This was Sony's first mega-zoom camera, and its combination of lens, price, big LCD, features and build quality, makes it a strong contender in the big-zoom market.

A pretty solid advanced camera. It is functional, comfortable, has all the features one could expect, and above average sharpness. It is only let down by overly saturated pictures.

The Olympus SP-550UZ is a great camera that will suit people after a little more zoom in their life. The images could have used some minor improvements, but the huge zoom and fantastic design make this a worthwhile choice for some buyers.

A strong choice if you're after an ultra zoom camera, the Cyber-Shot DSC-H9 sports a 15x optical zoom and captures some good shots, however it does have issues with haloing and purple fringing, which will be irritating for many users.

Ricoh's Caplio GX100 is a high end camera for experienced users. While average photographers may not fully appreciate the wide angle shooting and extremely crisp shots it produces, there is no doubt it's a great camera if you can afford it.

While not a perfect camera, Olympus' SP-560UZ is an excellent choice for users after an ultra-zoom. It combines good pictures with a robust feature set and a fantastic design.

A very sturdy camera with some appealing features that make it particularly suitable for outdoors photography.

An absolutely brilliant ultra zoom model that combines a 12X zoom lens with exceptional picture quality and all the usual functionality.

Overall the Z850 is a solid advanced camera. It doesn't take the best photographs in the world, but it performed above average in most of our tests and crams a robust feature-set into a relatively small design.

Panasonic's Lumix DMC-LX3 is an impressive high-end compact camera with a wide-angle 24mm lens and a host of manual features.

A very quick advanced camera. The 1/10000th of a second shutter speed makes the S7000 very attractive for certain purposes and it is only really let down by a reasonably hefty price tag and poor wide angled shooting.

If you're after an enthusiast camera but don't yet want to venture into the land of SLRs, or just need a backup for your main camera, Canon's PowerShot G9 is a great choice. While there are a few minor issues for the most part, it captures brilliant shots and the feature set and build quality are sure to keep all but the most demanding professional satisfied.