The Canon Digital Ixus 850 IS is an easy-touse point-and-shoot camera

Modes
Move the dial to change mode. For point-and-shoot use the auto settings. You can also record short movies with all cameras on test

LCD display
All cameras have an LCD display for reviewing and composing photos. Beware this will cause a drain on the battery; carry a spare

Advanced settings
From here you can access different settings such as the shutter speed (if available), set a timer, or turn the flash on and off

Menu System
You access most of the cameras settings through and LCD screenbased menu. Major functions will have physical buttons

Candid camera
P
report by Kim Gilmour

Computing Which? gives its no-holds-barred verdict on 16 compact cameras

op into any electronics store on the high street and youll see as many cameras as there are paparazzi outside Kate Middletons house (well, almost). The compact cameras on test dazzle with their flashy, ultra-sleek designs. Theyre all highly portable (weighing between 136g, for the Olympus mju 750, to 260g, for the Best Buy Nikon Coolpix S10) so theyre perfect for capturing those special moments on the fly. Dont let their size fool you, though. Several cameras feature some of the same manual settings youd expect from larger digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, so theyre highly versatile. All the cameras on test have enough megapixels to print a good quality 7x5-inch photograph; some will even print good-quality larger 10x8-inch prints, too (see Good foundations, p48). pictures; the Best Buy cameras that came top for overall image quality include the Nikon Coolpix S10 and the Sony Cybershot DSC-N2. Some of the cameras that took good pictures let themselves down in other areas. The Sanyo model, for example, produced very good pictures, particularly in low light, but the quality of the LCD monitor in different light conditions was below par, which could be a problem when composing and viewing your photographs. buttons quickly, changing the memory card and battery and using the LCD monitor. All our Best Buys scored very well. The Nikon Coolpix S10 scored slightly lower than the other Best Buys for ease of use (it has an unconventional design compared to the others on test) but its good picture quality compensates for this.

FEATURE FRENZY

Youll learn
I What to look for in a digital camera I The best compact camera for beginners I The best digital camera for more advanced snappers

NO FUSSING AROUND

IN THE PICTURE

Any paparazzi or snap-happy amateur wants a great end result. Fortunately, our compact cameras all took good quality

Around half the cameras on test are ideal for beginners or those who dont want to mess with more sophisticated functions, like manual focus. Suitable models include the Kodak EasyShare C875, Samsung NV10, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T10, Olympus mju 725SW, Panasonic DMCFX07, Olympus FE-190, Olympus mju 750, Nikon Coolpix S10, Pentax Optio W20 and Sanyo Xacti VPC-S7EX. Our experts assessed a range of crucial ease of use tasks such as finding the right

All cameras have built-in flash and automatic focus and exposure settings and connect to your computer via your USB port. We also discovered some nifty additional features on some of the cameras on test. The two Canon Best Buys, for instance, include useful features like image stabilisation that helps reduce the blurring that can occur if you dont keep your camera still while pressing the shutter (see table and How we test box, overleaf). Digital cameras sometimes produce an unwanted yellow tinge in certain types of light (such as indoor fluorescent light) which the naked eye normally sees as white. All cameras can avoid this unwanted colour
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46 March 2007

PHOTOGRAPHY JOHN TRENHOLM

ON TEST DIGITAL CAMERAS

BEST BUY BEST BUY
CW? CW?

Digital Ixus 850 IS Canon 280

The Canon Digital Ixus 850 takes great action or wideangle shots Easy-to-use camera with minimal shutter delay
WE LIKE Barely any shutter delay and a good image stabiliser that helps correct camera shake WE DONT LIKE Framing scenes through the cameras viewfinder rather than its monitor was disappointing as the end results werent accurate VERDICT A medium-sized creative camera that lets you take extra wide-angle shots (28mm); its easy to find your way around and has minimal shutter lag, too

Coolpix S10 Nikon 265

Zoom and swivel your day away

BEST BUY

CW?

