If there's someone in your life without a digital camera, there's never been a better time to get them started. Compact cameras now offer 8-12 megapixels for under $500, and provide large LCDs for easy viewfinding and shot setup as well as automatic face recognition, multiple focal points and more!

Forget gold plated and diamond encrusted – if you've got three grand to spare and don't mind weighty snappers, this is the camera to blow it on

Using a Canon lens and sharing a chunky, rectangular design, the 5-megapixel QV-5700 bears more than a passing resemblance to the PowerShot G5. The G5 has a 4x optical zoom against Casio’s 3x, though, and several other features, such as time-lapse shooting, are missing.

Still a great looking camera that's foolproof to use, but Wi-Fi's now only half the feature it was

The Nikon Coolpix 5400 is the descendent of the Coolpix 5000. In the revamp, it has gained a new 1/1.8in CCD and 4x optical zoom but also loses a couple of useful features, like the LCD status panel and RAW file mode. True, there is a TIFF option, but this is a backwards move in our view.

It sets out to create photo-realistic 3D models from 2D photos and illustrations, with the barest of tool sets and minimum user input.

[NOTE: This is an older Konica Minolta camera, and is no longer available in Australia.] A bit of an ugly bug, maybe, but an amazing zoom range and full-on photographic control in a camera half the size of an SLR

Forget the low-ish pixel-count, this camera has the lot: handling, features and image quality. Add that to the high-powered battery, good for a claimed 2000 shots, and you have a real belter

A pint-sized camera that packs a punch, with consistently good performance in all conditions

In issue 119 of PC Authority, we took eighteen cameras and put their images under the microscope. Now you can too.

Olympus first introduced SLR (single lens reflex) to digital cameras in early 1998 in the form of the Camedia C-1400L.

The E-510 has a barrowful of features and is a joy to use but we miss the size and convenience of the cheaper E-410

At first sight a pocketable gem, this all too often lives up to its budget price

The digital still camera is a treat to use.

The PowerShot G series has earned Canon a good reputation and, thankfully, the G5 does nothing to dent it. Not that it will win awards for styling, as the G5 remains slightly boxy for our liking and the casing has more plastic than the G3. It also feels every gram of its 487g weight; the similarly heavy Fuji S5000 is more comfortable to hold and use.

The best compact Sony yet, with bags of features squeezed into a very stylish package.

The 5-megapixel DSC-V1 offers a great combination of features and performance in a relatively small body. While it’s smaller than its prime competitors – the Canon G5 and the Nikon 5400 – there are even smaller models in this month’s company.

Sony’s high-end cameras have consistently impressed us at PC Authority, but just recently they’ve fallen short of Labs Winner status. The DSC-F717 changes all that, with its heady mix of image quality, features and design propelling it to the top of the pile.

A superzoom without stabiliser is like a car without suspension. Prepare for a rocky ride

How much? Never mind what the LX-1 costs, just see what it does – yes, it’s pricey, but boy is it worth it