Sony's full-frame Alpha A850 digital SLR, now in our digital camera Ratings. (Click to enlarge.)

Sixteen percent of consumers we recently polled said they were interested in buying a point-and-shoot or SLR digital camera during the Thanksgiving weekend. If you're one of them, here's good news: We've just updated our comprehensive digital camera Ratings (available to subscribers) to include some of the season's newest cameras.

Here are some intriguing new models:

Full-frame SLRs. It's the first time we've included an SLR in our Ratings that has a large, full-frame sensor. Sony's 24.6-megapixel Alpha A850, introduced late this past summer, is the first full-frame SLR priced at $2000 or less. Full-frame models have been available at much higher prices for many years. This price breakthrough is one of the reasons we're including the A850 in our Ratings. Why the big deal over full-frame sensors? Among other things, they tend to handle a wider variety of lighting situations more accurately, while limiting the amount of visual noise that can distort and degrade an image.

Nikon's projecting point-and-shoot. As we've written in previous posts, Nikon's Coolpix S1000pj is the first point-and-shoot that can project images and video clips onto a wall or any surface. Our Ratings tell you how well it performed as a digital camera.

Fujifilm's EXR superzoom. Fujifilm got a lot of buzz earlier this year when it introduced a subcompact, the FinePix F200EXR, which included a very flexible sensor that adapts to the subject you're shooting. In fact, it will automatically set the camera in one of three modes: high sensitivity and low noise; wide dynamic range; and high resolution. Now the company has put this technology into a superzoom, the FinePix F70EXR. To see how this model and those above did in our tests, check our new Ratings.—Terry Sullivan