Quick review of new Canon Ixus and Powershot

Canon has launched three new cameras in its Ixus and Powershot series.

The new Ixus model, the Ixus 310 HS is a stylish compact shooter with a 12.1-megaxpixel CMOS sensor.

The Ixus comes with a new HS or "High Sensitivity" system that allows users to take sharper and better photos in low light conditions, Canon said.

It is also designed to allow users to snap photos with low noise levels while retaining accurate colour reproduction.


Interestingly, the Ixus 310 HS has a 3.2in wide touchscreen panel that features touchAF, where users can select a point to focus on just by touching the screen.

It comes with a 24mm wide-angle lens that has a 4.4x optical zoom with optical image stabiliser.
For better low light photography, the Ixus 310 HS has a wide f/2.0 aperture for snapping at faster shutter speeds, the company said.

Other notable highlights include full HD movie recording and manual shooting functions such as Aperture and Shutter Priority.

Powershot charge
Canon also introduced two new Powershot cameras - the Powershot SX230 HS and Powershot A3300 IS.
The Powershot SX230 HS is a 12.1-megapixel camera with a 28mm wide-angle lens that has a long reaching 14x optical zoom complete with optical image stabiliser.

The camera has a large 3in LCD screen for framing and reviewing photos.

Unique to the SX230 HS is a built-in GPS with geo-tagging function for easy tagging and identification of photos with location names.

It also has Full HD movie recording at 1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution with stereo sound.
A new Movie Digest feature is also available on the Ixus and Powershot cameras.

This feature basically allows users to capture a still photo and a four-second movie clip with one click.

The company said this feature would give users the opportunity to relive the story behind each photo.

Movie Digest also automatically compiles the day's events into a short movie so users can easily share the highlights of their day on YouTube or Facebook.

Users looking for a value-for-money camera may want to take a look at Canon's new A-series camera, the A3300 IS.

Equipped with a 28mm wide angle lens with 5x optical zoom, the 16-megapixel shooter has a Dynamic Image Stabiliser for steadying telephoto shots.

The camera is targeted at beginners with its Live View Control feature that provides user-friendly terms for altering camera settings like brightness and colour saturation.

The A3300 IS also comes with a new Discreet mode that turns the camera's autofocus assist beam, sound and flash off at the press of a button.

That's not all, the camera is also capable of recording 1,280 x 720-pixel HD videos.
New Smart Auto

Canon's newly improved Smart Auto mode is also available across all three of the new cameras. It now detects up to 32 different scenes and intelligently adjusts the exposure and settings for varied scenarios.

The highlight of the new Smart Auto mode is its advanced subject detection that allows the camera to detect and track even non-human moving subjects while keeping subjects in focus and correctly exposed.