I managed to scratch the beautiful case of the camera during the first day of use. This was to be expected, and now I don't have to worry about it any more. The case is sturdy, so I expect that the camera will function well despite small scratches.

I also tested the software that comes with the camera. I didn't have to, because the camera worked fine with my iBook running Mac OS X 10.2 without installing anything. In fact, I imported my first set of pictures without installing any Canon software - I just plugged in the USB cable, and iPhoto started up.

Later on I tested also some of the Canon software. I like the Canon software suit. However, thanks to the software included in Mac OS X, I don't really need the Canon software, except perhaps for video editing and for remote-controlling the camera from the iBook. It was a bit strange to see the camera responding to commands given on the iBook.

The quality of the pictures is fine, especially the daytime shots, or shots with enough daylight inside a room. The flash is a bit problematic, as was expected, because it is tiny and tends to leave the corners of a picture a bit dark. But that was expected. The startup time of the camera is fast, better that I expected. And the focusing delay exists, but is not too bad. Of course, you have to get used to the idea of the camera not responding immediately after the pressing the button. This is a bit difficult when trying to get good pictures of children, but then this is a difficult task even for a SLR camera.

In all, I like Canon Digital Ixus 400 a lot. Having a 512 MB cf card helps in organizing the pictures you have shot. A spare battery and a carrying case are good accessories to have. (I have still to wait for these to arrive at the shop.)