THE FIVE ALIVE! The best of the best compact cameras of 2010

The year is almost coming to an end, as a matter of fact we just have 17 days to the end of the year, our expectation and desires to see new innovations and surprises from  camera manufacturers are so great and have so be clouded us so much that we are forgetting the many innovations and great ingenuity that we have enjoyed this year 2010. Manufacturers have tried to be more innovative this year,  Fujifilm  for example, is still continuing their push of the EXR sensor strengths and Pentax has not given up on delivering an off the beat design.


 Many compact cameras have faired well this year, however, some have faired excellently well basically due to their image quality, durability and portabilty.



1. Canon PowerShot S90 
Canon PowerShot S90 features a high-sensitivity 10 megapixels CCD and f/2.0 lens. A 28mm wide angle lets you put more in the frame, while Canon’s optical IS reduces blur caused by camera shake. Canon PowerShot S90 combines pocket-sized proportions with a sophisticated lens Control Ring, to which functions such as step zoom, exposure, focus, and ISO can be assigned for fast, easy adjustment. PowerShot S90 comes with a 3.0 inch PureColor LCD II screen (461K dots) with wide viewing angle. PowerShot S90 features Full Manual mode for creative control. The option of RAW shooting with support for Canon’s Digital Photo Professional (DPP) software provides complete control over image parameters. Canon’s DIGIC 4 processor makes the Canon PowerShot S90 more responsive and ensures great image-quality. Intelligent features such as Smart Auto, with Scene Detection Technology, analyses your composition and determines the most ideal settings from its preset range of 22 scenes 
It has indeed fine-tuned most areas which needed improving. Without doubt, canon powershot S90 is my number one compact camera of the year.


2. Olympus mju TOUGH 8010
Want to snap your dash down a wild river one day and capture beach adventures the next? No problem. The waterproof and shockproof Olympus Mju TOUGH 8010 takes high-performance and action to a whole new level. Featuring a 5x wide zoom lens which spans a focal length spectrum of 28-140mm (35mm equivalent) and Dual Image Stabilisation, the Olympus 8010 will keep delivering brilliant images no matter what the challenge. Viewing all the latest stunts is sure to be more exciting than ever with the new HD movie function and Photo Surfing. This practical mobile photo album is optimised through Olympus' [ib] software. And no matter what the format, finding space to save all those ultimate moments won't be a problem: the Olympus TOUGH 8010 features up to a whopping 2GB of internal memory (effective storage capacity 1.6GB) as well as an SD card slot. Incredibly resistant through anodised aluminium plating and double sealing, the TOUGH 8010 is made for adventureinside and out. Its displays' HC III °triple coating± protects it against reflection even under direct bright sunlight, scratches, and moisture for comfortable shooting while a stronger metal lens barrier ensures lenses are out of harm's way. A double lock mechanism on the cover for the battery, memory slot and ports offers extra security.


 It may not be the best camera (image performance wise) but it's definitely the toughest of the group and most likely to survive even after the others are sold for scrap. This is why it's my number two compact camera.


3. Panasonic Lumix LX5
The DMC-LX5 packages an f/2.0 LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMICRON lens with 24mm wide-angle and 3.8x optical zoom. This low-distortion, high-resolution lens lets you capture truly dynamic 24mm wide-angle images while rendering the tiniest nuances clearly, from corner to corner. The fully open f/2.0-3.3 aperture and iris diaphragm also work together to produce stunning scenes with gentle soft focusing. The 24mm wide-angle lens captures approx. 213% larger viewing space compared to a normal 35mm lens. 

The DMC-LX5 features a large 1/1.63-inch, 10.1-megapixel ultra-sensitive CCD. It achieves high resolution, noise-less pictures even in high sensitivity recording and richly reproduced gradation in highly contrasted situations with the exquisitely wide dynamic range. In addition, the CCD in DMC-LX5 can reproduce images shot with the lens set from 24mm to 90mm in any of three aspect ratios; 4:3, 3:2 or 16:9, so you can always capture dynamic, richly expressive shots with a wide perspective. The excellent manual controllability is the advantage of DMC-LX5, thus making it my number three of the year.

4.Panasonic Lumix TZ10 (ZS7)

 The Panasonic LUMIX DMC-ZS7 (TZ10) comes with AVCHD Lite HD movie recording capability, 25mm ultra wide-angle and a powerful 12x optical zoom lens packed into a compact body to cover virtually any shooting situations. This 12.1-megapixel powerhouse performer ZS7 (TZ10) further advanced to comprehend attractive features including the Intelligent Resolution technology as well as the built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) unit and manual exposure. An abundant of functions for both photo and movie recording are organized in the well-considered operational command including an independent movie recording button achieving smooth, easy operation in both recording modes. The image processing technology "Intelligent Resolution" is incorporated in the Venus Engine HD II for ZS7 (TZ10). By detecting the signals whether they are at edges of the subject, they compose detailed texture or just a soft gradation first and give appropriate enhancement to the edges and textured areas respectively. Unlike the uniform enhancement of sharpness, it is possible to perform the optimum signal processing to give a whole image outstandingly natural clearness with fine details. 

the truly "hybrid", versatile digital camera DMC-ZS7 (TZ10) will surely satisfy every user at any level of photography with its ultimate performance and offer a rich experience like never before. This is my number four of the year.

5. Sony Cyber-shot TX5

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX5 is a 10.2 megapixels camera with a 4x optical zoom (25mm wide-angle) featuring a 3.0-inch touchscreen LCD screen and HD movie mode. This slim and stylish little camera is water (up to 3m), dust, freeze and shock-proof and capable of shooting beautiful, extra-wide panoramas with the Intelligent Sweep Panorama. This function automatically combines a burst of images to create extra-wide pictures with enhanced processing for smooth panoramas even with moving subjects. The Exmor R CMOS sensor boosts sensitivity and reduces image noise for excellent results in low-light. The Sony TX5 also has 720p HD movie to capture crisp and detailed HD clips with stereo sound at 30fps (frames per second). Furthermore, the Sony TX5 offers Handheld Twilight mode and Anti Motion Blur mode, both of which help to produce crisp, optimized low-light images with reduced subject blur by combining six successive frames into a single image with less noise.

Image performance wise, it's not going exactly going to win prizes but you're not likely to find another touchscreen model that is waterproof and chic like this one and that's its charm that makes it my number five.