Canon Ixus 960 IS

Manual mode is a little limited though, with no way of setting shutter speed aside from +/-2EV exposure compensation, and no manual aperture control at all. The lens's maximum wide-angle setting of 35mm-equivalent is par for the course on a compact, but it would nice to see a move to 28mm on higher-end models for a true wide-angle view. Maximum zoom is 133mm, equivalent to a total zoom of 3.7x.

For the money you'd expect the 960 IS to offer a lot and it doesn't disappoint. Cheaper cameras are rapidly catching up in terms of features, but as a point-and-shoot carry-anywhere model the 960 has few vices.

It may be a touch heavier and not quite as svelte as some of the competition, but it's absolutely stuffed with features and has the image quality to back it up.

Author: David Fearon