TIPA Awards 2010 prize-winning compact cameras

Sony CyberShot HX5V MARCHANDS €     Ebay  245.00  Amazon mark...  283.98  Compare prices Canon PowerShot G11 MARCHANDS €     Amazon mark...  569.99  Compare prices

The Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) recently crowned its selection of 2010's best imaging products at its annual awards ceremony. As ever, the products were carefully picked to represent brands across the market, with choices that are often logical, but sometimes questionable. Let's see which compact cameras they picked out this year.

The award for Best Compact Camera went to the Sony HX5V, which is a really nice surprise. Although Sony may be something of an outsider, the brand's first superzoom compact is an unquestionable success. Its only real drawback is the TN-panel screen which goes dark when viewed from below. Following last-year's winner, the Fuji F200EXR, it seems that TIPA has an eye for models that strive to address some of the pitfalls typically associated with compact cameras, notably their poor sensitivity.

The Canon G11 was crowned the Best Expert Compact Camera, a choice I'm having some trouble understanding. A good expert compact camera it certainly is, but the best compact currently out there in this category has got to be the Leica X1, which beats the G11 hands-down on picture quality. In fact, it even out-performs many DSLRs! Its particular design won't put off genuine 'experts' either. It's a shame there was no award for Best Prestige Compact this year, a prize won two years ago by the Sigma DP1, as the Leica X1 is certainly worthy of the title.

The Best Superzoom Camera, often referred to as a 'bridge' camera, went to the Fuji HS10. It's no great surprise either thanks to its 30x zoom and BSI CMOS sensor (probably the same as in the HX5V). Plus, given that everyone else seems to have stopped making expert bridges since Panasonic discontinued the high-end FZ range, the HS10 was definitely this year's favourite.

Finally, the Casio G1 took the prize for the Best Rugged Compact Camera. Now, although I'm always reluctant to use the word 'scandal', there's got to be something afoot here. The G1 is one of the worst waterproof cameras released this year, and it's certainly not the most resistant or even the cheapest either. For the same price, the Pentax W90 is not necessarily better, but it's waterproof to six metres and has a wide-angle lens, whereas the Olympus µ Tough-3000 is cheaper and performs better! What were those judges thinking?

> Product Survey: Compact Digital Cameras

> Buyer's Guides: Our Pick of The Best Products