Christmas 2009 Buying Guide: top 10 mid-price compact cameras

Olympus Mju 7010

Guide price: £170 • 12.0 megapixels • 28-196mm zoom

Do you want a superslim camera or a superzoom? The Mju 7010 combines both, thanks to its thin body and 7x wideangle zoom

The Mju 7010 shouldn’t be confused with the Mju 7000 which came before it because this is a much better camera. It’s smarter, slimmer and has a more versatile 7x wideangle zoom, though when you first pick it up and feel how slim it actually is, it’s hard to believe it could have that kind of zoom range. It’s a good lens, too, with little distortion or chromatic aberration, and Olympus has also extracted good high ISO performance from the 12-megapixel sensor. There are longer-range compact superzooms than this one, notably the Panasonic TZ6/TZ7, but the Mju 7010 is smaller and slimmer than all of them.

Get it because... It offers an excellent zoom range for such a slim camera
But bear in mind... The menu system can be long-winded
Buy the Olympus Mju 7010 digital camera here: Jessops | Pixmania | Amazon UK

Casio Exilim EX-FS10

Guide price: £200 • 9.1 megapixels • 38.1-114.3mm zoom

Casio’s shoehorned its high-speed continuous-shutter technology into a slimline body small enough to carry anwhere

The EX-FS10 comes with Casio’s brand new high-speed continuous-shutter technology, which offers an unprecedented kind of motion-capture capability. This little camera can shoot at 30 frames per second, a speed that not even the fastest professional digital SLR can approach. It can also shoot movies at speeds of up to 1000fps, albeit at reduced resolution. This high-speed technology is used for other conjouring tricks, like a slow-motion mode where you can pick out the best still and slow-motion and low-light modes which combine multiple images for a single, sharp result. There’s also an HD movie mode and, on top of all this wizardry, you get pretty good still image quality too.

Get it because... Amazing high-speed shooting in a stylish slimline body
But bear in mind... Apart from the high-speed shooting it’s a pretty ordinary compact
Buy the Casio Exilim EX-FS10 digital camera here: Dabs.com | Pixmania | Amazon UK

Samsung ST550

Guide price: £220 • 12.2 megapixels • 27-124.2mm zoom

The ST550’s twin LCDs prove to be more than just a gimmick, but the real star is the high-resolution touch-screen interface on the back

It’s the Samsung ST550’s dual LCD display that gets all the headlines, even though it’s only one of a number of very interesting features. The point of this second LCD, mounted on the front, is to make self-portraits easier, show your subjects when to smile (with a smiley face) or entertain small children with an animation while you take their picture. It’s the super-high resolution 3.5-inch LCD on the back which is most impressive, though. It offers a touch-screen interface with unique ‘haptic’ feedback - the camera emits a small vibration when you press a button. You can control many of the camera’s functions by making special ‘gestures’ on this screen, and the Samsung really does set new standards for touch-screen controls.

Get it because...  It has an excellent ‘haptic’ touch-screen interface
But bear in mind... Micro SD memory cards (why?)
Buy the Samsung ST550 digital camera here: Jessops | Pixmania | Amazon UK

Canon PowerShot D10

Guide price: £230 • 12.1 megapixels • 35-105mm zoom

Canon’s chunky underwater compact is tough and practical, and its 12-megapixel sensor and 3x zoom delivery good, sharp pictures

There are a few underwater compacts on the market to choose from now, but none of them looks more businesslike than the Canon D10. Its two-tone aquamarine and silver body and its puffer-fish profile make it look as if it belongs in the water. It’s a bit more bulbous than the rest but it handles well both above and below the water. The rounded body is presumably to accomodate the larger lens. Other makers use ‘folded’ lens to maintain a slim body in their underwater models, but the D10 looks like it uses a regular extending 3x zoom. What you do get, perhaps as a result of this, is very sharp, clear pictures. The colours and exposures are first rate too.

Get it because...  The excellent sharpness and overall picture quality impresses
But bear in mind... It has a rather bulbous, ungainly design
Buy the Canon PowerShot D10 digital camera here: Dabs.com | Amazon UK| Simply Electronics

Fujifilm F200EXR

Guide price: £230 • 12.0 megapixels • 28-140mm zoom

Fujifilm’s new EXR sensor offers high resolution, high dynamic range or high ISO modes and pushes back the frontiers of sensor design

This was the first camera to use Fujifilm’s innovative EXR sensor. It offers a 12-megapixel high-resolution mode and 6-megapixel high ISO or high dynamic range options. It’s a bit of lateral thinking from Fujifilm which really does produce better results, capturing a much wider brightness range than ordinary sensors can manage and surprisingly good quality even at ISOs as high as 6400. Combined with the sensor-shift anti-shake system, this makes the F200EXR very good as a low-light camera, but it also blends flash and natural light very well too. It’s a fine camera in its own right as well, with a 5x wideangle zoom and very good definition.

Get it because...  It’s a very good camera with a groundbreaking sensor
But bear in mind... Resolution drops to 6 megapixels in both EXR modes
Buy the Fujifilm F200EXR digital camera here: Jessops | Pixmania | Amazon  UK