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Page 5 of 6  This model also has a swing-out LCD so it's visible from the font - good for shooting around corners ... OK, it's for self portraits.
Use the camera on Auto or put it in PICT and choose from seven exposure modes via the LCD - all the usual suspects. Separately on the dial there's also Movie and Night Scene, plus 3D. Other features include spot or five-point auto focus (with a spot-beam to assist focusing in low light), manual focus if you want it, five white points including tungsten and fluorescent, three metering systems and saturation, sharpness and contrast control, 12x magnification in the LCD for checking sharpness of pictures taken, histogram display, movies (without audio), auto bracketing (three pictures) and more. This also has the 3D feature and viewer. Results are well balanced. Pictures are sharp, it's bigger than the Pentax RS but it's still pocketable. |
 |  This is the Big Daddy of the newest members of the Optio range. Like the 330RS it has a compact, stainless steel body, built-in memory (11Mb) plus a Compact Flash slot and uses the same rechargeable battery (charger supplied). It also has 3D.
It has all the features of the 330RS - including the digital filters - with added resolution. Image processing is sophisticated and there's the very capable full auto mode for quick point-and-shoot but, like the other Pentax cameras, you have a lot of control should you start exploring. Despite the sophistication, it's very easy to use with thought going into button placement. (Like the 330RS, it's a little slow in use.)
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 |  The latest Samsung carries a three-times optical Schneider Kreuznach lens.
In use it's not very responsive - slow zooming and pauses between shots - but it feels rounded and comfortable after some of the smaller cameras I've been playing with and it ships with a 32Mb card - 39 high-resolution shots is good value, plus it ships with an excellent travel case. It takes short movies with sound, there's 10-second voice memo and focus modes accessed via a rear button: auto, manual and macro and there's Night Scene (or 'slow shutter'). Exposure can be centre-weighted or spot - a pattern exposure mode would be a nice addition. Playback is zoomable for checking. This is a simple-to-use, well laid out camera with an excellent lens. Results show vibrant, rich colours with good clarity and resolution. The flash is bright and can blow out highlights but it's impressive at night, as most other digital camera flashes have more limited range. | 
|  This is a bigger, sophisticated five-megapixel camera with a German Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonar lens. The large barrel of the Zeiss lens swivels up and down; the 'optical' viewfinder is electronic for night shot ... yes, you can play spies with this camera, and it works in very low light levels.
I liked having a ring to rotate on the lens for zooming - you can use a toggle-switch if you prefer. It takes very good pictures with red eye reduction, short movies, email and voice capabilities, two autofocus modes plus a setting for low-light portraits.
Add to that six white-point settings, several metering modes, optional manual focussing, shutter or aperture priority, full manual, bracketing, 100-800 ISO sensitivity, holographic autofocussing, shutter speeds up to 1/2000 and a histogram indicator in the viewfinder. An accessory hotshoe takes external flash units and there is pre-flash metering. The battery charges as you transfer files. The precision lens mapped to the five-megapixel CCD does not disappoint. Exhibiting excellent tonal range and a high level of precision, images captured by the F717 are bright, big and clear. | 
|  You'll be pleased to hear we were way off price-wise last issue with this model. Still, you'd be pretty upset if you lost it - it's easily small enough to slip into almost any pocket. The brushed metal case folds flat; the lens section rotating to turn the camera on in under a second. The 77 also comes with a classy Carl Zeiss lens but the camera doesn't have optical zooming; it has 'Smart Zoom' - switching between resolution settings to simulate zoom.
Using Memory Stick storage, the F77 comes with a USB cradle that charges the lithium battery while downloading images to your computer. With multi-point or centre-weighted autofocus, two-stop exposure compensation, five white point settings, four scene-selections, MPEG with audio, voice memo, built in flash, a 3.8cm LCD and optical viewfinder plus four picture effects, this is far more than just a stylish accessory for the glitterati. | 
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