The crops are taken from the original images, saved as High Quality JPEGs in Photoshop CS2 and presented here at 100%. Each number represents 100 lines per picture height (lpph), so a figure of 20 means a resolution of 2000 lpph.

The Fujifilm FinePix F30 delivers 1850 lpph of horizontal and vertical resolution respectively which places it comfortably above 5 Megapixel models like the Panasonic TZ1. The crops below are also very clean and free from optical artefacts, with high contrast and sharpness; the latter may be a tad too high for some tastes, but there’s no denying it’s a clean and detailed result.

As you’d expect, the 10 Megapixel compacts deliver measurably higher resolution in this test and under the best conditions can even match the resolving power of a 10 megapixel DSLR – although it’s important to note the image quality of a compact will greatly reduce at higher sensitivities compared to a DSLR.

That said, it’s also important to compare real-life images, and while the 10 Megapixel compacts still out-resolve the 6.3 Megapixel F30, it’s not by as much as you’d expect – see the previous page. Ultimately the F30 is capable of recording a great deal of detail.

Note: our Sony N2 sample appears to suffer from optical issues just off-center, and yes, both N2 crops came from exactly the same image. If you compare the results from our compact group test of December 2005, the earlier Sony N1 lens (which we understand is identical to that in the N2) didn’t exhibit the same issues, so we presume we got a poor copy of the N2.