Top of camera controls

Neat and tidy. Again, same design as the original Digital IXUS, separate power button and single control for easily switching between record and play modes. I personally like this, it makes reviewing images much quicker and more natural. The zoom control surrounds the shutter release button, this doubles as a playback zoom / thumbnail switch in playback mode.

The power button requires a 2 second "hold" before the camera will power on, however just a tap will power it off (shouldn't it also have a "hold" for power off too??).

Mode switch

	Play mode Switches immediately to play mode, displays the last image taken / last image on the Compact Flash card. The lens does not immediately retract if it's already extended, it will do so after 60 seconds in play mode.
	Auto record mode Switches to the currently selected record mode (full auto, manual, stitch assist, movie). Record modes are selected through the camera's on-screen menu system (covered in more detail later in this review).

Zoom controller (record mode)

	Zoom Wide Zooms towards full wide angle (35 mm).
	Zoom Tele Zooms towards full telephoto (70 mm), if you pass the 70 mm mark the camera will begin to digitally zoom (indicated by a blue text display). Unfortunately it's not possible to disable digital zoom.

Zoom controller (play mode)

	Toggle Thumbnail view (zoom wide button) Toggles between display of a single full screen image, 3 x 3 thumbnails on the LCD screen or 3 x 3 thumbnails scrollable a page at a time.
	Playback Magnify (zoom tele button) Zoom the displayed image by 2 times, the arrows can be used to scroll left and right, in combination with the SET button to scroll up and down.

Rear of camera controls

Rear control functions in record mode

	Flash mode Toggles through five flash modes: • Auto Flash • Anti-Redeye • Fill-in Flash (forced on) • Slow-sync Flash • Inhibit Flash (forced off)
	Drive mode Toggles between three drive modes: • Single shot • Burst shots (continuous) • Self-timer
	Focus modes Toggles between three focus modes: • Normal focus range • Macro focus range • Landscape (Infinity locked focus)
MENU	Enter Record Menu The record menu is detailed later.
DISP	Preview Display on / off Toggles between live preview display on or off. The IXUS 300 overlays shooting configuration for four seconds in either mode.

Rear control functions in menu mode

SET	Change currently selected menu option
	Previous menu option / value
	Next menu option / value
MENU	Show / Hide menu

Rear control functions in play mode

	Previous image
	Next image
MENU	Enter Play Menu Play menu detailed later.
DISP	Information overlay mode Toggles between three information display modes: • Image review, no information • Image review, basic information (date&time, folder, filename) • Image review, exposure information