Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150

The FX range is home to Panasonic's high-quality compacts, with the 14.7MP FX150 at the top of the tree. It has a larger sensor than baby brother, the FX35, and offers a less extensive zoom range despite its bigger body. That said, it also offers greater photographic control, including a manual mode and control over the type of metering the camera uses. Perhaps most significantly for keen photographers, it also has the ability to save the unprocessed sensor data as a RAW file. It's also one of the only cameras in its clas to be able to shoot HD video. Performance is pretty good too, with decent overall image quality and reliable automatic systems, but with little advantage to show for all those extra pixels.