A sexy magnesium-alloy housing gives the IXUS 400 one of the most compact camera bodies submitted this month. The bright 118,000-pixel LCD gives an excellent preview of your images or for shot placement when not using the viewfinder.
Supplied with a 32MB Compact Flash card, the unit is capable of taking 320 x 240 pixel AVI movies, limited only by the capacity of the media.
Packing a big zoom is great given the unit's ultra-small form factor. Fitting easily into a shirt pocket or handbag, it sits around the middle of the pack weighing 228g including both battery and CF. The sturdiness of the mag alloy means it can take a few knocks.
The retracting lens is securely stored within the camera body while the well thought out design puts the zoom controls where your index finger sits – easy access for those close up shots. The comprehensive manuals cover the camera and software supplied. Well priced for a 4-megapixel camera, it's a unit with plenty of features for the shooter after a light but robust camera.