Canon Ixus 115 HS review

The main video mode has its own record button, and captures at the Full HD 1920×1080 resolution at 24fps. AVC compression and the high 34Mbit/s bit rate ensure excellent quality, although this also produces big files that require a fast PC to play. Clip lengths are limited to around 15 minutes. Focus and zoom are fixed for the duration of clips, which is disappointing but typical at this price. Regardless, the high quality soundtrack, smooth colours and impeccable details of the 115 HS’s videos are way beyond anything else we’ve seen at this price.

Crisp detail in outdoor photos – click to zoom image

Photo quality was just as impressive. Outdoor shots were crisp, smooth and vibrant, with excellent focus right into the corners of frames and throughout the 4x zoom range. Indoors, a combination of optical stabilisation, well-judged automatic settings and remarkably low noise at the top ISO 1600 setting produced outstanding results. Details were soft at ISO 1600 but they didn’t look too blotchy or heavily processed.

Fiddly buttons aside, this is an exceptional point-and-shoot camera, and a bargain to boot.