Canon IXUS 200 IS review

An excellent touchscreen snapper with a great range of features

Canon IXUS 200 IS
The Canon IXUS 200 IS has a touchscreen interface - but plenty of 'real' buttons too

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canon ixus 200

The Canon IXUS 200 IS is a great camera. You can all-but forget the touchscreen – it's a nice luxury, but there are other reasons to like it.

It takes great pictures and we're in love with the body – comfortable to hold and reassuringly weighty, it feels like you've got a lot for your money.

We liked:

Image quality is absolutely top-notch, as is the IXUS 200's build.

The touchscreen adds a few extra features, but those willing to spend an afternoon browsing the menu system will find some features that genuinely help take better pictures.

There's also a wide range of face detection features which mean the days of blurry photos from the pub may be numbered.

We didn't like:

For photography buffs, or those who want to learn how to take better pictures without making the leap to a DSLR, the IXUS 200 offers a few compromises.

A proper manual mode would be a real advantage, and there's a definite lack of speed, particularly when it comes to taking pictures of moving objects or sports.

The price is a problem as well – at £275 the IXUS 200 is definitely nudging superzoom or even budget DSLR territory, and while it takes superb pictures, a move to a DSLR will see shots that produce noticeably less noise.

Conclusion:

Top stuff. A few more manual features wouldn't go amiss, but we're willing to trade them off for the gorgeous body and excellent pictures.

Dave is a professional photographer whose work has appeared everywhere from National Geographic to the Guardian. Along the way he’s been commissioned to shoot zoo animals, luxury tech, the occasional car, countless headshots and the Northern Lights. As a videographer he’s filmed gorillas, talking heads, corporate events and the occasional penguin. He loves a good gadget but his favourite bit of kit (at the moment) is a Canon EOS T80 35mm film camera he picked up on eBay for £18.