Along with the Sony Cyber-shot P-93, the Canon Powershot A95 is the big lad of this roundup with a pretty decent 5-megapixel CCD. The rest vary from 3-4-megapixel. While this does give the Canon a bit of an edge over the competition in terms of resolution and functionality, it's the camera's other attributes that cemented this unit in the top three.

In our test photo compositions we noticed some colour misregistration with high-contrast areas, particularly where primary colours tended to blend, but compared to the misregistration displayed by the Kodak and to a lesser extent the Nikon, the Canon's transgressions are minor. Its colour range and colour reproduction were excellent, and the auto white balance features worked well in all of our test conditions.

The Powershot A95 is not the most svelte camera we've tested, with a chunky body reminiscent of the Kodak EasyShare DX7440, and it's certainly going to put some strain in your pants pocket. If you want compact, look at the Labs Winner HP Photosmart R607.

The main of the A95's body is composed of a solid magnesium-alloy (with silver plastic doors and covers) so it lacks the cheapish feel of the Kodak which is plastic all-over.