Too much of a generalisation, imo, Clive. There are good cameras and bad, I've had excellent results with a 12M compact, a 12M bridge and a 12M DSLR. The latter will always produce the best image, because of the larger sensor, but it costs an awful lot more than the other two. My compact is a Lumix, with Leica lens, and Panasonic really do seem to have mastered the art of getting the best from a small box. The bridge is a Fuji, and their super-CCD design goes a long way to eliminating the issues caused by small sensors. From both of those, I can print good quality A4 images, and even push it to A3 if I must. The DSLR, otoh, will happily go to A2.