None of these cameras perform fantastically at ISO 1600, as you would expect when there are so many pixels in such a small sensor. The Canon D10 takes a fairly heavy-handed approach, applying a lot of noise reduction, which not only destroys much of the detail, but makes the image seem quite desaturated. The D10 produces the softest image in the group tested here - a complete turnaround from the results at lower ISO settings. While the output from all five of these cameras falls off towards the edges of the frame (as seen in the studio shot at base ISO), overall image quality is similar to each camera's performance at 35mm, with the TS1 producing the sharpest and most detailed results (the strength of the TS1 is at the wide end of the zoom range), with the W60 and W80 falling a little behind. The W80 shows extensive CA at its wide-angle setting, however. Of the two Olympus cameras (which are the worst performers of the group on the wide end), the Tough 6000 retains better image quality than the Tough 8000 at the widest zoom setting. Olympus Tough 6000 The traditional 'reciprocal rule' suggests that you should aim to use a shutter speed equal to the reciprocal of the focal length to ensure sharp shooting - so a 100mm lens should really be used with shutter speeds faster than 1/100th of a second. The reciprocal rule is only a guide, of course, and one that becomes increasingly inaccurate with small-sensor cameras, but it should still be apparent that without image stabilization it'd be difficult to use a 100mm equivalent lens in light that would require 1/100 shutter speed.

The quality of the video recorded with the TS1 was generally quite good. At 720p resolution the M-JPEG video looked sharp and detailed (if sometimes a little noisy) with the AVCHD lite video being a little less sharp to the M-JPEG video (though it is also less the half the file size). You will sometimes see strange artefacts in the video as after zooming and as camera tries to focus and auto focus in movie mode is generally quite slow. At lower resolutions such as VGA the video looks less sharp and detailed than at the highest resolution and moire is much more visible (as you can see in our VGA sample). Audio recorded was generally quite good and there is a built-in wind filter which keeps wind noise low. Heavy, unsophisticated noise reduction also removes lots of detail from the image, but if the noise reduction is too low you'll get so much noise that it will appear even in the smallest print. Canon D10 Of the other four cameras the Tough 6000 and W80 manage to retain just enough detail to be better than the Tough 8000 and Z33 - which both reduce the details in the image to not much more than watercolor-like smudges.The W80 and Olympus Tough 6000 are slightly better the the Tough 8000 and Fuji Z33, and manage to resolve better detail than the other two cameras. In good light all of these cameras should be able to produce an image that is good enough for a nice print at 8x10 or under, or for web viewing resolutions, but taking a closer look reveals that the D10 and W60 are clearly better than the other cameras in this group. Preset (Fine, Shade, Fluorescent light (Daylight), Fluorescent light (Warm White), Fluorescent light (Cool White), Incandescent light All of these cameras except the TS1 have very similar maximum telephoto settings of about 100mm (with the TS1 reaching 128mm). Holding the cameras with both hands, the two Olympus cameras were easier to hold still and produced many more sharp shots than the D10 with the IS turned off, with the TS1 performing between the Olympus cameras and the D10 despite being at a slightly longer focal length. With IS turned on the Canon and Panasonic both performed very well, with all of the shots captured being sharp. However, the performance of the Olympuses didn't improve by nearly such a large margin, suggesting this IS system is much less effective. FujiFilm Z33 WP, Pentax Optio W60, Pentax Optio W80 Underwater gets its own shooting mode and we found few problems using the camera in the water. It doesn't float, however, so a wrist strap is highly recommended. One issue we did have was with that glass lens cover. Water tends to sit on the lens, obstructing shots if you are dipping in and out of water – not a problem if you are taking a succession of submerged shots, but worth remembering. The lens arrangement also means it is prone to lens flare.

