Compare some of the best compact digital camera brands using our ratings comparison of digital camera owner satisfaction.
It’s a double take for compact camera users
* Overall satisfaction is an individual rating and not a combined total of all ratings
To help those of you who prefer more of a ‘point and shoot’ photography experience, we have now added ratings for compact cameras to the DSLR ratings we released earlier this month.
While the winners of our categories are usually very obvious, we could not split Canon and Panasonic when it came to overall satisfaction. With results too close to call, Canon and Panasonic share the five star award for Most Satisfied Customers – Digital Compact Cameras.
Across the board, respondents are pretty happy with their compact cameras, with all brands surveyed receiving at least a 3 star (or 6 out of 10) rating in every criteria.
Functionality and Design have recorded the lowest ratings, with respondents reporting problems with battery life, screen size, and complicated menus, with many complaining that the controls are not intuitive, making the experience not very user friendly (some people also mentioned small buttons and large fingers being a problem). Many people don’t seem to use the full functionality of the camera, either because they don’t want it, or don’t know how to use it. Respondents also mentioned that they were not happy about having to buy special accessories for certain brands of camera (including battery packs and memory cards) that would not work across different brands.
Panasonic and Canon also scored highly in other criteria, tying again for first place in Image Quality.
Panasonic have come out slightly ahead of Canon in Functionality and Design. Both, however, have been beaten by Fujifilm and Kodak when it comes to satisfaction with price, with these two brands having the most satisfied customers in this area.
Baby Boomers are the most satisfied with their compact cameras, much more so than either Generation X or Y. Those respondents from the Northern Territory, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory are the most satisfied Overall and with Functionality, while South Australians are most happy with the Price and Design of their cameras. Queenslanders are most satisfied with Image Quality while men are more satisfied in every criteria than women.
Canstar Blue commissions Colmar Brunton to survey 2,500 Australian consumers across a range of categories every few months to measure and track customer satisfaction. The outcomes reported are the results that come from buyers of compact cameras within the survey group. To qualify, the compact camera has to have been bought within the last two years.
Overall satisfaction with the camera
Canon and Panasonic tied for the 5 star award, followed by Fujifilm, Sony, Kodak, and Olympus on 4 stars, and Samsung on 3 stars.
Price compared to other compact cameras
Fujifilm and Kodak both have the most satisfied customers in this area, followed by Samsung, Canon and Panasonic on 4 stars and Olympus, and Sony on 3 stars.
Image quality
Panasonic and Canon again tied for first place, followed by Fujifilm, Sony, Kodak, Olympus on 4 stars and Samsung on 3 stars.
Functionality (menus, screen, battery)
Panasonic came out ahead in this criteria, scoring 5 stars. Canon, Fujifilm and Sony received 4 stars, while Kodak, Olympus and Samsung received 3 stars.
Design, including appearance and size
Panasonic customers proved the most satisfied with their cameras when it came to design, while Canon, Fujifilm and Sony all followed on 4 stars. Olympus, Kodak and Samsung followed on 3 stars.
Digital Cameras 
To help those of you who prefer more of a ‘point and shoot’ photography experience, we have now added ratings for compact cameras to the DSLR ratings we released earlier this month. 