To compare real-life performance we shot the same scene with all three cameras within a few minutes of each other using their best quality JPEG settings and an aperture of f8 in Aperture Priority mode. The crops are taken from the originals and presented here at 100 per cent.

The first image below was taken with the Fujifilm S9500 at 12mm f8 (54mm equivalent); the original JPEG measured 4.28MB. Sporting an additional megapixel over its rivals here, the S9500's 100 per cent crops show a slightly smaller area, although the actual resolved detail remains very similar across all three models.

Fujifilm FinePix S9500 Zoom - 1/250, f8, 80 ISO

Panasonic DMC-FZ30 - 1/320, f8, 80 ISO

Canon EOS-350D with 18-55mm EF-S - 1/320, f8, 100 ISO

For further, in-depth tests covering the test camera's resolution, CCD noise levels, chromatic aberration, purple fringing, corner sharpness, wideangle and telephoto geometry, wideangle and telephoto uniformity, and macro performance, visit Camera Labs here.