Canon's new compacts find faces

Canon on Monday added two new cameras to its compact range, featuring a processor upgrade and megapixel increase among their improvements.

The newly-announced Digital IXUS 950 IS and PowerShot S5 IS use the company's DiG!C III image processor which incorporates Face Detect -- a facial recognition function that looks for faces in the frame and locks onto them, preventing blur. This function also includes auto-focus, auto-exposure and flash compensation to aid the user when capturing shots of people.

Both cameras also trump their predecessors in the resolution stakes, upgrading from 6- to 8-megapixels.

Canon Digital IXUS 950 IS	The Canon Digital IXUS 950 IS replaces the IXUS 800 IS. 8-megapixel resolution 2.5-inch LCD 4x optical zoom Optical image stabilisation In-camera red-eye correction Face Detect with Auto Focus, Auto Exposure and Flash Exposure Available late May AU$599
Canon PowerShot S5 IS	The Canon PowerShot S5 IS replaces the PowerShot S3 IS. 8-megapixel resolution 2.5-inch LCD 12x optical zoom Optical image stabilisation In-camera red-eye correction Face Detect with Auto Focus, Auto Exposure and Flash Exposure Available early June AU$699