Pentax

To look at the latest addition to the stable of Pentax compacts, you probably wouldn't guess that there was an 18x optical zoom lens tucked into its relatively tiny body. But, it's in there and it offers an equivalent zoom length of 25-450mm. The body itself is one of the highlights of this mid-range compact. The design is fairly minimalist, an effect that is more pronounced in the black version than it is in the pearl white or metallic orange. The top looks especially nice.

Tiny bodies with interchangeable lenses are all the rage and the latest guest to show up at the party is Pentax with their new Q system.

Rugged cameras are getting tougher all the time. They can stand bigger falls, deeper water and more brutal temperatures. To test the true burliness of the newest crop, we threw four of the latest models into a backpack and headed out to the Tough Mudder adventure race at Mt. Snow in Vermont. With 10 miles of brutal terrain and more than 25 obstacles -- many of which involve being submerged in near-freezing water -- we were interested to see which cameras were still standing at the finish line.