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For this month's Top 10 Digital Cameras, we tested new models from four of the biggest names in digital photography, as well as a camera from one of the biggest names in PCs. Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, Sony, and Toshiba threw some of their best cameras our way, all in one very busy month.

Nikon's Coolpix 995 succeeds the company's Coolpix 900 and Coolpix 990, two models that have been favorites of well-heeled digital photographers. The new model, which secured the number two spot on the chart, adds a pop-up flash to lessen the chance of red-eye, plus several other advanced features (white-balance bracketing, for example) that should appeal to people who like to tweak. Our test shots with the Coolpix 995 showed it performs even better than its predecessors. But perhaps the most important revision is that Nikon now includes a rechargeable lithium battery--for twice the battery life of the Coolpix 990--along with an external charger.

Fujifilm's exotic FinePix 6800 Zoom, number four on our chart, bears a prominent label on its retracting lens cover: "Designed by F.A. Porsche." The design firm, which traces its roots to the upscale automobile maker, modeled the camera's exterior while Fujifilm took care of the innards. Both companies did stellar work: This tiny camera features exquisitely machined controls, lovely transparent menus, and an innovative LCD bubble display that controls a few functions. It takes very good pictures, too.

The Toshiba PDR-M65, coming in at number seven on the chart, costs the same as the Sony Mavica we tested this month, but almost triples the Mavica's resolution. This 3.34-megapixel camera is very simple; if you buy the argument that the Fujifilm FinePix 6800 is a Porsche, consider the Toshiba PDR-M65 a Ford Taurus. It offers few of the features of the more expensive models on the chart. However, it surprised us by capturing some exceptionally sharp pictures--in some cases the Toshiba's shots looked sharper than those produced by the much-pricier Nikon and Fujifilm models. Unfortunately, this camera doesn't make fine distinctions in color reproduction; many of our shots looked substantially off-color. You may not notice that problem as much with outdoor shots, though.

Canon's S300 Digital Elph follows the S100 Digital Elph, which the company introduced last year. Leveraging Canon's name for its diminutive film cameras, the Digital Elph looks as if capable designers had a hand in its conception, too: Though it's shaped like a tiny brick, its stainless-steel case and well-designed controls make it look bulletproof. We found it capable of some pretty good shots, and Canon still managed to include some extras you might not expect, such as a movie-capture function and a neat panorama mode. The S300 made our chart at number ten.

Sony's FD Mavica MVC-FD92 is the latest in the company's floppy disk-based digicams. We tested two others from this line for last month's under-$500 chart; this model costs more because it also accepts Memory Stick media. Unfortunately, even though it costs $599, it can muster only 1.3-megapixel resolution (or 1.6 megapixels via interpolation). We saw distortion in many of our test shots--not something we're accustomed to with cameras in this price range. As a result, the MVC-FD92 did not make this month's chart.

Next month, when we return to the sub-$500 chart, we'll take a look at tiny new models from Kodak and Olympus, as well as the new Canon PowerShot A20.

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