In their own ways both Canon and Panasonic have, with their first attempts at waterproof cameras, shown the segment how to innovate. This leaves you with a really great choice when you only want to take one camera with you to the beach or on that tropical holiday. The hard part now is deciding if you are going to spend more time taking pictures in the water or out of it. Both the TS1 and the D10 are great cameras, and they are joint winners of our waterproof group test. ISO noise and banding is present in low light shots. Noise jumps in around ISO 400, with video suffering the same fate. Even video shot in bright conditions can leave you with a very noisy result, with the max 640 x 480px resolution giving results you'd be better watching scaled down. One glance at these crops will tell you that the Canon D10 and Panasonic TS1 are better in terms of sharpness and detail than the other cameras in this group with the Pentax W60 not far behind. Between the D10 and TS1 the Canon is sharper across the frame (albeit aided by heavier sharpening). This is particularly evident at the edge of the frame where the tree crop is taken from. Color balance in this situation between the Canon and the Panasonic is fairly similar with the D10 producing a slightly warmer result.

Video

I took the Z33 WP on holiday with me and used it in bright sunshine, crowded rooms, dimly lit restaurants, in the sea and in the swimming pool. I was constantly amazed with the results, so much so that I got a load of photos printed via Photobox as soon as I got home, just to see if they were really that good. I’m pleased to say that they were! Of the three worst performers in this group - the Tough 8000, W80 and Z33, the Z33 and W80 manage to retain slightly more visible detail than the Tough 8000 (with the W80 showing the most chroma noise of the three), but they also shows a few more noise reduction artifacts. Noise levels for these three cameras are very similar. The front of the camera sees the rather small flash and the 3x optical zoom lens, offering a 35-105mm (35mm equiv.) focal length, with a max aperture of F3.7. The lens itself doesn't have a protective cover, taking instead a glass panel in front, which means it is potentially prone to scratches. One advantage however, it that it is really easy to clean should it get dirty.

A combination of noise reduction and folded optics sees the Fujifilm Z33 and both Olympus cameras put in a less than stellar performance, resulting in a very soft crop. While the differences between the images captured by any of these cameras are not going to be too noticeable in prints at 5x7 inch sizes or at web resolutions, they will be visible if you make prints of 8"x10" or over. (The W80's odd color rendition would be visible at any size, of course). Shutter lag isn't bad, i.e., you press the button and get pretty much what you were looking at. Buffering is a little slow however, even in the continuous shooting mode, which skips the image preview but doesn't rattle off pictures at any great rate, so forget about getting sequential images of anything moving at any sort of speed. MB minimum required for installation with 600 MB available when FinePixViewer is running (15 GB or more recommended with Vista, 2 GB or more recommended with XP) High ISO settings allow you to shoot in low light without using a tripod or the flash and has become one of the key differentiators between digital SLRs (which, whith theit much larger sensors, are usually pretty good at higher sensitivity settings) and compacts (which aren't). The FinePix Z33WP will be available from April. Pricing will be announced nearer to the date of the launch. Fujifilm FinePix Z33WP specifications SensorA camera, to me, was something I used to take fishing with me. However, I’m so impressed with the Fujifilm Z33 WP that I take it almost everywhere with me now. It’s so small that you hardly notice it, but the photographs it takes belie its compact size. Unfortunately you cannot control the ISO settings in Auto either, that being an option in the Manual mode. However, you can, at least, leave everything in Manual on auto and set the ISO to a lower value if this seems a persistent problem. The Olympus Tough 6000 leaves more detail, but also more noise grain in the image than either the Pentax or Canon. Which of these approaches is better is a personal preference, and in small prints or web sized images, either approach will produce a decent enough result (though for us it's always better to keep detail in images). It's worth noting that, as with most compacts, the noise reduction settings on these cameras are not changeable.

Towards the edge of the frame the TS1 performance remains better than the D10 due to the less aggressive noise reduction used. You can clearly see more fine detail on the front of the Martini bottle (along with more noise). Though worse than that TS1, with the Canon D10 you can at least still get a basic idea what it's supposed to be a picture of (even if all texture, contrast and fine detail has gone). The other cameras offer varying combinations of noise, artefacts and blurred detail - in other words just what you'd expect from a high resolution compact viewed at a pixel level.Both Pentax cameras perform relatively well in this test, despite the higher ISO setting producing more visible noise. They are both let down (especially compared to the TS1 and D10) by the slightly harsher overall appearance, and the poor red eye performance. In terms of sharpness the Z33 is on par with the Pentax and the Olympus Tough 6000.