The best compact digital cameras on the market these days are incredibly popular with consumers. Compacts appeal to a wide variety consumers because they are incredibly similar to entry-level cameras. The Canon Powershot SD20 is a very compact digital camera that comes packed with features including a one and a half inch LCD screen and a 6.5x digital zoom. The V1233 is a part of Kodak’s premium line of compact digital cameras. And others best like :
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 (silver)
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 is the company’s first attempt at a rugged compact camera and, generally speaking, it’s a success. In front is a 28mm-equivalent wide-angle lens shielded by an easily cleaned piece of glass or plastic. If you’re not paying attention, it’s very easy to miss a shot by mistaking the zoom for the shutter release.
Below the dial are standalone buttons for playback and movie recording. The main menu system features three tabs: one each for setup, photo settings, and movie settings. A Q.Menu button on back at the lower right brings up a vertical bar of shooting-mode-sensitive options. A program AE mode called Normal Picture gets you the most control over results with settings for focus, light metering, color effects, white balance, ISO, and exposure.
If you like scene modes, the TS1 has 27 of them with three of them on the Mode dial–Beach & Surf, Snow, Sports. As mentioned earlier, the camera’s Movie mode gets its own record button on back; one press and you’re recording. The TS1 is capable of 720p HD-quality video capture using the AVCHD Lite format.
Though our lab tests don’t necessarily exemplify speedy performance, the TS1 is, overall, the fastest rugged compact camera we’ve tested. Start-up to first shot is 1.2 seconds, while average shot-to-shot times were about 1.9 seconds. Between ISO 200 and 400, photos get a bit fuzzier and softer from noise reduction, but their detail is still fairly good. Unlike Canon’s PowerShot D10, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 is well suited for double duty as a rugged and everyday pocket camera.
Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR
If you follow camera sensor advancements, you’ve no doubt heard of the Fujifilm Super CCD EXR sensor that made its debut in the 12-megapixel compact FinePix F200EXR. Below the Mode dial is the F-mode button for bringing up a menu of shooting options specific to the mode you’re in. All other general camera controls–shooting priority, light metering, AF mode, continuous options, image stabilization–are under the main menu system, reached by pressing the Menu/OK button at the center of the directional pad.
For starters, there’s the namesake EXR mode. This consists of High Resolution Priority, D-Range Priority, High ISO & Low Noise Priority, and Auto EXR. Auto EXR is scene recognition that also recognizes which EXR Priority option to use. If you don’t want to use the EXR, there’s a regular Auto mode for more ordinary shooting that uses the camera’s full 12-megapixel resolution as well as 15 scene modes to choose from.
There’s a Natural Light mode for low-light shooting without the flash and a Natural with Flash that takes two pictures, one using available light and one with flash. The photo quality is excellent, particularly the dynamic range and high ISO performance using the EXR settings.
If you’re going to shoot in low light, I highly suggest using the EXR mode. Without the Super CCD EXR sensor, the Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR is a very good 12-megapixel compact camera with a lot of shooting options.
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