Digital Point-n-Shoot Compact Cameras, Best Buys, Auction Deals!

While some of you might be thinking that looking for a digital camera is a struggle with make, model and MPs, here are a few pointers on how to make the process a little easier:

How many megapixels
While you can now get up-market compact cameras featuring sensors with 12MP resolution, rivalling D-SLR cameras, it's worth knowing that you can get perfectly good poster sized prints even from a 5MP camera. Even though higher resolutions can enable creative cropping, you will be putting a lot on the lens which is not really geared fot this. 7MP should be ample for a compact camera.

Optical and/or digital zoom
Most compact digital cameras feature a 3x zoom lens, which offers a reasonably wide-angle setting at one end and a short telephoto at the other. Digital zoom relies on software that interpolates what's between the pixels that the camera can actually see, often leading to jagged edges and fuzziness in fine detail.

Straight shooter or 'creative compact'
While the latest cameras has all the abilities of getting things right almost all of the time, a 'creative compact' that enables you to adjust shutter speed, aperture and so on, puts you in control, so you can get specialist effects and add mood to your photos, instead of just taking snapshots. Your decision really.

Large LCD Screen
The majority of compact cameras now come without separate viewfinders, so a clear and bright LCD is essential for composing shots. With this in mind, bigger LCD screen (currently at 2.7 or 3inches) are preferable over smaller ones.

Wide ISO Range
Try to get one with a good sensitivity range, typically from 50 to 800 ISO or more. This will you the best chance of getting the shots you want without resorting to built-in flash. Bear in mind that higher ISO speeds may also mean higher image noise.