We take six pocketable hi-zoom compacts on a sightseeing tour of London to see which is best. In the test: the Panasonic TZ20, Canon SX230 HS, Nikon S9100, Fujifilm F550 EXR, Sony HX7V and Samsung WB650

‘Travel Compacts’ or ‘Hi-zoom compacts’ is the name usually give to describe compacts that are small enough to fit in a pocket but feature full retractable zoom lenses of longer than average focal length – generally at least 10x zooms and as much as 18x. They differ from bridge cameras (aka superzooms) in that the latter are bigger, DSLR-style cameras with electronic viewfinders and even longer (up to 30x) but non retractable zooms. They’re ideal for holidays because the’re quite portable, considering the features offered. 

We’ve tested six of the best selling models around – the Panasonic TZ20, Canon SX230 HS, Nikon S9100, Fujifilm F550 EXR, Sony HX7V and Samsung WB650 – by taking them around London to shoot the tourist spots. Just the sort of thing that buyers of these cameras may want to do with them. As well as good zooms all of these cameras offer HD movie modes, and most have GPS too.