Hope you can make sense of this. have only got time to cut and past. first part is an overview and the second is slightly more detail of the which best buy digital cameras. dont know if you know that getting a faster flash card also help make sure you get the fastest shutter speed.
Canon Digital Ixus 50
Price: £195
Score: 65 %
The 5Mp Ixus 50 offers good quality movie clips but picture quality and image quality, although decent, isn't spectacular. It's compact, with excellent battery life.
It has a good flash and there aren't any problems with focusing. However, picture quality, although decent, just falls short of the best. When it comes to features, you get an unlimited burst mode, which means it will keep shooting photos until you take your finger off the button or you run out of space on your memory card, but there are no creative controls like manual focus, aperture or shutter speed priority modes.
Canon Digital Ixus 55
Price: £175
Score: 65 %
The slim 5Mp Canon Ixus 55 is a great small camera which takes good quality pictures.
It's quick with excellent shutter delay and a good flash. With shutter delay at just 0.3 seconds, you're much more likely to get the shot you want. Shot-to-shot time (the time it takes the camera to ready itself for a new photo after taking the last one) is also pretty impressive ? 1.6 seconds.
Canon PowerShot A520
Price: £122
Score: 66 %
This is a handy little camera with a good range of features, it's ideal for taking basic snap shots.
The flash works well and the aperture and shutter speed priority features give you a little more artistic control and make for more interesting action shots.
Fujifilm Finepix F10
Price: £159
Score: 65 %
The 6.1Mp FinePix F10 is a great Best Buy and it takes good photos even in dim conditions.
ISO settings go up to 1600, which is useful for taking shots in dim light conditions with no flash. The flash itself is also good and there are no problems with focusing. Overall, picture quality is good.
Fujifilm FinePix S9500
Price: £304
Score: 68 %
The Best Buy 9.1Mp Fujifilm FinePix S9500 has a very quick shutter delay, and a powerful zoom.
Picture quality is only a little better than average, but it's a good camera for taking dim light shots as its maximum ISO setting is 1600.The lens on the S9500 is quite powerful at 28-300mm. 300mm is quite long and means that the camera zooms in significantly further than the average camera. Its minimum wide angle setting of 28mm is also significantly lower than average, meaning that you can fit in more of your scene.
Fujifilm Finepix S7000
Price: £293
Score: 72 %
The Best Buy 6.3Mp S7000 is a great camera; very high scoring and strong in all key areas. It has loads of features, but it's heavy. At 617 grams, it's not one for slipping in your pocket.
However, with a 35-210mm lens, it will zoom in significantly further than the average camera. Focusing, flash and picture quality are all good although movie quality is just ok.
Nikon Coolpix 8400
Price: £486
Score: 71 %
This Nikon digital camera is a Best Buy and a very strong performer all around. It has 'BSS' (Best Shot Selector). When this feature is turned on, the camera takes ten images in quick succession and keeps the sharpest of them. This system simulates the effect of image stabilisation but is not quite as good.
This is a camera with few real weaknesses, though, and image quality is good. It's great for landscape shots, due to its low minimum focal length of 24mm. It's quite heavy though, weighing over half a kilo.
Nikon Coolpix 8800
Price: £568
Score: 67 %
This Nikon digital camera is a giant! Big features, big price, and almost 3/4 of a kilo in weight!
It has a powerful optical zoom, image stabilisation and good picture quality, but unfortunately suffers from a long shutter delay. Shutter delay is poor (1.1 seconds). From switching on, it takes a lengthy 4.8 seconds to be ready to take a shot. Lag time between shots is 3 seconds. All quite poor figures. The viewfinder and monitor are good however, and there's an unlimited burst mode. Focusing and flash performance are also good. Movie quality is ok for a digital camera.
Nikon Coolpix P2
Price: £175
Score: 64 %
The 5Mp P2 is a lightweight camera which scores quite highly overall with good picture quality and shutter delay. It lacks a few creative controls however, and movie quality is poor but it does have wireless photo transfer and printing capability.
Shutter delay is pretty good at 0.52 seconds but it's fairly slow to be ready to take a shot from when you switch it on; it takes 4.5 seconds. However, image quality is good overall and it has a good flash for taking photos in dim light conditions.
