Apart from the Powershot G9, which is really in a class of its own, Canon also announced no less than five new compact models aimed at offering consumers a broad range of choices or at really confusing them on what to purchase. Let's take a short tour and see what they pack inside those shiny cases of theirs.

The first two on today's order of business are the PowerShot SD950 IS Digital ELPH and the PowerShot SD870 IS Digital ELPH, touted by Canon as being "perfect for the trend-setting techie". I'm not sure exactly what that means, but what I do know is that they have a tiny sensor (1/1.7-inch for the SD950 and 1/2.5-inch for the SD870) with an extremely high resolution (12.1MP for the SD950 and 8MP for the SD870).

Additional features include a 3.7x zoom stabilized lens, titanium case and 2.5-inch LCD for the PowerShot SD950 IS and a 3.8x zoom stabilized lens and 3-inch LCD for the PowerShot SD870 IS. Both of them feature a DIGIC III processor, which give the two models Face Recognition capabilities.

The rest of the features are standard for compact cameras and are not worth mentioning. The PowerShot SD950 IS Digital ELPH will be available for around $450 while the PowerShot SD870 IS Digital ELPH for around $400.

Next in line is the PowerShot SX100 IS, part of the new SX series. This model is something like a low-budget mega zoom camera, so you pay around $300 for 10x optical zoom (with a stabilized lens), 8MP resolution and a 2.5-inch LCD. As expected, you also get the DIGIG III processor, which enables the new Face Detection Technology.

The last two new additions are extremely similar to the PowerShot SD950 IS Digital ELPH and the PowerShot SD870 IS Digital ELPH in terms of resolution and features, but are better equipped in terms of lenses.

The PowerShot A650 IS boasts a 12.1 megapixel resolution while the PowerShot A720 IS stops at 8 megapixels, but have a 6x optical zoom and maximum apertures ranging from f/2.8 to f/4.8, just like the Powershot G9. You also get the new DIGIC III processor with Face Detection and the classic array of Canon features. The estimated selling prices of the PowerShot A650 IS digital camera and the PowerShot A720 IS digital camera models are $399.99 and $249.99, respectively. Both models are scheduled to be available in stores in September.

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