensation in the menu, and in the successor IXY 30s, exposure compensation was assigned to the upper part of the dial mentioned above, but perhaps because this camera is a bit old, it is bad that the timer, which I personally do not use, is assigned and cannot be changed.
2．Usability
The Canon IXY 510IS’s depiction is well in keeping with the characteristics of Canon cameras, and when you look at the preview of the shot, you can feel the colors are Canon. Its most distinctive feature is the color reproduction, and it makes the red, which digital cameras, including compact digital cameras of this era, struggle with, look like the color you want.
The IXY 510IS is a general-purpose, popular compact digital camera with no outstanding features, decent AF performance, and when shooting on a sunny day, you will rarely feel dissatisfied. However, the wide-angle 28mm lens has some noticeable lens distortion, and even if you adjust the exposure, you need to be aware that white blowout and black crush are unavoidable when using it.
Also, since the camera was released at a time when the rear LCD screen was low quality at 230,000 dots, it is difficult to distinguish out-of-focus and camera shake in the preview of the shot, and it is quite common to be disappointed when viewing the results of shots in dark scenes on a PC. In particular, the telephoto end has a dark F-number of 5.8, so it is a camera that is prone to camera shake.
To prevent camera shake, the camera is equipped with a lens-shift type image stabilization mechanism, but to be honest, I don’t feel it has much effect. It is necessary to hold the camera firmly to prevent camera shake, which is the basis of camera photography. Another way to prevent camera shake is to increase the ISO sensitivity, and although it can be increased up to ISO 1600, the image quality at ISO 1600 is unacceptable due to the sadness of the small sensor.
Personally, ISO 200 is the limit of what I can tolerate as a result of photography. Since the tolerance for high sensitivity varies from person to person, please understand that this is only a personal opinion.
This camera can only record JPG, but depending on the shooting distance, there are quite a few images with noticeable barrel distortion. The white balance and color reproduction are good, and even when shooting in auto mode, images with satisfactory colors are recorded.
In the world of compact digital cameras, where each company competes for originality within the limited format of a horizontal rectangle with a depth of about 1 cm, the IXY 510IS differentiates itself from other cameras by making the surface on the grip side a bold R. This rounded body is seen in several models of Canon compact digital cameras, but the 510IS has the largest rounded side and the most unique design.
It looks unique, but the part you hold the camera in is smaller, and until you find a comfortable grip, you may accidentally press the playback button, which is located near where your thumb would be when you hold it.
A fully charged battery is CIPA compliant and can take 200 shots, but if the battery is a little worn, it will run out in about half that. The exterior is made of plastic with a thin coat of paint, so it doesn’t look very luxurious, and the plated parts are not very durable and will come off if handled by a nude woman.
3．Summary
In conclusion, to sum up the Canon IXY 510IS is a flawless compact digital camera that carries on the tradition of Canon compact digital cameras.
Canon’s compact digital cameras will be replaced with CMOS sensors from 2010, so this will be the last generation to feature a CCD sensor. It’s a convincing argument that the image processing of the camera has a greater weight than the properties of the sensor when it comes to image creation, but since most CCD sensor cameras start at around 35mm, the wide-angle 28mm + CCD sensor can be said to be one of its features.
Specification and Competitor
| Items | IXY Digital-20IS | IXY 510IS | IXY 30S |
| Zoom x | 3 | 4 | 3.75 |
| Focal length | 38-114 | 28-112 | 28-105 |
| lens brand | 6.2-18.6 | 5.0-20.0 | 4.8-18.6 |
| Lens Construction | ？ | ？ | ？ |
| Aperture | F2.8-F4.9 | F2.8- F5.8 | F2-F5.3 |
| Numbers of pixels | 8 megapixels | 12.1 megapixels | 10.1 megapixels |
| Minimum distance | 30cm to ∞ 3cm for wide-angle macro | Normal shooting: 50cm~∞ Macro: 2-50cm (W) / 30-50cm (T) Distant view: 3m~∞ | 3cm～∞ / 30cm～∞ |
| Image stabilizer | Optical method | Optical method | Optical method |
| Sensor size | 1/2.5 | 1/2.3 | 1/2.3 |
| Sensor type | CCD | CCD | CMOS |
| View Finder | Real image zoom finder | – | – |
| Back LCD | 2.5(TFT) 230,000 dots | 2.8(TFT) 230,000 dots | 3.0(TFT) 230,000 dots |
| Image Processing Engine | DIGIC III | DIGIC4 | DIGIC4 |
| Touch panel | none | none | none |
| WiFi | none | none | none |
| Battery | NB-4L | NB-4L | NB-6L NB-6LH |
| Recorded Media | SD Memory Card SDHC Memory Card Multimedia Card MMCplus Card HC MMCplus Card | SD Memory Card SDHC Memory Card Multimedia Card MMCplus Card HC MMCplus Card | SD Memory Card SDHC Memory Card SDXC Memory Card Multimedia Card MMCplus Card HC MMCplus Card |
| Size(mm) | 86.8×54.8×22.0 | 97.9×54.1×22.1mm | 100×54.1×23.6 |
| Wight(g) body only | 125 | 145 | 150 |
| Release date | 2008.3 | 2009.2 | 2010.5 |
| Body color | Silver pink, camel, brown, white | Silver Gold Pink Blue | Silver Red White Yellow Black |
Options
- Battery charger CB-2LY
- AC adapter kit ACK-DC40
- DC coupler DR-40
- Compact power adapter CA-DC10
- Soft case IXC-400
- Leather neck strap IXS-300
- IXC chain neck strap
- Neck strap IXS-100
- High power flash HF-DC1
- HDMI cable HTC-100
- Interface cable IFC-400PCU
- AV cable AVC-DC400ST
Reference links
- IXY-510IS・CANON Official page
- NB-4L battery・CANON Official page
- IXY Digital-20IS・CANON Official page
- IXY 30S・CANON Official page
- CANON IXY 30S・Shige’s hobby
Update history
- 2025.6.29
Affiliate links
- CANON Compact Digital camera・Ads by Amazon
- CANON IXY・Ads by Amazon
- CANON BOOKS・Ads by Amazon
- CANON IXY 510IS・Ads by Rakuten
- CANON IXY 510IS・Ads by Amazon
- CANON NB-4L・Ads by Amazon
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