Nikon’s first try at a rugged point-and-shoot camera manages to do just about everything right-capturing sharp images, surviving drops, geotagging your photos, shooting underwater, and grabbing 1080p30 video. And it does it all quickly, with faster performance than any other rugged model we’ve tested.

Similar in design to other rugged compacts, the 16-megapixel AW100 sports a sealed lens with an internal zoom mechanism, located on the top corner of the camera. It measures 2.6 by 4.4 by 0.9 inches and weighs 6.3 ounces. Its 5x optical zoom lens covers a 28-140mm (35mm equivalent) field of view and has a nice macro capability for capturing smaller objects.

A 3-inch, 460 k-dots LCD dominates the rear of the camera. It’s very bright and sharp, making it easy to frame and review images in a variety of lighting conditions. Control buttons are rubberized and sealed, but are quite responsive to the touch.

The camera has all the standard control buttons, plus a special Action button, which can be configured to bring up the GPS world map or to adjust shooting settings. Pressing it brings up a menu from which you can adjust the shooting mode, start recording a movie, view photos, or view the world map.

The camera is rated to survive drops of up to 5 feet and can be used underwater to depths of 33 feet. I was able to drop the camera over and over again without it missing a beat.

The AW100 is the speediest rugged camera that we’ve tested. It can start up and grab a shot in 1.4 seconds, only requires 0.8 second of recycle time between photos, and records a 0.1-second shutter lag.

I used Imatest to measure the camera’s performance in terms of image sharpness and noise. The software analyzes a test chart as shot by the camera to deliver a center-weighted sharpness score, measured in lines per picture height. A score of 1,800 lines is considered to be very sharp, and the AW100 came in well above that metric—it recorded 2,166 lines. The Panasonic Lumix TS3 didn’t do nearly as well, recording only 1,347 lines.

Overall, the AW100 is an excellent first attempt from Nikon at a rugged camera. It unseats our previous Editors’ Choice winner, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3, for performing admirably on all fronts, and for delivering snappier performance and sharper images.

This camera has a lot going for it; it’s incredibly thin dimensions, for one. With a 13-mm girth, it looks more like a mobile phone than a camera. However, that does nothing to stop it from being a fully loaded clicker. It has most of the usual modes but for a super compact, it also, amazingly, boasts 3D imaging. It has an OLED display panel, which while providing excellent viewing capacity, is a little sticky to work with. While it is reluctant to respond to touch at times, at others it exasperates by doing more than it should. For instance, you tap it to view a picture and it suo motu takes you two pictures back in the album. Also, its battery does not last as much as others do. But the TX55 creates good, clean images. It does live up to its claim to special low-light capabilities. With Full HD video, it is a conveniently tiny gadget to carry around in your pocket.

Point-and-shoot compacts are the camera of choice for casual shooters looking to just take snapshots. But the problem many consumers face is they have too many choices. With the compact camera market reaching saturation, manufacturers are pushing the megapixel envelope as well as throwing in full HD video recording to push sales of their newest compact shooters.

Canon takes another route with their latest entry-level compact, the IXUS 220 HS. The 220 HS has a very intuitive user-interface wrapped in a slim package. It weighs just 141g with a memory card inserted; this is one camera you won’t feel much when slipped into your pocket. Though the 220 HS is as generic as they come on the outside, there’s more to this entry-level compact that makes it a delight to shoot with.

Opting to stick with physical buttons instead of the fashionable touch-screen controls, the real estate on the back of the 220 HS is taken up largely by its 2.7-inch LCD screen. The physical buttons are large enough for us to use our thumbs, but those of you with larger hands might occasionally block the flash by accident as you use both hands to steady the camera while taking a shot.

There’s a slider switch at the rear of the camera that allows users to switch between Smart Auto mode and Program Auto. Smart Auto basically lets the camera determine the best settings for the scene while Program Auto offers more options with a press of the func set button located on the back plate.

Contemporary compacts come with many filters and effects and Canon has ensured it does not fall behind the competition in this aspect. The 220 HS includes many preset shooting modes, throwing in everything but the kitchen sink, including modes for shooting foliage as well as fish-eye effect mode. There’s even a burst mode for those of you looking to capture a series of shots in rapid succession. Do note that this mode results in images shot at just 3-megapixels, though the camera is able to fire off eight frames per second. And let’s not forget the full HD video recording capabilities of the 220 HS.

