This is a remarkable lens in a remarkable camera.

First, all other superzooms are scaled down SLR designs, which are just too bulky to slide into your pocket. The Panasonic TZ4 isn't.

It's fatter than the average digital compact, true, but it's still slim enough to fit in a pocket. It's a genuine go-anywhere just-in-case camera.

Following up on a classic is inherently risky business: the list of new releases in the digicam world that have ultimately been cursed by the "but the last model was so good" argument is long and invariably grows every year. Ultimately, as gets said many times around here, there's a fine line between offering enough improvements to justify current-generation prices and doing too much messing with a good thing.

With the Canon SD850 remaining one of the most popular compact cameras out there, its follow-up model, the Canon PowerShot SD890 IS