One, two... touch! The Canon IXUS 210 IS is not quite the strongest model Canon has to offer, but packs a neat uppercut with 14.1 megapixels of rich detail, a 3.5-inch touch screen and a bunch of nifty effects.

Once a Canon enthusiast, always a Canon enthusiast.

I dare say anyone who has used a Canon digital compact camera will never turn to other brands, and for good reason: Canon is possibly the strongest contender in the market currently in the digital compact scene.

And even though this touch-screen beauty from Canon is not quite as impressive as the rest of Canon's extensive range of products, it cannot be denied that it is a very competent, user-friendly, point-and-shoot camera for the stylish and on-the-go consumer.

Packed with the usual features we've come to expect in a Canon - night mode, portrait, auto, macro, colour swap to name a few  - it offers a few nice surprises in the form of the 'fish-eye' effect and the 'miniature' effect, the former distorts the view into a circular view (quite fun when using it on friends' faces) and the latter a nifty tool to miniaturise objects and make it look far away, even if it is not.

Boasting 14.1 megapixels, the pictures taken are enormous and almost DSLR-size. It also has a very good 5X optical zoom, with minimal quality loss even as you zoom in closer. Macro range is surprisingly poor, however (maximum 5cm close-range), but  try holding the camera further away and zooming in maximum for the same effect. It also records in HD video (very very nice HD video) and has the Smart-Auto function, which adjusts the settings according to the situations you are in.

A small note: I reviewed a previous model with the same Smart-Auto function, and found it not-so-smart - but this model is much more effective in terms of detecting the scenes more accurately.

The definite good points of this model is its incredibly high resolutions (14.1MP is  one of the highest in the market now) and the responsive, easy-to-use touch screen. It is also pretty good-looking, and is the perfect camera for the casual user.

But oddly, the picture quality is a whole other ball game. It actually veers towards the grainy side, and surprisingly, when put side to side with an older model (say, the IXUS 80IS), the picture quality of the 210IS actually falls short. It is less sharp and less vivid than its predecessors, which is very strange, because this is supposed to be far superior in specs and techs.

Another beef I have had with Canon's newer models also is the death of the viewfinder. To ensure the best, sleekest designs, the newer models of Canon's IXUS range has done away with the viewfinder, which is one thing I rely upon heavily when battery power runs low. Also, sometimes a viewfinder helps to find the perfect picture that even technology cannot - every so often, the human eye reigns supreme. Also, my personal preference is always to adjust the settings manually if I can, but the manual settings here are limited.

At this price, the IXUS 210 (RM 1399) is perhaps not the best pick of the Canon range. The IXUS 100IS is a far better model to go for and it is cheaper (RM 999), with the same Smart-Auto functions and such. It feels to me that users have to pay a premium for the novelty of the touch screen and for 14.1 megapixels.

Nevertheless, it is quite obvious that Canon is going strong on the convenience of truly 'pointing-and-shooting', with no fuss involved. It is possible that the newer models are designed to tap into the youth market of casual photography (friends, parties, family picnics), and really, there is nothing wrong with that at all.

In the end, this is a very good model, worthy of the Canon stable of cameras, and great for the casual photographer.