Given a rating of three and a half stars out of five, the Samsung NV20 is virtually indistinguisable from the older NV10 model that we reviewed a year ago, both in terms of appearance and features.

A premium-level product that is both well made and well thought out, the notable changes are an increase in resolution to 12.1 megapixels, expansion of the ISO range to 80-3200, and the addition of a Face Detection system. None of these changes really improve the camera - indeed, the new sensor actually makes the image quality worse than before, and has seemingly been included just to look good on the specification sheet.

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The Samsung S85 may look a little dull, but it is a well-made camera with a useful range of features, very good performance and surprisingly excellent picture quality. It has a few odd quirks and is a bit fiddly to operate, but considering the sub-£100 price tag it represents astonishing value for money.

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The Kodak Easyshare V1253 comes across as an average 12 megapixel camera from Kodak. While we are impressed with some of the images, we can’t but help that if you are a party goer, you will be disappointed with the performance and the images the next morning. We also don’t like the fact that to benefit from this camera the most, ie use the full 3-inch screen, you have to shoot in 9 megapixels.

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Panasonic has created a really nice ultra zoom camera in the FZ18, though once again, image quality needs improvement. It’s clear from shooting in RAW mode that the camera is capable of capturing a lot of detail, but unfortunately the Venus III engine removes a lot of it in the name of noise reduction.

If you’re a typical point-and-shoot user who will be sticking to smaller-sized prints, then this really isn’t an issue, and you’ll be very satisfied with the Panasonic Lumiz DMC-FZ18. But, if you’re making large prints, viewing them at 100% on your computer screen, or shooting at high ISOs, then you can still love the camera, but be prepared to post-process to get the best results. While it’s not the ultra zoom image quality champion, the FZ18 has so much to offer that it easily earns my recommendation.

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For a rock-bottom price the Pentax Optio E40 offers good build quality, elegant design and a surprisingly complete set of features. Performance is a bit on the slow side, but it will reliably take usable pictures in most lighting conditions. Where it falls down however is on final image quality, with noise problems at all ISO setting.

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