Canon Powershot SX130 IS

The Powershot SX130 IS is an unusual compact camera that mixes old and new.

It has some clever modern technology inside, including optical image stabilisation and some neat photo effects, but the camera itself looks decidedly old-fashioned.

That's not a criticism, though. The old-fashioned controls on this model are far easier to use than trendy alternatives such as touchscreen displays. And there are plenty of buttons, covering all the key functions, and a big mode dial on top.

And although the Automatic mode worked well, we liked the fact that you can flick into aperture-priority, shutter-priority and manual modes as found on any good film camera. Even the batteries are of the AA type, so there is no need to take a charger with you on holiday, but we found that our first set lasted less than a weekend.

The SX130 has a 12x-optical-zoom lens, and we found that results varied largely depending on how much of it we used. At the wide end, landscape pictures came out well: the camera did a good job of pulling detail from bright skies while keeping the ground below well exposed, and a picture taken down a dingy tunnel was surprisingly detailed.

Using the full length of the zoom, though, photos weren't quite so good. Even in clear daylight and with the benefit of the stabilisation to minimise blur, subjects were a little too soft for our liking. Shots at the lowest light sensitivity looked good, but moving up just a couple of steps introduced noise in the form of slight speckles.

Several effects are available: one we had not seen before blurs the top and bottom of images, creating the 'tilt shift' effect that makes real life look like a model town. This look can also be applied to video clips, which the camera will shoot – up to the high-definition resolution of 720p.

For most, this kind of camera will be used for still photos. It's not perfect, but if you want a camera with simple controls for holiday or everyday snaps the SX130 IS has a decent zoom range at a reasonable price – just pack plenty of batteries.