Kodak's EasyShare Z8612 IS has a few things going for it, including a large zoom that is backed up by optical image stabilisation. However, its images exhibit a fair bit of fringing and it can at times be quite slow.

Another great advanced compact camera from Canon, the PowerShot A630 is a wonderful choice for those after a little more control and versatility. It offers great image quality and comes with plenty of useful features.

The PowerShot SX100 is a solid ultra-zoom advanced camera. While there are bigger lenses on the market, the 10x optical zoom here means the unit still fits comfortably in a pocket and the images, while a little noisy, are good at low ISO sensitivities.

Canon's A570IS is a brilliant advanced camera, combining exceptional image quality with all the features you'd expect. It packs in two technologies, image stabilisation and face detect, that are sure to make an impression on consumers.

A decent advanced camera that really only has its 10X zoom as a point of differentiation.

This camera has a big zoom for its size, and features some useful program modes and manual setting possibilities, but if you want super-crisp photos at a resolution higher than 1600x1200, you'll want to look elsewhere.

Casio's Exilim EX-V7 is a decent, but not outstanding compact camera. It comes with a large 7x optical zoom and manual features, both of which are great inclusions, but its image quality does have some issues.

While it isn't the best ultra zoom on the market, Kodak's EasyShare Z812IS is a good all around package combining a ton of features with solid image quality and a big zoom. The high-definition video recording in particular will appeal to some users.

The Powershot A710 IS captures great pictures, operates extremely quickly and sports an attractive design that will appeal to many people. It does have some minor noise issues, but the rich feature set and quick burst mode make it an ideal choice for the budding photographer.

A solid advanced ultra-zoom camera, FujiFilm's FinePix S8100fd offers an 18x zoom lens with sensor shift stabilisation and captures good but not outstanding photographs.

Another great Powershot entry by Canon, the A700 fulfils all the requirements of an advanced model, offering lots of functions, superb image quality, a big zoom and decent battery life.

Nikon's P5100 is a solid advanced camera and while it has a few issues, most notable is the difficulty in high contrast shooting scenarios and a very slow burst mode, it provides an adequate option for users after manual functionality in a sturdy and slim body.