Canon Digital Ixus 500

The Digital Ixus 500 is one of a batch of new digital cameras recently released by Canon. Those of you familiar with the range will notice straight away that the Ixus 500's design is almost identical to the Ixus II and Ixus 400.

Although it's not the most comfortable of cameras to hold, the durable all-metal case will help protect it from damage and it's just about small enough to be classed as pocket-sized.

As you'd expect, given its name, the Ixus 500 houses a 5megapixel CCD. The 3x optical zoom isn't exactly astounding since there are smaller cameras than that include a 4x zoom lens. As with previous Ixus models, however, we weren't disappointed with image quality and our resolution tests produced decent results.

Manual features are a little lacking, though. You get to play around with ISO settings between 50 and 400, EV compensation and the ability to perform a manual white balance. The likes of aperture and shutter priority are missing, as is a tiff mode, which will no doubt concern those who like to have full control over the photos they take.

Focusing in low-light conditions is no problem at all thanks to the bright AF-assist lamp, while the integrated flash does a good job of illuminating objects up to 3.5m away. You'll also find a movie mode with audio, along with a 1.5in LCD monitor sporting a non-reflective coating.

Although the Digital Ixus 500 shuns some advanced manual controls, for the average photographer who doesn't mind letting the camera decide shutter speeds and aperture, it's a great little camera.

Contact: Canon 08705 143 723
www.canon.co.uk

Specifications:

• Max resolution 2,592 x 1,944
• 3x optical zoom
• Focal length 36-108mm (35mm equivalent)
• 5cm macro
• 1.5in LCD monitor
• Compact Flash type I
• 87 x 57 x 27.8mm (w x h x d)
• 185g