At last, a manufacturer who realises that it's not all about megapixels. Kodak has gone to great lengths to hone the P850's handling and performance. Indeed the "P" in the title indicates that this compact has membership of Kodak's exclusive performance range.

So how does the P850 measure up against its stable mates and contemporaries? Well, this newest addition to the Kodak range jostles for position amongst Panasonic's FZ30 and Canon's S2 IS.

At the heart of the new P850 is an all-glass Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon Zoom lens that offers an impressive 12x (36 mm-432 mm) optical zoom range. Such a wide range should attract experienced photographers who need the reach but don't want the bulk of a "proper" SLR system.

To ensure the powerful German optics perform at their best, Kodak has developed its own image stabilization technology which claims to offer a full 2-stop advantage over standard lenses. As a result it's possible to use the P850 handheld at the full extent of the zoom without being overly concerned about a blurry image.

With such a powerful zoom the use of an electronic viewfinder is essential, however Kodak has chosen an excellent 237,000 pixel electronic viewfinder to provide a big, bright image. Equipped with both a large 2.5" TFT display and refined EVF, the P850 enables you to easily check the focus or review your photos, complete with extensive shot setting info.

Both displays offer access to the camera's entire interface, including the admirable realtime histogram, which can really help you to get the best contrast without overexposing your compositions.

The P850's 5-megapixel sensor feeds into a modest 32MB of internal memory that Kodak has opted to backup with an SD card slot. The camera auto detects when a card is inserted and always gives the SD media priority.

An internal memory obviously has the benefit of being useful even after purchasing a sensibly sized card. However it does mean you can't easily use the camera with any of the new wave of printing kiosks.