If you’re looking for a basic compact digital camera to point-and-shoot on the go, the Pentax Optio E60 is a likely candidate.

In terms of image quality and customisation, the E60 isn’t about to win any awards, but given the $149 RRP, it would be ridiculous to expect it to.

The Pentax Optio E60 is a very compact camera that can be carried comfortably in most bags and some pockets, weighing in at well under 200g. It features a basic black-and-silver body with big buttons, which is handy for anyone with larger or unsteady fingers.

Given that the E60 is intended to be an entry-level camera, it’s no surprise that features are thin on the ground. There are 17 shooting modes, including a program mode, which lets you select the ISO sensitivity and focus area - this is about the extent of any possible customisation with this camera.

While image quality isn’t a world-beater, it isn’t too shabby either. Colours are vibrant and photos turn out relatively natural-looking. It can also record JPEG video in 640×480 quality.

Click here to find offers on Pentax digital cameras from retailers near you.

By Caroline Warnes

The Alpha A900 is the flagship model of Sony’s digital SLR camera range, and is the first to be aimed at professional users.

Sony only entered the dSLR camera market in mid-2006, so it’s unsurprising that the manufacturer is only coming out with its first professional camera now. The Sony Alpha A900 is intended to be a competitor to full-frame professional cameras from other manufacturers, such as the Nikon D700.

The feature set of the A900 will prove to be very appealing to professional users, especially Intelligent Preview. This function allows you to temporarily capture your image on the LCD screen, so you can then make adjustments to the manual settings.

Other features of note include Creative Styles (customise brightness, sharpness etc), D-Range Optimizer (expand the dynamic range) and Zone (keeps highlight or shadow detail).

The design of the A900 is similar to the dSLR cameras from Sony that have come before it. It’s not the smallest dSLR around, weighing in at more than 850g, but it isn’t the heaviest, either. There is an LCD screen on the back of the camera which you can use to access and edit your settings.

Sony has also provided some nice accessories with this digital camera. The camera is also compatible with Konica Minolta lenses.

Click here to find offers on Sony digital cameras from retailers near you.

By Caroline Warnes

Following on from the successful R8 model of 2008 is the Ricoh R10.

It’s a stylish and relatively affordable compact digital camera, boasting classic retro styling and a recommended retail price of $499.

Ricoh’s compact digicam line really offers something different when it comes to appearances. While other manufacturers are striving to make compacts as slim and modern-looking as possible, Ricoh is embracing a chunky retro design. The R10 comes in either black, silver or brown.

Despite its retro appearance, the Ricoh R10’s features are thoroughly of-the-moment. It’s a 10-megapixel model that offers 7.1x optical zoom and a 28mm wide-angle lens, which is slightly better than most models in this price range. Other features include face detection, backlight compensation and 1cm macro as well as 10 scene modes and two customisable user modes.

The heart of the camera is a 3-inch LCD screen, which is lined on the right-hand side with buttons to access the menus and other functions. You access the menus using the mini-joystick.

The Ricoh R10’s performance is also right up there. Colours and black-and-whites are both good, although it does face some issues with noise.

Click here to find offers on digital cameras from retailers near you.

By Caroline Warnes

Despite being easy to use, the Ricoh Caplio R8 actually packs a fair punch for a camera in this price range.

While it doesn’t offer a full set of manual controls, or shutter or aperture priority, the R8 does allow control over the automatic mode, allowing you to set the mimum shutter and aperture speed as well as the maximum ISO level.

You can also tweak other features including the exposure, white balance and colour settings, giving you a fair amount of control over your images.

The Ricoh R8 is also an extremely fast camera, with a wait time of around two seconds between shots. Image quality is also good.

One noteworthy feature of the R8 is its older-style design. Ricoh seems to be attempting to caputre a retro feel with the black body and silver accents.

Click here to find offers on Ricoh digital cameras from retailers near you.

By Caroline Warnes

The D700 is the latest addition to Nikon’s range of professional digital SLR cameras.

It is also the first “compact” addition to the pro dSLR range. With the D700, Nikon has attempted to combine most of the feature set of the Nikon D3 in a camera roughly the same size as the D300.

That being said, the D700 is not exactly lightweight. It weighs in at just under 1kg, which places it somewhere in the middle of its class (Canon has a comparable model that weighs over 150g less).

It features the same 12-megapixel CMOS as the D3, which is also slightly less than the top performers in its class. However if you don’t require very high-resolution images, you may be willing to trade off for the feature set. It offers a host of customisation options, which will keep most professional users more than happy.

While the 12-megapixel resolution may not be enough for some pro users, the image quality is still very good. The main consideration will be whether you need large high-resolution images. If so, you will need to look further up the Nikon range or at comparable models by the likes of Canon.

Click here to find offers on Nikon digital cameras from retailers near you.

By Caroline Warnes

The just-released Mju 1040 from Olympus is an entry-level model that is the manufacturer’s most affordable yet.

