Canon’s latest entry-level compact is a stylish little number. It’s been designed to be as intuitive and simple to use as possible, yet with its large image sensor, surprisingly good image quality and an array of auto shooting modes, it offers an appealing overall package for the money.

The Canon PowerShot A495 is a nice looking camera with a well thought out and ergonomic design that feels good in the hand. It’s also well built and sturdy considering its entry-level price. You can pick it up in three different colours to suit: red, blue or the silver and black combo. There’s a 10 megapixel sensor at the heart of the A495, a modest 3.3x optical zoom and support for Canon’s DIGIC III image processing engine. One area that leaves us a little wanting is the 2.5-inch LCD that only has a 115k pixel resolution. This is really the first and only sign of the entry-level price tag impacting on an otherwise decent specification. There is also no optical viewfinder present, so you’ll have to use the LCD for framing up shots – something becoming increasingly common in the entry level sector.

We mentioned this camera has been designed to be easy to use, the Smart Auto shoot modes automatically detects the optimal settings from 18 reference points in an effort to get the best shooting conditions with little effort from the end user. Another interesting option is the FaceSelf Timer, which allows you to setup a group shot on a timer and wait until it recognise that another face has entered the shot before taking the snap – pretty cool. While some of the above auto options do limit the camera’s flexibility, they work well and will suit casual users looking to get good quality shots without having to get too technical in the options menus.

General performance should be difficult to fault and image quality is reported to be excellent, especially in outdoor scenes where it produces vivid colours and great brightness levels. Chromatic aberrations are said to be minimal and the 3.3x zoom lens – while certainly not that wide by today’s standards – should still useable for landscape shots.

The Canon PowerShot A495 is the ideal choice for someone looking for good image quality in a simplistic package. It should produce very good pictures in almost all situations and most importantly it’s designed to be easy to use, so shouldn’t require fiddling around with. The end result is an ideal compact for casual users then, and a good one at that.

Panasonic’s digital cameras of late have been very strong performers with very little bad apples to be found across their entire line up. The Lumix FS33 part of Panasonics latest compacts for 2010 that launched this January brings some exciting new features to the table and solid performance to boot.

The Lumix FS33 is solidly built and looks rather sexy with its brushed aluminium facia. It’s available in no less than five colours to suit pretty much anyone out there: silver, black, red, blue and violet. In terms of size and weight, its right in line with what you’d expect, fitting nicely in ones hand and weighting just 140g minus its Li-ion battery.

One of the most interesting features of the FS33 has got to be the 3.0-inch 230,000 pixel touch-screen with anti-reflective coating. You can select focus and metering areas by simply tapping the screen, or flick your finger across the screen to shuffle through your various shots. It all feels very iPod-like and rather intuitive. You’ll also find a 14.1 megapixel sensor and 8x image-stabilized optical zoom 28mm wide angle Leica lens – great for keeping snaps on the move blur free. Rounding of the specifications is its HD video recording capability, allowing for excellent quality images and sound at 720p and 30fps.

The Lumix FS33 is brimming with features and luckily its performance certainly matches the spec sheet. Shutter time is measured at just 0.06 seconds and ISO modes that range from 80 right up to 6400 indicate excellent potential here for low light conditions. When taken as a complete package the Lumix FS33 is certainly a worthy model for a 2010 refresh bringing a touch screen, higher ISO modes and a 14.1 megapixel sensor in a good looking body and at an affordable price. What’s not to like? If you don’t care for the touch screen, save yourself some cash and get the Lumix FS30 which is pretty much the same camera bar the touch screen LCD.

Sony’s latest super budget compact, the S2000, is a no frills point and shoot. Compared to the competition, things don’t look so hot in the features department. However, its image quality is very good, making it a matter of sacrificing a few features in exchange for quality pictures.

Launched this January, the Sony Cyber-shot S2000 is an attractive compact that feels very nice in the hand thanks to some good ergonomics. It’s also very solidly constructed and weighs just 125g excluding the two AA batteries needed to power it. You’ll find a 10 megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom lens, and a 2.5-inch 230k pixel LCD on the back. As is becoming increasingly common in digital cameras this year, there is no optical viewfinder present. There is also support for high ISO modes, ranging from 100 to 3200 and a few cool features like face detection and smile shutter – the latter once setup only takes a snap when it detects a subjects smile. While the S2000 does support video recording (what digital camera doesn’t?), it isn’t HD, only supporting maximum of 640×480 at 30fps. Compared to the competition at this budget focused end of the spectrum the S2000 doesn’t look so hot with many out there offering larger sensors, LCDs, and HD video. However, photo quality is the focus here and it shows.

Image quality on the Sony S2000 is reportedly very good, producing sharp, detailed images and natural colours that are clearly better than many in its price range. Low light conditions are also well handled, producing low noise images with ISO levels up to 400. Video recording is said to be standard fare though, but they should still look quite nice even if there is no support for 720p.

While you do sacrifice some bells and whistles for the Sony brand name, the S2000 is capable of producing images above its RRP. If your order of importance is price strictly followed by image quality, the Sony DSC S200 is a great choice.

