Canon Digital IXUS 120 IS review

The movie mode is capable of recording at a hi-def resolution of 720p. But, sadly, the 4x optical zoom doesn't function while recording. For quickly connecting to an HD television, there's a mini-HDMI output behind a small door where your thumb naturally rests while shooting.

Mixed performance
The 120's performance is a mixed bag. For a camera of this size, a fast start-up time is expected, and that's what we got, at 1.4 seconds. Its shutter lag is on the long side, at 0.6 seconds in good lighting and 0.9 seconds in dimmer conditions. Regrettably, its shot-to-shot times aren't good either, taking 2.9 seconds without flash and more than 6 seconds with it on. In addition, its continuous shooting mode comes in well under that of some rivals, at 0.6 frames per second.

In general, the 120's photo exposure, white balance, contrast and colour are very good (click image to enlarge)

Very good photos
The 120's photo quality is very good, but still subject to problems characteristic of point-and-shoot cameras of this size and price. Some smudginess from noise reduction starts appearing at ISO 200, but, for the most part, photos are sharp with good fine detail. Subjects get noticeably softer and smoother as the ISO gets higher, but detail remains reasonably good up to and including ISO 800.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time (flash)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (dim)

Shutter lag (typical)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T900

1.4 

2.2 

1.4 

0.7 

0.4 

Canon Digital IXUS 120 IS

1.4 

6.2 

2.9 

0.9 

0.6 

Canon Digital IXUS 100 IS

1.5 

4.7 

2.4 

0.6 

0.4 

Samsung WB1000

1.9 

3.6 

2.4 

0.8 

0.5 

Nikon Coolpix S230

3.5 

3.3 

3 

1 

0.5