My DH and in-laws are REALLY into their cameras...stand still long enough and someone will take your photo LOL! They all (without exception) have Cannon. DH and I have an ixus as does BIL. Both SILs and MIL have Powershots. The ixus is smaller and we love it (an ours is 3 years old!) Quite a few of our friends have also bought the newer ixus cameras and are really happy. They are not the cheapest on the market, but I would highly recommend.