The digital photography revolution continues to march on with what seems like an endless supply of new cameras and gizmos coming online weekly.

From high-end digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras that almost need a mortgage to buy, to small pocket-sized point and shoots that cost about the same as a packet of cigarettes, the choice has become staggering. But how does one make the right choice? The equation, in my opinion, is a combination of picture needs and budget.

If your photographic aspirations are to capture moments with friends and family while on holiday then a £6,000 camera is probably a little over the top. Conversely, if you aim to spend time on the Serengeti looking for the ultimate wildlife image you’ll need something with a little more guts than a £15 disposable.

Of course this sounds rather simplistic. Other factors need to be reckoned with when making a decision – number of megapixels, lens, durability etc. But the equation is a starting point on the path to making the right choice.

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During the last year or two the major camera manufacturers – I’m mostly thinking of Canon, Nikon and Pentax – have been producing consumer priced DSLR’s. Cameras, for the most part, that are excellent and produce great results for their owners. Significantly, however, they have also been stepping up their game when it comes to compact cameras.

For me as a pro, and for people who can’t be bothered carrying all those lenses around, the holy grail of a point and shoot digital camera is one that can match, or at least come close to, the picture quality of DSLR’s.

In recent months, three camera makers – Leica, Samsung and Canon – have brought out models that come tantalisingly close, but do they make the grade?

Leica D-LUX 3

Like all Leica cameras the D-LUX 3 is a well-appointed, superbly built compact camera. There is nothing flash about this camera; it is all sleek black lines and understated styling. The high points are: 10 megapixels of image resolution, a large 2.8 inch LCD screen, a very sharp Leica DC Vario-Elmarit lens, image stabilisation, fully automatic or manual controls, a built in flash and it can capture images as either Jpeg or RAW files.

This was the first camera I tested of the three. And I was suitably impressed. The images produced were sharp with life-like colours, although at ISO 400 and above there was a little too much noise for my liking. However, this is a problem that most compact cameras have to deal with.

Although the D-LUX-3 can be used in full automatic, it really shines when its manual capabilities are on the job. Shutter and aperture priorities, along with full manual, give the photographer the right flexibility to produce some startling imagery. Accompanying this, Leica’s inclusion of RAW shooting means serious snappers can bypass all the camera’s inner workings, go right to the computer with their files and adjust them through the supplied Adobe Photoshop Elements software.

Overall I really liked this camera, however I have two complaints.

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