The choice between the Sony DSC-HX1 and the Canon SX1 is a tough one; both scored well in our tests and provide an excellent selection of features. The Canon had the edge in a few of our tests (color and noise in still images), but the Sony came out tops in others (such as resolution, image stabilization and most of our video tests). In the end, the choice will probably come down to the appeal of some of the extra features that are on offer (such as the Sony’s excellent panorama and low light shooting features) or price: the Sony is $100 cheaper than the Canon SX1.

The Nikon has a slight edge if you look at the specs: it shoots higher resolution images (12 megapixels against the 9 of the Sony), has a longer lens (24X against the 20x of the Sony) and is cheaper. But the Sony has superior performance in pretty much every category of our tests: it has better color, resolution and much better stabilization. The only area where the Nikon was superior was noise; although the Sony has the wider ISO range, the Nikon had lower noise in images at the ISO levels it achieved. The Sony was also a vastly superior performer at shooting video. While the Nikon could only shoot grainy standard definition video, the Sony could shoot very attractive high definition video.

The Olympus SP-590UZ has the longer zoom range of the two cameras (26x against the 20x of the Sony) and is also $50 cheaper. But the Sony was a better performer: it produced sharper images with more detail, had superior image stabilization and shoots better looking movies. However, the Olympus had very slightly better colors. Although both cameras are very close in many ways, we think that the Sony would generally be the better option as a general use camera, although some users may want to opt for the extra zoom range of the Olympus.

Sweep Panorama enables users to produce panoramas by simply pressing the shutter button and panning the camera across a scene. The camera records continuously as long as the shutter button is held down and tracks the speed of the pan at the same time. The recorded images are stitched together within the camera. You must hold the shutter button down until recording stops; if you lift your finger sooner, the end of the panorama is recorded as a black rectangle (shown below).