Canon IXUS 500 HS Pro Reviews

I can easily recommend the Canon PowerShot ELPH 520 HS to anyone looking for a slightly beyond-the-basics point-and-shoot digicam, particularly if portability is important. It has a good Smart Auto system with 58 options for aim-and-forget shooting. If you want to be slightly adventurous, there are some adjustments in Program Auto, but nothing that would put it in the enthusiast category. Where the Canon 520 excels is in zooming from a reasonable 28mm to 336mm in a small, pocketable design. We wouldn't call the image quality awesome, but we think it's good enough for small to medium prints; as we said, it's not an enthusiast camera, but a good take-anywhere camera with some extra zoom punch. Simplified controls are just right for the target market, and the modes are smart enough to get out of the way so you can just take pictures.

The ELPH 520 HS / IXUS 500 HS is truly a marvel of miniaturisation. If you're looking for a pocket zoom that really is pocketable you be hard pressed to find a model that matches it for size, weight and classy good looks. The quality is more than skin deep, it's beautifully engineered and feels like a quality product. In terms of features, it has everything you'd expect from a modern point-and shoot including novice-friendly features like Scene Detection, Face ID, Face self-timer and a composite Handheld NightScene mode for good quality results in low light. It's also a versatile video camera with Super Slow Motion and scene modes like miniature and a top quality 1080p24 HD recording mode. Now that the 2012 ELPH / IXUS line-up uses the Digic 5 processor, the majority of these features are common to other ELPH / IXUS models, so the ELPH 520 HS / IXUS 500 HS really only makes sense if you want that killer combination of 12x zoom in a compact and stylish body. There's a price to pay for that in terms of image quality because the ELPH 520 HS / IXUS 500 HS only uses a portion of its 16.8 Megapixel sensor to produce 10.1 Megapixel photos, but unless you want to make big prints that needn't be a concern.

The Canon PowerShot Elph 520 HS packs a 12x zoom lens into a very compact body that's sure to turn heads. But this pretty camera is hampered by a tiny sensor that produces noisy images at middle to high ISO settings.

The Elph 520 HS is a hard sell. Looking at only the specifications, you might not see enough of an upgrade here to justify the purchase. But once it’s actually in your hands, you can see where it proves its worth. The button navigation gets rid of the touchscreen interface (overrated, in my opinion) and makes handling more in your control. The DIGIC 5 processor works some new magic, and Canon outfits it with expanded features – not to mention puts it all in a much better looking package. So should you buy it? This is a camera for someone who finds they’ve outgrown their basic point-and-shoot and wants to start dipping their toe into manual settings – plus, creative filters are basically a must in this genre now. So if what you’re working with doesn’t have this, you’re probably due for an upgrade. If you have the Elph 510 HS or a newer point-and-shoot camera however, there is no need to get the 520. Also worth noting, buyers interested in using a point-and-shoot for action shots (daytime action shots in particular) should take notice. You’re not going to find a feature like that in many cameras this size, so if you want to throw your camera in your bag or purse or car and forget about it until the all important soccer game, the Elph 520 HS makes some pretty persuasive offers.

The Canon PowerShot Elph 520 HS is a good choice for those already happy with their smartphone's photos and movie clips, but looking for a cute, little camera with a long zoom and faster performance. If you're after significantly better results, though, you'll need to go with a slightly larger camera, like Canon's PowerShot Elph 510 HS.

It’s best to think of this camera as a basic point-and-shoot that happens to have a particularly long lens. If you’re a fan of Canon’s older, easy-to-use PowerShot SD series, the PowerShot Elph 520 HS basically adds a lot of zoom to that line. The major issues are the less-than-sharp images, the disappointing battery life, Canon’s space-saving decision to use a MicroSD card for storage, and the lack of manual controls. It’s a small camera, too, which offers benefits in terms of sheer portability but also means it has tiny buttons (so it may be a challenge for larger-handed users to operate). Overall, the Canon PowerShot Elph 520 HS disappoints in photo quality and performance, but as a simple, pocketable camera that offers impressive optical reach for its size, it works.

As is often the case with Canon’s IXUS range, the 500HS arrives with a price tag exceeding other similarly specified compacts on the market. However, the price premium is warranted – the design far exceeds a lot of its peers, as does the general finish of the camera. Image quality is also impressive and, overall, it’s certainly a complete compact, and when its price falls it will become even more of an appealing prospect.

The Canon Ixus 500 HS is a very compact 12X-optical-zoom camera designed for casual shooters. It doesn't perform at the level we're used to seeing in Canon's cameras, and its MicroSD slot and lack of manual controls may give prospective buyers pause.

If you can manage to steady the camera enough to achieve consistently sharp results at full zoom then this proves rather more of a selling point, as does the fact that the optical zoom range can be accessed in video mode or for setting up stills. And, for a relatively teeny point and shoot camera, footage looks great, while there's the added advantage of stereo sound plus HDMI output hiding under a side flap. Potential purchasers need to weigh up whether these features are important to you and worth paying that little extra for. We're paying a premium here for a great looking pocket camera that offers the flexibility of a 12x optical zoom. If a glossy exterior and credit card proportions aren't the deciding factor, the equally new, but albeit not as lovely, Olympus SP-620UZ offers a 21x zoom plus better picture quality for just £179/$200.

The Canon IXUS 500 HS is a good attempt to marry the classic styling of the IXUS range with a big zoom lens, but the tiny controls, poor battery life, so-so image quality at high ISO speeds and the eye-watering price-tag detract somewhat from its overall appeal. The IXUS 500 HS' 12x zoom lens proves to be a real boon to your creativity, especially given the camera's diminutive size and weight, providing enough width for landscape and group shots and more than enough reach to take close-up action shots, despite being able to easily fit inside a trouser or even shirt pocket. Maximum apertures of f/3.4 and f/5.6 are nothing to write home about, but we can excuse them on what is after all a consumer-oriented camera. The IXUS 500 HS doesn't quite deliver all the goods in terms of image quality. Disappointingly noise starts to rear its ugly head at the rather slow speed of ISO 400, on a par with other similarly priced compacts, although chromatic aberrations are commendably well controlled. Full 1080p HD movies complete with stereo sound and (rather slow) use of the 12x zoom are also very welcome.

The slim, sumptuous design and 12x zoom lens are a great combination, but other cameras beat it for image quality

If a camera looked this good, offered the same 12x optical zoom and cost £200, we’d be praising it to the rafters. Unfortunately this example costs a third more, so a premium is being charged for the fashion conscious fascia presented here. Of course that won’t prevent those who value gadgets that look more obviously like ‘designer’ brands splashing the cash, but the IXUS 500 HS is not the best value for money when rated purely in terms of feature set and performance. On a more positive note, it’s useful that the broader than average zoom range can be accessed for video as well as stills. Plus it is certainly is much more impressive a specification than the 3x or 5x zoom reach formerly found on cameras of this prettified ilk.

The Canon IXUS 500 HS is ideal for those who want an extremely small camera but want more zoom than you typically find on such cameras. The downside to the tiny body are the small buttons and fairly low battery life. There is also full 1080p HD video recording. The IXUS 500 HS takes images with excellent colour reproduction and detail is OK, meaning it will appeal to those who like to share images on the web rather than produce large prints.