Pros: 10 megapixels, hot shoe, lots of manual exposure options, excellent image quality
Cons: Price, no RAW mode
The Bottom Line: Don't be swayed by the naysayers, the new Canon Powershot G7 offers a superb balance of usability, prosumer performance, and excellent image quality.
Howard_Creech's Full Review: Canon PowerShot G7 Digital Camera
Two years ago nearly everyone in the digital imaging industry thought the Powershot G6 would be would be the last of Canon's premium compact prosumer P&S digicams because the amazing proliferation of reasonably priced entry-level dSLRs made the expensive and overly complex G6 redundant. Why buy a P&S digicam like the G6 when an entry-level dSLR like Canon's Digital Rebel or Nikon’s D50 could be had for a comparable price. The "G" series has been Canon's flagship digicam model since the ground breaking G1 was introduced in 2001. The new G7 is a welcome return to that original "G" concept - a digicam that channels the prosumer spirit of the almost iconic G2.
The G6 was weighed down with bells and whistles, but the new G7 eschews the bloated look of its predecessor to mimic the elegant classic picture makers (like the Leica CL/Minolta CLE) of an earlier era. The Canon Powershot G7 is smaller, leaner, faster, more powerful, and cheaper than its predecessor.
What's New?
The G7 features 10 megapixel resolution, a 2.5 inch LCD screen, a new 6X zoom with OIS (optical image stabilization), G7 images are saved to SD cards (the G7 saved images to CF cards), Canon’s third generation DIGIC III processor (the G6 relied on a second generation DIGIC II processor), and face recognition AF (auto focus).
NUTS & BOLTS
Viewfinder/LCD
The G7 features a fairly bright, but somewhat squinty tunnel style coupled (zooming) optical viewfinder. Many current digicams don't provide an optical viewfinder, and that’s too bad since most serious photographers prefer an optical viewfinder over an LCD screen for framing and composition. Parallax correction is superb; I didn’t notice any significant differences between the image as seen through the viewfinder and the recorded image. The G7's eyelevel optical viewfinder shows about 80% of the image frame and there's a diopter correction adjustment for eyeglasses wearers. Part of the lens barrel is visible in the lower left hand corner of the image frame at the wide-angle setting and that bothers some shooters.
The G7's fixed 2.5 inch (207,000 pixels) hi-res LCD screen dominates the camera's rear deck. LCD images are bright, sharp, hue accurate, fluid, and the display gains "up" (automatically brightens) in dim lighting - users can also manually boost LCD screen brightness. The LCD screen shows almost 100% of the image frame and is useable (anti- glare coating) in bright outdoor lighting. The LCD info/status display provides all information the G7's target audience is likely to need.
The G7s fixed LCD screen is one of the new camera's most contentious features. The G6 had a tilt-swivel LCD screen and many users really liked it. A tilt-swivel LCD screen can be mechanically manipulated through a variety of shooting angles including facing the front of the camera (good for self-portraits and allowing portrait subjects to fine-tune their poses in real time) or above the camera and facing toward the rear at a 45 degree angle (good for low level macro shots), or below the camera pointing backward (for over-the-heads of the crowd shots), or facing upward at a 90 degree angle to the back of the camera (for waist level viewing).
I prefer optical viewfinders for just about all my framing and composition. Optical Viewfinders and TTL Electronic Viewfinders (EVFs) narrow the photographer's vision of the world (by eliminating everything except the field of view of the camera's lens) and that's a good thing - because it forces shooters to see photographically. Arms length LCD screen composition causes shooters to see their images as a picture within a picture, a smaller part of the whole rather than as a completely self-contained mini-environment and that is a very important distinction, in creative terms. Professional photographers and most advanced amateur shooters prefer optical viewfinders (the vast majority of digital SLRs use the LCD screen only for captured image review and menu navigation). Since I use the LCD screen pretty much exclusively for captured image review and menu navigation, I’ve never been a big fan of tilt-swivel LCD screens – for me the whole debate about the loss of the G6's fully articulated LCD screen seems much ado about nothing.
