Whether you’re a holiday snapper or a keen photographer, we’ve tested more than 170 cameras to help you find the Right Choice

Digital photography is great — it’s so much more versatile than film. You can see your pictures on the LCD screen, delete them if you don’t like them, shoot and shoot again, transfer them to computer to email them to friends, or post on websites like Flickr. And don’t forget that most can also record videos. Some of you may say that most mobile phones these days can also do this, so why bother buying a separate camera? For starters, cheap mobiles often include a low-quality camera, with a poor lens and few megapixels. As a result, the quality of the picture is much inferior to what you get on a good digital camera. However, better phones are starting to close the gap on cameras, with features such as autofocus and a xenon flash becoming a little more common, along with more megapixels. But picture quality, especially in low light, is still not as good as with a digital camera (see ‘Just as good?, July 2009). Digital cameras also have optical zooms (which phones rarely have), more powerful internal electronics, and a host of other features and settings to help you get a great shot. In this report, we bring you the test results of 34 of the latest compact cameras, large and small, of which 15 could be the Right Choice for you. If you’re really enthusiastic about photography and are looking for a camera to enhance your creativity, consider a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera. Most digital cameras nowadays have useful features like face detection and image stabilisation to help you take impressive photos — opposite, we explain which of these features are most useful.TO READ FURTHER... Please Login, Register or Subscribe