Buyer's Guide 2007: Advanced Compacts

Advanced compact zoom cameras combine extended zoom ranges, large LCDs and key SLR-like functions into small, highly portable packages. They’re easy to use, easy to carry and easy on the wallet. As a class, they provide more performance per pound than any other type of digital camera and, thanks to innovative features like image stabilization, produce results that rival any system.

Although zoom cameras don’t have interchangeable lenses, and therefore don’t fit into the D-SLR category, they do allow users to view the subject through the lens via an EVF (electronic viewfinder) or on an LCD monitor. Real SLRs allow direct viewing through an optical viewfinder, but it’s not possible to preview the subject or compose the image on the LCD (with the notable exception of the Olympus Evolt E-330).

An EVF makes it easy to shoot in both bright and extremely dark conditions. And it allows you to preview digital effects like color shifting, black-and-white mode conversion, contrast adjustment and so forth—the things that can’t be seen through a D-SLR’s eyepiece.