Next up in the new PowerShot line-up we find the A1200 (which does still use AAs). The lack of “IS” on the end probably tells you what this model continues to lack, so let’s move on to what it does have. The A1200 has a 12.1 megapixel sensor capable of ISO 1600 sitting behind a 4x optical zoom lens that starts at a wide 28mm equiv and pipes images through to a 2.7″ LCD. For those of you who still don’t trust LCDs in the daylight, there’s a viewfinder, but they’re getting tinier every generation and of course don’t zoom with the lens and have crazy parallax issues. So. But, it’s there.

While everyone and their brother mocked Olympus when it trotted out art filters for its interchangeable lens compacts and DSLRs, there’s little use in pretending they didn’t change the market (you can decide for better or worse, but, no one’s forcing you to use these if you don’t want to, and they aren’t adding cost, so, I file it under pretty neutral turf myself). In that spirit, the A1200 has some creative artsy filters, like fisheye mode, toy camera and miniature mode (presumably for tilt/shift style effects.) It also touts monochrome as an exciting mode, but since that’s been around forever I’m more inclined to just arch an eyebrow at it’s inclusion in the art filters.

Way more exciting is the new “Discreet Mode” that turns off all the noises, the flash, and the AF beam so you can take pictures like the spy you always dreamed of being as a kid. Or, you know, just not call attention to yourself at parties or on the street, letting you document without affecting.

Personally, though, I’m sticking by the spy thing.

More pictures after the jump.