We've found a digital compact under $150 that's not junk. Canon’s efforts to swamp the planet under five feet of compact cameras continues with its latest batch of PowerShot models.

A stylish and capable camera, further enhanced by wireless tech

In too many ways, this IXUS isn’t good enough to justify its high price

Superb, stylish, solid... but sabotaged by poor controls

Tiny, intuitive and a great performer, the IXUS 85 is the ideal carry-anywhere camera

Small but solid. The Ixus 75 is perfect for holiday snappers – just watch out when the sun goes down

The AF could do with being a bit quicker, and a longer zoom would be good, but it’s still a gem

Two of the best small compacts on the market. Quality differences are on a knife edge, but the Canon wins for superior features and handling.

A superbly easy-to-use and feature-laden compact camera that’s well worth the price.

A superbly easy-to-use and feature-laden compact camera that’s well worth the price. Same titanium shell as before, with a lowlight ability.

It’s the stills camera that thinks it’s a video camera. A high definition video camera.

A beautiful example of high technology, but we have reservations about the ultimate quality of images.

The Ixus 60 delivers superb image quality and is beautifully designed and built.

Canon's reign over the compact digital camera market looks set to continue with this offering.

Cheap, sexy, slim and fully-featured. A dream for ultra-portable photography.

Anyone who used the IXUS 40 mightwonder how Canon could possiblyimprove on it, but that’s precisely whatit has done.

Along with the Sony Cyber-shot P-93, the Canon Powershot A95 is the big lad of this roundup with a pretty decent 5-megapixel CCD. The rest vary from 3-4-megapixel. While this does give the Canon a bit of an edge over the competition in terms of resolution and functionality, it's the camera's other attributes that cemented this unit in the top three.

If the Ixus i were any smaller it would be plain inconvenient to use. Weighing just over 100g, it’s certainly a camera you can keep with you all the time. As you’d expect at this size and price, there are limitations, the most obvious being the fixed focal length lens, but there’s plenty else to be thankful for.

The PowerShot G series has earned Canon a good reputation and, thankfully, the G5 does nothing to dent it. Not that it will win awards for styling, as the G5 remains slightly boxy for our liking and the casing has more plastic than the G3. It also feels every gram of its 487g weight; the similarly heavy Fuji S5000 is more comfortable to hold and use.

The Canon A300 is an entry level 3.2-megapixel camera with rather plain specifications and an average range of photgraphic features.