These were taken with the Canon IXUS 240 HS that is known as the Canon PowerShot ELPH 320 HS in the US. It is sold as a 16.1 megapixel camera but it certainly cannot capture that amount of image detail in real life across the frame. In the centre the resolution is good, at the near edges there is a degradation, at the far edges the resolution is poor and in the corners the resolution is much worse plus there is very noticeable vignetting giving it a sort of dirty blurred look that is particularly bad for people and skin tones. However, if the shots taken at the highest resolution are downsized to half dimensions without sharpening, using an image editor, then the results are quite pleasing across the whole frame, although it effectively becomes a 4 megapixel camera. Also, if you crop to a square image without downsizing then the detail and colour is good enough across the whole square, although that makes it more like a 10 megapixel camera.

As for prints, you will only get a decent 8"x10" print from this camera at superfine Large setting if you are not bothered about the edges and corners. If that matters then the best you will get is a 5"x7". Ignore what the camera or camera manual tells you about print sizes.

In low light, this camera gives grainy images with distracting coloured speckles in darker areas. You will want to downsize the images just to get them worth looking at. The image stabilisation mechanism will help you take steady, longer-exposed shots in these conditions but will not freeze motion so you will often see motion blur. The later IXUS 255 HS is much better in low light.

I used to carry this camera around with me most of the time but then I got an IXUS 255 HS and carry that around instead. These super-compact travel zooms can fit in your pocket, even in your shirt pocket on a hot day, are not too expensive and will give you at least good image quality. If you do not have a travel zoom such as this one then perhaps you should think of getting one - preferably a better IXUS model. You will want to purchase a carry case for it to protect it. I have a Case4Life for mine and I carry a spare battery inside as battery life is not always enough for a full day's shooting, especially if you are shooting video.

This IXUS 240 HS has been superseded by the 255 HS. If you want to buy one then do not pay more than 100€ for one on ebay even if in perfect condition (definitely do not buy any compact camera if it has a scratch on the lens). The lens lets this camera down and so it is not worth much, now that better cameras have been released.

I have a full sized superfine image below taken straight out of the camera (014.JPG) so you can check it over its frame. It was shot at f14, which is a stupid selection from the camera as this is bound to show degradation of contrast. What you will see in the centre of the image is that the resolution is quite good and the 16 megapixels of the camera are being made good use of. So if you buy a compact camera then do not worry about the f-stop number at the longest zoom end of the range so long as it is f8 or lower. It will still give you very good resolution and contrast. It is only at f11 that contrast gets worse and beyond f14 where resolution takes a hit with much worsening contrast.