Excellent control system for manual, semimanual shooting; fantastic wide-angle f2 lens; very good low-light photo quality

Performance is merely average; no HD movie mode or optical zoom while recording; a couple design miscues

As long as you're not expecting dSLR speed in a tiny body, the Canon PowerShot S90 is an excellent compact camera for advanced amateurs.

Good feature set; miniHDMI out; 24mm-equivalent wide-angle lens with 10x zoom

Subpar photo quality; menu system too spread out

The Samsung HZ15W has good parts and features, but ultimately disappoints on the whole.

Amazing high-speed features for size, cost; integrated Eye-Fi support; very good regular performance

Mixed photo quality; narrow lens; noisy AF system; high-speed modes require low resolutions; no optical zoom while recording movies

Casio provides affordable, advanced high-speed shooting for the masses with the Exilim EX-FC100, but other aspects lag behind its class.

Zippy, well executed touch-screen interface; great tap-and-shoot feature; attention-getting design

Leisurely performance; battery charging done in camera might bother some; tricky to hold

The Nikon Coolpix S70 has a top-notch touch-screen interface and eye-catching design, but you're definitely paying for them.

Large automatic shooting feature set; responsive touch-screen navigation; unique dual-screen design

Adapter needed for HDMI output; microSD card requirement might irk some; touch-screen interface not for everyone; battery charges in camera; whole screen not used for framing shots at full resolution

The technology-packed Samsung DualView TL225 is the ultimate ultracompact for those who like to be in front of the camera more than they like being behind it.

Large automatic shooting feature set; responsive touch-screen navigation; unique dual-screen design

Adapter needed for HDMI output; microSD card requirement might irk some; touch-screen interface not for everyone; battery charges in camera; whole screen not used for framing shots at full resolution

The technology-packed Samsung DualView TL225 is the ultimate ultracompact for those who like to be in front of the camera more than they like being behind it.

Very good design, features for its price ; dedicated Intelligent Auto button ; wide-angle 5x zoom lens

Mixed photo quality, performance

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS15 is a well-appointed snapshot camera for the money with the mixed performance and photo quality typical of its class.

Small ; good lens specs ; appropriate mix of touch and button controls ; HDMI output ; excellent photo color, exposure

Wide-screen LCD size misleading ; touch-screen interface not for everyone ; no optical zoom while recording movies

The Canon PowerShot SD980 IS is a very good touch-screen camera for those on the fence about using a touch-screen camera.

Good lens specifications ; Smart Portrait System works well ; nice design, feature set

Middle-of-the-road performance ; ISO 1,600, 3,200 not worth using

The Nikon Coolpix S570 is a respectable ultracompact camera, despite average point-and-shoot performance and some high-ISO overpromising.

Useful 27mm wide-angle zoom ; excellent image stabilization ; full selection of manual and automatic exposure controls ; very good 720p movie capture with operational zoom and manual controls ; relatively fast

Noise and compression artifacts in JPEG photos ; no hotshoe

A better-than-average megazoom choice, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 delivers standout video capabilities and an excellent manual feature set. Still, it suffers from a lot of the same drawbacks as its competitors, including weak photo quality.