Our digital camera Ratings (available to subscribers) has just been updated with some of the latest subcompacts, compacts, and superzooms. There are many good buys among those we tested, but I noticed that among compact digital cameras, in particular, there were models priced from $90 all the way up to $500.

What could possibly make a compact worth considering for $500 or so?

Three such cameras—the Canon PowerShot G10, $470, Panasonic DMC-LX3, $500, and Nikon Coolpix P6000, $450—are loaded with special features. For example, they all can shoot RAW files, which gives you tremendous creative control over your images. Also, each has a hot shoe for attaching an external flash, which can improve your photos. Both features are very rare on point-and-shoots.

Although these cameras share many other features, they also differ in certain ways. For example, the PowerShot (Click on the image at right for a closer look.) features the greatest zoom, 5x. The Panasonic includes just 2.5x optical zoom, but it starts very wide, at 24mm (35mm equivalent). The Nikon includes an on-board GPS feature that tags photos with the geographic location at which they were shot.

For more details on how this trio and all the new point-ands-shoots performed, see our Ratings of digital cameras.

—Terry Sullivan