Canon IXUS 265 review

12x optical zoom, Wi-Fi and creative modes in a cute, compact package

Canon IXUS 265
12x optical zoom in a nice, neat package

TechRadar Verdict

Smart, stylish and sleek – a 12x optical zoom and Wi-Fi make this pocket friendly compact camera ideal for every day users.

Pros

  • +

    12x optical zoom

  • +

    Wi-Fi

  • +

    Very good image quality

  • +

    Sleek, stylish body

  • +

    Available in a range of colours

Cons

  • -

    Lack of touchscreen

  • -

    Inability to set autofocus point

  • -

    Dearth of manual controls

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Whenever someone asks me to recommend a compact camera that is sleek, stylish, feature-packed and offers great quality, those from the Canon IXUS range usually spring to mind.

The 265 sits at the top of Canon's current line-up of its stylish brand (it generally refers to its more enthusiast based cameras as PowerShots).

It features a 16-million pixel CMOS sensor, which is back-illuminated for better performance in low light. It also features a Digic 4+ processor, which is a couple of generations below the latest available, but has still proven itself to be a good performer in the past.

The camera's 12x optical zoom covers a 35mm equivalent range of 25-300mm. There's also digital zoom available in the form of ZoomPlus, which boosts that up to 24x, and a further 4x digital zoom to make a combined total of 48x.

A number of different shooting modes are available, but a couple are of particular interest

A number of different shooting modes are available, but a couple that are of particular interest is Hybrid Auto, which creates a short video clip two seconds before the shutter button is pressed and combines all the clips at the end of the day for an overview of your day – a fun setting for day trips, holidays, weddings, parties and so on.

The second is Creative Shot, which automatically takes a set of five different photos each with a different digital filter applied to it.

Full HD video recording is available, as well as Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity for sharing images between devices, such as your smartphone or tablet. On the back of the camera is a three-inch 461,000 dot screen, which isn't touch sensitive.

Amy Davies

Amy has been writing about cameras, photography and associated tech since 2009. Amy was once part of the photography testing team for Future Publishing working across TechRadar, Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, N Photo and Photography Week. For her photography, she has won awards and has been exhibited. She often partakes in unusual projects - including one intense year where she used a different camera every single day. Amy is currently the Features Editor at Amateur Photographer magazine, and in her increasingly little spare time works across a number of high-profile publications including Wired, Stuff, Digital Camera World, Expert Reviews, and just a little off-tangent, PetsRadar.