Best Ultracompact Pocket Cameras | Digital Camera HQ's Buyer's Guide

Cameras keep getting smaller and smaller while their feature sets get bigger and bigger. This year's batch of ultracompact cameras is pushing the envelope with more megapixels, more power, more of everything. If you're looking to find the perfect gift for a loved one (or as a treat for yourself), these sleek beauties are sure to incite plenty of excited screaming once the gift wrap is torn away.

User-Friendly and Portable Panasonic FS15 from $148.23	[Read our full Panasonic FS15 Review] The Panasonic FS15 is a great, ultracompact digital camera for users who don't want to get tangled up in hard-to-understand features and functions. The FS15 has a very smart 'intelligent' auto mode, which can read scenes and environments and adjust the camera's settings accordingly, whether you're shooting a sweeping landscape or an intimate macro shot. Perhaps most importantly, the FS15 is incredibly small, small enough to fit in a child's palm and be easily tucked into a shirt or pants pocket. You can carry the lightweight FS15 and forget about it; it's there when you need it, unobtrusive when you don't. It's a worry-free camera in more ways than one.
14.7 Megapixels from Canon Canon SD990 IS from $299.99	[Read our full Canon SD990 Review] The SD990 IS is Canon's flagship digital camera, leading off with the tremendous 14.7 megapixel sensor that can yield photo-quality poster prints and extraordinarily detailed digital photos. It may not have the flashy accents of the FX150, but the SD990 IS is an excellent approachable ultracompact camera, perfect for casual or novice photographers interested in taking great photographs without having to fuss with confusing settings or extraneous features. Style is a major point in the SD990's favor: its curvaceous body is quite eye catching, and it's the first Canon ultracompact available in jet black.
Lots of Style, HD Video Sony W290 from $195.95	[Read our full Sony W290 Review] Sony's Cybershot W290 is here to make an impression, not just with its high-quality 12.1-megapixel sensor, but also with its stylish body design. What's nice about the W290 is that it's an effort-free camera. With an array of smart, automatic functions, the W290 practically runs itself. Just point and snap. It's an eye-catching camera sure to elicit attention when you pull it out to snap photos. It also features a high-definition movie mode capable of taking video clips at 1280 x 720 pixel resolution.