You know what today needed? Six more cameras, that's what. Luckily, Canon thought so too and has announced the arrival of its new PowerShot A series comprising of the following entry to mid-level compacts: The Canon PowerShot A810, the Canon PowerShot A1300, the Canon PowerShot A2300, the Canon PowerShot A2400 IS, the Canon PowerShot A3400 IS and the Canon PowerShot A4000 IS.

Before we give each camera some individual time to breathe, let us first tell you what they've all got in common. They all pack the DIGIC 4 processing engine (sadly not the DIGIC 5 that we've seen land in the Canon Ixus 510 HS and Ixus 240) and they all have 16-megapixel sensors.

They also all shoot movies in 720p HD and, unless stated below, have 28mm wide-angle lenses with 5x optical zoom skills and 2.7-inch LCD displays.

The pick of the bunch is the A4000 which ramps the optical zoom up to 8x and offers a 3-inch LCD display.

Next up is the A3400, which may not have the zooming skills of the top model but does boast the bigger LCD display, this time with touch-screen controls thrown in. The A3400 and the A4000 also feature an optical image stabiliser with Intelligent IS technology built in tech. As does the A2400.

The A2300 and the A1300 have optical viewfinders; something that you won't find on the A810. The A2300 is also lithium-ion battery powered, whereas the two lower models run on AA batteries. The A810 also lacks the smart auto (32 scene) mode of its A series brothers and sisters.

The Canon PowerShot A4000 will be the first of the bunch to hit the shops, landing this month for £169. In March, the A2300, A2400 and A3400 will arrive costing £119, £129 and £149 respectively, followed by the A810 (£89) and the A1300 (£109) in April.