FujiFilm's FinePix S1000fd is a decent ultra-zoom with a small body, but its lack of image stabilisation makes the large lens much less useful and the sluggish performance will irritate many users.

Another wonderful entry-level camera from Canon, the 1000D combines all the latest features — including Live View, dust reduction and lens-based stabilisation — with superb picture quality to produce an extremely appealing package.

Olympus' SP-570UZ continues the trend of its past ultra-zooms, offering an enticing package for users looking for a larger lens. It isn't perfect — at times it can be sluggish and the pictures have some minor issues — but on the whole it does a solid job.

Nikon's CoolPix S52c is a good option if Wi-Fi connectivity sounds useful for you. However, it is extremely slow at times, which becomes frustrating in some shooting scenarios.

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.

While Samsung's i8 is a fairly decent digital camera, its media functionality could use a little improvement (particularly in terms of audio quality).

If you can see past the cost of the unit, it offers a 10x optical zoom and adequate built-in image stabilisation capability, as well as a 9.1-megapixel sensor. All in all, a good travel camera.

The P80 from Nikon is an advanced camera with a very capable zoom lens. It’s not as fast as the majority of other advanced cameras we’ve looked at, but the images it captures are rich and sharp.

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.

The Cyber-shot DSC-W120 is a fashionable camera that is simple to use and captures crisp, rich photos, although it’s slightly expensive and doesn’t have many advanced features.

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.