Pixiq

Woo-aa! I think I need my sunglasses. Canon is calling the six colours in which you can purchase the new IXUS 230 HS (Elph 310 in the US) ‘vibrant’. I think the lime green and hot pink options are a bit more than vibrant. Maybe it’s so that its 22.1mm super-slimness (Canon is definitely on the ‘we can make tiny cameras, too!’ bandwagon) won’t mean it’ll get lost in the depths of someone’s handbag?

It has a 28mm wide-angle lens with an 8× optical zoom (this means its the slimmest camera in its class at the moment) and a 12.1 megapixel sensor.

The 230 HS has the same image stabilisation technology that Canon’s two other new releases today have. It’s Intelligent IS that selects from seven options depending on the situation to provide the best chance of a blur-free image.

It makes HD videos and it has the usual swathe of creative filters to that you can sepia-tone or toy-camera-ify your images. This is a proper point-and-shoot camera: its Smart Auto mode means that you really do only have to point and shoot to get a photo. Oh, and remember to turn it on, obviously. Still, it has a hints and tips function to help people get the most out of it.

At £229 (€269) I can’t help but think it’s on the expensive side. But that price will likely come down on release, in October.