Well worth the expense | Bangkok Post: tech

Cannon has launched its high-speed compact digital camera, the Ixus 300HS, with a capacity to capture still images at 1/2500 second and continuous shooting capability at 10 megapixel resolution.

Canon Ixus 300HS.

The camera also has a video mode with zoom-in-and-out capability and a super slow motion movie mode.The camera is quite light at 175 grammes in weight and is made of stainless steel.

At the first glance, the design is not appealing. However, when you look at it in detail, the camera presents some interesting features, including a new processing technology-Digic 4 and high-sensitivity back-illuminated CMOS sensor that offers better light-gathering capabilities and also fast speeds for turning the camera on (about 1.3 seconds).

The lens has a maximum aperture at f/2 at wide angle, allowing pictures to be taken with details in low light situations.

If the subjects you are shooting are moving, you may quickly turn the shooting mode to 'High-speed Burst'.

This will allow you to capture movement in dim lights at 3.7 frames per second (fps), although the picture resolution will be compromised somewhat.

The High-speed Burst mode is one of 17 scene modes you may select manually. Other scene selection modes include Night Snapshot, Smart Shutter for smiles, wink self-timer or face self-timer, macro, and fish-eye effect. Its controlling bottoms are easy to navigate.

The camera comes up with 3.8x optical zoom lens which is equivalent to 28-105mm and the focal length is also enough for the need to take landscape and portrait pictures. You may also select your focus point to be Auto Focus, Face Detection or Fixed Focus only at the centre point.

The shutter speed is set to auto, but you can manually adjust this to 1/2500 second when you select 'High-speed Burst' mode. This is a bit handy if you want to take pictures while you are in a moving vehicle.

Your still images may have one of seven resolution sizes starting from 320x240 up to 3648 x 2736 pixels or up to A1 poster-size picture.

The video function, on the other hand, is also impressive.

Only a sliding switch on the top of its 3" LCD display, you can enjoy shooting video clips up to the largest footage capacity of 1280x720. The maximum clip length depends on your SD card capacity.

You may also zoom in and out while shooting a video clip and the sound is recorded in a stereo system.

The playback mode for both still images and video clips are also fast.

Only moving the Control Dial at the Function Set button, you can quickly scroll up and down to see your pictures.

This function is much like the SLR camera, which makes it easy to navigate picture preview.

The Control Dial also act as a four-way controller when you set up camera functions.

You can also select format for your picture slide show such as fade in or out.

You may edit video clips using the function in the camera.

Canon Ixus 130HS comes with three colour options; black, silver and bright red. Canon markets the product for high-end market with a whooping price tag of 14,900 baht.

Even though it might not represent value for money, if you want to buy new technology boasting high speeds and low-light shooting capabilities for a light compact camera, you might consider this one.