Digital Ixus 900 Ti Canon 290

Thin, stylish camera thats lightning fast
WE LIKE This camera is great at taking continuous pictures, so you neednt miss the crucial action shot when the kids are playing football WE DONT LIKE The camera underperformed in low light VERDICT At 10 megapixels this camera gives you the choice of printing larger, poster-size pictures. Our testers found it very simple to find their way around this camera and it has a very good battery life

WE LIKE A camera whose lens twists at a 90-degree angle; handy for composing shots from different positions such as from a low point on the ground WE DONT LIKE No viewfinder VERDICT The cameras monitor score was dragged down by a poor rating for security. However, the finished results from this camera are excellent and it also boasts a mammoth 10x optical zoom

OVERALL SCORE 64%

OVERALL SCORE 63%

OVERALL SCORE 63%

Cyber-shot DSC-N2 Sony 270

Touch-screen technology
WE LIKE The easy to use touchscreen at the back WE DONT LIKE Theres a lack of custom white balance adjustment and no viewfinder

BEST BUY

CW?

DMC-FX07 Panasonic 230

Sharp monitor accuracy helps compose the perfect picture
WE LIKE Lightweight, extremely compact model that comes in black or silver and is good at taking continuous pictures WE DONT LIKE No viewfinder

BEST BUY

CW?

VERDICT A small camera that produces great images automatically but lacks some manual features

VERDICT The monitor accuracy on this teeny camera is superb so you can be sure of a well-exposed and composed shot. In low light conditions photo quality isnt as good as the S10

OVERALL SCORE 63%

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OVERALL SCORE 62%

March 2007 47

Good foundations
We highlight the basics about digital cameras Digital cameras work like traditional film cameras only instead of capturing pictures on to film they store images on to removable, reusable memory cards. an online printing service such as Snapfish (Jan 2007, p4).

QUALITY CONTROL
The number of pixels (small dots or picture elements that make up an image) a camera can record is measured in megapixels (Mp). All cameras on test have at least 6Mp; a 7.2Mp camera is good enough to print out a top quality 10x8inch image (3.6Mp is still good enough to print a decent 10x8-inch image).

FRAMING SHOTS
Photos are usually composed using an LCD (liquid crystal display) screen situated at the back of the camera. Some cameras have a viewfinder too (the window you put your eye against to look through). You use the LCD screen to review and delete your shots and access the onscreen display in order to set the picture size, shutter speed, ISO etc.

cast on your photographs by automatically adjusting the scenes white balance (see left). Occasionally you may need to customise the white balance if the camera itself doesnt get it quite right. Most of the cameras let you do this but some wont, notably the Kodak, Olympus, Sony and HP models (however, ifyour camera gets the colour wrong and you are unable to correct it manually, you can often improve colour cast afterwards on your computer using image-editing software; Jan 2007, p38). All cameras also record short movies but they arent designed to double as camcorders just yet so movie quality on these models is nothing to write home about.

imal shutter delay. The Canon Digital Ixus 850 IS has a 0.3 second lag. Avoid the Ricoh, Kodak and Casio models; all had shutter delays ofwell over a second, with the Ricoh suffering from a two second lag.

VERDICT

SHUTTER DELAY

LAGGING BEHIND
One of the big downsides of digital cameras is that they suffer from excessive shutter lag (the delay between pressing the shutter on a camera and the picture being taken). The delay depends on the speed and intelligence of the auto focus. Another drawback is batteries; the LCD screen drains them. Unlike the naked eye, cameras may not interpret white correctly for example, a household bulb may take on a yellow cast. Cameras often adjust this with their automatic white balance (AWB) settings but there are times you may need to adjust this.

The split-second lag between pressing the shutter button and capturing the scene as youre viewing it through the monitor can make all the difference between a good photograph and a bad one, particularly if youre taking pictures of unpredictable toddlers. Happily, all our Best Buys have min-

While all the cameras on test can produce good pictures, some are trickier to use and the lack of versatility on some of the more basic cameras (such as no viewfinder) has affected their overall scores. If you want a camera that is quite basic yet takes very good pictures, the Nikon Coolpix S10 (above) is great, whereas if youre after something with more sophisticated functions but is still small enough to fit in your pocket consider either of the Canon models. Unfortunately, none of the Best Buys have manual focus options but if you are really keen on this feature then consider one of Which?s current Best Buy SLRs or see Aprils Which? for other larger cameras that are one step up from the ones weve tested, here.

