With HS System for great shots in low light, Smart Auto and Full HD movies, the stylish metal bodied IXUS 115 HS lets you simply enjoy the fun. Beneath this is a familiar command pad, but once again it is small. With a function/set button at its centre, at its top and bottom, left and right we find a means of manually adjusting exposure compensation (+/- 2EV), controlling the flash (auto flash, on, off and slow synchro but no red eye reduction although there is an auto correction option selectable via the camera's shooting menu.), plus a display option (limited to turning the screen info off to provide a clear view), and finally a means of switching between macro (as close as 3cm from a subject), default 'normal' and infinity focus settings. By contrast a handheld maximum 112mm (35mm equivalent) telephoto shot from the same vantage point. Considering that this is a snapshot model we’re impressed with the level of detail maintained here. The Canon IXUS 115 HS offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 3cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop. Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes via the My Colors menu option.

And so we’ve tried shooting our test image with Low Light mode selected, which effects an image drop to three megapixels. Here the camera has itself chosen a setting which equates to ISO400, so again, no apparent noise, but we are getting a pixellated effect when cropping in to the same degree as the shots above. A marginally grittier and the same time softer image at ISO3200 but not a pronounced jump in terms of degradation over ISO1600. Overall the Canon 115 HS has performed very respectably in this task, giving a near identical showing to the slightly more expensive 220 HS and 310 HS siblings.Canon’s IXUS series has long been one of the leading compact camera brands, and the introduction of HS technology has solely served to enhance this reputation. The Canon IXUS 115 HS is the latest in the fashionable line of these models, and promises good image quality in a compact and eye-catching body. The Canon IXUS 115 HS's 4x zoom lens provides a focal length of 28-112mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below. Canon is pitching this camera as a model primarily equipped for 'fun', which is one way of saying its operation is for the most part a no brainer, and once you've set date and time you can be up and taking pictures nigh on instantly, the camera powering up from cold in just over a second via a press of the lozenge shaped on/off button set into and level with the top plate. The rear LCD bursts into life and previously folded lens extends from its storage position within the body chassis, aiding overall compactness. HS System (12.1 MP)HS System excels in low light allowing you to capture the real atmosphere of the moment without flash or tripod. A high performance DIGIC 4 processor and high sensitivity image sensor give superior image quality in all situations. Slim metal bodyA metal body gives the camera a solid feel and stylish finish while the slim design makes it easy to carry with you everywhere

The same test subject at ISO800, and overall the image is still fairly clean if we’re slightly losing edge definition on close inspection. At manually selectable ISO100 and ISO200 settings we're not seeing any noise at all. At ISO400 the image is marginally softer if we're looking particularly closely, but there's also no noise to report. Our test shot is also clean at ISO800 if we're losing a bit of edge detail on really close scrutiny. Some slight softening again at ISO1600, only really noticeable because the image is otherwise so clean of noise - unusually at this setting and particularly from a budget point and shoot camera.A half press of the shutter release button and after a satisfyingly short moment, AF points/s are highlighted on the screen in green. Whilst the AF is not lightning fast, it’s fast enough. Press down fully to take the shot and in single shot mode the camera takes around three to four seconds to write a maximum resolution JPEG to memory. So again the IXUS 115 HS is not the fastest ever compact in this respect but neither is it something you notice holding you up as you progress from one shot to the next.

The Canon IXUS 115 HS handled chromatic aberrations well during the review, with limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, as shown in the example below. cm (3.0") PureColor II G LCDThe large screen with a tempered glass outer layer adds strength and gives high visibility in a variety of conditions with stunning contrast and colour. A wide viewing angle allows you to easily share your images and movies with friends. Full HD) 1920 x 1080, 24 fps, (HD) 1280 x 720, 30 fps, (L) 640 x 480, 30 fps, (M) 320 x 240, 30 fpsAll of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 10 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 2.5Mb. Get the latest photography news straight to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter. Newsletter Signup

Movie DigestMovie Digest captures up to 4-seconds of the action before a shot is taken, joining all the clips together from the same day into a single VGA movie to add to your collection of photos.The Canon IXUS 115 HS’ power switch is level with the top plate to prevent accidental activation when generally handling the camera. Give this a press and with a sprightly chirp the camera bursts into life, readying itself for action in just over a second, which is fairly speedy for a camera of this calibre. Smart AutoSmart Auto is truly automatic - detecting up to 32 different shooting scenes so you can take great pictures in complete confidence, knowing that the camera will take care of everything.