Olympus mju Digital 500
Price: £250
Score: 66 %
This is a good 8Mp camera with an impressive spec, it's ideal for taking basic snap shots.
Although picture quality is ok, it's not up to Best Buy. There's no manual focus setting, shutter speed priority or aperture priority modes but auto focus is good. You also get unlimited burst mode, so it will keep shooting photos until you take your finger off the button or you run out of space on your memory card.
Olympus mju Digital 800
Price: £270
Score: 65 %
This is a good 8Mp camera with an impressive spec, picture quality could be a little better but it's ideal for taking basic snap shots.
There's no manual focus setting, but you do get shutter speed priority and aperture priority modes for more creative shots and the auto focus is good. You also get unlimited burst mode, so it will keep shooting photos until you take your finger off the button or you run out of space on your memory card.
Olympus mju mini Digital
Price: £159
Score: 55 %
This Olympus is a light, stylish, distinctive looking little camera. It focuses well and produces good-quality pictures but the optical zoom isn't very powerful.
Shutter delay is average (0.65 seconds). From switching on, it takes 2.8 seconds to be ready to take a shot. Lag time between shots is 2.2 seconds. It will take unlimited shots in burst mode.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5
Price: £245
Score: 67 %
The 4.9Mp Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 has a very powerful zoom of 36-432mm, yet it's relatively light at 353 grams. This is due to its lightweight, plastic body.
The 432mm lens setting means that it zooms in further than pretty much every other camera out there, and its image stabilisation system means that you're less likely to get blurry images from camera shake. Overall picture quality is decent rather than spectacular, but where it excels is flash pictures. The FZ5 also has a good movie mode. Most digital cameras struggle with movies, quality can be a bit ropey, but the FZ5 is better than most. However, like many digital cameras, you can't zoom in and out during video recording.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30
Price: £400
Score: 73 %
The 778 gram 8Mp Panasonic DMC-FZ30 is a great camera, one of the highest scoring ever. It combines really impressive image quality, with an excellent range of features.
The FZ30 is fast. Shutter delay is an outstanding 0.1 seconds, well into Digital SLR territory. On pressing the on button, it takes 1.9 seconds to be ready to take a photo. Again this is very quick for a compact camera. The time it takes the camera to ready itself for a new photo after taking the last one is a reasonably quick 2.2 seconds.
Samsung Digimax Pro815
Price: £400
Score: 68 %
The Best Buy 8Mp Samsung Digimax Pro815 is another heavyweight camera, weighing in at more than a kilo. It does have a very powerful zoom lens though, and it offers very good picture quality.
The lens on the Pro815 has a zoom range of 28-420mm. 420mm means that it zooms in significantly further than the average camera. Its minimum wide angle setting of 28mm is also significantly lower than average, meaning that you can fit in more of your scene.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T5
Price: £175
Score: 64 %
Light, thin and quite good looking, the 5Mp T5 performs well overall. One of its main strengths is its speed; it's quicker than most other cameras on test.
Shutter delay is excellent. It's just 0.19 seconds which means you're much more likely to get exactly the shot you want. Start-up time is also impressive at 1.9 seconds and it's also quick to ready itself for the next shot after you've taken a photo. It's just 2.3cm deep and weighs 135 grams.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W1
Price: £198
Score: 65 %
Excellent shutter delay is the best feature of this Sony digital camera. We know from our annual survey that Sony digital cameras have good reliability.
Shutter delay is an impressive 0.04 seconds. From switching on, it takes only 1.9 seconds to be ready to take a shot. Lag time between shots is 1.5 seconds. It will take unlimited shots in burst mode. Overall, the W1 is a fast camera.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200
Price: £180
Score: 64 %
Overall, this 7.1Mp camera is a strong contender and performs well. Picture quality could be a little better but this would be a great Best Buy for taking basic snap shots.
It has an optical viewfinder as well as a reasonably good monitor.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W5
Price: £195
Score: 66 %
This 5Mp camera is a good looking model that performs well. Picture quality could be better but this is a great basic model for snap shot photography.
It has an optical viewfinder as well as reasonable quality LCD screen.
Canon Powershot S80
Price: £320
Score: 65 %
The 8Mp Canon PowerShot S80 is a feature rich small-ish camera. Its front is finished in black making it stand out from the crowd of silver cameras.
