Christmas 2009 Buying Guide: top 10 budget compact cameras

Fujifilm FinePix J30

Guide price: £80 • 12.2 megapixels • 32-96mm zoom

The Fuji FinePix J30 is great value for money, with a 12-megapixel sensor, a 3-inch LCD, face-detection and an in-camera panorama mode

How do they do it for the money? With the Fujifilm J30 you get a 12-megapixel sensor, 3x zoom lens, 3-inch LCD and a whole raft of features to help you get better people shots. These include face detection of course, which you can pretty much take for granted these days, but night portrait and backlit portrait modes too. There’s also a neat panoramic mode where you shoot a series of overlapping frames and the camera stitches them together. This feature’s not unique, but it’s a surprise to see it on a camera at this price. Perhaps the most impressive thing of all, though, is the J30’s smart, elegant, slimline body. It feels like a camera costing 2-3 times more.

Get it because... It offers a great range of features given the price
But bear in mind... Auto scene detection doesn’t use all available scene modes
Buy the Fujifilm FinePix J30 digital camera here: Jessops | Pixmania | Amazon UK

Sony Cyber-shot S930

Guide price: £80 • 10.1 megapixels • 36-108mm zoom

The S930 is a basic but effective little camera that’s ideal for beginners and families, and offers an introduction to the Sony brand at a bargain price

Sony’s normally associated with glamorous, high-tech cameras, but the S930 is a perfectly affordable pocket-sized snapshot model for all the family. It has a 10-megapixel sensor and 3x optical zoom, which is pretty standard stuff, but it’s still very accepable for the price. Round the back is a very simple set of controls, with a sliding switch for stills, movie and playback modes. The 2.4-inch screen is a little smaller than most, but it’s not a big difference and as far as novices are concerned the clear on-screen interface and simple menus will make up for it. The S930 runs off a pair of alkaline batteries, too, so it’s perfect for intermittent use.

Get it because... It’s simple, straightforward and inexpensive
But bear in mind... The LCD display resolution is only 112,000 pixels
Buy the Sony Cyber-shot S930 digital camera here: Amazon UK | Jessops | Pixmania

Canon PowerShot A480

Guide price: £90 • 10.0 megapixels • 37-122mm zoom

It’s cheap, stylish, affordable and practical. The PowerShot A480 is easy enough for anyone to use and runs on ordinary AAs

The A480 is the cheapest of Canon’s PowerShot range, but it still boasts good specifications for the money, and if all you want is a cheap, reliable snapshot camera, this fits the bill perfectly. You can shoot in program auto mode if you want control over the white balance, ISO and other settings, or use one of the camera’s 15 different scene modes if you want the camera to take care of everything. Canon’s not scrimped on the technology, either, because you get face detection autofocus and a neat motion-detection system that bumps up the ISO if it detects movement. The A480 is practical, too, taking up to 200 shots on a single pair of AA batteries.

Get it because... It’s smart, practical and cheap
But bear in mind... The LCD resolution only 115,000 pixels
Buy the Canon PowerShot A480 digital camera here: Pixmania | Amazon UK | Jessops

Nikon CoolPix L20

Guide price: £90 • 10.0 megapixels • 38-136mm zoom

The CoolPix L20 is perfect if you want easy-going practicality rather than gadgets. It’s chunky, easy to use and runs ons a pair of AA cells

The Nikon CoolPix L20 is perfect for people fed up of miniaturised electronics and overcomplicated features. Its chunky body gives you something to get a grip on, and the straightforward control layout round the back will be quite a relief to technophobes. The L20 does have its share of clever features, though, including smile and blink detection modes, should you want to use them. The zoom range is very slightly longer than usual for a budget camera, you get a good-sized LCD and the picture quality from the 10-megapixel sensor is fine. The L20 runs on a pair of AA batteries, too, so you don’t have to fuss around with chargers – and it gets around 240 shots from a single set.

Get it because.... It’s chunky, straightforward and practical
But bear in mind... There's no manual ISO control
Buy the Nikon CoolPix L20 digital camera here: Pixmania | Amazon UK | Jessops

Nikon CoolPix S220

Guide price: £100 • 10.0 megapixels • 35-105mm zoom

Nikon’s built smile and blink detection, D-Lighting exposure control and its useful best shot selector into this smart but affordable compact

For only a few pounds more than the Nikon CoolPix L20, you can get the S220, which has a slimmer, more stylish body but a smaller LCD display and a slightly smaller zoom range. While the L20 uses AA batteries, the S220 uses a rechargeable lithium-ion cell which is good for around 180 shots. Inside there’s a modest 10-megapixel sensor but plenty of smart features including blink detection and smile modes, motion-detection anti-blur, best shot selector mode (takes a series of shots and saves the sharpest) and Nikon’s D-Lighting system, which lightens up dark shadows without affecting the rest of the scene. The slimline design makes the S220 very pocketable, too.

Get it because... It’s smart, stylish and compact
But bear in mind... Battery life isn't that good for a lithium-ion cell
Buy the Nikon CoolPix s220 digital camera here: Jessops | Pixmania | Amazon UK