Canon has been at the forefront of camera manufacturing for a long time. They have excelled in manufacturing cameras in compact, prosumer and DSLR segments. They are the company that have been paving the way for innovation in camera technology and continue to set the standard. The Japan-based camera manufacturer have recently launched the Canon IXUS 310 HS compact camera aimed at those who want a camera, which is stylish, as well as can take a decent shot.
Design and Build QualityThe Canon IXUS 310 HS is a compact stylish camera that is designed to appeal to both genders. The product sample we received had a chocolate brown finish. There are other colour options as well available in the market. The camera is made of a stainless steel body, but upon first sight or touch it does look like hard plastic. The camera has two shades of brown on it, one at the front and the other at the back. the curved sides look really good.The camera features the large 3.2-inch LCD touchscreen on the rear. The fact that it is touchscreen, reduces the amount of buttons needed. Canon has kept that thought in mind and added just a playback button on the rear. The few other controls that are found on this camera are located at the top, which are a toggle switch for switching between manual and auto mode, an on/off button and a zoom rocker, which is located next to the shutter release button. All these buttons, though stylishly made are sturdy in build. Connectivity options such as a mini HDMI and mini USB are housed beneath a plastic flap located at the side of the camera. The 1000mAh battery and memory card slot is located underneath the camera and the battery flap is made of hard plastic. The camera has a grip, which allows one to easily open the bay. The flaps for both the bays are overall quite sturdy.
FeaturesThe Canon IXUS 310 HS has a 12.1 megapixel CMOS sensor, which features Canon’s HS technology. This technology is used to help capture better images in low-light environments. The camera has a host of interesting features with the main one being its touchscreen LCD display. The interface of this camera is intuitive and all the options are nicely spread out along the screen. Using this camera is an easy task and one can get used to it within a matter of seconds. The IXUS 310 HS has a video recording option on the screen itself, so one can quickly switch between the video recording mode and the the image capture mode.The camera features a 4.4x optical zoom, which is equivalent of 24 -105mm. One can expect a reduced amount of blur in images with the in-built image stabilizer found in the camera. Another interesting feature of this camera are the various settings such as ISO, whitebalance, etc. Other features include poster effect, toy camera effect, creative light effect, fish-eye effect, among others. These features make it nice to use during parties, holidays or any other occasion. The camera is compatible with memory cards such as SD, SDHC and SDXC. If you plan to use this camera for a fair amount of video recording in full HD, we advice you to go in for a storage card with a high capacity. Overall, the features of this camera are quite impressive at this price point.PerformanceThe Canon IXUS 310 HS is a camera that has a mixed style with features. The performance of this camera is what is most important and to test it, we used this camera outdoors, as well as in a controlled environment.
ISO Sensitivity TestThere is not much image noise in ISO 100 through to ISO 400. However, as the ISO sensitivity kept on increasing after ISO 100, a bit of colour saturation was noticed. This was very minimal. From ISO 800 onwards, the image noise is noticeable, but images are still usable at ISO 800. From the highest ISO sensitivity, which is ISO 3200, there was a lot of image noise and the colours looked very saturated.
Aperture PriorityThe camera at its widest aperture is f/2. This is one of the highlighted features of this camera. At aperture set to f/2, one can make out a lot of depth of field. At aperture set to its smallest which is f/8, the image looked a lot crisper, but there was some depth of field noticed although it was minimal.
Zoom TestThe IXUS 310 HS features a 4.4x zoom and though this is by no means a super zoom or a travel zoom, this camera can certainly shoot images crisply at objects that are a bit far. The in-built image stabilizer aids in the clarity of these pictures and reduces the amount of blur.
Performance Contd.
Outdoor images captured well with all colours looking natural. While shooting indoors the camera produced minimal amount of grain. During our flash test, we noticed that the flash was quite powerful and was easily able to illuminate an area of around 12-feet. While video recording at full HD 1080p, we noticed that the video recorded, as well as played back well. However, one should know that while recording at 1080p they should have a fair amount of storage capacity on their memory card as a 29 second video takes up about 121 MB. Canon rates the 1000 mAh battery that is bundled with the camera at approximately 180 shots.
VerdictThe Canon IXUS 310 HS is priced at Rs. 15,900 (MOP). Though the camera may be a tad bit on the pricier side, it offers value for money in terms of style, features and performance. A unique feature found in this camera is the huge touchscreen. Camera manufacturers usually tend to stay away from touchscreens as functions can be accidentally activated. This camera has proven to be very responsive and with the controls being well spaced on the screen, Canon seems to have resolved this problem. This camera is targeted at those looking to invest in a good point and shoot in a compact body. One can expect to be satisfied with the overall functionality, which this camera offers.
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