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Canon Digital IXUS 85 IS

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Features

At the heart of the camera lies a 10-megapixel sensor and the DIGIC III image processor which is Canon's latest offering to the crowd. The Japanese firm claims the new engine improves the performance of the IXUS 85 IS in terms of response speed, better image quality and lower noise levels.

The 3x optical zoom lens is nothing to boast about, especially when the market offerings are the same, if not more (like the Olympus Mju 1010 with 7x zoom). But it's another matter when it comes with an optical image stabilizer which was made popular in Canon's premium L-series lenses for its dSLR. If you're wondering whether the IS will work as well in the IXUS 85 IS as in the big guns, it does, and we can attest to that. We managed to shoot at slow shutter speeds of 1/30 second in low light and still got relatively sharp pictures.

We thought we struck gold when we saw the Manual mode in the menu, but were let down when we realized it was a faux. While it doesn’t offer control over shutter speed and aperture, it does let you make changes to other settings.

The spot metering mode is a feature that advanced photographers will be familiar with. In tricky lighting conditions, spot metering allowed us to get the exposure reading off just a small portion of the frame. This makes getting properly exposed shots in situations like backlighting easier to attain.

The 2.5-inch PureColor LCD II is a tad small compared with other shooters that tout a 2.7-inch display, which is fast becoming an industry standard. However, its good color contrast and quick refresh rate make up for that.

If you're shooting at night or in dim lighting conditions, we suggest you switch off the LCD and use the optical viewfinder instead. As with most point-and-shoots, the screen was unable to make out the scene and displayed blotches of black for details. The optical viewfinder came in handy. Although it is a bit small, we had no difficulty viewing through it, even bespectacled.

Apart from the usual fare, there are also face detection, 19 scene modes, My Colors photo effects (changes the color setting of an image) and in-camera red-eye correction.

The IXUS 85 IS is powered by a Lithium-ion rechargeable battery. There is no internal memory to speak of, so you will need to slot in an SD/SDHC/MMC flash card. The provided 32MB SD card is definitely not enough, and we wonder why Canon even bothered to bundle it together.

 
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