Labs

Nikon's L10 is the most affordable digital camera with a zoom lens we have ever seen. It doesn't look cheap, though, and its build quality seems just as robust as that of the other cameras in the group. The screen is relatively small at 2in across, but its 153,000-pixel resolution is among the most detailed here. It's the only camera here to include face detection, but this adjusts only the focus and not exposure, and it is slow to track movement. Other photographic controls are extremely basic, with

The camera ran for a respectable 467 shots on a pair of high-capacity AA NiMH batteries, but it didn't reserve enough power to retract its lens before switching off. This could be a serious nuisance if your batteries run out while you're away from home. Its performance is up to scratch, taking 2.1 seconds between shots, although this rises to eight seconds when using the flash. The continuous mode is erratic but it managed to capture 41 shots in 30 seconds.

The L10 came sixth in our image quality tests, an extremely impressive result considering its low price and the high standard of the competition. It often won the top spot for colour accuracy and slipped up only once, mistaking dense green foliage for a tinted light source and attempting to correct for it. Its 5-megapixel sensor means that it records slightly less detail than most cameras here, but it was sharp enough for standard-sized prints and viewing onscreen. This is a good camera at a very low price, but we'd recommend paying a little more for Panasonic's DMC-LS60.