Canon Ixus 870 Is

Admittedly, appearance should be one of the last factors considered by prospective camera buyers but there is no doubt that the Canon 870 is a fairly attractive piece of technical equipment. The "gold" finished version is like a piece of jewellery. Size wise it's about the same as a packet of poker cards and that means it can fit into a handbag or pocket.

Beneath its good looks, the Canon Ixus 870 packs serious photographic technology. A wider angle of view than most of its competitors is due to the lens being the equivalent of a 28mm-112mm lens. Canon's image-stabilization technology was once only seen only on high-end models. It's been incorporated into the Canon 870 and that means that sharp images can be produced without a tripod down to approximately 1/25 of a second.

Also available in the Canon 870 is automatic face detection. This works nicely and usually appears able to detect a face even in part-profile. A face self-timer function, although a bit gimmicky waits until you join the group before taking the photo. Nineteen scene modes have been added, including a 30fps VGA movie mode and a nifty macro setting.

Boasting Canon's DIGIC 4 processing technology, the Canon 870 provides less noise at the top end of ISO settings though at 1600 there is still a lot of noise but still not bad for this class of camera.

Also, the Canon 870 features a 28mm wide-angle lens allowing for great photos of picturesque landscapes and delightful group photos. Viewing your favorite photos has never been so good with the awesome 3.0 inch PureColor LCD screen.

It's not a "serious" Canon Digital camera in the usual sense and no one is going to mistake the Canon 870 for one. For example, you won't find an optical viewfinder or manual mode. If that's not a big deal to you then you can expect to be rewarded by some fabulous photographs from this little beauty.