A competent model, the T30 offers reasonable image quality but suffers because of some noise issues.

While the FX50 did exhibit a lot of noise, it was extremely small and it performed well in all our other tests, so unless you're magnifying your shots to a great degree it may be a contender.

The DMC-FX520 is an advanced camera that takes rich, clear photos and has the additional option of manual focusing using the touch screen. It’s pricey, but you get plenty of advanced features for the price.

An impressive effort by Canon, the IXUS 65 produces solid photographs with sublimely accurate colour along with great features and design. A complete package.

While it does offer some nifty features, the FX07 produces noisy pictures no quite on par with other competing models.

What makes this camera shine - its 10x zoom, ease of use and sleek design - may be enough to compensate for its shortcomings.

An attractive package for those looking for a stylish and fairly simple compact. It can be slow at times and there are some image quality issues, but the pictures are fine for small print sizes and many will appreciate the aesthetics and futuristic menu system.

This camera caters to both amateur and more experienced photographers, but has some minor problems.

Competent but not outstanding, the DC C50 is worth a look if you want a compact 5 megapixel camera.

A solid compact camera that offers a great set of features, and is only really let down by long load and save times.

While image quality isn't the FX33's strong point, it still produces perfectly fine small prints, and thus its novice-friendly feature set and speedy operation makes it a good choice for those after a happy snap camera.

This is an attractive combination of a competitive price, small size and capable imaging, with a few advanced extras thrown in. The built-in help would benefit novice photographers.