The Cyber-shot DSC-W290 is a compelling package, offering a 5x wideangle zoom and 12-megapixel resolution in a compact, attractive body for a reasonable price. Photo quality and performance are also solid. Combine that with a terrific design and you ...

Terrific design, interface and controls ; wideangle, 5x zoom lens ; excellent price-to-feature ratio

No optical zoom while recording video ; soft photos

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W290 is an excellent, well-balanced compact camera, offering a solid combination of features, usability and design. Image quality isn't perfect, but it should be more than adequate for the vast majority of users

The 12-megapixel, touchscreen Cyber-shot DSC-T900 is expensive, but it's easy to see where your money's gone. Despite a few design quirks, it looks great, packs in plenty of hi-tech features and, most importantly, delivers good results, both in terms ...

Great movie quality ; good stills quality ; attractive styling and finish ; responsive touchscreen controls

Sliding lens cover is tricky to open ; pricey

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T900 isn't just a camera -- it's a thing of beauty in both a technical and a visual sense, although the square corners arguably detract from its aesthetic appeal ever so slightly. But what matters most is that it's much more ...

Judged solely as a stills camera, the 9-megapixel Exilim EX-FS10 is too expensive. But it's really all about capturing movement and action, and it does that remarkably well, thanks to some truly unique and startlingly effective high-speed shooting ...

Amazing high-speed shooting ; excellent high-speed movie modes ; high-definition movie quality ; smart styling and finish

Expensive judged solely as a stills camera ; unimpressive LCD display

You might balk at paying £300 for a Casio, but the Exilim EX-FS10 is no ordinary camera. Casio's trumpeting its high-speed technology for all it's worth, but it's genuinely unique, often startlingly effective and definitely a great deal of fun. The ...

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W270's specs certainly gives this compact a fighting chance among its fierce competition. From its 5x wideangle zoom, automatic scene detection, HD movie mode, plus all kinds of face detection, this slim snapper could be one to ...

Elegant design ; easy for beginners ; 5x wideangle zoom ; super-fast autofocus

Indifferent picture quality ; no zooming in movie mode ; advanced options quickly become complicated

Do you want technology or picture quality? The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W270 certainly does the tech, but while it might improve your hit rate of good shots, the outright quality is underwhelming. The handy zoom range and super-fast AF raise the W270 above ...

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 superzoom combines a 12x zoom and 25mm-equivalent wideangle lens with 720p video recording to create an excellent follow up to the earlier TZ6 model. This 'hybrid' camera produces superb images, but does it come out on top ...

Build and finish ; handling and controls ; stills quality ; movie quality ; 12x zoom and super-wideangle lens

Slow zooming and AF in movie mode

Panasonic's Lumix DMC-TZ7 is a better camera than the TZ6, so why have we given it a slightly lower score? Because, although the TZ7's movie mode is great, the AF and zoom need to be quicker. But hey, you're getting a top-quality, 12x super-wideangle ...

The Digital IXUS 95 may be pretty, and it may be a Canon, but if you've got around £180 to spend and all you ask is a 10-megapixel sensor and a 3x zoom, it'd take you a week to read through the list of candidates. The IXUS 95 stakes its claim with ...

Design and finish ; simple operation ; inclusion of an optical viewfinder

Zoom range ; mediocre lens quality ; expensive compared to rivals

Perhaps the best thing that can be said about the IXUS 95 IS is that it's a competent range-filler -- a routine but worthwhile update to a popular, lower-priced strand in the IXUS range. It's a lovely thing to look at and use, but despite the sheen of ...

The Canon PowerShot A1000 IS might not blow your socks off with its design, but if you want a 10-megapixel pocket camera with the convenience of AA batteries, an optical viewfinder, optical image stabilisation and a low price, this camera has them -- ...

Viewfinder ; simple operation ; low price

Limited shooting controls ; mixed performance

For the money Canon is asking, the A1000 IS has very good photo quality. Colour, contrast and white balance are particularly striking and although it's fairly slow, its design is well thought-out and even a novice will find its manual controls easy to ...

Why carry around an ordinary compact if you can shoehorn a 10x superzoom into your pocket instead? Sony's new 10-megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-H20 also packs in a 720p HD movie mode, SteadyShot image stabilisation and manual shutter speed and aperture ...

Quality at full zoom ; speedy autofocus ; HD movie mode

No wideangle zoom ; mushy LCD when shooting

It's not the best superzoom on the market, simply because it doesn't go wide enough to be as flexible as its rivals, which offer 28mm-equivalent zooms or wider. The H20 delivers better quality at full zoom though, and has a great movie mode, so it's ...

The Digital IXUS 110 IS isn't the smallest compact camera on the market, but you won't find many that are better-looking. Boasting an understated design and elegant control layout, it also shoots excellent 720p videos, sports a good screen and offers ...

Good styling and finish ; clean and elegant control layout ; great 720p HD movie mode

Unremarkable picture quality ; vague and lightweight navigational controller ; pricey

The Canon Digital IXUS 110 IS is a very cool-looking camera. You'll probably fondle it so much that you'll rub the paint off, but it's really pretty ordinary inside. The HD movies are good, admittedly, but you could get the same still-picture quality ...

The 9-megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 superzoom offers 20x zoom and speedy, best-in-class performance. It also boasts some truly interesting features and solid video capability. Picture quality isn't the HX1's strongest point, but this camera is worth ...

Speedy performance ; tiltable LCD ; apos ; hand-held twilight&apos ; mode produces better-than-average photos in low light ; zooms during movie capture

Small electronic viewfinder ; no raw support ; HDMI output requires dongle ; no standard continuous-shooting mode

Trade-offs abound with Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 superzoom. It's fast and has some really novel, useful features, but it just doesn't deliver the photo quality expected for its class