At Consumer Reports, we’ve been telling you which products to buy for over 70 years, and part of that advice has always been based on whether a product represents a good value. That’s why some of our Recommended products are classified as CR Best Buys; a CR Best Buy™ may not be the top-rated product in its class, but it’s one that we think offers the best combination of performance, reliability and price. 

To make it easier for you to find those products that offer good value, we’re working on a new feature – the Consumer Reports Value Index™ – and we wanted to share this free Beta version with you to help you make the best purchases this holiday season.

The chart displays the “value zones” for recently rated super-zoom digital cameras. Products on the upper right side of the chart offer better values than those further to the left and bottom. For example, the Fuji FinePix S700, which received an overall score of 70 in our Ratings, is a High Value product at a median price of $165. The Kodak EasyShare Z1012IS is the best superzoom camera we tested, with an overall score of 76. But at a median price of $240, it represents a Medium Value, which is a notch below the Fuji’s High. Which one should you buy? That depends on your budget and needs. Based on our Ratings, they’re both Very Good cameras, but the Kodak has some qualities that set it apart from others in this class. And the Fuji has a less effective type of image stabilizer than most other superzooms, which is why it wasn’t selected as a Recommended model, despite fine performance in other respects and its low price.  ConsumerReports.org subscribers can get more information in our Ratings.

To use the Value Index™, first roll your mouse over a circle to find out more about the model it represents. Every camera in this chart scored Good or Very Good overall in our tests, and prices are midpoints derived from a range of online prices for that model. To learn more about a model, subscribers can click on its name to go to its page, which includes our expert review, a detailed breakdown of the model’s overall test results, Reliability data, user reviews, and a link to compare online prices for that model. (The average price shown on the model page may differ from the one in this chart, due to timing.)  Also, remember that the Value Index shown in the chart represents a snapshot in time. It’s based on this week’s median online prices for super zooms. Those prices do of course change, so the models shown might appear in different zones by, say, next week.

Each week through this holiday season, we’ll be providing a Value Index for another product. This is a Beta, and we’re working hard to improve this feature. If you have any feedback – or would like to tell us whether you got any value out of this – please share your thoughts in the Comments, below.