Straight up, the 14.7-megapixel Canon PowerShot G10 just looks cool. There's something appealing about its old-school rangefinder styling, and the little lights that glow orange next to the old-timey ISO and EV compensation dials. What's more, this is ...

Appealing design for prosumers and pros RAW mode

Can be slow to focus Spotty ISO performance at 400 and up

Overall, the Canon PowerShot G10 was a pleasure to use, but I wish the company had focused more on noise control instead of just cramming in more megapixels. I loved carrying this sturdy camera around and I appreciated its highly useful dials, but for ...

Canon has created a versatile, go-anywhere point-and-shoot with the $400, 10-megapixel PowerShot SX10 IS. The marquee feature here is a 20X optical zoom--a zoom range equalled only by the Olympus SP-570 UZ--that translates, in the film world, from an ...

Swivel LCD viewfinder 20x optical zoom lens

Menu dial is clumsy and fussy No RAW mode

Overall, the SX10 IS should appeal to plenty of enthusiasts for its reliable, high-quality performance and its laudable ability to mimic a video camera with its swivel screen, not to mention its advanced controls. This is a very competent camera and a ...

When it's time to take pictures, no one wants to fuss over camera settings. It's especially frustrating when you have to set...

Casio's EX-Z250 has a ton of preset modes to make it easier for just about anyone to take a nice-looking picture. If you are easily frustrated by gadget controls and settings, the EX-Z250 is for you. And it takes nice pictures, too

For a slightly pricey $250 (as of 11/21/08), Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-W170 offers a 10-megapixel sensor and a pleasing wide-angle Carl Zeiss lens with 5X optical zoom, not to mention a number of fun features, in a sturdy, industrial-looking form. However ...

Very full-featured, with unique extras 5x optical zoom Carl Zeiss lens

In-camera navigation takes practice No zooming in video mode

Overall, the Sony DSC-W170 has several very appealing features that may win over some people, but its image quality doesn't overwhelm. I expected better performance from its 5X optical Carl Zeiss lens. Nevertheless, this camera's interesting features ...

This 12-megapixel compact point and shoot digicam has a number of interesting features that are supposed to make easy work of difficult shots.

If you consider just the camera itself, Pentax's Optio A40 is a good all-around performer. It's small and sturdy enough to take anywhere, and it has Very Good image quality and shooting modes that make taking pictures a breeze. Viewing the DivX ...

If a camera can detect faces in your shots, then why shouldn't it find flowers and mountains too? The 12-megapixel Fujifilm FinePix F60fd ($300) adds automatic scene recognition to the face-detection abilities of its predecessor, the Finepix F50fd, ...

Good for low-light photography. Automatic selection of scene modes.

No panorama mode. Not the hippest-looking camera.

If you take mainly impromptu photos of family and friends, you'll find the Fujifilm FinePix F60fd a breeze to use. Its automatic scene recognition means there's little to think about before you start snapping, yet it also offers plenty of advanced ...

If you're an avid explorer (or a walking disaster), feast your eyes on the rugged charms of the Olympus Stylus 1050 SW. This pocket-size camera can endure a torrent of abuse, whether it accompanies you on outdoor adventures, joins you on underwater ...

Excellent image quality Waterproof, shockproof, and freezeproof

Lacks many advanced features Screen is hard to see underwater

This is definitely a niche camera, but one that is very good at what it does. For shooting in extreme weather conditions, or simply surviving everyday bumps and scrapes, the Stylus 1050 SW delivers excellent photo quality with little fuss

Once again, Canon has upped the ante on point-and-shoot cameras. Not only is the SD880 IS Digital Elph stylish, durable, and exceptionally easy to use, it also takes great pictures and provides 28mm of wide-angle bliss. (The SD880's focal range is ...

True wide-angle lens (28mm to 112mm) Great optical image stabilization

No optical viewfinder Limited manual functions

All told, the SD880 is one of the best point-and-shoot cameras I've seen in its price range. If you don't mind the extra ounces and the lack of manual functions (it is a point-and-shoot, after all), you'll be smitten with this camera

The slim, 8-megapixel Casio Exilim EX-Z150 point-and-shoot camera aims for the teen-friendly sweet spot of slick looks and functionality. For $200, this little camera comes in a variety of bright candy colors, in addition to black and silver. It also ...

Huge 3-inch diagonal LCD Very easy to use

Slow to focus and shoot No zoom while shooting video

The Casio Exilim EX-Z150 was fun to shoot with. Its wide-angle lens and big screen were a joy, but the camera's shutter lag and slow focus were handicaps that made me use a lot more brain power ("Will this be in focus?") than I'd prefer when taking ...

A trendsetter in digital cameras, Sony takes design to new heights with its 10.1-megapixel Cyber-shot T700. The main innovation with this good-looking touch-screen camera is its 4GB of on-board storage, as well as a few other features that may be ...

Well-designed inside and out Excellent image-sharing features

Expensive for a point-and-shoot 35mm lens should be wider for the money

The $400 price tag may make potential buyers shy away from the T700, but this great-looking camera offers enough features--most of which are flat-out fun--to merit serious consideration