The Canon IXUS 95 IS is one of three new pocket cameras introduced by Canon in the spring of 2009. Looking through the features the three models offer there is not a great deal of difference to choose between them. The IXUS 95 IS is the cheapest of the three. The main reason for this is that it does not offer the High Definition movie mode that you will find on the other two models. If this is not important to you, you are likely to find this model offers a bit better value for money as other key factors such as features and picture quality are otherwise quite similar.
You should have no problem fitting the IXUS 95 IS into a pocket. When it comes to how the camera looks I would say it has a fairly standard design. Canon somehow manages to make their digital cameras that little bit classier than some other brands. This may be helped by the shiny, reflective area around the lens. I think this helps to make the camera look good, but can be a drawback if are taking photos of reflective objects. This camera comes in four different shades. These are silver, grey, blue and pink.
Looking through the list of features there are not too many that catch the eye. To start with you have 10 megapixels. This should be plenty for most sized prints and will also allow you to carry out a bit of cropping here and there and still allow you to make a print. The 3x optical zoom lens is now shorter than you will find on a lot of digital cameras. Extra zoom can always come in handy, but working with a shorter lens is not necessarily a problem, especially if you are able to be a bit more creative in how you take a picture now and then.
Image stabilisation has been included. This helps you to produce sharper pictures. With a shorter length lens like this one it does not have the same impact that you might find with longer lenses and heavier cameras where it becomes much harder to hold the camera steady for the time the shutter is open.
One feature that is likely to prove attractive is the viewfinder. This is still popular with many people and a lot of photographers still like to work with a viewfinder in preference to the LCD screen. Despite the inclusion of the viewfinder Canon has still managed to include a good sized 2.5 inch LCD screen.
During my tests I found the picture quality produced by the IXUS 95 IS to be right up there with the very best pocket cameras. I was particularly impressed by the sharpness of the photos when the lens was not being zoomed in at all. That is a surprisingly tough test, especially with smaller cameras with tiny lenses, but this camera performed very well indeed.
Another pleasant surprise was the turn on time. It took only just over a second to turn the IXUS 95 IS on and take the first shot. This outperforms all other digital cameras I have tested to date.
If you are looking round at other brands you may like to consider pocket cameras produced by Panasonic, Nikon and Sony. These can be, but not in all cases, a little cheaper than those made by Canon. It is true though that you get what you pay for and you will be hard pressed to beat the picture quality provided by the Canon IXUS 95 IS.
