New Olympus : FE range of compact cameras

If the EP-1 is a little out of your price range, you could always drop down the Olympus range and check out the FE-5020, FE-4000 and FE-26, which promise top-notch imagery and ease of use, but without the hefty hole in the wallet.

Working our way up the range, the £99 Olympus FE-26, which is available in flamingo pink, cornflower blue and cosmic black, packs in a 2.7-inch display, Dual Image Stabilisation for blur-free images even in crowded environments and Advanced Face Detection for better people shots. Yes, an Olympus camera covering all the basics for under £100 - which means you'll not be in tears if you leave it in a club.

For £40 more, you can opts for the £139 Olympus FE-4000 in pure white, dark grey, metal magenta, arctic blue and tangerine orange. For that extra outlay, you get a super-slim shell that packs in a wide zoom function for better group shots, an AF tracking function for better moving shots, the same Advanced Face Detection and Dual Image Stabilisation, along with four Magic Filters - Pop Art, Fish Eye, Sketch and Pin Hole. Yes, Olympus goes all Lomo.

Top of this particular range is the Olympus FE-5020. Retailing for £169 and available in pure white, dark grey, mocha brown and ocean blue, it's another slimline snapper, offering super wide zoom, AF tracking, Dual Image Stabilisation, Advanced Face Detection, those four Magic Filters and movie recording with sound.