Zoom
The G6 featured an f2.0-f3.0/7.2-28.8 (35mm equivalent 35mm-140mm) 4X zoom (first seen on the G3) and many reviewers have lamented the loss of that fast f2.0 maximum aperture on the G7, but above average chromatic aberration (purple fringing) was a common complaint from owners of the G3, G4, G5, and G6. The G7’s new f/2.8-4.8/7.4mm-44.4mm (35mm equivalent 35mm-210mm) 6X zoom is a full stop slower than the G6's, but it offers users a fifty per cent increase in reach and optical image stabilization. The G7's 6X zoom also does a better job of combating chromatic aberration (CA). There is some very minor purple fringing visible (only evident on close inspection) in high contrast color transition areas, but overall the G7's zoom is noticeably superior to its predecessor and significantly better than average in the CA department.
When the G7 is powered up, the zoom automatically telescopes out of the camera body. When the camera is powered down the lens is fully retracted into the camera and a built-in iris style lens cover slides into place to protect the front element. Zooming is fast, very smooth, and quiet with 14 precise steps from wide angle to telephoto. The zoom exhibits some very minor barrel distortion (straight lines bow out from the center) at the wide-angle end of the zoom range, but there is no visible pin cushioning (straight lines bow in toward the center) at the telephoto end of the zoom. There is some very minor softness in the corners, but no visible vignetting (dark corners).
The G7's macro performance is excellent, minimum focusing distance (in macro mode) is just short of half an inch - more than tight enough for pollen dusted bugs and frame filling flower interiors. The G7's new 6X zoom is remarkably good; images are consistently tack sharp with nicely balanced contrast and slightly oversaturated but hue accurate colors. The G7 users can purchase the optional lens adapter and mount auxiliary wide-angle or telephoto lenses and inexpensive 58mm filters.
Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)
Optical Image Stabilization is practically ubiquitous in today's long zoom prosumer digicams. OIS allows photographers to shoot at shutter speeds up to three stops slower than would have been possible without OIS. For example, if a shutter speed of 1/500th of a second is required to avoid the effects of camera shake (without OIS) a digicam with OIS can capture a reasonably sharp image of the same subject, everything else being equal, at 1/60th of a second. OIS provides an especially important benefit outdoors (when shooting handheld) at full telephoto in good light (where even the slightest camera movement is magnified exponentially). Image stabilization can also be a very useful asset when shooting indoors where higher shutter speeds may not be possible or would result in dark images with poor shadow/highlight detail. In addition, Image stabilization combined with higher sensitivity dramatically increases exposure options in low/natural light and dimly lit indoor venues where flash is prohibited. The OIS system automatically compensates for camera movement by shifting lens elements to counter camera shake. G7 users can consistently shoot sharper images at shutter speeds up to two (and occasionally three) stops slower than would be possible using a camera without IS.
The G7 provides three IS modes: Continuous (IS on full time), Shoot only (IS is only activated when the picture is taken) and Panning (only stabilizes up and down motion) for horizontally panned exposures. Potential G7 purchasers should keep in mind that full-time IS dramatically shortens battery life – shoot only mode uses much less battery power.
Auto Focus (AF)
The G7's 9 focus point AiAF (Advanced intelligent Auto Focus) system analyzes the scene in front of the camera and accurately calculates camera to subject distance to determine which AF point is closest to the primary subject and then locks focus on that AF point, even when the subject is not centered in the viewfinder. In aperture priority, shutter priority, and manual mode, the G7 utilizes Canon’s proprietary Flexizone AF which defaults to the center focus point or permits users to manually shift that AF point around the central two thirds of the frame for maximum compositional control.
The G7 features Canon's new Face Detection mode – when activated, Face Detection AF will locate, lock on, and track up to nine faces in the image frame. Face Detection AF selects the optimum subject based on Canon’s ISAPS (Intelligent Scene Analysis based on Photographic Space) technology and then optimizes all exposure parameters to determine the best exposure, (just before the image is recorded). One problem with Face Detection AF is that it only works with faces looking directly toward the camera, so FDAF won't lock on dramatic profile shots.
The G7 also provides Auto Focus Bracketing (AFB). The camera captures three exposures in rapid succession (with a single push of the shutter button) marginally shifting the focus for each (one just slightly in front of the optimum focus point, one at the optimum focus distance, and one just slightly behind the optimum focus point), virtually guaranteeing at least one correctly focused image, even in rapidly unfolding action situations. The distance interval can be adjusted allowing for exact spacing and precise focus no matter what sort of image (event, sports, street/candid, etc.) is being shot. The G7's Auto Focus is very fast and consistently accurate, essentially real time with pre-focusing and almost instantaneous from scratch.
