The digital camera market can be a confusing place. You can now buy a compact, prosumer or DSLR camera for around the same price. HP has stayed clear of the DSLR market and instead has concentrated on its range of seven compacts

If ever there was a camera designed to kill off the idea that megapixels are all you need in a compact snapper this is it. In fact, Fujifilm is generally 'anti' the massive megapixel concept...

Canon's Digital IXUS range of cameras has virtually become a byword forcombining style with performance. But with the new IXUS 65, Canon has a fight on its hands.

The Ixus is a well-made and likeable snapper, let down only by a lack of proper anti-shake technology

Nikon's new pocket cameras, the Coolpix P4 and P3, a similarly specified version with WiFi capability, boast Nikon's excellent Vibration Reduction (Nikon-speak for image stabilisation), as well as along list of other desirable features

While many compact cameras seem content to deliver 5Mp, the new Sony DSC-N1 opts for an 8.1Mp sensor, which is enough to put some D-SLRs in the shade. Indeed, it can churn out images with a whopping 3,264 x 2,448 pixels.

Digital cameras have a well-earned reputation as some of the most fragile gadgets you can buy. Screens crack, buttons fall off, lenses grind to a halt and just a few drops of water can kill one deader than disco.

Few things slip into your pocket and look better than Apple's black nano, but Fujifilm's FinePix Z2 comes pretty close. There's a svelte grace and finery to this camera that makes it a pleasure look at

Going grey is a sign of ageing but the PowerShot S3 IS wears it very well, trading in the ubiquitous silver of its predecessor for a much more classy looking gunmetal grey finish

The R4 enters a competitive part of the compact market place. Priced at just under £250, the main flaw of its predecessor was the 5.2 megapixel sensor. So as expected, the R4 now sports a 6-megapixel sensor...

Design-wise, the Coolpix S6 could have been made by Apple - not least because it features the industry's first iPod-style click-wheel. Its stylish metallic case slips into the hand with consummate ease.

FujiFilm dubs this the 'next-generation digital compact camera', placing heavy emphasis on design and looks in a nod to rival glamour compacts such as the Casio EXILIM range. The metal two-tone body is well built and reassuringly solid...

When Canon introduced the 12.8-megapixel full-frame EOS 5D with its new print-ready Picture Styles options, we knew the follow-up to the hugely successful 8.2MP EOS 20D was on its way

It's unlikely that anything with a Sony badge would be poorly built,and the new DSC-N1 manages to be small, sophisticated and well puttogether. The sleek lines owe a lot to the almost total absence of buttons

Koreans can buy Renault-Samsung cars, cover them with Samsung insurance, fill them with Samsung-refined petrol and take a trip to the Samsung Everland amusement park. But up until now, you couldn't buy a Samsung digital SLR.

The new Caplio R30 has a really solid feel about it and the styling isvery slick and compact. Pick it up and you get an immediate sense ofgood quality, while the fact that the body slants backwards slightly atthe right hand edge...

There's more to the Optio WPi's build quality than meets the eye, as it's completely sealed against the elements to the extent that you can submerge it underwater for up to 30 minutes, at depths of up to 1.5m

Panasonic is now a serious player in the prosumer arena. The latest attempt to take the casual user by storm is the DMC-LZ5, a camera that sits among the bigger compact cameras and has more than enough headline features to pull its weight

The LS2 is one of those cameras that looks more expensive than it actually is. The build quality and finish are exemplary and easily good enough to embarrass some cameras costing twice the price

When you think that plenty of D-SLR cameras only offer 6Mp resolution, it's quite something that you can get the same number of pixels out of a £120 compact camera.

Nikon has an on-going fascination with twistable cameras. The latest model is the the Coolpix S4, with its 6Mp sensor and hefty 10x zoom lens squeezed into a flat-ish design that can only be described as 'camcorder fallenover'

The Nikon Coolpix P1 has stunning image quality and raft of high-end features, but do you really need 8Mp? In the P2, you get a practically identical camera to the P1 but with amore sensible 5Mp sensor and a sizeable heap of money off

You can walk into some branches of Tesco nowadays and pick up a 5Mp camera for well under £100, but not with a quality badge on the front, and big names in photography don't come much bigger than Kodak

Build QualityHP seldom builds flimsy kit and the Photosmart R817 lives up to expectations, with a sturdy metal case and a complete lack of protruding knobs and buttons that would risk getting knocked off

Like most types of gadget, some digital compact cameras simply looklike quality items, while others don't. The FinePix F11 is definitelyin the former category, with a beautifully styled metal body and neatlyarranged buttons and dials