Canon is putting some serious firepower in your pocket with the ultra high-end compact IXUS 300 HS camera. Three things you need to know about this thoroughbred: it has a CMOS censor, which is pretty well unheard of in a camera this size; it has super slo-mo; and it costs an eyebrow-yanking £379.
Low-light performance is a high priority for this high-cost snapper, with an f/2.0 wide-angle lens and a maximum ISO of 6,400 if you reduce the sensor's 10 megapixels to a more manageable 2.5. That's a relatively low resolution for such a heady outlay, and combined with the miserly 3.8x optical zoom, means Canon is targeting this machine at people who need more than big numbers to be impressed.
Having said that, here's an impressively large number: 240 frames per second video, played back at 30fps for epic sloooo-moooo. There's also continuous full-res shooting at 3.7 shots per second, or 8.4 at 2.5 megapixels.
The 300 HS' stainless steel chassis comes in black, red, silver or white and has a 76mm (3-inch) screen with tempered glass for greater resilience to klutziness. We imagine it won't be necessary -- at that price you'll be carrying it in a huge briefcase handcuffed to your wrist.
The IXUS 300 HS will be available from the end of the month. The white and red versions are exclusive to Jessops and John Lewis respectively. We'll have a full review for you in less time than it takes your butler to answer your tinkling handbell.
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