Manual Focus (MF)
The G7's manual focusing mode is the standard distance/scale MF, which is useful but somewhat cumbersome (and not too fast). In manual focus mode focus is adjusted incrementally (using the up/down buttons on the compass switch). The camera superimposes a distance scale on the LCD screen for focusing accuracy and the center of the image is enlarged as an aid to determining precise focus.
Flash
The G7's built-in multi mode (Auto, Red-eye reduction auto, Red-eye reduction on, Red-eye reduction off, slow synch, first curtain synch or second curtain synch effect, and off) flash is fairly powerful - maximum range is about 13 feet - unit that provides a nice range of flash options. Flash exposure can be adjusted up to +2/-2 EV (in one-third-step increments) or flash output can be reduced from full power to 1/3 or 2/3 power.
The G7 also provides a hot shoe for mounting external Canon flash units (220EX, 430EX, and 550EX). Flash sync with Canon Speedlights is 1/250th of a second. In manual mode flash output can be adjusted incrementally.
File Storage/Memory Media
The G7 (unlike its predecessors) stores images to SD/SDHC/MMC memory media
Image File Format(s)
The G6 supported both JPEG & RAW image file formats, but the G7 only supports JPEG. Canon says the change is because the G7's 10 megapixel sensor is the same size as the 7 megapixel sensor in the G6. More pixels in the same space means smaller individual pixels and more noise – so RAW images wouldn't show any marked improvement over the G7’s Superfine JPEG mode. Some irate Canon customers (and a few reviewers) are saying the move is a marketing ploy to force serious amateur photographers to buy dSLRs to get the RAW image function.
Connectivity
USB 2.0HS, A/V out, DC in.
Power/Battery Life
The G7 draws its juice from the Canon NB-2LH 7.4v 720mAh Lithium-ion battery, the same unit that powers Canon's Digital Rebel XTi/EOS 400D. Canon claims the G7 can record up to 220 exposures (full time LCD use) and up to 500 exposures (full time optical viewfinder use). That number seems fairly accurate, but my impression is based on limited personal experience (two heavy shooting excursions) rather than long term empirical testing. The included CB-2LW (CB-2LWE in Europe) battery charger needs about 90 minutes to charge the battery. The G6 drew its power from Canon's BP511A battery and was good for up to 300 exposures with full time LCD use.
EXPOSURE
The Canon Powershot G7 features a full range of exposure options including: Automatic (P&S), Program (the camera determines shutter speed and aperture setting, but users can adjust all other exposure parameters), Shutter Priority AE, Aperture Priority AE, and Manual exposure modes. The G7 also provides 16 Scene modes (portrait, landscape, night scene, sports, night snapshot, kids & pets, indoor, foliage, snow, beach, fireworks, aquarium, underwater, ISO 3200, color accent, and color swap). Canon’s iSAPS (Intelligent Scene Analysis based on Photographic Space) technology produces consistently excellent exposures in all scene modes. The camera evaluates the scene in front of the camera using an on board database of known scene types and then compares that information with the specific scene’s subject distance, white balance, contrast range, lighting, and color (just before the image is recorded) to determine the best exposure. The ISAPS system works hand in hand with the G7’s DIGIC III processor and AiAF auto focus system to consistently create accurately exposed images.
The G7’s Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) mode allows users to capture three images with one push of the shutter button, each at a slightly different (1/3EV to 2 EV range in 1/3EV increments) exposure setting. One image slightly over the base exposure setting, one image at the base exposure setting, and one image slightly under the base exposure setting --- virtually guaranteeing at least one correct exposure. Very light or very dark subjects can trick light metering systems into underexposing or overexposing images, but the G7's Exposure Compensation function allows users to subtly adjust exposure parameters over a 4 EV range (+/-2 EV in 1/3 EV increments) to compensate for difficult lighting and subject/background reflectance/non-reflectance problems or to compensate for environmental exposure variables (by quickly and easily lightening or darkening images).
The G7's movie mode allows users to record video clips at 640x480 @ 30 fps (for up to 30 seconds), 1024x768 @ 15fps (up to 4GB). Audio notations (up to 60 seconds) can be added to still image files.
