Canon IXUS 1100 HS review

The Canon IXUS 1100 HS is an all-new touch-screen compact that takes over as the flagship model in Canon’s style-driven IXUS range. As such it supersedes the highly-rated Canon IXUS 1000 HS that was launched around this time last year, and which earned itself a TrustedReviews ‘Recommended’ award.

The new model looks to improve on all of the IXUS 1000 HS’s primary specs, with incremental increases in overall resolution, telephoto reach and LCD screen size. In addition, it also sheds most of its physical buttons to offer almost complete touch-screen control. All this, and yet Canon is still able to claim that the IXUS 1100 HS is the “world’s slimmest camera with a 12x optical zoom”.



And it’s not just the headline specs that have changed, either. Keeping pace with the latest trends, the 1100 HS also features a range of digital effects filters, along with a new Movie Digest shooting mode that automatically records snippets of video every time you take a photo, blending all of the snippets into a single video at the end of every day.



In addition, the 1100 HS also has a new Intelligent IS (Image Stabilisation) system whereby the camera is able to analyse the scene before selecting the most appropriate type of stabilisation from seven options, including ones specifically designed for use while recording movies.

As with its predecessor, the 1100 HS sticks with the same tried and tested HS (High Sensitivity) system that combines a backside illuminated CMOS sensor with Canon’s DIGIC 4 processor to minimise noise in low-light, high-sensitivity situations.

Given all the changes and upgrades the IXUS 1100 HS looks like quite an impressive camera on paper. But how does it handle in real life? Let’s take a closer look and find out…