Its pictures are fairly ordinary, but the 12.2-megapixel ST550 is a stunningly successful exercise in interface design. With a front-mounted touchscreen that makes taking self-portraits a piece of cake, a rear-mounted touchscreen that delivers haptic ...

Front-mounted LCD display has many uses ; excellent &apos ; haptic&apos ; interface ; high-resolution display ; high-definition movie mode

Mediocre lens quality ; pictures suffer from too much smoothing of fine details

The Samsung ST550 is extremely clever in some respects, but pretty ordinary in terms of picture quality. As an exercise in interface design and an electronic plaything, it's just fantastic. It's the number of ideas and the way they've been integrated ...

You might think the 12.1-megapixel Lumix DMC-FZ38 superzoom would be exorbitantly expensive, given its 18x zoom, super-fast autofocus, support for raw files, and high-definition movie mode. But it's not. It's one of the best superzooms available, and ...

Fast autofocus ; raw file support ; hi-def movie mode ; good value for money

Tiny joystick controller ; irritating macro mode

A superzoom's a smart buy as long as you realise that you're not going to get quite the same handling and picture quality as you would from a digital SLR. You don't want to spend a fortune, in other words. On that basis, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38 ...

Rival compact superzooms may be speedier, have more features and sport sleeker designs, but the 10-megapixel PowerShot SX120 IS with 10x zoom has an ace up its sleeve: its best-in-class photos. Clean, sharp and offering plenty of detail, its photos ...

Easy to use ; best-in-class photo quality ; manual and semi-manual controls

Fewer features, slower performance and bulkier design than rivals

Canon's PowerShot SX120 IS pocket superzoom falls behind the competition in every aspect except photo quality. Whether it's worth buying or not depends on the importance you attach to getting best-in-class photos

The 12-megapixel Digital IXUS 120 IS is difficult to resist, thanks to its combination of a tiny, attractive body, simple operation, and generally very good photos. Occasionally, its images can suffer from purple fringing, and it can also be sluggish, ...

Very small ; simple operation ; very good photo and hi-def movie quality ; HDMI output

No optical zoom in movie mode ; mixed performance

One of the best ultra-compact cameras available, the Canon Digital IXUS 120 IS nevertheless falls short of greatness in terms of its performance and photo quality

The 12-megapixel WB1000 offers more control over your photos than the vast majority of other compact cameras, making it a good option for digital SLR users seeking a pocket snapper. Its photo quality and performance are what you'd expect from a ...

Extremely large feature set ; solid, high-end design

Photo quality dips above ISO 200

The Samsung WB1000's extensive shooting options make it a very good digital SLR companion, but its photo quality and performance are definitely those of a point-and-shoot camera

Sporting Fujifilm's EXR sensor, the 10-megapixel FinePix F70EXR compact superzoom with 10x wideangle zoom is capable of delivering some truly impressive pictures, particularly in low light. It's sometimes susceptible to colour fringing, but its size, ...

Good size, build and handling ; apos ; pro low light&apos ; mode enables excellent shots in dim lighting ; useful 10x, 27-270mm zoom

Bad colour-fringing problem ; the EXR sensor often imposes a resolution penalty

Even if you were just getting a 10x wideangle superzoom, the compact Fujifilm FinePix F70EXR would be good, but, with its EXR sensor technology, it potentially has the upper hand over many of its rivals. Its fatal flaw, though, is its susceptibility ...

The 12-megapixel mju-7010 is a great little camera that combines a compact body with a 7x wideangle zoom. Its pictures could be crisper and other cameras have longer zoom ranges without costing more, but the mju-7000 is so slim and neat that it's hard ...

7x wideangle zoom ; good pictures at medium to high ISOs ; attractive design

Fine detail isn&apos ; t the best we&apos ; ve seen ; focus tracking could be quicker

A big step forward from the old mju-7000, the Olympus mju-7010 combines a 7x wideangle zoom with a slim body. It looks great, handles well and its pictures are pretty good too. An in-camera panorama feature and some neat 'magic filters' are a welcome ...

With a fixed-focal-length lens and steep price tag, the 10-megapixel GR Digital III won't appeal to the average user. But photography professionals and enthusiasts who want a 'proper' camera in a compact body will be delighted with its rock-solid ...

Great build quality and finish ; excellent lens performance ; straightforward, hands-on controls

High price ; fixed-focal-length lens ; adjustment lever can be fiddly

Two things might stop you considering the Ricoh GR Digital III: the price and its fixed-focal-length lens. If you can swallow those, you can look forward to a camera with levels of build, design and image quality that really set it apart from the rest

The 12-megapixel FE-3010 isn't the fastest camera in its class when it comes to taking shots, but it offers good colour and white-balance performance. Considering how cheap it is, it also sports an attractive and impressively compact design, as well ...

Strong design and build quality ; very good colour and white-balance performance

Slow performance ; soft photos

The Olympus FE-3010 is a good-looking, ultra-compact camera that takes so-so pictures. The main problem is that, even for a camera in this price range, its performance is sluggish

The Exilim EX-H10 superzoom has plenty of appeal for travellers. Despite its highly versatile 10x zoom, it's slim enough to slide into a pocket, it sports a battery that'll last between four and five times longer than that of the average snapper and ...

Versatile 10x zoom ; 1,000 shots on a charge ; compact dimensions

Over-processed images ; poor high-ISO performance ; jerky movie mode

There are two good reasons for choosing the Casio Exilim EX-H10 over one of the other long-zoom compacts on the market. One is if you need excellent battery life, and the other is if it turns up cheaper than all the rest. Otherwise, get the Panasonic ...