Metering
The G7 provides three light metering options: Evaluative, Center-Weighted Averaging, and Spot. Evaluative (default) metering assesses numerous individual points across the frame and then chooses the optimum aperture/shutter speed combination to capture the image. Center-weighted metering biases exposure on the central portion of frame (great for classic landscape shots and travel images - where the subject is likely to be centered). Spot metering reads only a tiny portion of the image frame allowing users to bias exposure on the single most important element in the composition (like the eyes in a head and shoulders portrait). When Spot metering is enabled, the metering spot can be set for the center of the frame or linked to the active Flexizone AF point, allowing the photographer to align the AF target on the most important element of the composition and tie the camera’s metering to that same spot. The G7's metering system is accurate and the range of metering capabilities (especially the ability to link Face Detection AF or Flexi-Zone AF to Spot metering) is more than adequate for non-professional shooters.
White Balance (WB)
The G7 provides a reasonably useful range of White Balance options, including TTL Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H (for daylight-balanced fluorescents), Flash, and two Custom WB modes. The Custom settings permit users to manually set white balance with a white card (wall or ceiling). The ability to save and re-call two Custom WB settings makes it easier for users to move back and forth between scenes with fundamentally different lighting (for example indoors and outdoors). The G7’s auto WB setting seems to be accurate in most lighting.
Sensitivity
The G7 provides an excellent range of sensitivity settings including Auto, High ISO Auto, and user selectable settings for 80,100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600 ISO. There is also a high sensitivity Scene Mode that permits shooting at ISO 1600, but resolution is reduced to 3 megapixels. The G7, unlike all of its competition (and the G6) features a dedicated sensitivity dial – direct ISO access is a very useful and genuinely welcome addition.
In-Camera Image Adjustment
In-camera image adjustment options are often overlooked by casual digicam purchasers, but savvy shooters know the ability to make subtle color/contrast/sharpness/exposure adjustments is a very important imaging tool and a simple yet effective way to overcome minor exposure problems. The G7 provides shooters with a very useful range of creative photo tweaks that can be applied in-camera with no need for post-exposure processing.
G7 users can tweak the contrast, hue (color), saturation (color intensity), and sharpening. The G7's "My Colors" mode provides several creative color options: Positive Film (mimics slide film color, saturation, and contrast), Neutral Film (mimics print film color, saturation, and contrast), Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Color accent (shifts images to B&W, except for one user selected color), color swap (allows users to switch one color for another), custom color (users can adjust color balance for red, green, blue, and skin tones +/-2 arbitrary steps in 1 step increments), and Photo effects (vivid or neutral color saturation, low sharpening, sepia, and B&W).
The G7 also features a nifty built-in Neutral Density (ND) Filter. The G7's ND filter reduces the amount of light reaching the CCD by the equivalent of 3EV – this allows savvy shooters to shoot at smaller apertures even when ambient light is too bright or when lowering the shutter speed is crucial – for example to allow flowing water to be feathered (blurred) in bright sunlight.
Controls, Design, & Ergonomics
The G6 was a chunky, sort of bloated looking, shiny silver digicam with a big handgrip. The pro black G7 is svelte and sleek (smaller and lighter than previous "G" models) and it bears only a slight family resemblance to its predecessor. It has a snazzy retro look that reminds me of the classic little Leica CL/Minolta CLE compact rangefinders. Build quality is superb (metal body shell over a metal frame) so the camera should be robust enough for anything short of extreme climates and combat zones. Controls are well laid out and logically placed - although there are a lot of them. Most of the G7's shooting functions can be directly accessed via traditional buttons, knobs, and switches, but when users must resort to the menus, they are straightforward and easily navigated. Canon's nifty FUNC (function) menu provides direct access (simply push the set button on the compass switch) to the most commonly adjusted exposure parameters. I do miss the G6's large handgrip since it added an extra level of stability and slightly better balance than the G7. Traditionalists can enable the "My Camera" menu to customize the startup screen and add warning beeps and virtual shutter sounds (although it always makes me smile when I push the shutter button of a digital camera and hear the distinctive shutter sound of an old-time mechanical focal plane shutter).
Technical Specifications
Resolution: 10 megapixels (3648 x 2736)
Viewfinders: Coupled (Zooming) Optical VF and tilt-twist-swivel 2.5 inch color TFT LCD screen
Lens: f2.8-f4.8/7.4mm-44.4mm (35mm equivalent 35mm-210mm) 6X zoom
Exposure: Auto, Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Manual exposure modes
Auto Exposure Bracketing: Yes
Exposure Compensation: Yes +2/-2EV in 1/3-stop increments
Auto Focus: AiAF (9 AF point) with FlexiZone and Face Recognition AF
Auto Focus Bracketing: Yes
Manual Focus: Yes
Metering: evaluative, center-weighted, & spot
White Balance: TTL Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H or Flash, and Custom 1 & 2
Flash: Built-in multi mode (Auto, Red-eye reduction auto, Red-eye reduction on, Red-eye reduction off, slow synch, first curtain synch or second curtain synch effect, and off) and hotshoe for external flash units
Sensitivity: Auto, High ISO Auto, and user selectable settings for 80,100, 200, 400, and 800 ISO.
