Canon Digital IXUS 70

Review summary: Canon Digital Ixus 70 review: To celebrate ten years since the first Ixus appeared, Canoncommissioned ten, special, diamond-encrusted models of what has becomethe world's most iconic camera sub-brand

Pros: Well built and solid, Fast starting up

Cons: Light on features, Indifferent image quality

Verdict: A rehashed design, too few controls and the image quality is decidedly lacklustre. Disappointing from Canon

Review summary: The 7.1-megapixel Canon IXUS 70 compact digital camera gets treated to a retro design.

Pros: Beautiful design, fast AF and image review, colour swap

Cons: Images softness in edge of frame

Verdict: The Canon IXUS 70 may seem pricey for its specification, but the design and build quality are excellent and worth every penny.

Review summary: Small size, excellent image quality, and a solid, though not extensive, feature set make the Canon Digital IXUS 70 a great choice for a compact camera.

Pros: Excellent image quality ; solid build quality ; speedy performance ; optical viewfinder ; face detection

Cons: No manual exposure controls

Pros: Colours - viewfinder - macro shot - build quality - advanced movies - indoor (lowlight) photos

Cons: Shutter delay with flash turned on

Verdict: The Canon IXUS 70 is a good quality pocket sized digital camera. Although you do need to pay a bit more for this model than other digital camera with a similar specification you will find above average picture and build quality. Well worth a close look.

Review summary: The Canon PowerShot SD1000, which features Canon's latest retro design, replaces last year's SD600. And what a lot of changes there have been over the past year:

Pros: Ultra-compact retro design; includes an optical viewfinder ; Face detection AF and AE that works ; Large high-resolution LCD with good visibility, clarity and coating ; Unlimited continuous shooting at full resolution ; Very good performance ; ...

Cons: No manual controls ; No optical image stabilization ; Below average battery life ; Edge sharpness issues at full-sized screen viewing/large prints ; No live histogram ; No movie focus or optical zoom ; Plastic components: battery/card slot door and ...

Verdict: The really tiny Canon PowerShot SD1000 Digital ELPH features some of Canon's latest bells-and-whistles added into an already good camera. That means 7 megapixels, a sharp and coated 2.5 inch LCD and a speedy processor.