January 5, 2009 - In preparation for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) which begins on January 8, Pentax has announced two low-price point-and-shoot cameras, the $199.95 Optio P70, and $129.95 Optio E70, for shipment in February. Both cameras have Pixel Track Shake Reduction, a new digital anti-shake technology, and a face detection system that can reportedly recognize 32 faces in 0.03 seconds (assuming you have that many friends).

January 5, 2009 – At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, Kodak will introduce the Z980, a 12-megapixel camera boasting a 24x zoom lens. Priced at $399.95, the Z980  is scheduled to ship in Spring 2009.

The 10-megapixel Olympus Stylus 1050 SW is the latest addtion to the company's line of ruggedized point-and-shoot cameras. It doesn't match the level of indestructibility achieved by the brawny 1030 SW we reviewed earlier this year, but it's fine for the pool or ski slope, with waterproof performance to 10-foot depths and freeze resistance down to 14 degrees F (-10 degress C). We like the style and strong metal construction, but our lab testing was not kind to the 1050 SW. And while Olympus is proud of its admittedly innovative Tap Control system, we found it more gimmicky than practical. For the full story, click through to the complete review.

If you feel your inner paparazzo yearning to come out and play, consider the Olympus SP-570UZ with its whopping 20x zoom lens – the equivalent of a 28mm-520mm zoom in 35mm photography. We had lots of fun shooting with this camera, which combines plenty of telephoto power with a healthy wide-angle range. Image quality isn't stellar, but it's not bad either, and manual controls and customization options abound. For a detailed rundown on the pros and cons of this 10-megapixel, $450 ultra-zoom, check out the full review.
 

Hot from the hands of Ashton Kutcher, we got hold of Nikon's Wi-Fi enabled S610c. This 10-megapixel, 4x zoom camera costs $299.99, and lets you upload for free from thousands of locations via the Wayport Wi-Fi  network, or any unlocked Wi-Fi hotspot you happen to have available. While we weren't too enthused by the staid camera design, we liked the fast startup time and excellent manual noise and dynamic range results in our tests. Read on to see just how well the S610c did overall.

The PowerShot A2000 IS from Canon is a compact point-and-shoot with a 10-megapixel sensor, a noteworthy 6x zoom, and a $229.99 pricetag. We were initially slightly taken aback by the odd wedge shape of the camera, but it slowly grew on us. In our extensive lab tests, it didn't fare particularly well, and we would have liked a greater degree of manual control. Read on for more details.

Our search for inexpensive point-and-shoot cameras offering good performance for not much money leads us to the 8-megapixel Pentax Optio V20, a compact model with a big 3-inch LCD screen and a 5x optical zoom that provides far more flexibility when composing shots than the 3x lens typically found in this camera category. The V20 lists for $249.95, though we've seen it selling at closer to $200 from several discounters, a nice price considering the large screen and extended zoom. Lab testing results overall make the V20 an average performer, a bit behind the pack in some areas, a skinch ahead in others. To determine if this is the camera to fill your photo album without emptying your wallet, read the complete review.

It's been an incredible year for digital cameras, with the introduction of breakthrough technologies, a major boost in performance gained per dollar spent, and new opportunities for creative expression for serious photographers and point-and-shooters alike. As the year draws to a close, we've combed the cameras we've reviewed this year to select the standout performers and, with our annual Select Awards, single them out for special commendation.

The TL34HD from Samsung is their new touch-screen, 14.7-megapixel point-and-shoot camera. Housed in a sleek metal case, it wowed us with good to excellent results in almost every test we could throw at it, especially white balance and automatic noise. While it didn't fare as well in low light or in video mode as could be desired, the TL34HD delivered an all around excellent performance, a solid feature set with some degree of manual control, in an attractive package. It retails at $299 and seems to us to be good value for a strong camera. Full details follow.
 

The first camera in the new Micro Four Thirds format is just starting to ship, and we have a full review. Micro Four Thirds, developed jointly by Olympus and Panasonic, is an effort to build smaller, more consumer-friendly cameras that offer interchangeable lenses like an SLR, but without the bulky SLR mirror mechanism, relying instead on the LCD and electronic viewfinder for framing your photos and auto focus. Panasonic's Lumix DMC-G1, a compact 12-megapixel model priced at $800 with lens, delivers on most of the format's promises, with surprisingly fast auto focus, good lab scores and lots of photographic control. It is on the pricey side, though, and nowhere near as portable as a point-and-shoot. To see if this is the right camera for you, read the complete review.