For only a little under $300, the DSC-W35 looks identical to its more expensive siblings: the W50 and W70. But the similarities are more than skin-deep. The DSC-W35 sports a 7.2-megapixel sensor and the same 3x optical zoom lens from Carl Zeiss.

Around the back is the only noticeable compromise – a 2in LCD rather than the 2.5in version of its stablemates – but the smaller size means the lower screen resolution isn’t a disadvantage. It isn’t difficult to see when your subject is in focus, as the default focus mode shows multiple points on-screen to indicate where it’s locked on.

You can change this to centre-weighted focusing or manual, and control over metering is also offered with the choice of multi, centre or spot. A crucial feature missing from most other cameras in this price range is flash compensation; the Sony lets you select between three positions depending on whether you want more or less power. You can view a live histogram, and sharpness and contrast can be altered in-camera, but not saturation.

Fortunately, this isn’t a problem, because all our test shots were perfectly saturated. Plus, overall image quality was superb for the money. Indoor and outdoor quality was on a par with more expensive cameras, with great levels of detail and not too much noise indoors. The default sharpening is a little excessive, but this can be reduced. The good news is that there were fewer artefacts in images than the Casio. It was also good to see noise kept at bay (compared to other cameras) when using higher ISO settings in low light.

Macro ability is excellent, allowing you to get amazingly close to subjects, and video clips were second to none out of the 13 cameras on test. VGA quality was superb, and the microphone was the only one to eliminate the wind noise in our test.

With great battery life from the large rechargeable cell, pocketable dimensions and relatively light weight, the DSC-W35 manages to cover just about every base. It even has a healthy 56MB of integrated memory, so you can still take plenty of shots if you forget your Memory Stick Duo. Considering all this, the DSC-W35 is the best-value camera on test and richly deserves its award.