Some years ago, I bought a Canon Ixus 860IS to be my "carry around everywhere" camera. It is a little work of art, that camera. Tiny, cracking JPG shots and beautifully designed and made.

Except for one little problem. The On/Off button was too sensitive, and it kept getting switched on. I was carrying the camera in a belt puch, and when the camera was switched on, the lens would try to extend. It would meet the fabric of the pouch, and then seem to "stick" in a semi-extended position. Which of course meant that the only way to get the thing out of the pouch was to force it out.

Inevitably, the lens was thrown out of true.

I was on about my third or fourth lens assembly by the time the warranty ran out. When the lens was again knocked out of true I gave up on the camera. Maybe I should have stopped carrying it around, but what’s the point of a carry-around camera if you can’t carry it around? In hindsight, maybe I should have looked for a more rigid case.

Anyway, I suddenly find myself without my main camera, and brought the Ixus out of retirement. The lens problems are there, but with careful cropping they can be mitigated.

Oh yes, sorry – the photo of the day. I almost forgot. It’s an advertising panel, onto which are put plastic advertisements. But I did rather like the strong wire mesh pattern, and the car passing behind it was fortuitous.