Olympus Stylus 1S

The smallest camera on test, the Stylus 1S shares a lot of its looks with the retro-cool Olympus PEN and OM-D, the company's Compact System Cameras. The screen on the back is touch-sensitive, while it tilts to be useful for some awkward-angle shots. You can set the autofocus point with a simple tap. while it's also possible to navigate through menus and so on.

There's also a number of dials and buttons on the camera, many of which can be customised to suit your specific shooting requirements and how you like to work. Because of the camera's small size, the grip is relatively shallow, and it's not as comparable to using a DSLR as the others on test here.

The lens retracts into the camera's body too, so you have to use a switch around the shutter release to zoom, but it keeps overall camera size down to an almost pocket-friendly size. There's a large viewfinder, which is fantastically bright and clear - you'll want to use it for every shot if you're a fan of composing your images in this way.

Colours directly from the camera are vibrant yet realistic, while the overall impression of detail is great for a camera with a small sensor. Looking at images at 100% on screen, those taken at the far reach of the telephoto optic are a little softer than is preferable, but the overall impression of detail is great.

As we'd expect, low-light performance is not quite as strong as those cameras with a one-inch sensor, with fairly obvious noise at ISO 1600.