For those really clueless about photography but wish to maximize the use of the 220 HS, Canon has very helpfully included brief descriptions that appear when various options in the menus are selected. Examples include a brief explanation on what focusing to infinity does, or what the miniature effect filter does to your picture.

Resolution-wise, the 220 HS does fairly well by scoring 1,700 LPH horizontally and 1.800LPH vertically. ISO performance was where the 220 HS really shone, as there were only hints of noise at ISO 800 and even images at ISO 1600 were of bearable quality.

We also particularly liked that the 220 HS had very quick autofocus. It may not be love at first for the 220 HS; after all it won’t win any awards for groundbreaking design. But beneath that lies a capable camera that has an easy-to-navigate interface. Best of all, this compact is extremely budget-friendly.

The Fujifilm F550 EXR is curvier than the rest of the cameras, and is definitely shinier with a thick chrome outline running up the sides and top. The GPS unit juts out above the lens, lending it a small DSLR-like note. The mode dial is positioned at an angle, sitting diagonally in between the top and back panels. It’s a unique visual, but doesn’t do much for usability. A raised reverse-teardrop shape below the dial creates a mould for your thumb to gain a grip, but the video record button is awkwardly placed on the rise, making it hard to press.

The Samsung WB2000 scores points for a rugged exterior, and certainly looks like it can take a hard knock or two. Handling is decent thanks to a rubber handgrip, though the off-center placement of the flash does suffer from the occasional finger blocking, in terms of usability however, the WB2000 leads the pack thanks to excellent button layout, though those with larger fingers might find them a little too cramped for comfort. The buttons exhibit good tactile feedback, such as the dedicated video button for instance. We also particularly like its 3.0-inch AMOLED screen, which boasts better color reproduction and viewing angles under sunlight, as compared to the other compacts in the shootout.

The Olympus Tough TG-810 is also a weather-resistant, shock-proof camera, which means it’s designed with more constraints in mind than other compact cameras. The ports are all hidden behind a sealed, double-lock door for one, and the zoom controls are by necessity, buttons instead of the familiar toggle usually found surrounding the shutter release button.

We found the TG-810 to be not just a tough camera that can take abuse, but also a tough camera to use. The sliver of a power button is too hard to locate, the zoom toggle is stiff and unnatural, the buttons are too small for comfort, the nub of a joystick feels restricted, and the shutter release response feels a breadth too slow.

The headline feature of the Sony HDR-PJ10 camcorder and the HDR-PJ30 that was launched alongside is that each comes with a built-in LED projector. The cheaper pj10 also shoots 3.3-megapixel still photos (vs. 7.1 megapixels for the PJ30), and doesn’t have the led video light and accessory hot-shoe like its brethren. A 1080p full HD camcorder, the PJ10 uses Sony’s very own G lens, and has a focal length starting at a wide 29.8 mm (in 35 mm equivalent). If you prefer a longer reach than a wider field of view, you’d be glad to know that it can zoom all the way up to 894 mm (or to put it simply, a 30x optical zoom). The image trinity is completed with Sony’s Exmor R backlit CMOS sensor and BIONZ image processing engine.

A neat touch Sony has incorporated into its recent camcorders is the built-in USB cable, which comes in extremely handy when you want to do a quick file transfer or charge the device using a computer’s USB port. The cable is located on the same side of the grip belt; when not in use, it can be tucked into a little opening cleverly hidden along the belt. With a length of 5cm, this cable is rather short.

So for desktop computers, we recommend using a USB hub, unless you don’t mind it dangling in the air. Also, some users might find this redesigned grip belt slightly uncomfortable.

The 3-inch touch-capable LCD has a thicker-than-normal enclosure because that’s where the tiny projector is housed. Putting the projector there makes a lot of sense: to adjust the angle of the picture, just tilt the LCD. There’s a slider at the top for tweaking the focus. The projector doesn’t have a zoom lens; to get a bigger picture, simply move the camera further away from the screen. Much to our delight, light output from the projector was good (it’s rated at 10 lumens). That being said, you’d still need a fairly dimmed room to watch the image comfortably. We managed 60 inches in a near-dark room -anything beyond is really pushing it.