After you transfer your digital pictures to your PC using your cameras USB cable (or popping your memory card into a USBpowered memory card reader), you can spruce them up using imageediting software then share them with friends and family over email (p28) or put them online. You can print your digital photos at home or give them to a high street photo lab like Snappy Snaps or

Digital cameras
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 CANON Digital Ixus 850 IS www.canon.co.uk NIKON Coolpix S10 www.nikon.co.uk CANON Digital Ixus 900 Ti www.canon.co.uk SONY Cyber-shot DSC-N2 www.sonystyle.co.uk PANASONIC DMC-FX07 www.panasonic.co.uk SONY Cyber-shot DSC-T10 www.sonystyle.co.uk PENTAX Optio W20 www.pentax.co.uk OLYMPUS Mju 725SW www.olympus.co.uk SANYO Xacti VPC-S7 www.sanyo.co.uk OLYMPUS Mju 750 www.olympus.co.uk SAMSUNG NV10 www.samsung.co.uk HP Photosmart M627 www.hp.co.uk RICOH Caplio R5 www.ricoh.co.uk OLYMPUS FE-190 www.olympus.co.uk CASIO Exilim EX-Z700 www.casio.co.uk KODAK EasyShare C875 www.kodak.co.uk

280 265 290 270 230 230 230 220 130 250 200 160 240 150 165 160

7.1 6.0 10.0 10.1 7.2 7.2 7.0 7.1 7.1 7.1 10.1 7.0 7.2 6.0 7.2 8.0

28-105 38-380 37-111 38-114 28-102 38-114 38-114 38-114 38-114 36-180 35-105 39-106 28-200 38-114 38-114 37-185

9x6x3 12x7.5x4 9.5x6x3 10x6.5x2.6 9.5x5.5x2.7 9.5x5.5x2.2 11.5x5.5x3.5 9.5x6.5x2.2 9.5x6x3 9.5x5.5x2.8 9.5x6.5x3 10x6.5x4 9.5x6x3 9.5x6x2.1 9.5x6x2.2 9.5x7x4

USING THE TABLE Price Typical online price as we went to press 48 March 2007

Weight Includes battery, memory card and wrist strap (and lens cap if applicable)

Memory card Type Type of memory card the camera accepts

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Size (cm) (WxHxD)

DEVELOPING DIGITAL

Optical zoom (35mm equivalent)

Typical price

Megapixels

ON TEST DIGITAL CAMERAS

How we test
PICTURE QUALITY
Our lab evaluates picture quality using prints for reference. We rate colour reproduction, detail, light consistency, focussing and lens distortion subjectively, and using test charts. applicable. To test built-in flash we shoot in a dark room and measure the flash intensity at different marked distances.

MEMBER BENEFIT

Savings on products for Which? members

Computing Which? put all sixteen cameras through rigorous tests
This March, Hughes Direct is offering Computing Which? members an exclusive discount on our Best Buy digital camera, the Panasonic DMCFX07. For a limited time only, you will pay only 200 including VAT and delivery, compared to the typical price of 230, as published in this report. To order and to find out more about member-only discount offers, log on to www.hughesdirect.co.uk/ which or call 0845 678 0084. Offer is valid from 1 March 2007 to 30 April 2007, subject to availability.
Each month Which? magazine subscribers can take advantage of the competitive deals offered by Hughes Direct. Hughes guarantees to offer great savings on high-street prices on a wide range of electrical goods (excluding computers). Call now or go online to see how much you can save.

EASE OF USE
Five testers assess the cameras for ease of use in different scenarios and lighting conditions. We also carry out an exhaustive series of typical real world tests such as inserting the memory card. A triggered stopwatch measures shutter delay.

FEATURES
We use a special shaker machine to test image stabilisation where

BATTERY LIFE
Our labs shaker machine We measure the maximum operation time with a set of freshly charged batteries.

Image stabiliser

Image quality

Movie quality

Manual focus

Shutter delay

175 260 188 181 160 160 151 165 178 136 165 235 165 128 140 250

SD Card SD Card SD Card MemoryStick DUO SD Card MemoryStick DUO SD Card xD Card SD Card xD Card SD Card SD Card SD Card xD Card SD Card SD Card

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64% 63% 63% 63% 62% 61% 59% 58% 58% 57% 57% 55% 52% 52% 51% 49%

Image stabiliser Defined as a system where the lens or image sensor can compensate for

camera shake (we dont count built-in anti-blur software) Viewfinder/monitor Includes

accuracy and quality Overall Picture quality 30%, ease of use 25%,

viewfinder/monitor 12%, versatility 12%, battery life 10%, flash 8%, movie quality 3% March 2007 49

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Overall Score

Viewfinder/ monitor

Ease of use

Battery life

Weight (g)

Versatility

Memory card type

Flash