The Fuji S6000fd is an ultrazoom “bridge”-style camera: a non-SLR, small-sensor camera that nonetheless has the styling and manual controls of an SLR camera. Don’t let that scare you off, however - as with all control-heavy bridge cameras or SLRs, the Fuji S6000fd can be put into automatic mode, where it can be operated point and shoot style just like any automatic camera.

The S6000fd has a useful 28-300mm (10.7x) zoom range, and employs the Fujifilm SuperCCD sensor - a unique Fuji-developed sensor design that yields low-noise, high ISO images that far exceeds any other consumer-level sensor on the market today - ISO1600 output looks like ISO400 output from cameras with conventional sensors (4x better performance). As a result, the Fuji S6000fd is one of the best low-light non-SLR cameras on the market. The S6000fd uses four standard AA batteries (you’ll of course want to get rechargeable AA batteries of your own), which last for 400 shots per charge (CIPA standard) - plenty for a day or more of shooting. While not quite compact, it packs all of the essential features of a travel camera.

The Sony H9 is a medium-sized ultrazoom camera. While it doesn’t have an SLR-type body and manual controls of a “bridge” camera, the H9 still has a high degree of manual control, and fits into a much more compact body (although definitely not ‘pocketable’). Of course, the H9 can be put into a fully automatic mode, making it as easy to operate as any point and shoot camera.

The H9 has a big 31-465mm (15x) zoom range - not quite as wide as some cameras, but a step up from the 35mm or 36mm of most other cameras. The H9 uses a conventional image sensor, so high ISO results won’t be extraordinary, but because of Sony’s slightly more aggressive noise reduction, the out-of-camera pictures will be slightly better than the rest of the pack. However, the H9 makes up for the lack of high ISO performance with its “Super SteadyShot” image stabilization system, which will help greatly with low-light pictures, but as noted above won’t do anything to prevent blur from moving subjects. The H9 uses a Sony battery which lasts 280 shots (CIPA standard) - a bit below average for cameras in this class, but still good enough to last a day of travel for most people. While not the best camera in terms of image quality, the Sony H9 is still above average, and the more compact size makes it a better option for those who don’t want to carry something as big as an SLR or bridge camera.