Top 5: Budget compact cameras for less than £100

The sun is shining and what better excuse to get outside and get snapping – shots of your friends, holiday pics, or just any little thing that grabs your attention. But wait, you don’t have a camera? Thankfully there is a huge range of cameras on the market, with a number of the best compacts for less than £100 providing some great features and therefore cracking pictures. For less than a hundred notes it’s hard to complain.  Of course there’re many questions of which manufacturer, which modes will you want, even what colours are available. With that in mind, What Digital Camera compiles the top 5 cheap compact cameras for under £100 for those on a budget…

First thing’s first – megapixel count. It’s a fallacy that more megapixels necessarily mean better pictures. As compacts have relatively small sensors, cramming more and more pixels onto this small space means each sensor node will struggle to pick up light accurately, resulting in poorer image quality. The key is to match the sensor size to the right number of megapixels; somewhere close to 6-10MP is absolutely fine. Don’t be put off by apparently ‘low’ resolutions. One way to think about it is the current HD TV holy grail ‘Full HD’ 1080, which is actually only as resolute as a 2.1MP image per frame (in 16:9 format) – your 8MP camera will shoot stills at around four times that!

1. Panasonic Lumix LS85
Megapixels: 8.1
Colours: Black, Silver
PRICE (best available): £79.48 from RGB Direct

The Panasonic Lumix LS85 makes shooting easy. Panasonic’s ‘intelligent Auto’ system cleverly recognises the scene at hand and optimises the settings as required. If the camera detects movement, it will up the ISO sensitivity to allow for a faster shutter speed. If it detects mountainous shapes, it will opt for a small aperture, light permitting, to ensure the broadest depth of field landscape image.  Face Detection will recognise a face in the scene to maintain best focus too – all you need to do is point and shoot for the best results.

Add MEGA O.I.S – optical image stabilisation – to the feature list and your shaky hands will be compensated by the camera lens' ability to move internal elements to counter blur. A 4x optical zoom lens lends itself to 33-132mm zoom, which is a reasonable standard for a variety of shooting situations. Playback on the 2.5in 230,000 dot LCD screen means images view bright and sharply before you even offload them to your computer. The LS85 camera takes AA batteries, so it’s best to have a spare pair of rechargeables in case you run out.


2. Sony Cyber-shot S950
Megapixels: 10.1MP
Colours: Silver, Black, Pink
PRICE (best available): £97 from Warehouse Express

Who wants to worry about buttons, menus and camera settings when you’re trying to get a great picture? The Sony S950 takes the hassle out of shooting with its easy shooting mode: keeping true to a true ‘point and shoot’ compact concept, with simplified on-screen instructions for its six available scene modes help explain all the different options. Fun in-camera retouching functions mean you can crop and fix redeye without the need for any computer software too.

A large 2.7in 230,00 dot LCD screen with a wide viewing angle makes it easy to hold the camera at unusual angles – such as above your head or at waist level – whilst still being able to compose on screen. The Cyber-shot S950 has a 33-132mm 4x optical zoom lens to snap a range of shots, further complimented by the Face Detection mode that’s capable of picking out faces in the scene to maintain focus.

Should it get dark, the Sony Cyber-shot S950 also comes with high sensitivity ISO 3200 for low light performance, though do expect some image quality deterioration. Sony’s SteadyShot image stabilisation helps reduce blur when shooting handheld too, another compliment for low light performance.


3. Casio EXILIM EX-Z85
Megapixels: 9.1
Colours: Silver, Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Orange, Violet, Pink
PRICE (best available): £99.99 from Tikwik

The Casio EXILIM EX-Z85 comes available in a wide array of colours, so there’s something to suit everybody’s style. Plus, with the YouTube Capture Mode, Casio has made it easy to shoot video optimised for YouTube and quickly and easily upload. It cuts the corners of your time and means that whether shooting stills or video, the Casio will let you get the most fun out of your shooting. A quick reference movie button to the right also makes it super-snappy to drop in and out of stills and video with a single click.

Face Detection provides focus on subject’s faces in the scene, with the Auto Shutter option also only firing when everyone in the frame is still. Great for taking portraits with friends, though do be careful for continued movement on a windy day!

3x optical zoom makes for a 38-114mm lens, with a large 2.6in wide screen LCD on the back. Whilst the zoom may be limited compared to some other compacts out there, the EX-Z85 does come pre-loaded with a li-ion rechargeable battery. Simply plug in at home and fire away up to 240 shots per charge.


4. Canon PowerShot A480
Megapixels: 10MP
Colours: Blue, Silver, Black, Red
PRICE (best available) £92.95 from Simply Electronics

The Canon PowerShot A480 features the company’s DIGIC III processor, meaning image quality is of the highest order.

A 1cm from lens macro function means you can shoot super-close to subject, plus 15 scene modes cover all the options to shoot, well, pretty much anything. Add auto-red eye correction and a VGA movie mode and the Canon A480 certainly comes kitted out with an array of features. Face Detection with auto focus also ensures faces are recognised in the frame and kept sharp too. Motion Detection Technology will detect movement in a scene and change the ISO sensitivity accordingly to a level that will keep subjects crisply frozen in motion. Very clever.

3.3x optical zoom means a lens of 37-122mm equivalent, with a 2.5in LCD screen on the back. The A480 uses 2xAA batteries, so best keep hold of a second set of rechargeables so you’ll never miss the moment.


5. Fujifilm Finepix J20
Megapixels: 10MP
Colours: Pink, Blue, Black, Silver
PRICE (best available) £75.99 from Fujifilm (refurbished)

Fujifilm’s offering – the Finepix J20 – is a slim, 10megapixel compact with an abundance of other features. Available in the usual black or silver, jazzier pink or blue versions are also available. At just 17.4mm thin, it’s easy to slip the Fujifilm J20 into a pocket or purse to carry around anywhere too.

Scene Recognition AUTO means the J20 makes it easy to take photos – simply frame your shot and the camera will recognise the scene at hand from one of six commonly used modes – night, landscape, macro, portrait, night portrait or backlit portrait. Plus with Face Detection and a further 15 scene modes in total to select from, all subject types are covered.

The Fuji J20 has Picture Stabilisation to help limit blur when shooting, plus a high sensitivity of ISO 1600 is great for low light performance without having to use flash. A 36-107mm 3x optical zoom lens mean a variety of shots can be achieved and viewed back on the Finepix J20’s 2.7in LCD screen. Plus, with the rechargeable li-ion battery that comes in the box all you have to do is charge up at home.

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