The Canon IXUS 200 IS is a 12 megapixel digital camera with a 5x optical zoom lens. The lens has a focal length equivalent to 25 – 120mm in 35mm format. This means it has extreme wide angle capabilities. This is likely to prove attractive if you enjoy photographing wide scenes where you need to squeeze a lot of width into a shot
The IXUS 200 IS will fit easily into most pockets. It has a metal body and is available in shades of silver, purple, light blue and gold.
Other key features include image stabilisation and the ability to shot 720p High Definition movies. There is also a 3 inch LCD screen. Help text pops up on the screen to give you hints and tips. You can also select a small number of settings through the touch sensitive screen.
The Canon IXUS 200 IS is the first Canon digital camera to offer control of some features through the 3 inch LCD screen. The number of features you can control in this way is limited, but you can change the shooting mode and set the flash for example. Other features include an extreme wide angle lens with 5x optical zoom. Zoom can be increased if you opt to shoot at lower resolutions. Other features include High Definition movies and image stabilisation.
The IXUS 200 IS feels like it is well made and has a touch of style about it. It has a metal body and like a number of digital cameras these days it comes in a variety of colours. In this instance you can choose between purple, silver, light blue and gold.
If one of the big attractions for you of the IXUS 200 IS is the touch screen then you may be disappointed to find that the number of settings you can change with it appears to be quite limited. Therefore you may find the Sony Cybershot TX1 a more attractive proposition. As well as being more or less completely touch screen controlled it has some innovative features for such a small camera.
Rating: Above Average
Summary: Picture quality with the Canon IXUS 200 IS does not quite hit the heights of other Canon cameras in this range. It is hard to say exactly why this is, but there are an awful lot of pixels packed into a very small sensor. On top of this the extreme wide angle lens is really pushing technology boundaries. Unless you really do need that wide angle view, maybe for photographing house interiors, you may be better served looking elsewhere. I would say this camera is good, but it falls short of excellence.
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