The LCD itself displayed good color fidelity. The stereo speakers lined along the bottom bezel can go pretty loud; and that’s good because there’s no point projecting a video if you can’t hear the action. The camcorder is equipped with 16 GB of internal flash memory, but you can increase the capacity by adding your own Memory Sticks or SD cards, including high-capacity SDXC media.

Video quality-wise, we found color accuracy and noise performance to be good. The highest avchd mode records at 24 Mbps. Switching to 50p increases the bitrate to 28 Mbps. At 50p, video was smooth with few artifacts, and images looked slightly sharper than those recorded in interlaced mode. The ‘low lux’ mode also worked well to boost low light performance. The SteadyShot with Active mode image stabilization did its job competently. The camcorder has a Smooth Slow Record (read: slow motion) mode that we had a lot of fun with, as well as a Golf Shot mode that splits the clip into a series of frames so that you can analyze your golf swing.

To summarize, the HDR-PJ10 is a very good camcorder, with an excellent set of features and a fine performance to boot. As we used its projector more and more, our only worry is its longevity.

Canon’s follow-up to the popular S95, the PowerShot S100 is priced slightly higher but improves on the S95 in many ways. Its zoom lens starts at a wider focal length and delivers a longer zoom range, recycle time has been cut drastically, and a GPS has been added. That’s enough for it to replace the S95 as our favorite high-end pocket camera.

The 12-megapixel S100 is almost identical in size and design to its predecessor. At 2.3 by 3.9 by 1.1 inches (HWD) and 7 ounces, it is a bit larger and heavier than competing compact cameras.

The lens covers a 24-105mm (35mm equivalent) field of view, which is a 5x zoom range. At the wide end it opens up to f/2, which lets quite a bit of light in, but the aperture narrows to f/5.9 at the telephoto end of its zoom.

The 3-inch LCD is packed with 460k dots, and even though it is as crisp and bright as the screen found on the S95, it is no longer the best you’ll find on a point-and-shoot camera. Other pocket models, including the Samsung TL500, now employ twice-as-sharp 920k-dot screens.

The S100 performed admirably in our speed tests, taking 2.3 seconds to start up and grab a shot, and it can capture another photo every half second in continuous shooting mode. Shutter lag measured at only 0.3 second, which is an excellent score for a camera that you can slide into your pocket.

I used the Imatest software suite to measure the camera’s sharpness and image noise performance. The S100 scored exceptionally well in the sharpness test, recording 1,989 lines per picture height. A score of 1,800 is considered to be acceptably sharp, making the SIOO’s score especially impressive when you consider its small form factor.

The Canon PowerShot S100 takes everything the S95 did right and improves on it. Even though the S95 is still available through retail channels, the longer zoom range, faster recycle time, and GPS make the S100 well worth the extra $30.

Despite having no manual controls and no RAW shooting mode, the 18X-optical zoom CooLpix S9100 should please both novices and pros, It has a great blend of creative automated controls and overall versatility that will make you forget about manual controls. If you want a long-zoom camera that can fit in your pocket, is easy to use, rarely takes a bad photo, and never gets boring, the S9100 is among the best.

The S9100 turned in the best overall score we’ve seen for a point-and-shoot camera in our testing for image quality. Its aggregate score for all four of our image-testing categories was the highest of any camera we’ve evaluated in the past year.

In its basic auto mode, the CooLpix S9100 earned Very Good scores for color accuracy, exposure quality, and Lack of distortion. In sharpness, it received a score of Good. Like many cameras, it has a tendency to make colors more vivid than they are in the real world, Besides two auto modes— a regular mode, and a scene-based one that chooses the applicable preset depending on the environment—the CooLpix S9100 offers 14 scene modes and an Easy Panorama mode.

The X100 is expensive, but there are enough committed camera fans out there for Fujifilm to have judged it worthwhile investing development resources in this fixed-lens camera.

The fully manual 12.3Mp camera is built from magnesium-alloy and has an APS-C sensor crammed in. The aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation settings can all be checked before you switch on the X100. A 2.8in LCD offers an alternative viewing and composition option. There’s also a dedicated RAW button, which lets you switch between uncompressed shooting and processing mode.

