cameras3 digital buyersguides Virgin Media
£600
Performance: Small, light and boasting the very latest SLR technology, this reasonably priced big boy is state of the art.
Love: Extremely portable. Fabulous images.
Hate: Menus are a bit drab.
£400
Performance: Ignore the fact that there are only six megapixels and bask in those stunning images. The price is pretty alluring too.
Love: Takes great photos. Very cheap for an SLR.
Hate: Soft optics at times. Slow menus.
£400
Performance: For 400 quid you get a ten-meg Canon that takes superb pictures. What more could you want?
Love: Superb picture quality. Solidly built, but surprisingly light.
Hate: The anti-dust system is tantalisingly less than perfect.
£240
Performance: Has a capable 12-meg sensor, ISO 6400 for really dark shots and face detection.
Love: Blisteringly fast. Great, big, fat images.
Hate: Slightly too many features, if anything.
£300
Performance: This has a 3.8x zoom instead of the usual 3x, and takes superbluous photographs.
Love: Good spec. Easy to use. Beautiful pictures.
Hate: Pretty heavy. Slightly pricier than the norm.
£280
Performance: For 400 quid you get a tenmegapixel camera that takes superb pictures.
Love: Impressive 7x optical zoom. Good video.
Hate: Annoying zoom lever. Wobbly focus.
£795
Performance: Tiny, but packed with features, has a three-CCD sensor and shoots in Full HD.
Love: Size. Brilliant HD fi lms. Triple-CCD sensor.
Hate: Fiddly menu access.
£1,000
Performance: A 100GB Hi-Def camcorder, which uses x.v.Colour tech to deliver eye bleedingly bright colours. The best HD shooter around.
Love: Beautiful HD video. Masses of storage.
Hate: A video light would be nice.
£600
Performance: Want to shoot 1080i footage with
just your thumb? Check out this palm ’corder.
Love: Design. Simplicity. Style. Price.
Hate: Hate Low capacity. Lens cap isn’t integrated.
£330
Performance: With an 18x zoom, the Lumix produces colourful, blur-free shots. Superb.
Love: Biggest lens in town. Stunning stabilisation.
Hate: It’s not as fast as some of its rivals.
£360
Performance: A 12x zoom, rock-solid stabilisation
and an Ultrasonic lens makes for stunning pics.
Love: Fast lens. Folding, sensitive screen.
Hate: Too many buttons. Heavy.
£170
Performance: The S5700 is an affordable and competent seven-megapixel camera that’s ideal for the novice photographer about town.
Love: Easy to use. Cheap as you like.
Hate: “Only” a 10x zoom. LCD could be bigger.
