Canon Digital Ixus 70 compact camera

Minimalist masterpiece

By Rob Thomas • Get more from this author

28th February 2008 12:02 GMT

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If you’re using the flash, the camera is quite slow to react. Although it’s nice to see Canon giving users the option of using a viewfinder, the one provided with the Ixus 70 is small and so not that useful. The LCD screen includes an anti-glare coating and we were impressed with the results – there were few problems when shooting in bright sunlight.

If you’re looking for manual control, then give this model as a miss as manual control here essentially means selecting pre-set values, such as the ISO speed. The Function button takes you straight to the most commonly used camera features, such as white balance, image compression ratio and shooting mode.

The dedicated mode switch means there’s no fiddling around with clumsy menu systems when you want to go from, say, still shooting to movie mode. It’s also very easy to check your last shot by moving the switch to playback mode. We reckon few users would have problems coming to grips with the camera after just a short period of operation.

Sample shots

Taken at the 5.8mm setting
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The same view using the 3x optical zoom at its full 17.4mm focal length
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The same image without the red-eye correction (left) and with (right)
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