Thanks to convenient, easy-to-use digital cameras, exposure problems, poor focus, bad composition, flash flare and 'red-eye' are becoming terms of the past.

The promise that you can shoot as many pictures as you like and retain only those you like best is a simple but powerful allure for many who have always looked at photography as an expensive hobby. With the inclusion of advanced automatic features that formerly only professionals understood, shooting good photographs is becoming painless.

However, with hundreds of digital cameras flooding the consumer market, buying one nowadays requires sorting through a mind-boggling number of models. With the rapid advance of technology, consumers increasingly find their heads wrapped in increasingly complex technical wizardry and jargon.

Asking advice from friends can confuse matters even more. A serious photographer will give you an entirely different recommendation from that of a soccer dad capturing his kid scoring the winning goal, or a teenager snapping candid party shots.

To unravel this complicated market and to set the baseline, we have evaluated three cameras in each of the popular consumer categories: sub-compact (also known as shirt-pocket shooters), compact models, and prosumer models (for those consumers who are looking to become professionals later).

The reviews serve as important foundations for those who want to get a grip on this fast-moving industry, and important pointers for those looking for that elusive, all-in-one dream digital camera.