Canon's second-generation steel APS compact — 23-46mm zoom, hybrid AF, 1999; ELPH 2 in the Americas
The Canon IXUS II of March 1999 was the direct successor to the original 1996 IXUS, the camera that defined the tiny-steel-zoom APS compact. Sold as the ELPH 2 in the Americas and IXY 320 in Japan, it was billed at launch as the world's smallest fully automatic zoom APS compact, and the IXUS APS family it belonged to was the most successful APS series on the market.
It carries a 23-46mm f/4.2-5.6 2x zoom with two aspherical elements, focused by an active/passive hybrid AF system with a central measuring field. Exposure is automatic with centre-weighted metering, shutter speeds span 2 seconds to 1/800 (1/900 at the tele end), and APS film from ISO 25 to 10000 is read automatically. The zoom viewfinder has dioptre correction, the flash reaches about 3m at ISO 100, and the 87x57x24.5mm body weighs 170g before its CR2 battery.
The IXUS II is a pocket jewel for APS collectors and fans of late-90s industrial design; in use it is a simple, fully automatic street and travel compact. The slow zoom leans on flash indoors, and the tiny controls are fiddly, but the all-metal build has aged well compared with plastic rivals.
APS film was discontinued in 2011, so shooting one means expired cartridges and scarce processing — many examples now sell as display pieces, which keeps prices modest. Check power-up on a fresh CR2, flash charge and full closure (a known niggle on the original IXUS), zoom operation, and the film-door mechanism. Note that sellers often mix this up with the 2003 Digital IXUS II digicam.