Labs

Those in the market for a digital camera have never had it so good. There are some spectacular models around for less than £100, but don't be swayed by the headline statistics - lots of megapixels and a big TFT don't necessarily a good camera make. We've tested five models from the top manufacturers, assessing everything from image quality to how they handle. Can you get away with a bargain, or is it always worth paying more?

After the PowerShot, the S200 has the second best image quality in this labs test. The 7.1-megapixel sensor is capable of capturing plenty of detail, and our images were pleasingly low in noise throughout testing, even at high ISO levels. It's a far more luxurious camera than the Canon as well. The elegant design is matched by a decent menu system, with a 2.5in display on the back perfect for reviewing images

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and selecting which ones to keep. And, unlike the Canon, it comes with a lithium-ion battery plus a charger. There's also an image stabiliser, which counteracts camera shake effectively.

The S200 is a good-looking camera, beaten only by the Fujifilm. Finished in cool metallic red with a large, bright, 2.5in LCD, it's also impressively slim at just 19mm deep. It's a reasonable performer, taking nine consecutive shots at a rate of one per second before running out of buffer, although after a few more shots at a slower rate it seized up completely. Shot-to-shot time is also good, at well below a second. The menu system will be familiar to anyone who's seen Nikon's range of DSLR cameras, and is clear and simple enough to navigate. A decent range of options is presented, too: there's no way to set aperture or shutter speed manually, but you can pre-set white balance and ISO settings range from 50 to 1,000. Not surprisingly, there's nothing particularly special about the lens - adjusted for the focal length magnifier of the sensor, the optics are the equivalent to a 38-114mm lens, which is practical if not particularly wide.

If looks are as important to you as image quality, the Nikon offers a superb blend of the two. It doesn't offer the jaw-dropping value-to-quality ratio of the Canon, or the supermodel features of the Fujifilm, but it sits nicely in the middle, and is excellent value at a shade under a hundred pounds.