Samsung SH100

The ultra-compact Samsung SH100 is a "snazzy little unit stuffed with features," combining a smartphone-style menu with a point-and-shoot camera body, says Matt Grayson of PhotoRadar.com. It's also Wi-Fi-enabled, allowing users to share and store photos online, and reviewers say it works seamlessly. With 14 megapixels and a 5x optical zoom lens, the SH100 produces good images in general, but reviewers say noise appears at ISO 400 and higher, and the SH100 performs poorly in low-light conditions. It also lacks optical image stabilization (its "biggest feature shortcoming," says Joshua Goldman of CNET), and it can only email files that are 2 megapixels or smaller.

"If you want to do any sort of low-light shooting without a flash, this definitely isn't the camera for you," says PJ Jacobowitz of PCMag.com. "If you're interested in the Wi-Fi capabilities, try an EyeFi card, which will work with any camera with an SD slot, and can wirelessly back up photos to your computer as well as transfer photos to any Android or iOS device."

Like a smartphone, the SH100 uses a simple touch-screen interface and Smart Auto mode to make finding the best shooting mode as painless as possible. It can sync to the user's computer for automatic image backup and can transfer photos to Facebook, Photobucket, and Picasa and upload videos directly to YouTube. DLNA syncing (which connects Samsung devices wirelessly to each other) is also available, and you can connect a Galaxy S smartphone to the SH100 to serve as a remote viewfinder.

Experts run the Samsung SH100 through various lab tests to evaluate its performance under differing conditions. PC World, CNET and PCMag.com use a wide range of tests to analyze the SH100's image quality. TechRadar.com looks at the SH100 in more technical detail, while PhotographyBlog.com offers a thorough expert review.