Carrying a recommended retail price of just $299, this model is already proving popular given Olympus’ strong reputation in the compact digital camera arena.

Features include 10.1-megapixels of resolution, 3x optical zoom and a 2.7-inch LCD display. High quality images are practically assured, given the Olympus TruePic III image-processing engine as well as the inclusion of Intelligent Auto, Shadow Adjust and Face Detect technology.

And then there is the Mju 1040’s very stylish design. Not only is it very slim and compact (it weighs just over 100 grams), but it also comes in three fashionable colours: Mirro, Phantom and Hot Chilli (that’s silver, black and red in laymans’ terms).

Buy an Olympus Mju 1040 digital camera from Myer before December 24 and you will go into the draw to win a $20,000 store gift card. More details on the competition here.

Click here to find offers on Olympus digital cameras and accessories from retailers near you.

By Caroline Warnes

If looks are any indication of success, then the Canon EOS 50D digital SLR camera should be a world-beater.

It looks almost identical to the Canon EOS 40D, which proved to be immensely popular when it hit the market late in 2007.

The 50D is not intended to be a replacement model for the 40D. Instead it builds on the features and functions of the earlier model to present a package is slightly superior, but also slightly more expensive.

One of the most noticeable differences between the two models is the improvement to the LCD screen on the 50D. It presents images that are far more lifelike and detailed than before, and also comes with an anti-reflection coating so viewing in bright light isn’t a problem.

Another new inclusion is Creative Auto mode, which is an advanced automatic mode. Canon has also made improvements to auto focus and face detection functions. Unfortunately, one noticeable exclusion is video recording.

Given its exceptional predecessor, most aspects of the EOS 50D’s performance are excellent. Most noticeably, the upgrade to a Digic 4 processor gives improved image quality, as does the 15.1-megapixel sensor (up from 10.1 in the 40D).

Click here to find offers on Canon EOS digital SLR cameras from retailers near you.

By Caroline Warnes

The 1050SW is a new addition to Olympus’s rugged Tough Smart range of compact digital cameras, designed to withstand outdoor use.

While previous models in the range have a sporty, unisex design, the 1050SW is the first Tough Smart digital camera to attempt a more stylish look and feel.

Olympus says the camera is aimed at young families and active women, which is fairly obvious through the sleek styling and colour choices for the chassis (silver, pale pink, black, pale gold and dark blue).

However the 1050SW still incorporates the hardy specifications of its predecessors in the Olympus Tough Smart range. It is claimed to be shockproof to 1.5m, waterproof to 3m and snowproof to -10 degrees Celsius.

It features a 10.1-megapixel CCD as well as face detection and shadow adjust technologies - in fact, the Olympus 1050SW will recognised up to 16 individual faces, even when shooting outdoors.

Another new feature is “tap control”. This allows you to play back a photo simply by tapping anywhere on the exterior of the camera.

The Olympus Tought Smart 1050SW compact digital camera carries a recommended retail price of $399.

Click here to find offers on Olympus digital cameras from retailers near you.

By Caroline Warnes

Due to arrive later this month, the Nikon D90 is the world’s first dSLR camera with high definition (HD) video, according to the manufacturer.

That means you can use your dSLR camera to shoot high-quality movies - in fact, it’s all you’ll need to take on holiday.

The Nikon D90 features 12.3-megapixels effective resolution combined with the manufacturer’s proprietary image processing technology and a wide sensitivity range of ISO 200 to 3200.

Another nice feature is the Scene Reconigtion System, which is integrated with the facial recognition technology to accurately read the colour and brightness information of each scene.

But the real standout of the package is the high definition video capability. The Nikon D90 lets you shoot in movie mode at 320×216p, 640×424p or 720p - or high definition. Shooting in HD mode at 24 frames per second virtually gives you movie-quality images.

You can also purchase different NIKKOR lenses to complement the movie functionality, including fisheye, wide-angle and super-telephoto.

The Nikon D90 will retail for $1549.

Click here to find offers on Nikon digital cameras from retailers near you.

By Caroline Warnes

The Canon PowerShot SX100 IS is a budget-priced superzoom compact digital camera.

It was released late last year and so far has proved popular with digital photographers looking for a quality superzoom camera for under the $300 mark.

The Canon PowerShot SX100 IS features an 8.0-megapixel resolution, 10x optical zoom with image stabiliser and a 2.5-inch LCD. For a superzoom camera, the SX100 is actually relatively compact - it weighs in at under 300 grams and will fit into some pocket.

There is also a nice array of manual and automatic controls as well as face detection and some scene modes.

Last - but definitely not least - the Canon PowerShot SX100 IS really excels when it comes to image quality. You will not be disappointed with the sharpness and depth of the images produced by this camera in this price range.

Click here to find offers on Canon digital cameras from retailers near you.

By Caroline Warnes