The Fujifilm FinePix AV100 is a budget-friendly compact point and shoot launched this February. It has a very respectable feature-set and is capable of producing solid images at a fab price.

The FinePix AV100 is truly entry-level in price terms, yet it doesn’t skimp where it matters. In fact, looking at its general specification you can’t help but be pleasantly surprised at what it manages to pack in. It uses a 12.2 megapixel sensor and sports a 3x optical zoom lens, but sadly no image stabilization.

You’ll also find a 2.7-inch 230k pixel LCD on the back, but no optical viewfinder – an increasingly common occurrence in 2010 models. The AV100 supports a nice amount of ISO modes, ranging from 100 to 1600 and we also find reasonably solid HD video recording abilities here with 720p support at 24 fps and mono sound, but one frustrating drawback reported by reviewers is that you cannot record audio if you want to use the optical zoom, and this does end up limiting its splendour. Build quality is solid, feeling good in the hand and only weighing in at around 120g excluding the 2xAA batteries required. You’ll be able to find the AV100 available in black or silver finishes.

You should find the AV100 capable of producing vibrant images in good light conditions with minimal noise and barrel distortion. Low light use is reportedly not so impressive but still good, but you may find anything above ISO 400 brings noise levels to unacceptable levels. Video recording in use should be actually rather pleasant and it’s nice that zoom is available in some form, even if you do have to trade in audio recording to get it.

As a holiday snapper or casual use camera on a budget, the FinePix AV100 is a good option. It might lack optical image stabilization but if this isn’t a major concern to you and price is, you can’t really go wrong here.

For countless years, Canons A series of digital cameras have continuously set the standard in the price/performance segment, bringing many higher-end features down to the masses as they come and go. Canon’s PowerShot A1100 has a legacy of greats behind it and thankfully it delivers the goods, again.

The Canon A1100 has a well built, quality feel to it, clearly using high quality materials. It’s reasonably compact, easily fitting in the palm of your hand and weighs just 155 grams (minus batteries and flash card). Feature wise we find a 2.5-inch 230,000 pixel LCD, 12.1 megapixel sensor and a 4x optical zoom lens with image stabilisation to help avoid blurry shots while on the move. It also has Canons DIGIC 4 processing engine and no less than 18 shoot modes with greatly improved ‘Easy’ modes with Scene Detection Technology for instant point-and-shoot gratification.

You’ll also find Face Detection, Face Select & Track, i-Contrast, Motion Detection and Auto Red-Eye Correction, too. The A1100 continues the A series tradition of power being handled by 2xAA batteries (supplied), good for about 125 shots. The Start up time is speedy, taking less than 1.5 seconds, and about 3 seconds to zoom from wide to long.

Performance is solid across the board and it feels snappy in use (no pun intended). A slight dink in low light conditions mars an otherwise stunning show. Colours and exposure levels are good, with no chromatic aberration and little barrel distortion. The images are also noise free at ISO 80 and 100 with 200 being acceptable. Noise does start to creep in at the higher ISO levels – perfectly acceptable at this price range.

The Canon PowerShot A1100 is a great choice for those looking for an easy to use point and shoot that can get the best quality images from very little fiddling in menus. Equally it has enough power user options for more advanced work. The A1100 is an all-rounder with much to like at its currently aggressive price tag.

For the past 18 months and across the board, Panasonic’s digital cameras have continuously delivered strong performance. The Panasonic Lumix TZ7 has certainly helped to maintain this trend with fine looks, versatile performance and impressive image quality.

Panasonic’s Lumix TZ7 is a solidly well-built compact weighing in at 229 grams and comes in three different colours: black, brown or silver. It’s a handsome, robust looking thing. The TZ7 has a long list of features. For starters, you’ll find a 12.1 megapixel sensor under the hood but this is, in fact, a 10.1 megapixel camera. The reason behind this is that unlike many cameras in this price range, the T27 offers 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 aspect ratios without any cropping, so whichever aspect ratio you choose you will get full 10.1 megapixel images. Those who take a lot of landscape shots will undeniably appreciate this.

There’s also an excellent 25mm wide-angle Leica lens with 12x optical zoom and image-stabilisation to help avoid those blurry snaps while on the move. You’ll also find a large 3-inch 460,000 pixel wide-view LCD and impressive 720p HD video recording with stereo sound and progressive optical zoom. Finally, a rechargeable Li-ion 895 mAh battery completes the package, and should be good for around 300 shots on a single charge.

Performance in pretty much all areas is reportedly great. Users have experienced start up times of under two seconds, and image quality should be great thanks to the impressive Leica lens and sensor which has been designed to produce natural yet vibrant colours, very fine detail and neigh on perfect exposure every time at the lower ISO settings. The flash is also reasonably powerful, with a maximum range of 5.3m. The movie mode looks hugely impressive in both picture and sound departments, and is said to match the performance of–dare we say it–dedicated camcorders.

The Panasonic TZ7 is a versatile performer with no let downs in any area. There’s some strong competition at this price point, but the TZ7 is up there with the very best of them.