Canon Digital IXUS 860 IS Review
(also known as the Canon Digital ELPH SD870 IS)

Review Date: September 27th 2007
Author: Mark Goldstein

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Conclusion

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-Use	5
Image Quality	4
Value for Money	4

The Canon Digital IXUS 860 IS is the best IXUS model that we've reviewed. Period. It's an excellent point and shoot camera with a wealth of features that make it easy to take great photographs. Pick the IXUS 860 IS up for the first time and there is an undeniable sense of quality which exceeds most of the competition. Just as impressively, Canon have managed to include a massive 3 inch LCD screen despite the small credit-card-like dimensions of the IXUS 860 IS, although this does come at the expense of an optical viewfinder. Admittedly the 8 megapixel images are noisy and slightly blurred at ISO 400, with ISO 800 and particularly 1600 being best avoided altogether, but the inclusion of an excellent optical image stabilisation system allows you to use slower ISO speeds than you normally would on a camera without anti-shake.

The 28mm wide-angle lens provides an entirely new angle of view when compared with conventional zoom lenses that typically start at around 35mm. A mere 7mm may not sound like much, but it actually makes a big difference to image composition. ISO Auto Shift is a useful feature that's a little let down by the quality available at ISO 800, whilst beginners will love the Face Detection feature which provides well focused and exposed family pictures. Only the lack of a true optical viewfinder, slow continuous shooting mode and slightly noisy images at ISO 400 prevent us from awarding the IXUS 860 IS a very rare Essential / 5 Star award. Highly recommended then for both beginners and as a pocketable point and shoot for the more experienced photographer, which is exactly what Canon were aiming for...

PhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Canon Digital IXUS 860 IS have been submitted to DIWA for comparison with test results for different samples of the same camera model supplied by other DIWA member sites.

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