The Canon Powershot G9 looks to all intents and purposes exactly like its predecessor, the G7, but underneath the serious matt black exterior are a veritable wealth of changes.

 You may remember Sony's new Cyber-shot T200 from way back at IFA, where we had the great and terrible pleasure of getting our grubby mitts all over it.

After months of rumors, Canon's big announcement day has finally arrived, with a raft of new PowerShot and EOS models and a handful of new accessories, We start with a couple of additions to the popular 'A' range of affordable digital compacts, the PowerShot A650 IS and PowerShot A720 IS, replacing the A640 and A710 IS respectively. The A650 IS boasts 12MP resolution, 6x optical zoom, vari-angle 2.5" screen and - in a welcome upgrade to the A640 IS - image stabilization. The A720 IS is a less dramatic upgrade, increasing resolution to 8.0MP, adding face detection and an optional underwater housing, and (like the A650 IS) upping the top sensitivity setting to ISO 1600.