Another fantastic compact from Canon, the IXUS 980 IS takes everything that was great about past units and adds manual shooting modes, a very smooth design and a higher resolution sensor, making this one of the best high-end compacts on the market.

A rare misstep for Canon, the PowerShot A450 captures exceptionally accurate colours, but falls down in several other areas, resulting in less than crisp pictures.

If you're on a budget you'll be hard pressed to find a better camera for your dollar. It doesn't take the best pictures on earth and it leaves a little to be desired in terms of style, but the Canon PowerShot A470 certainly is good value for money.

It doesn't do anything fancy and its pictures aren't perfect, but the FujiFilm FinePix J10 is a decent entry-level point-and-shoot. Its shots are fine for standard 4in x 6in prints and its basic feature set won't bother novice photographers.

Entry-level cameras are created for novice photographers and the Kodak EasyShare M753 is no exception. If you want to leave all the settings to the camera so you can get on with enjoying the moment then Kodak is still holding true to its old advertising slogan "you push the button, we'll do the rest". The ease with which this camera can be used to good effect far outweighs the criticisms of picture quality in poor light -- whether you choose form over function is another matter entirely.