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.

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.

The Canon PowerShot Pro 1 is a well-featured 8Mp semi-professional camera that should suit users wanting digital SLR performance in a compact package.

Professional build quality, a fast 7X optical zoom and support for both Memory Stick Pro and CompactFlash II cards place the DSC F828 squarely in the semi-professional category.

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.

The Kodak P880 would have been a great camera but for problems with image quality, and massive write times for the advanced file formats.

An easy-to-use camera that delivers versatile and adaptable functionality and performance.

A competent entry into the 8 megapixel arena.

A great compact camera for photo enthusiasts.

The Pro815 is a good first attempt by Samsung, but it is missing a few things that would allow it to compete with the big guns. The most practical feature is the 15X zoom, and if that is important to you then this may be a consideration

If picture quality is paramount, you are not going to find a much better point and shoot than the A620.

The Z2 delivers a wealth of features for a cheap camera and turns out fairly nice photos. With a little practice, you should be able to get better images using its manual modes.