Canon's newest Digital Ixus is a direct upgrade for the Ixus 850 IS.

Image resolution is boosted from 7.1 to 8 megapixels and the zoom range is increased from 3.8x to 4x. It also gets a centimetre closer to the action with a 2cm macro capability.

However, despite having the highest model number and the highest price in the Ixus family, its specifications aren’t top of the range. It costs £10 more than an Ixus 900 Ti, but you actually get a drop in megapixels from 10 to eight, via a physically smaller CCD sensor, a less powerful flash and a slower continuous shooting speed. The high-resolution 1,024x768 pixel movie mode is also missing.

What places the Ixus 950 IS at the top of the pile is its very effective optical image stabilisation system. Whether you’re shooting stills or video, you’ll see the benefits immediately.

Plenty of compact cameras have face recognition these days, but if you think the feature’s simply a tick in a box you’re wrong. The system used by the Ixus 950 works so well that it puts other implementations, such as that of Nikon’s Coolpix S200, to shame.

When activated, facial recognition operates continuously, so there’s no need to half-press the shutter release, and it works on up to nine faces simultaneously. In situations where other cameras can’t find a face at all, the Ixus 950 locates its targets instantly and follows them round the screen with startling accuracy.

Video recordings, although limited to a standard 640x480 resolution, are of exceptionally high quality with superb clarity and colour. The new 2.5in Purecolor LCD viewfinder is also excellent and easy to view in varying light conditions, making the Ixus 950 IS one of the best ultra-compacts we’ve seen.