The Digital IXUS 95 may be pretty, and it may be a Canon, but if you've got around £180 to spend and all you ask is a 10-megapixel sensor and a 3x zoom, it'd take you a week just to read through the list of candidates. So should the IXUS 95 be anywhere near the top?
Positives
You can't argue with the looks. Canon's designers are near the top of their game with this one. It's not flashy, necessarily, but it does look beautiful, whichever colour you choose. It feels good too, and round the back there's a conventional set of directional controllers rather than the spinning dial used on more upmarket models. It's one bit of cost-cutting that's more than welcome, since the controls are much easier to use as a result.
And look, there's even an optical viewfinder. Admittedly, it's tiny and slightly distorted, but it's worth having on days so bright you can't see the LCD properly, and it's a useful feature to have on a camera that might be used by digital first-timers. Let's face it, this is not a camera for photo experts. It's a classy little compact for people who want to grab snaps of all the important little moments in their lives without having to swallow a dictionary.
It talks the part, too, with better-than-ever face-detection, a face self-timer which waits for you to get in the shot and then takes the picture, and automatic scene-mode detection, which works out what the camera's pointed at and adjusts the settings automatically.
Discuss Canon Digital IXUS 95 IS