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Top 10 digicams of May 2008

By Leonard Goh
June 23, 2008

Last month's chart was especially interesting because we saw Canon beginning to feel the heat from Fujifilm. The latter ousted the IXUS 860 IS off second place with its Finepix F100fd. Rock-steady Panasonic claimed three places with its Lumix DMC-FX36, TZ15 and new touchscreen point-and-shoot, the FX520. New additions included Samsung's NV24HD and Canon's new shooter, the IXUS 970 IS. Sony and Olympus continued to hang on with the Cyber-shot DSC-T70 and Mju 850SW, respectively. From the rankings, it would seem that consumers are getting more savvy with digicams and buying more powerful shooters. Are you one of them?

Note: Results are based on readership and polls conducted with selected retailers (Alan Photo Trading, Cathay Photo Store and MS Color Service) in Singapore.

First five | Next five cameras | Last month's ranking

Click here for a feature comparison table.

Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS

CNET Asia rating: 7.6 out of 10

The good: Great image quality; minimal shutter lag; speedy performance; optical image stabilization; face detection; optical viewfinder

The bad: No manual exposure controls; slow flash recycle time

The bottom line: Canon's IXUS 80 IS adds optical image stabilization to last year's hit IXUS 70, while delivering just as impressive image quality.

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Fujifilm FinePix F100fd

CNET Asia rating: 8 out of 10

The good: Ultra-high ISO sensitivity of 12,800; wide dynamic range; intuitive face detection; short shutter lag; 5x optical zoom with 28mm wide-angle lens; good image quality.

The bad: Relatively heavy; awkward positioning of flash, easily covered by fingers; lacks full manual control.

The bottom line: Despite an awkwardly positioned flash unit, the F100fd didn't disappoint with its enhanced feature set and excellent image quality.

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX36

CNET Asia rating: 7.6 out of 10

The good: 25mm wide-angle lens; HD-quality video recording; elegant design; maximum ISO of 6,400

The bad: Slightly soft images; focusing a tad slow.

The bottom line: A worthy successor to the FX33, the FX36 is a compact powerhouse capable of delivering decent-quality pictures and HD videos.

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ15

CNET Asia rating: 7.8 out of 10

The good: 10x optical zoom in a compact form; accurate Intelligent Exposure mode; HD video recording; clear 460K-pixel 3-inch LCD screen; captures detailed images with vibrant colors.

The bad: Top dial easily sets to wrong position; no option to switch off Extra Optical Zoom.

The bottom line: With a 10x optical zoom, 28mm-wide lens and HD video recording packed into one compact form, the TZ15 is probably one of the most versatile Lumix compacts we've come across.

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Olympus Mju 850SW

Sensor resolution	8 megapixels
LCD size	2.5-inch
Optical zoom	3x
Storage type(s)	xD-Picture Card
Dimensions	93.6 x 60.9 x 21.3mm
Weight	136 g