CANON'S Ixus range has come a long way since it was introduced 10 years ago - many innovations and changes have been made to the company's high-end compact camera range and its latest Ixus 1100HS is no different.

We received our dark red review unit not too long ago and we have to say that the glossy metal body definitely gives the camera a very premium look and feel.

The 1100HS boasts a very minimalist design with very few physical buttons. The shutter and on/off button are located on top next to a small switch that flips the camera between its fully automatic and program mode.

At the rear you'll find a large 3.2in touchscreen display that dominates most of the back. Gone are the jog dial, menu and record button of the Ixus 1000HS. The only button that remains is the playback button on the lower right.

There are a number of improvements made to the 1100HS from last year's model. Firstly it has received a slight bump up to 12-megapixels though it uses the same back-illuminated CMOS sensor as the 1000HS.

If you are not familiar with the technology, back-lit CMOS sensors have an increased surface area to receive light that in turn is said to reduce image noise levels.

The 1100HS also sports a longer 12x optical zoom lens with a focal range that starts from 28mm wide up to 336mm at the telephoto end in 35mm terms - a useful range to have especially on a small compact camera.