We used the built-in lenses at their widest and longest focal lengths with the apertures wide open. The crops are taken from the upper left corner of the chart and presented here at 100%.

In this particular test, the Sony N2 performed similarly to the Canon A640 and Fujifilm F30, with all three exhibiting roughly similar degrees of coloured fringing at their focal extremes; note the Panasonic TZ1 is impressively bereft of almost any fringing.

To measure and compare the Sony Cyber-shot N2’s macro performance we photographed a custom chart using it and a number of rival models with their bundled lenses.

Each camera was positioned at a distance and set to a focal length which delivered the maximum possible reproduction.

The dark lines are 10mm apart and the result is not cropped. Smaller areas are preferred in this test.

The image left was taken with the Sony Cyber-shot N2 in its Macro mode.

Switch the Sony N2 to macro mode and it can focus as close as 6cm with its lens set to wide angle. This allows it to capture an area measuring 66x50mm which is the least impressive of the four cameras tested here. The Fujifilm F30 isn’t far behind, but models like the Canon A640 show what’s possible with a compact.