Sharp shooters: Pick of the best compact cameras

The lines have blurred in photography these days between kit that looks the part and kit that does the job. Gone are the days in digital photography when the choice was between prosumer cameras and Digital SLRs. Nowadays, manufacturers are throwing a multitude of cameras at us. So you have Micro Four Thirds, mini-DSLRs, the almost-DSLRs, the interchangeable lens compacts, making up one mega-pixelated melange — mainly with the purpose of parting you from your hard-earned cash.

4men cuts through the marketing spiel to bring you five point-and-shoots which the makers themselves have put at the top of their range - and whose sole purpose is to get the shot that induces slack-jawed awe.

What they all have in common is a price tag of Dh2,000 or above and HD video shooting, which we left well alone — if you're spending that much dosh on a still camera, you obviously care more about your photography than your videography.

Olympus XZ-1

What a difference a fast lens makes! With an aperture range of F1.8 to 2.5, Olympus has pitched the XZ-1 into a rarefied circle. We are talking the likes of Canon's elite EF lenses or Nikon's Nikkormat lens range — these are the ones that have such low aperture settings.

This is the first time such pro-grade specs have been brought into the sphere of compact cameras. In comparison, the Canon G12's aperture range is F2.5-4.8; it starts where the XZ-1 ends. Backing up the F-stops are the top-grade optics of Olympus' 28-112mm Zuiko lens. A ring around the lens barrel can be turned to control shooting parameters, depending on which mode you are in. Consistently sharp and fast auto-focusing and brilliant image quality endeared the XZ-1 to us.

The Dh2,499 price tag is money well spent as it will keep most people engaged enough to indefinitely push back the upgrade to an expensive SLR system. Our test winner!

Casio Exilim FH25

You go to Casio mainly for calculators, not cameras — which is a shame considering its excellent flagship Exilim FH25. Of all the cameras in this review, it has the looks and features closest to a DSLR. The big front barrel hides a retractable 20X optical zoom lens that goes from 26mm to 520mm — squarely into interchangeable lens DSLR territory, except with fixed-lens convenience. Even more convenient is the speed of shooting: 10MP resolution pictures can be shot at 30 frames per second with a single press of the shutter. It means you can capture every little step of Rafael Nadal's famous forehand, or freeze a speeding Valentino Rossi mid-chicane on his Ducati.

The feature-rich Exilim has 26 scene modes to choose from, as well as a full manual mode and, at Dh1,999, it offers a unique take on the conventional digital compact.

Nikon Coolpix P7000

The rivalry between Canon and Nikon is legendary. When Canon introduced its G12, Nikon fought back with the Coolpix P7000. Coupled with great image quality, we found the P7000's autofocus to be the fastest in the group. However, unlike the G12, it was fooled when in tricky light conditions, such as when a bright background was juxtaposed against a dark foreground - and both needed to be in focus.

An excellent macro mode enabled us to shoot flowers in vivid detail from only an inch away, with the anthers and filaments coming out really sharp. All for Dh1999.

A 28-200mm zoom range makes the camera quite versatile, as do the several shooting modes and advanced, fast manual control. However, to nit-pick, it did seem to take too long to write an image to memory. Nikon's offering falls a tad short of its rival, the G12.

Panasonic Lumix DMC LX5

The LX5's pièce de résistance is the clarity and sharpness of its Leica lens. Coupled with fast autofocus, it enabled our tester to return high-grade pictures almost every time. But if making a good camera was only about sourcing a good lens, every manufacturer would bung in a Leica barrel at the front and call it a day. Lumix backs up the excellent Leica with a sensitive 10.1MP CCD, a multitude of modes as well as easy manual settings, an effective optical image stabiliser and an aperture range of F2.0 to 3.3.

Housed in a robust, easy to handle, seemingly indestructible metal and rubber body, what these features translated into were clear and accurate shots, no matter what we pointed the camera at. Cost: Dh2099

Canon Powershot G12

Canon's flagship compact G-series has been the standard in the high-end compact camera segment for years.

The picture quality of this 10MP camera remains as good as ever. There's even been an improvement in low-light sensitivity and the images we shot at high ISO settings were wonderfully low on noise. The easy to use interface allowed for SLR-like simple and easy access to manual controls. This Canon is aimed at the pro or semi-pro who doesn't want to lug his SLR kit around on his days off but would still like to use good equipment. The 28-140mm zoom lens range may seem a touch limited, but great optics were always the focus for the G-series over a gimmicky huge zoom range. Touching the Dh2,600-mark, the G12, however, is not cheap.