Canon IXUS 125HS
It is well-nigh impossible to talk about
the Canon IXUS 125 HS without listing a bunch of jargon that describes the
different technologies at work inside this sophisticated compact camera. That can
get terribly boring (and confusing) so we will resist the temptation once we
have got a mouthful of gobbledygook out of the way.
The HS suffix on the model code refers to
the High Sensitivity sensor which helps you capture decent photos in low light.
This is allied with the back-lit CMOS sensor, rather than the CCD that is used
in the other four cameras.
Inside the IXUS 125 HS there is a DIGIC 5
processor which is Canon's standard processor for compact cameras. Some EOS
models use DIGIC 5+.
Naturally the Canon uses a lens-shift image
stabilizer and finally we have iSAPS technology which stands for 'intelligent
Scene Analysis based on Photographic Space'.
Actually there is one more piece of
technical-ese that is worth mentioning: The IXUS 125 HS has 5x optical zoom and
4x digital zoom but also has a ZoomPlus 10x rating which is somewhere between
the two and appears to add extra optical zoom without throwing away data.
This is, relatively speaking, an expensive
camera that sells for about $294. However, Canon has packed in a number of
goodies to deliver extra value. For example, you get a Mini HDMI output, and
happily this is a regular connection rather than a proprietary port of the type
used by Samsung.
Adding to that the quality of the LCD
screen is super with a resolution of 461k dots. It even manages to work well in
bright sunlight as well as displaying a crisp and bright image.
We expected great things from the Canon,
but it didn't quite live up to expectations. For example, the quality of video
is very good but the IXUS 125 HS has a distinct advantage over the other
cameras as it shoots at Full HD rather than 720p. On the downside, the
mechanism of the 5x optical zoom is clearly audible on the movie soundtrack.
Unfortunately you won't hear a great deal else as the microphone records the
voice of the person shooting the video but doesn't seem to pick up any sound
from in front of the camera.
You will find that Full HD video eats your
SD or SDHC card at a rate of 250MB per minute. Changing settings to 720p
reduces the rate to 190MB per minute.
Canon IXUS 125HS
The list of modes that you can choose for
taking photos will feel immediately familiar to anyone who has previously used
an IXUS. It consists of Movie Digest, Portrait, Smooth Skin, Smart Shutter (uses
face detect to take pictures), Night Scene, Low Light 4MP, Fish Eye, Miniature,
Toy Camera, Soft Focus, Monochrome, Super Vivid, Poster, Color Accent, Color
Swap, Underwater, Snow, Long Shutter, Stitch Assist for Panoramic (L to R and R
to L) and iFrame Movie. That's quite a list, but most of those modes are little
more than useless gimmicks.
We quite like Super Slow Motion Movie,
which shoots at 240fps and then plays back at standard speed, but the 320x240
resolution is too low to make it compelling.
One mode that works well is High-Speed
Burst which drops the resolution to 4MP and takes a rapid stream of photos as
long as you hold the shutter button.
We found that the best plan was to leave
the flick switch on top of the camera in Auto and to simply ignore the
individual modes, unless you want to do something special such as swap a color
or take a mono photo.
Using Auto has the added advantage that you
can pretty much ignore the navigation jog pad which is small and flat, and that
in turn means you need to push the buttons carefully when you change any
settings.
It was noticeable that the quality of the
colors in the Canon photos was head and shoulders above the other cameras in
this group.
Overall the build quality of the Canon is
good. If you leave the IXUS 125 HS in Auto it makes a decent point and click
camera with Full HD video. But you pay a high price of $294 for the privilege.
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Details
Price: $294
Manufacturer: Canon
Website: www.canon.co.uk
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