The lens on the S80 is interesting. Its zoom range is 28-100mm. 100mm is close to as low as we've seen in a digital compact; this is a camera that can't zoom in very far. On the other hand, it will still meet most photographic needs. At the other end of the zoom range, 28mm is also low, meaning that this is a great camera for landscape shots.
Canon Digital Ixus 750
Price: £210
Score: 66 %
The 7.1Mp Canon Digital Ixus 750 is a good camera. It's pretty small and light at a shade under 195 grams, and it continues the line of good looking Ixus models from Canon.
The Ixus 750 is a very quick compact camera. Shutter delay is very good at 0.3 seconds, start-up time is 1.9 seconds and shot-to-shot time, the time it takes the camera to ready itself for a new photo after taking the last one, is 1.6 seconds. These are good figures for a small camera. It also has USB2.0 for quicker photo and video transfer to computer, should your computer also have a USB2.0 connection.
Fujifilm FinePix F11
Price: £156
Score: 63 %
The Fujifilm F11 is a great camera for parties, it's small, quite light, and has good dim light performance. Overall it's a more than decent camera, and has a few creative controls for the more enthusiastic photographer. We don't think it deserves any style awards though.
The F11 weighs a touch under 200 grams, and is just about pocketable ? not the thinnest but it's still quite compact. Its zoom power, 36-108mm, is about average, and it has quite a big screen at the back, although its quality and clarity is no better than ok.
Kodak Easyshare P880
Price: £330
Score: 67 %
Picture quality is the real strength of the Best Buy 8Mp Kodak Easyshare P880. In automatic mode is scored higher than the vast majority of other cameras on test. It also has quite a few features, and an interesting lens.
The P880's lens is 24-140mm. 24mm is very low indeed, so this is a great camera for taking those very wide landscapes shots, or when you want to take a picture of a big group of people standing side by side, say. With 140mm, you can zoom in a little bit more than the average camera.The P880's ISO settings go up to 1600. This is useful for those dim light shots with no flash, however the camera only uses 0.8Mp when set to ISO 800 or 1600. 0.8Mp isn't really enough for high quality prints, but it's fine for viewing pictures on screen.
Ricoh Caplio R3
Price: £172
Score: 62 %
The Ricoh Caplio R3 has a powerful zoom in a lightweight body, two characteristics that don't often go hand in hand.
The R3 weighs 161 grams, pretty light for a camera. It's also quite compact, and we think looks good in its attractive black finish. It has a 28-200mm lens, so zooms in significantly further than the average camera. Its minimum wide angle setting of 28mm is also lower than average, this means that you can fit in more of your scene, making it a good lens for wide landscapes, for example.
Samsung Digimax V800
Price: £150
Score: 63 %
The 8Mp Samsung Digimax V800 is quite a small camera. It's 188 grams and pocketable, yet it has a good range of features that some other small cameras lack. Picture quality and shutter delay are also both pretty good.
The V800 isn't up to Digital SLR standards of speed, but it's quite good nonetheless. Shutter delay is a respectable 0.5 seconds, start-up time is 2.9 seconds and shot-to-shot time, the time it takes the camera to ready itself for a new photo after taking the last one, is 2.1 seconds. It also has USB2.0 for quicker photo and video transfer to computer, should your computer also have a USB2.0 connection.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M2
Price: £292
Score: 63 %
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M2 is an interesting digital camera that doubles up as an impressive movie taking device. Opinions at Which? HQ were divided on its aluminium silver looks, but it certainly stands out. Overall, the M2 is quite an impressive package.
Picture quality could be better but it's more than adequate for basic snap shot photography.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N1
Price: £262
Score: 64 %
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N1 is an interesting and rather unique camera, as it has a very large monitor at the back that doubles-up as a touch-screen. Overall it scores well in our tests and should be small enough to slip into your handbag for a night out.
The N1 lacks some of the controls that the keen, creative photographer will appreciate, for example manual focus, aperture priority and shutter speed priority modes. However, if you're not too worried about these and just intend to "point and shoot", this is a decent camera. Picture quality is good, as is focussing and ease of use.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-R1
Price: £518
Score: 71 %
The Sony R1 is a real heavyweight. It weighs 1.05 kilos and has 10.1Mp. It's pretty quick and has very high ISO settings so is like a Digital SLR camera in some respects.
