Canon's PowerShot A-series is designed to appeal to photographers of varied experience, as these compact, versatile cameras manage to combine plenty of fully automatic features as well as offering several manual options for the keener snapper. Like it's predecessor, the A720 IS, the A2000 IS is sold exclusively in Jessops camera shops, but there has been a number of significant alterations over the earlier model.

The first thing you notice when you take the camera out of the box is how weighty it feels in your palm (it's a meaty 190g and measures 101.9 x 63.5 x 31.9mm), despite being considerably smaller than the A720 IS. The 10-megapixel Canon A2000 IS has a 6x optical zoom with a further 'Safety Zoom' to give you a maximum 24x magnification.

At the back is a sizeable 3.0-inch LCD screen (the largest yet in the A-series) with wide viewing angle and adjustable brightness level. Beside the display is a neat selection of controls that includes a Face Recognition button, Print Transfer, Display and Menu plus a navigation pad that handles ISO settings, flash, macro and continuous/burst shots.

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For some strange reason Canon has placed a raised strip of moulding as a hand grip aid next to the playback button, which means there's always a danger you'll slip from shooting mode to reviewing when you least need it. It would have been more sensible to retain the A720 IS's firm front grip.

There are more control issues on the top where you'll find a rather small and recessed on/off button, a sluggish zoom ring around the shutter and a rather solid and clunky mode control that is peculiarly two-thirds sunk into the chassis, thus making it especially awkward to manoeuvre.

Power is supplied via two AA batteries in the base compartment which also houses the SD memory card slot. One significant improvement over the A720 IS is the repositioning of the tripod mount to the centre rather than out towards the far edge.

There are 17 shooting modes including the point-‘n'-click Easy mode, Auto, Program, Video and five quick standard modes.

Despite the control issues, where this camera scores highly is in the quality of the finished image. The AF is fast and accurate (particularly with Face Detection switched on), the colours are vibrant and true and the level of detail is well above average. The optical Image Stabiliser works well with the Motion Detection Technology to minimize blur, and the My Colors feature allows you to add filter effects while shooting.

The Canon PowerShot A2000 IS is geared towards amateurs who want excellent quality photos for minimal amount of micro management and, while it delivers this admirably, there are severe design issues around the controls that will need to be addressed in future models.