New Ratings: Digital cameras, including more values than ever

The Kodak EasyShare C160, one of our newly rated point-and-shoots. (Click to enlarge.)
[PHOTO: Consumer Reports]

We've just added eight new models to our Ratings of point-and-shoot digital cameras (available to subscribers). The resulting selection has a record 92 models, including three CR Best Buys.

Here's more on the trends embodied in this updated selection of point-and-shoots:

More values, especially in low-priced cameras. In the past, it was all-but-impossible to find a subcompact point-and-shoot in our Ratings that costs $100 or less and offered both very good image quality and fine performance in other respects, including a speedy response when its shutter is pressed. The new Ratings offers at least two such models.

Even-greater smarts. More cameras include enhancements that do some of the work for you. Every rated model now offers some type of face detection, and the unique twists on that capability continue to grow. One example: A number of Canon cameras have a Face Detection Self Timer that counts the faces in a crowd then waits for an addition—presumably you—before snapping the shutter.

Other cameras we'll test soon boast other smart features, including the ability to autofocus on your pets or to memorize up to 20 faces and adjust focus and exposure to those faces in a crowd that you've designated as most important to you.

Zoom ranges increase. Manufacturers continue to find ways to increase magnification without adding as much weight or bulk as was once the case. More than half the subcompacts in our Ratings have a lens that offers more than 3x optical zoom. Two models—the Nikon Coolpix S630 and the Olympus Stylus 1010—have a 7x optical zoom lens. And some superzooms have as much as 26x optical zoom—a power that would once have required a lens longer than any point-and-shoot case could accommodate. —Terry Sullivan

Comments

[Sharon Pagliuca]

You rated 2 Kodak point and shoot camera's as
Best Buys and I disagree. I bought 2 Kodak point and shoot cameras in the last 4 years with each one having problems turning on after about 1 1/2 years. Each had the exact same problem and Kodak would fix them for about what the original cost was which I found not worth it. Each cost me over 130.00 dollars. Each one would just not turn on when I turned the dial. If I played with it enough it just might turn on. They also require only Kodak batteries which need to be bought over the internet since local stores do not carry those batteries. I would not buy another Kodak camera because when you want to take a picture you need to know your camera will work.

[Paul Rivers]

Ah, yes. As usual, Consumer Reports releases their reviews of cameras just as those cameras are discontinued and new models released.

The top rated subcompact, the Canon sd880, hasn't been available for purchase for months, if not since last year.

The top rated compact, the Canon G10, has also been discontinued and it's replacement (the G11) is due to become available in retail stores this week.

I hope Consumer Reports will review this years new models as they are released, and before the holiday season, and break with the tradition of reviewing every model just as it becomes discontinued and unavailable.