Turn it on, and it's ready to shoot in 1.5 seconds ? very quick for a compact camera. Shot-to-shot time is also impressive. After you've taken a photo, you only have to wait around 1.5 seconds for the R1 to be ready for your next shot. Shutter delay is 0.4 seconds, not the fastest in the world but still reasonable.
Canon Digital Ixus 65
Price: £255
Score: 65 %
The cute and diminutive 5.9 megapixel Ixus 65 is a Best Buy in the small camera class.
Still image quality is about as good as it gets for a camera of this size and you?ll be able to shoot movie clips of surprisingly high quality.
Canon Powershot A700
Price: £230
Score: 67 %
The bombastically named Powershot A700 has a mighty zoom range of 35-210mm, which combined with the option of manual focus and shutter and aperture priority, gives you a good deal of flexibility.
Image quality is slightly lacklustre for a camera of its large size. Alternatively, if you want to just point and shoot your chances of success are enhanced by image stabilization technology.
Nikon Coolpix S6
Price: £280
Score: 63 %
This Best Buy medium sized 5.9Mp camera takes good pictures and has a good shutter delay of, 0.4 seconds.
It?s also easy to use and has a pretty good battery life. It has a large LCD screen, 6cm x 4.5cm, and a viewer which allows you to show images as a slide show with accompanying music and transition effects between pictures.
Olympus mju 810
Price: £245
Score: 65 %
This 8Mp digital camera is the one of the lightest models amongst our medium sized Best Buys weighing in at just 170grams.
It?s also small enough to fit into a jacket pocket so it?s great for taking out and about. Shutter delay is average it takes 0.8 seconds from pushing the button for the photograph to take.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7
Price: £229
Score: 69 %
This Best Buy Lumix is large but you have the benefit of a paparazzi-esque 36-423mm zoom range; holiday in St Tropez and you?ll almost be able to snap movie stars on their yachts.
The quality of the 5.9 megapixel photos is not quite up with the best in the class if you use auto focus, but you can switch over to manual for really important shots.
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W50
Price: £190
Score: 62 %
The aggressive sounding and yet easy to use Cyber-Shot is a nicely designed camera which is easy to use and boasts excellent battery life.
Picture quality is average so it's not up with the best of the cameras in the small class but it still performs pretty well.
Canon Digital Ixus Wireless
Price: £280
Score: 65 %
Because this dinky Best Buy Ixus is 802.11b compatible, you can use it to transfer your pictures wirelessly to a WiFi equipped PC, or send them straight to a printer with the included adaptor (you need to check your printer?s compatible though).
While you?ll still have to plug the camera into the wall to charge it, you won?t need USB cable to copy pictures to a computer -- handy if your memory card is full.
Casio Exilim EX-Z600
Price: £150
Score: 64 %
The excellent Exilim becomes a small camera Best Buy after a strong performance in all areas of our tests.
It didn't do anything brilliantly well, but has no major weak points. Image quality is good if your focus manually, although it declines if you let the camera do the thinking.
Ricoh Caplio R30
Price: £177
Score: 64 %
The Richo Caplio R30 impressed us with one of the best shutter delay?s we?ve ever seen. It takes just 0.04 seconds from pushing the button to taking the photograph. There?s a burst mode but unfortunately it?s limited to a mere 13 shots ? which is little disappointing from a camera that generally performed well. The optical zoom has a very good range of 28-160mm, which is particularly impressive given that this model is only a medium sized camera. The low first number on the zoom range means it?s great for taking wide angled shots such as landscapes. Movie mode is poor so avoid the R30 if you plan to shoot a lot of video.There?s a manual focus, though it doesn?t have aperture and shutter speed priority modes. There is no image stabilization either, so you?ll have to keep a steady hand in low light conditions.Pros: Lightning quick shutter, burst mode, good zoom range for a medium sized digital camera. Cons: No image stabilisation system, poor video footage, no shutter speed priority mode, no aperture priority mode
Samsung Digimax i6 PMP
Price: £180
Score: 65 %
The great quality photos of the diminutive Digimax make it a best buy, although - aside from its super-sharp screen - the i6 PMP is a little bit lacking in other areas.
