6. CREATIVE CONTROL
Full manual operations
Despite all the scene modes and exposure compensation, advanced photographers may still crave the ability to choose the shutter speed and aperture manually. Pricier models, such as Fujifilm's FinePix S9100 ($430, street), usually offer full manual control, letting you select the shutter speed and aperture simultaneously. Only a few affordable models, such as the Canon PowerShot A640 ($260, street) and Kodak EasyShare Z885 ($256, street) do. Others may have either a shutter- or aperture-program mode, but lack full manual. For the beginner and casual snapshooter, this might not be a big deal, but on a pocket cam for many hardcore enthusiasts, it's a must-have, even if they don't use it nearly as often as they think they will.
7. ISO RANGE
Sensor sensibility
This is the sensitivity range of the camera: The higher the ISO, the less light you need to capture an image at a given shutter speed and aperture. However, as ISO increases, noise (similar in appearance to film grain, but much less uniform) also increases. Noise can be minimized in the camera or in the digital darkroom by blurring the image, but this robs the image of resolution and fine detail. Some compacts offer extremely high ISOs, but to reach them the camera reduces the number of megapixels, also reducing image detail. The trade-off is sometimes worth it. Still, it helps to learn a camera's full-megapixel ISO range and noise processing: We test noise results for many models in the Pop Photo Lab, and you can search our website for the results.
8. IMAGE STABILIZATION
Optical vs. mechanical vs. digital
Image stabilization, vibration reduction, anti-shake -- every camera maker has a slightly different name for its method of reducing the effect of camera movement when a camera is handheld during relatively long exposures (1/30 sec or longer). Adding to the confusion, there are three flavors of stabilization: optical (lens-based), mechanical (sensor-shift), and digital (image processing and ISO boost).
Both lens-based and sensor-shift stabilization use motion sensors to counteract your inevitable movement when shooting at slower shutter speeds, often allowing up to 3 extra stops when handholding the camera. That means you can shoot at slower speeds, a smaller aperture, or lower ISO -- or all three at once -- without your movement blurring the shot or using a tripod or flash.
In contrast, digital stabilization at its simplest is little more than an ISO boost combined with a wide aperture to yield a fast-enough shutter speed to overcome camera shake. More complex versions may use software to try to clean up the motion trails in the image. But cranking up the ISO means more noise and less resolution -- so image quality can suffer.
9. USER INTERFACE
Buttons, dials, sliders, and touchscreens
Generally speaking, the smaller the camera, the more dependent it is on screen menus and the fewer the dedicated buttons for camera settings and playback features. If you'll mostly shoot auto-everything, this is no big deal, but for the more experienced photographer, having image-quality adjustments at your fingertips is usually better than having to navigate a maze of submenus. Some compacts use a touchscreen -- they take getting used to, but can be fun. There are also slider-based navigation systems, which make perfect sense to the iPod generation, but can frustrate some photographers.
10. VARIABLE-APERTURE ZOOMS
Slower at telephoto
We can't think of a single compact or EVF that has a constant-aperture, rather than variable, zoom lens. You'll need to boost the ISO or slow the shutter speed at the maximum focal length to maintain the same exposure you had at the widest angle.
For example, a 35-105mm f/2.8-4 lens zoomed to 105mm will require twice as much light (1 stop) to get the same exposure as a photo at the widest setting. So, you must either boost your ISO a full stop (say, to 800 from 400) or halve your shutter speed (to 1/30 sec from 1/60) to keep the subject properly exposed as you zoom in. An f/2.8-5.6 zoom requires 2 full stops of compensation (to ISO 1600 from 400, or 1/15 sec from 1/60). So if there are a lot of low-light, long-reach photos in your future, look for a zoom that doesn't lose much more than a stop over its range.
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