Camera Round Up: Will 2010 be the year of the super-zoom compact?

Camera manufacturers need to make money somehow, but that's not easy when competition pushes prices down to £150 or even £100.  As a result, there has been something of an explosion in the number of super-zoom point-and-shoot compact cameras, one of the few areas of the market where it still seems possible to make money. 

The competition looks set to be tough: Panasonics's TZ series and Canon's SX battled it out together for a long time, but super-zoom (10x and up) cameras also found their way into the 2009 catalogues of Samsung, Olympus and Casio.  For 2010, almost nobody's left out, with only Kodak and Pentax not offering a model in this segment, while several of their competitors will be offering two or three.

We also know that these are the sort of cameras that you're interested in too.  And because the majority of the 2010 models are now on sale--or at least available for pre-order--we thought we'd take a first look at the 'real' prices, to give you a taste of what they're like before we get the chance to test them and really pick out a winner.

The Heavyweights

Canon SX210 IS	Panasonic TZ10	Sony HX5V
28-392 mm CCD 14 Mpx Find the best price	25-300 mm CCD 14 Mpx GPS MARCHANDS €     Amazon mark...  172.89  Amazon.co.uk  199.95  Amazon mark...  209.99  Amazon.co.uk  220.30  Amazon.co.uk  289.10  Co-operativ...  294.99  Compare prices	25-250 mm CMOS 10 Mpx GPS, 1080i video MARCHANDS €     Amazon.fr m...  160.00  Compare prices

We might be going a little bit far by including the HX5V next to the SX210 IS and the TZ10, but after the excellent progress made by Sony's cameras last year and incredible new Exmor R sensor, this is a highly-anticipated arrival.

As we'd expect, Panasonic's flagship is more expensive than its direct rivals.  In its favour, though, it does have a more affordable assistant, the TZ8 (see below).  Canon is the only one of the favourites to not include a GPS module. 

The Outsiders

Nikon S8000	Olympus µ 9010
30-300 mm CCD 14 Mpx MARCHANDS €     Amazon.co.uk  51.95  Pixmania  58.00  Pc world  59.99  Amazon mark...  86.99  Comet  99.99  Pixmania  108.05  Compare prices	28-280 mm CCD 14 Mpx MARCHANDS €     Pixmania  139.00  Pixmania  139.90  Amazon.co.uk  292.85  Compare prices
Panasonic TZ8	Ricoh CX3
25-300 mm CCD 14 Mpx Find the best price	28-300 mm CMOS 10 Mpx MARCHANDS €     Amazon.co.uk  50.18  Amazon mark...  238.45  Amazon mark...  238.45  Amazon.co.uk  247.43  Amazon.co.uk  256.43  Compare prices

Amongst these four, it's the Nikon that we're most looking forward to testing, as the manufacturer has never tried its hand at this type of camera before.  The lack of a real wide-angle lens might be problematic, but at just 27 mm, lens included, it could be the thinnest of the lot.

The Ricoh comes from the next price range up, but uses a 10 Megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor (probably the same as the HX5V), which should be much better than the 14 Megapixel CCD.  We haven't tested it yet, but it doesn't seem to include anything else new since last year's 12 Megapixel.

We're still waiting

There are a couple of other cameras that we know will be launching soon, but aren't available in the shops.

Casio H15	Casio FH100	Fujifilm F80EXR
24-240 mm CCD 14 Mpx MARCHANDS €     Amazon.co.uk  15.90  Amazon.co.uk  17.05  Amazon.co.uk  18.50  Amazon.co.uk  18.59  Amazon.co.uk  20.00  Amazon mark...  179.00  Compare prices	24-240 mm CMOS 10 Mpx MARCHANDS €     Amazon mark...  102.40  Amazon.co.uk  108.49  Marks and s...  129.00  Very  219.00  Pixmania  223.00  Amazon mark...  257.71  Compare prices	27-270 mm Super CCD EXR 12 Mpx Find the best price

The FH100 is a real development and we're not sure what to expect: Casio's previous super-zoom compacts left us wanting more, but this one is bigger, newer and has a back-illuminated CMOS sensor.  It could well be a nice surprise, but we'll see when test it.

Samsung WB600	Samsung WB650
24-360 mm CCD 14 Mpx MARCHANDS €     Amazon.co.uk  9.99  Pixmania  89.00  Morecompute...  147.59  Amazon mark...  162.03  Comet  169.99  Very  179.00  Compare prices	24-360 mm CCD 14 Mpx GPS, AMOLED display Find the best price

Samsung is the new holder for the record of the longest zoom on a compact camera, with two 15x (24-360 mm) models.  The WB650 is ambitious: with both an AMOLED display and built-in GPS, it should be able to take on the TZ10.  But as ever, we'll have to see if the lens and sensor are up to the other features.

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