Canon Digital IXUS 75: Smooth, suave, sophisticated

The Canon IXUS 70 is still one of the most popular digital cameras we've reviewed here at CNET, so we were even more excited than we usually are on a Monday morning when the rakish IXUS 75 slipped smoothly through the French windows and settled on the chaise longue. With its bow-tie raffishly undone and a martini in hand, the slimline 75 is one of the most stylish compacts around.

We love the two-tone black and silver styling slashing diagonally across the frame, and the milled black ring around the lens. This camera is so suave, we half-expected it to have a pencil-thin moustache. "Me? On a technology blog? On a Monday morning? With my reputation?"

It's a 7-megapixel camera, which these days looks like a fairly average pixel tally. But your £150-£200 is well-spent, because of the whopping 76mm (3-inch) LCD screen the 75 wears lightly on its back. We love all that extra real estate for our image, especially in a camera so slender.

You also get a number of extra features, like the all-important focus-assist lamp for helping the autofocus work its mojo in low light. More fun is to be had with the self-timer, for which you can set your own delay up to 10 seconds, or opt for 15 or 30 seconds of face-aching rictus grins. You can also choose how many pictures you want to take when the light stops blinking, up to a maximum of ten.

And it has a sensitive side. At least, the clickpad senses where you're resting your finger and displays the options onscreen. It's not exactly touchscreen technology, but it did lead to dreamy lost hours of us running our finger around the 75's controls. Why, 75, you silver-plated charmer.

Update: A full review of the Canon Digital IXUS 75 is now live.-Rich Trenholm