Fujifilm Finepix XP130

£199/$229

Like the Canon D30, the XP130 feels good in the hand, with large gripping points front and rear. The 3in 920k-dot monitor is also bright, crisp and colour-accurate. A 20m waterproof rating falls slightly short of the Canon and Nikon, but it’s impressive at this price. The XP130 is also shockproof to 1.75m, freezeproof and dustproof. Unlike the Canon, you get Wi-Fi for connectivity, but no internal GPS. At least there’s 1080p HD video, a 10fps full-res burst shooting ability, and optical image stabilisation.

While the XP130 is a pleasure to use and well-featured, image quality is less impressive. The 16.4MP sensor resolves noticeably less detail than the Olympus or Ricoh cameras and is more prone to smearing areas like fine foliage. Colour is also slightly washed out. The camera’s low-light performance is more encouraging: while detail is mediocre, noise is well-controlled.

Pros: Great screen and ergonomics; stabilised 5x 28-140mm-equivalent lens

Cons: Image quality nothing special; relatively short 240-shot battery life