Stories by: Bruce Buckman

Sony's CyberShot DSCH1 is obviously going after the same buyers targeted by Panasonic's FZ5. Both feature SLR-like styling, two-piece clip-on lens hoods, image stabilisation, 12X optical zoom lenses and five megapixel sensors. Both also tout a full set of photographic controls in addition to basic point-and-shoot and scene modes to appeal to photographers looking for more control. Finally, both hit roughly the same price-point.

With the Everio GZ-MC200 camcorder, JVC takes an interesting approach to the problem of storing large amounts of high-quality video on digital media. Where some camcorders, such as Sony's DCRDVD201E, have renounced DV tape in favour of 8cm DVD discs, they suffer the drawback that the current discs, at 1.4GB, are limited to about 30 minutes of high-quality MPEG footage. JVC's approach is to use a 4GB Microdrive--the CompactFlash-sized mini hard drive produced by Hitachi.

In order to keep the cost of the camera low, the E-300 trims fat in areas the average photographer won't notice. Even so, it manages to look and feel like a more expensive camera. Its solid body has an aluminium chassis covered in Olympus's trademark sturdy plastic.

The $190 Mediagate portable MPEG-4 player is a clever device that allows you to play multiple media types, including DivX and MPEG-4 formats, by attaching it to a TV and/or receiver. So unlike the more expensive options, you don't get a built-in screen, which means you won't be using it to keep the kids quiet in the back of the car on long journeys.

Kodak's EASYSHARE DX7590 offers great flexibility thanks to its 10X Schneider Kreuznach (35mm equivalent 38mm to 380mm) zoom lens, which lets the user cope with pretty much anything they'll come up against.

Samsung's top-of-the-line Digimax V50 is a 5 megapixel, $699 camera sporting a 3X Schneider Kreuznach zoom lens. The lens, with a 35mm equivalent range of 38 to 113mm, isn't going to let you grab close-ups of wildlife, but it's good for standard snaps.

Sony's DCRDVD201E uses either 1.4GB, 8cm DVD-R or DVD-RW. When recording in standard play mode, you'll get between 23 and 26 minutes of footage on one disc. You can get more on a disc by using long play mode but at the cost of image quality. The most cost effective way to use the 8cm discs is to invest in reusable DVD-RWs and then transfer your movies to a PC and burn them to standard 4.7GB DVD-R discs, which cost as little as 50c.