The PowerShot SX200 IS is striking on the eye, with a shiny aluminium casing in fetching shades of black, blue or red. This is a much more substantial digital compact than many of its rivals, weighing a comparatively hefty 220g and measuring 103 x 60.5 x 37.6mm.

It has a highly distinctive curve on the right-hand side for firmer gripping and, unusually, the 3-inch LCD display (with approximately 230,000 pixels) protrudes from the surrounding surface. Normally this wouldn't be an issue but it does inhibit use of the left-hand side of the circular menu dial.

Surprisingly, there are several other physical features that cause varying degrees of concern. Undoubtedly the most irritating is the fact that the flash unit automatically pops up on the top left of the camera when you switch it on and won't descend again until you switch off. As it's positioned exactly where you want to put your finger when setting up a shot, this means you either have to squash it down by force or awkwardly reposition your finger.

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In addition, the zoom ring is stiff to operate and sharp on the finger, the cover on the AV-out terminal is unnecessarily flimsy and the tripod adaptor is located on the far left of the base rather than centrally.

Now on to the positive stuff. The 12.1-megapixel SX200 IS boasts a wide-angle 28mm lens with a focal length of 5 - 60mm and a massively telescoping 12x optical zoom with additional 4x digital zoom.

At its heart is Canon's high speed DIGIC 4 processor which incorporates Advanced Noise Reduction technology as well as Motion Detection, which is activated in both Smart Auto and Easy modes to fight blur. The Image Stabilisation system usefully comes in three modes, depending whether you want it on continuously, just when you press the shutter, or when panning.

For a compact, this camera has an impressive array of manual options, with separate settings for aperture and shutter priority, which will appeal to the more creative photographer. The face detection is more advanced than usual, with up to 35 faces identifiable in one frame, Face Select & Track to follow one chosen person and Face Self-Timer which takes a shot when a new face pops into the frame.

The other huge selling point is the HD movie capability with shooting possible at 720p (30fps) and a built-in HDMI port so you can play back directly to your HD TV. Optical zoom settings will have to be organised before you shoot in this mode, as you can't change them while shooting, but the quality is well above average for a non-dedicated camcorder, making effective use of the anti-blur system.

The same is true of the still picture quality, where we put the DIGIC 4 through its paces in bright sunlight, dark interiors, night and action conditions. Focusing was swift and all images up to ISO 400 were crisp, vivid and authentic with little evidence of purple fringing. There are only two compression settings (Fine and Normal), however, so you might like to invest in a high capacity SD card if you're out for a full day's shooting.

Despite being beautifully stylish to look at, Canon's new PowerShot SX200 IS does have some uncharacteristically disappointing design flaws. But these are more than compensated for by the excellent zoom, powerful processor and good quality HD movie capability.