Smart Design

The three-figured IXUS range from Canon has always married quality spec and quality design, with the 970 IS being the company’s latest fusion of the two. Yet, as competent as the spec is, it’s the design that first strikes you. The smooth and rounded body shares a design ethos with elements of Olympus’s mju range; if you think of it as a new bar of soap with buttons and an LCD, you’re not far off.

Image Quality

The rear houses mode and multi-control dials, as well as an optical viewfinder and 2.5in LCD screen. In use, this design makes the camera’s operation a little tricky, though. With image quality, the camera does well in good light but struggles otherwise to resolve fine detail. Metering can be generally relied upon, while noise rises steadily through the ISO range and isn’t even too objectionable at its highest setting of ISO 1600.