Canon PowerShot ELPH 100 HS Pro Reviews

If you're looking for an inexpensive, simple, but still feature-filled ultracompact, the Canon PowerShot 100 HS is a safe bet. That's in spite of its autofocus issues and somewhat soft photos.

For an entry level model, the ELPH 100 HS / IXUS 115 HS has a huge amount to offer. Not to be underestimated is that it's an ELPH / IXUS, so it's well built, looks stunning and is super-compact. Its 4x zoom range is nothing more than adequate, but if you don't go in for panoramic landscapes or wildlife photography, that will be no loss and 4x is good enough to help frame the vast majority of 'everyday' shots. If you're buying a camera primarily for it's stills shooting capability the ELPH 100 HS / IXUS 115 HS has the same shooting modes as every other model in the range (not including the semi auto modes of the ELPH 500 HS / IXUS 310 HS). And if you want to shoot video it matches the 1080p24 best quality HD mode of the top of the range ELPH 510 HS / IXUS 1100 HS. There are some compromises, but they're small ones, the most significant being the inability to use the optical zoom while recording video. There are models with longer zooms, faster continuous shooting and more verstile composite modes, but for great all round performance in an ultra-compact and stylish body the ELPH 100 HS / IXUS 115 HS has a lot to offer.

Whenever a new IXUS camera arrives, it does so with a certain weight of expectation behind it. The IXUS 115 HS, with its full specification, HS technology and reasonable-for-an-IXUS price tag, certainly has as much of this weight as any. However, the good news is that it impresses both in use and on reflection of the images it produces. Image quality has a few flaws, although these are easily corrected, while is also performs admirably. There are a few reservations about missing functionality and a few oversights in the specification, but on the whole the IXUS 115 HS is up there with the best compacts on the market.

Canon's PowerShot ELPH models are generally easy to recommend; that's true with the Canon 100 HS. It's the year's easiest pick as a bargain all-around camera, with good looks and good image quality. We appreciated the Canon 100 HS's small, pocketable size and reasonable speed. Its print quality was good enough to make 11x14-inch prints from ISO 100 to 800 without much noticeable degradation; and even ISO 3,200 made a usable 5x7-inch print. Overall, for basic snapshots, the Canon PowerShot 100 HS is a great choice for family members of all ages, and will serve the photo enthusiast as a pocket camera quite well too thanks to its sharp lens and good print quality. For the price, it's an easy Dave's Pick.

A little pricier than most budget cameras, but its styling, features, photo quality and video quality are all in a different league.

The positives here include a fun array of creative digital filters that for the most part have a positive bearing on the appearance of pictures, a decent build quality that we have come to expect from Canon even at the budget level, and the style factor inherent in the IXUS range. Although you could do better still with a slightly bigger spend, the IXUS 115 HS delivers excellent value for someone who wants a little more versatility when it comes to picture taking than their current smart phone may allow. Whilst it's not in any way a game change or particularly innovative, if you're looking for a simple to use point and shoot camera that takes better than expected pictures, you can't really go wrong with the Canon IXUS 115 HS.

The IXUS 115 HS might not be the most exciting nor innovative pocket camera out there - and you’ll have to invest twice the asking price to afford the rather more photographically versatile likes of the Canon PowerShot S95 for that. But it does the job, and does it well for anyone looking for detailed, colourful, well-exposed images with the consistency of output we’ve come to expect from Canon. Users can just point and shoot and rest easy in the knowledge that exposure and focus will be spot on most of the time, which is all any of us could hope for from a budget snapshot. Results suggest that the IXUS 115 HS is rather more than the bit of fun the modest asking price might indicate.

The Canon IXUS 115 HS is packed with features and performs excellently, while being available at a very reasonable price. Images are great and noise is handled really well. It was hard to find some cons, but the D-Pad could be easier to press and it would be nice if the battery was capable of 300 shots.

A small camera doesn't have to flimsy and with a metal body the 12.1 million pixel feels nice and solid yet is slim enough to slip in your trouser pocket. Canon's HS system is also designed to ensure you get decent images even in low light, we will be testing this over the next few days.