Despite being a camera low on options and settings (you can?t prioritise shutter speed for action shots, or create interesting depth of field effects with aperture settings) we didn?t find the i6 as easy to use as the best examples from other manufacturers.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9
Price: £228
Score: 65 %
Despite its fearsome sounding name the Cyber-shot DSC T-9 is tiny, cute and will flatter your photographic skills with its great quality photos and easy to use nature.
This isn?t a camera for someone who wants lots of control: you can?t focus manually, prioritise shutter speed for action shots, or create interesting depth of field effects with aperture settings.
Fujifilm FinePix F30
Price: £189
Score: 68 %
One of the key features of the Fujifilm FinePix F30 is the maximum ISO setting of 3200, meaning that it?s a great camera for taking pictures in dim light without flash. In fact, it?s a very good camera all round ? and at 192 grams with compact dimensions it?s nice and portable too.
Picture quality on the F30 is very good, noise is kept under control well. Shutter delay is also reasonably good at 0.4 seconds, although shot to shot time in burst mode is slow ? almost 1.8 seconds. At least the burst mode is unlimited.
Kodak EasyShare P712
Price: £275
Score: 68 %
The Kodak EasyShare P712 is quite a big camera. One of its main features is its powerful zoom lens; 36-432mm means that you?ll be able to zoom in to faraway objects. The P712 is a good all-rounder, it even has optical zoom on its movie mode (although movie quality itself is nothing special).
Still image quality is very good indeed, few cameras are this good. Flash photos are good too, you can even adjust the flash strength manually. Shutter delay is quick at just over 0.3 seconds.
Canon Powershot A540
Price: £138
Score: 64 %
The Canon PowerShot A540 is quite a light camera at 230 grams, but it has a usefully longer zoom - its 35-140mm range differentiates it from many of its competitors in this regard - it is slightly bigger though. Overall, it?s a strong contender.
Battery life is excellent. We tested the A540 with a set of rechargeable batteries, but in fact the camera comes supplied with alkalines. For long-term cost effectiveness, it?s a very good idea to buy a set of rechargeables to save you buying and throwing away alkalines time and time again.
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H5
Price: £280
Score: 70 %
The 510 gram Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 is a big camera, and a very talented one at that.
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Product Price| Which? ratings Score|
Canon Digital Ixus 50
(view details)
£195 Overall reliability
Average
Shutter delay
Good
Flash
Good
Viewfinder/monitor
Acceptable
Focusing
Good
Image quality
Acceptable
Movie
Good
Battery life
Excellent
Picture download time
Excellent
Ease of use
Good
Amount of features
Good
65%
Best Buy
Canon Digital Ixus 55
(view details)
£175 Overall reliability
Average
Shutter delay
Excellent
Flash
Good
Viewfinder/monitor
Acceptable
Focusing
Good
Image quality
Acceptable
Movie
Good
Battery life
Excellent
Picture download time
Excellent
Ease of use
Good
Amount of features
Good
65%
Best Buy
Canon Digital Ixus 65
(view details)
£255 Overall reliability
Average
Shutter delay
Good
Flash
Good
Viewfinder/monitor
Acceptable
Focusing
Good
Image quality
Acceptable
Movie
Good
Battery life
Excellent
Picture download time
Excellent
Ease of use
Good
Amount of features
Acceptable
65%
Best Buy
Canon Digital Ixus 750
(view details)
£210 Overall reliability
Average
Shutter delay
Excellent
Flash
Good
Viewfinder/monitor
Acceptable
Focusing
Good
Image quality
Acceptable
Movie
Good
Battery life
Excellent
Picture download time
Excellent
Ease of use
Good
Amount of features
Good
66%
Best Buy
Canon Digital Ixus Wireless
(view details)
£280 Overall reliability
Average
Shutter delay
Good
Flash
Good
Viewfinder/monitor
Acceptable
Focusing
Excellent
Image quality
Acceptable
Movie
Good
Battery life
Excellent
Picture download time
Excellent
Ease of use
Good
Amount of features
Good
65%
Best Buy
Results: 1 - 5 of 43