Sleek, slim and very, very sharp

Asleek new camera in the HS series, the Canon IXUS 310 is fun to use and captures excellent quality photos for a compact camera.

The 12.1-megapixel camera is packed with impressive features, such as the F2.0 bright lens, the high-performance HS (High Sensitivity) System, Full HD video recording and 24mm ultra-wide angle lens.

Released to replace IXUS 300 HS, it comes with several improvements, the most important of which is the 3.2 inch screen - the 300 HS has just 3 inches - and a full touch feature, allowing its menus and function controls to be accessed easily.

Its lens has a wider angle compared to the 300 HS's 28mm and a longer zoom of 4.4x compared to 3.8x zoom of 300 HS.

Also new is the iFrame movie mode that records video with the right resolution size to display on an iPad tablet computer.

A fun feature mode is the Movie Digest, which automatically records a four-second video clip every time a still image is captured then combines all clips into a single video so you have a record of your day on film.

The camera took pleasing quality photos in most lighting environments, including low-light conditions, thanks to its very bright lens and the HS System.

For new users, the Advanced Smart Auto mode makes the camera extremely easy to use This mode means you're ready to shoot in all kinds of situations and can now detect up to 32 different scenes.

During the test, I found that IXUS 310 HS captured excellent scenery photos outdoors with well-saturated green and other colours.

Its Handheld Night Scene mode also worked effectively to capture lights at night with sharp and pleasing photos without the need for a tripod.

I also enjoyed its Super Vivid mode, which captured shots in very bright colours.

Like its 300 HS sister, the 310 HS features super slow motion movie mode for recording 640 x 480 pixel movies at 120 frames per second for smooth slow motion playback. Golfers will find this mode very useful in reviewing their swing.

The IXUS 310 HS can also record full HD 1080p video at 24fps with pleasing quality for a compact camera. And the 310 HS comes with an HDMI port for you to connect it to a flat-screen LCD or Plasma TV for enjoying the movies right after the shoot.

Its HS System makes the IXUS 310 HS good at capturing photos at burst speed. It is capable of capturing 3.4 shots per second at full resolution.

And when the High-speed Burst mode is used, the resolution is reduced to 3 megapixel, the 310 HS is capable of capturing 8.2 shots per second.

Several other fun modes are available. One of them is the Colour Accent mode.

This mode allows you to use a colour picker to select a colour from the scene or your subject while the rest of the image will be in black and white.

The Canon IXUS 310 HS has a good performance. It took about 1.8 seconds to get the camera ready for the first shot and its shutter lag was about only half a second.

The Canon IXUS 310 HS is available in metallic brown, silver and pink for Bt12,900.

         Key specs

_ Camera Effective Pixels: Approxim-ately 12.1 Million pixels CMOS

_ Lens: f/2.0-f/8.0 lens 4.4 x zoom with focal length of 24(W) - 105(T) mm in 35mm equivalence

_ Imaging Processor: DIGIC 4

_ LCD Monitor: 3.2-inch TFT colour with 461,000 dots

_ ISO Speed: Auto, ISO 125 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200

_ Shutter Speed: 15 - 1/1600 sec

_ Shooting Modes: Auto, P, Tv, Av, Movie Digest, Portrait, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, Indoor, Smart Shutter, High-speed burst, Best Image Selection, Handheld Night Scene, Low Light, Fish-eye effect, Miniature Effect, Toy Camera Effect, Creative Light Effect, Monochrome, Super Vivid, Poster Effect, Colour Accent, Color Swap, Beach, Foliage, Snow, Fireworks, iFrame Movie, Super Slow Motion Movie

_ Dimensions: 100.6 x 55.4 x 25.0mm

_ Weight: Approximately 185g