Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX700: Stirling MOS

Put your foot down with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX700, a tidy-looking compact camera with a MOS sensor that's built for speed.

The FX700 is a 14-megapixel point-and-shoot. It sports a 5x optical zoom and F2.2 lens, and introduces a zippy MOS sensor to the pocket-friendly end of the Lumix range, where previous models have packed CCDs.

The new sensor sees some clever new features arrive in the slimline end of the range, such as 3DNR mode for handheld night shooting. As well as high-definition video, a speedy burst mode fires 10 frames per second at full resolution. The coolest-sounding feature is intelligent burst shooting, which adapts the speed of a burst of snaps to the speed of your moving subject. A slow-moving subject, for instance, is snapped at 2fps, while a faster-moving subject is captured at up to 10fps. Pretty neat.

You control the camera with this 76mm (3-inch) touchscreen. Tap on an area of the screen to focus and fix scene mode or exposure for that part of the screen. You can also zoom in or even snap a picture with a swipe or a tap of your finger. Playback mode lets you swipe through your pictures.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX700 arrives later this year.