4. Canon PowerShot S200 / Digital Ixus V2

The S200 / Ixus V2 retains the general design of the earlier Powershot models that were well-known for combining a miniature footprint with the most elegant design. Like them, it includes a 2 megapixel sensor, a 2x optical zoom and is extremely compact - the size of pack of cigarettes.

Compared to the S110 / Ixus V1, the V2 has improved sensitivity, manual white balancing, the maximum shutter speed has increased from 1 to 15 seconds, coloring effects (sepia, black-and-white, etc.) have been added, as has a spot measurement. There is a sensor to adjust the focus and display, depending on whether the format is portrait or landscape.

But the basic features remain the same. The S200 is small but perfectly formed. It produced prints each time that were close to perfection, worthy of being printed in large format, and all for a minimal price of US$349 (579 Euros).

Design And Controls

The very compact S200 contains a dozen buttons within a very small space. The top of the camera contains the electrically operated controls, the shutter release, and the zoom control.

An amusing feature is the mode that makes it easy to compose panoramic photos by showing part of the previous image. Software supplied with the camera then takes over, making it easy to reconstitute the image.

The inset LCD screen is small, measuring only 1 1/2 inches although it has very good definition. As is so often the case, it would have been better if it were faster at refreshing the pixels. The optical viewfinder is the best of all four cameras tested. Yet it only covers 90% of the area captured. When compared to the view from looking down into the viewfinder from above, much more of the image will be captured at the bottom of the photo than one might expect.