There is no single measure of autofocus ability, so we did two main tests to judge the cameras chops. The first was to see how well each camera performed in difficult situations: low light and subjects with very little detail. In the second, we picked subjects that are easy to get in focus and simply measured how fast each camera could do it.

This was our setup:

Lenses

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Camera makers love the incremental update: selling a new model with just enough enhancements that you'll be tempted to trade up. But if you own one of several Canon point-and-shoots, you can get new features, such as shooting in high-quality RAW format, measuring accurate exposures via a live histogram, and even running simple applications like games or a calendar, without having to pay for an upgrade. All you need to do is replace your firmware, the computer code embedded in the camera's memory that serves as its operating system.

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The smaller your camera, the more susceptible it is to even the slightest tremble, which can leave your photos looking like Impressionist paintings. Fortunately, optical image stabilization has trickled down from pro cams to the shake-prone pocket models. The cameras use motion sensors to detect any quiver and move a piece of the lens to compensate for it. I tested three in the most blur-inducing scenarios: in low light without a flash-the slow shutter speed gives you more time to twitch-and at full zoom, which magnifies shake.

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If you use a DVD camcorder, cellphone or digital camera to record video, you typically have to jump through hoops to convert it into a format that most DVD-editing software will accept. That entails at least one separate conversion tool and the navigation of an alphabet soup of settings: DivX? MPEG-2? What resolution? What frame rate? Adobe's Premiere Elements 2.0 seamlessly imports and integrates footage from any source, so you can burn a DVD without worrying about formats. And it accepts video over the more ubiquitous USB as well as over Firewire. $100

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Little by little, the digital camera is untethering itself from the PC. First there was printing. Then there was in-camera editing, including cropping, red-eye removal and exposure compensation. Now, with Kodak's EasyShare-one, the last piece falls into place: wireless sharing straight from the cam. Creating a camera that can take a Wi-Fi card doesn't seem tricky. Kodak's challenge was making sure users could effortlessly get online; you can add settings for any hotspot or connect setup-free to T-Mobile hotspots around the world.

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The JVC Everio G shakes the short recording time and so-so picture quality that dogged earlier tapeless camcorders. It records seven hours of DVD-quality MPEG-2 video (or longer at lower quality) straight onto a built-in 30-gigabyte hard drive. Offload video to your PC and burn it to DVD, no conversion required. 2.6 x 2.8 x 4.3 inches; 0.71 pound; $1,000

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Never mind the business-card size of Canon's SD550 -check out its stunning images. The SD550 sports a powerful processor, borrowed from Canon's digital SLRs, that shoots quicker, processes images faster, and reproduces truer colors than ever before. Add in a 2.5-inch LCD, and it's the ideal go-everywhere camera.7.1MP; 2.2 x 3.5 x 1.1 inches; f2.8â€4.9 3x optical zoom (37mmâ€111mm, 35mm equivalent); 60fps video; $500

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Somewhere between the major television networks' $40,000 professional high-definition cameras and consumers' $3,500 HD camcorders are the independent filmmakers and small TV stations with the needs of the pros but not the budget. That's where Canon's XL H1 fits in, the first cam under $10,000 to deliver full manual control, 24-frame-per-second capture (to mimic analog film, the gold standard), and industry-standard time coding and connectors for easy integration into small TV stations' existing production equipment. 20x optical zoom lens included; $9,000

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You won't look like a film-school refugee while toting the 1.4-pound HDR-HC1, which captures full 1080i HDTV-resolution video with a body that's about one third the size of its rivals. It uses readily available MiniDV tapes for HD capture, enabling both high-def and standard-def playback straight from the camcorder. 2.7-inch widescreen display;
10x optical zoom; $2,000

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CASIO
EXILIM Zoom EX-Z750
MSRP: $449
Resolution [effective]: 7.2 megapixels
Video file type: MPEG-4
Zoom lens type: 3x optical/ 8x digital zoom lens, f2.8-5.1 [38-114mm 35mm equivalent]
Lighting: AF Assist lamp
LCD size: 2.5"
Frame rate and window size: 30 fps at 640x480
Dimensions: 3.5" x 2.3" x .88"
Weight: 4.48 ounces [w/o battery]
Memory Type: SD Card

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