The camera weighs 445g and is a chunky 54mm thick, so you won’t want to take it out and about on the off-chance it will get used. It’s anything but a point-and-shoot model, and has plenty of quirks.

Having spent some quality time with this camera this summer, we can attest to the fact that the Fujifilm X100 amply rewards patient use. A less complex (and less expensive) model, the £560 Fujifilm FinePix X10, is also available.

Not everyone wants to spend hundreds of pounds on a digital camera. The Kodak EasyShare M5370 packs in plenty for its £129 price tag. You get a 16Mp CCD, video capture, and support for direct uploading to a range of photo-sharing sites and social networks, plus in-camera editing to finesse your images.

EasyShare software can automatically recognize that there’s someone in shot that looks a lot like a person in a previous photo and suggest they might be one and the same. If so, the face detection and tagging beloved of Facebook form a formidable alliance and pre-tag your photos ready for uploading. When you next turn on the camera, it’ll group photos in the gallery by subject, making it faster to find the best photo of a particular person.

A 5x optical zoom, image stabilization and 20 scene presets all feature on this likable budget camera.

Panasonic’s smallest Micro Four Thirds camera to date, the GF3 Is aimed at less-than-hardcore photographers: there’s no accessory port on top and very few buttons to confuse newbies.

Having said that, it’s no entry-level lightweight. The touchscreen Interface – unique in this company ֊ means the lack of controls doesn’t limit usability to any great degree, and there are some impressive features here: full HD video at 60fps In the telly-friendly AVCHD format, for instance (although those HD images are set against mono sound).

Autofocus is the fastest of any model here too, and yet the GF3 doesn’t really excel when it comes to the natty gritty of still photo quality. Snaps look fine when small, but blow them up on your monitor and there’s plenty of grain to be seen, with noise visible even at the lowest IS0160 setting.

Don’t get us wrong – the photos aren’t bad at all ֊ but given the price tag you might expect something a bit cleaner at low ISO The Sony and Samsung cameras perform better in this regard, so perhaps it’s down to the slightly smaller size of the MFT sensor. Whatever the reason, it’s enough to keep it in the second tier here.

A camera doesn’t need to be packed to the gills with fancy electronics in order to take decent photos.

Lomo’s La Sardina analogue film cameras deliberately allow you to produce photos containing images laid over each other. In fact, the guide that comes with this 35mm camera suggests creative subjects for multi-exposure photos.

The oversized flash bulb is detachable and is the one concession to electronics. The La Sardina’s flash requires a single CR123A battery.

Coloured filters that fit over the camera lens offer a low-tech means of adding variety to your shot in the absence of zoom, art filters and f-stop adjustments. The La Sardina’s very simplicity allows you to focus on the subject and how they’re framed, rather than the mechanics of taking the shot.

You have probably seen images of this camera on television and in magazines. Yes, it’s the one where you see the LCD panel fanning out in various angles. The first thing you will notice, therefore, is the LCD that opens up rather like a page in a book. It allows you knew viewing angles, though it achieves half the 360 degrees movement of the display in more advanced cameras. The second thing you will notice is how thin the camera is. It is less than an average finger width with the LCD closed down and, therefore, could deceive you into thinking it is a smartphone. These features make the MV800 a device of which you could proudly claim, “Mine is smaller than yours.’’

Unlike most other cameras, the various options are accessed on a smartphone-like “homepages”. Placed like widgets on the monitor, you can touch these icons to get to the modes (smart auto, smart movie, 3D photo, scene mode, beauty shot, etc) as you would on a phone. It’s amazing how such a tiny device is capable of so much, including 3D photographs and “live” panorama shots (essentially video panoramas that also double up as stills). The results are good, though some functions seem a little fussy.

Piping the Canon EOS 60D to the winning post, the Nikon D7000 offers great image quality, image depth and wide dynamic range. Its weather-sealed construction allows for shooting in extreme conditions. With a 39-point autofocus system, shutter speed of 30 to 1/4000 sec, auto ISO 100 to 6,400, this sturdy shooter packs in a punch with panache. It has fast focusing and a large bright viewfinder with 100 per cent coverage and a comprehensive feature set that all make a for superb shooting capability.