If you can live with the very slow shot-to-shot times and low resolution burst mode Olympus's MJU 1200 offers a sturdy and stylish compact, which captures good images and has a nice array of features.

FujiFilm's FinePix F100fd is a very solid high-end compact camera. It combines good quality 12-megapixel images with a lot of cool features such as ISO 12,800, a wide angled 5x optical zoom lens and dynamic range options to make an enticing overall package.

A solid improvement on the EOS 400D, Canon's EOS 450D adds a bucket-load of new features, including 14-bit A-D, a faster burst mode and Live View. Sitting in between the 400D and 40D in price, it offers a compelling option for users looking for the middle ground between the two.

FujiFilm's FinePix S100fs is a great pseudo-SLR camera. Its 11.1 megapixel sensor and large 28-400mm lens capture great snaps and the manual shooting modes combined with speedy operation make it flexible and powerful.

Kodak's Easyshare V1073 is a good all-round compact combining nice images with some nifty features and a touch-screen interface.

This is a decent model to choose if you want a long zoom range and versatile controls, yet don't want a bulky digital SLR. It's good for travellers in this respect, despite its soft pictures and slightly underdone colour.

A great advanced camera that offers almost all the features you'd expect in a sturdy and stylish case.

If you don't need to swap lenses, precisely focus manually or shoot more than three frames at a time, the DSCR1 is a better bet than a budget digital SLR.

A brilliant camera for advanced photographers, but new users should look elsewhere.