For a few dollars more: Ultracompact digital cameras--photos
While your budget for a new digital camera might be tight, see what you can get when you're able to save up $20 to $50 more for your next ultracompact camera.
Casio Exilim EX-S5
The good: Slim, pretty design; very good feature-to-price ratio; above average photo quality for its class.
The bad: Long shutter lag.
The bottom line: A budget ultracompact worth buying, the sub-$150 Casio Exilim EX-S5's only real issue is shutter lag.
Best price: $108.99 from NewEgg.com.
Nikon Coolpix S230
The good: Very good touch-screen LCD; simple operation; overall excellent design for its class.
The bad: Generally soft photos; mixed performance.
The bottom line: The Nikon Coolpix S230 is a decent ultracompact camera with a little extra wow factor of a touch-screen interface.
Best price: $159.99 from NewEgg.com.
Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS
The good: Attractive, ultracompact design; easy operation; well-rounded, basic feature set.
The bad: Photo quality dips above ISO 200; flat buttons can be difficult to press accurately.
The bottom line: Simple
and stylish, the sub-$230 Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS is a fine back-pocket camera
as long as your photo-quality expectations are reasonable.
Best price: $172.95 from B&H Photo.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W290
The good: Terrific design, interface, and controls; wide-angle, 5x zoom lens; excellent price-to-feature ratio.
The bad: No optical zoom while recording video; soft photos.
The bottom line: The sub-$250 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W290 is an excellent, well-balanced compact camera.
Best price:$219.97 from Vanns.com.
Canon PowerShot SD940 IS
The good: Very small; simple operation; very good photo, HD movie quality; HDMI out.
The bad: No optical zoom in Movie mode; mixed performance.
The bottom line: One of the best ultracompacts available, the sub-$300 Canon PowerShot SD940 IS nonetheless falls short of greatness in performance and photo quality.
Best price:$279 from 1StopCamera.com.
Samsung TL320
The good: Extremely large feature set; solid, high-end design.
The bad: Photo quality dips above ISO 200.
The bottom line: The sub-$380 Samsung TL320's myriad shooting options make it a very good dSLR companion, but the photo quality and performance are definitely those of a point-and-shoot camera.
Best price: $299.99 from JR.com
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