Canon IXUS 500 HS | Canon PowerShot ELPH 520 HS | Canon IXY 3

Canon’s IXUS 500 HS is a 2012 camera built around a striking idea: a hard-edged, almost perfectly symmetrical silver box with a proper 12× zoom hidden inside. Its square-on front, sharp 90-degree corners and clean central lens make it unlike the usual curvy compact. It starts at a useful 28mm, reaches far beyond most pocket cameras, and keeps a crisp, modern CMOS look rather than the softness of an older CCD.

THE LOOKS

Canon called it Silver: cool metallic aluminium with a mirrored lens surround. Rigid box geometry defines it: a near-symmetrical front, hard 90-degree corners and straight sides. No soft sculpting. The lens sits centrally, flash above; off, no barrel breaks the clean plane. The back is almost all 3-inch screen, with controls in a narrow side column. At 19.2mm deep, it is compact but sharp-edged. Other available colours: black, red and blue.

THE SPECS

The IXUS 500 HS has a 10.1-megapixel 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor for clean photos, with a 12× optical zoom from 28mm wide enough for a group to 336mm for subjects far away. Its f/3.4–5.6 lens opens brightest at wide angle and dims as you zoom, so distant shots want daylight. A real lens-shift stabiliser helps keep handheld photos sharp. Its folded prism optics mean the lens hides inside the body instead of poking out. It records Full HD 1080 video at 24fps and uses a 3-inch, 461k-dot fixed screen. 87.1 × 53.9 × 19.2mm; 155g with battery and card.

DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS

• Hard-edged symmetry: The front is a clean, nearly symmetrical rectangle with sharp right-angle corners and the lens set centrally — more design object than rounded compact.

• A folded 12× zoom: Its light-folding prism optics keep the lens entirely inside when off, delivering 28–336mm reach without a bulky barrel on the front.

• Strict, screen-first back: A large 3-inch display fills most of the rear, with a narrow side column of controls that preserves the camera’s clean rectangular outline.

THE VERDICT

The IXUS 500 HS is for someone who wants a compact camera with an unmistakable shape, not another softened little rectangle. Its hard 90-degree edges and near-symmetrical silver face are the point; the 12× lens hidden inside makes that design practical too. The modern CMOS sensor will not give you a warm CCD finish, and its 24fps Full HD video is dated, but it remains a distinctive, capable travel camera.