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?

The Xacti and Nikon are alone in this company in offering image stabilisation, and in the Sanyo's case it works well. It's also reasonably cheap, yet still offers a 7.1-megapixel sensor and a 2.5in TFT. It's unique in this group in that it offers hardware interpolation,

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so you can shoot 3,680 x 2,760 (10-megapixel) images. In practice, however, you don't gain any more detail, making it something of a false economy. Image quality is reasonably good. Our rounds of testing produced a series of well-exposed detail shots, although at 100% magnification noise was noticeable. Even at ISO levels of 50 (the Xacti's lowest available setting), JPEG artefacts and digital noise were all too apparent.

There are plus points, though. It's a steady performer - in our tests, it proved capable of firing off two shots a second for eight shots, which, while imperfect for long bursts, is good enough for the odd sporting occasion. It also has a decent range of manual controls - white balance and ISO can be set manually, which is useful for challenging light conditions. It's weighty in the hand at 170g, and is reasonably comfortable to hold; our only dislike is the control buttons on the back - many of them sit almost flush with the surrounding plastic, which makes them hard to press. The menu system is also tricky to operate, with a certain amount of lag between pushing a button and the action you chose actually happening. It isn't a major problem for occasional use, but those who take their camera everywhere will quickly find the Xacti limiting.