Image Format(s): JPEG
In-Camera Image Adjustment: Yes
Noise Reduction: Yes (automatic on exposures longer than 1 second)
Image Storage: SD/SDHC/MMC
Connectivity: USB 2.0HS & A/V out
Power: 1 Canon NB-2LH 7.4v 720mAh Lithium battery
Optional accessories include auxiliary wide angle, telephoto, and macro lenses, a car battery charger, a soft case, and several Canon Speedlites.
In the Field/Handling & Operation
I often get together with a very old friend who shares my passion for photography. He works in the business, selling new and used digital and analog photographic equipment. Between us we have more than fifty years of hands on experience with cameras, lenses, flash units, and tripods. My friend is considering dumping his trusty Canon Powershot G6 in favor of the new G7 and he was finally able to get his hands on a G7 for us to evaluate.
The first thing we did was to run some color tests. We use a homemade macro stage and a selection of brightly colored (red, green, yellow, blue, orange, and purple) plastic children's beach toys arrayed on a white photo paper background. This simple test allows us to check color accuracy and the precision of each camera's white balance system (and compare the results from camera to camera). The G7's Auto White Balance setting rendered hue correct colors for all the plastic beach toys, but the red shovel and blue bucket were a bit brighter in our images (viewed on a NEC 19" CRT monitor) than they were in real life.
After we finished our color tests, we headed for nearby Cave Hill Cemetery. Cave Hill was chartered in 1848 and became Louisville’s city of the dead in the mid 1850's. It is now our unofficial arboretum, the final resting place for more than 200,000 souls, and one of the country's best remaining examples of 19th century U. S. landscape architecture. Cave Hill is also a popular destination for local photographers because the old cemetery's 300 walled acres are home to an amazing variety of native and exotic flowers, trees, bushes, and shrubs, thousands of headstones, dozens of ornate mausoleums, adjacent U.S. and Confederate Civil War military cemeteries, a rustic old groundskeeper's cottage. Cave Hill is a popular destination for green-space loving local folks who come to enjoy the tranquility and feed the resident ducks, geese, and swans in the small lake at the center of this old graveyard.
The last couple of weeks we've had lots of rain and bone-numbing cold, but the weather gods finally smiled on us and delivered an absolutely beautiful day; blue skies, puffy white clouds, temperatures in the mid sixties, and oblique afternoon light. We cruised around the oldest part of the old cemetery, stopping to shoot some tilted and weather-worn old native limestone grave markers and a Moorish style mausoleum. We spent about three hours shooting a wide variety of subjects with the camera in Program mode, WB set to auto, sensitivity set to ISO 80, and quality set to (10 megapixels –superfine JPEG) the highest resolution. All shots were handheld. We shot each subject first without IS and then enabled IS and tried to duplicate (as closely as possible) the initial shot. The retro-look G7 does a dependably impressive job outdoors and the stabilized images were consistently sharper than the un-stabilized shots.
For our second outing with the G7 we got together on a lovely Sunday morning and headed for Louisville's Extreme Park. The Extreme Park is the go-to site for local photographers looking to capture some action because boarders, vertBMXers, and ‘bladers are drawn to the park 24-7. When we arrived I immediately took the G7 up to the narrow platform at the top of the 12-foot half pipe and watched as Skateboarders shot into the air right in front of me. It is really hard to capture rapid action up close, you have to guess exactly where your subject going to be at the peak action moment (and frame your composition on that guess) and then trip the shutter about a half to a quarter of a second before they get there. After attempting to freeze several of these absolutely fearless young boarders (with the G7's 6X zoom at its shortest setting) at the top of the half pipe, we headed for the five inter-connected bowls to shoot some different kids doing different tricks.
The kids at the Extreme Park make great action subjects because they love showing off for the camera. We were able to stand off a bit (the G7's 6X zoom gave us a little extra reach) and that’s good because getting too close to the action can be dangerous - getting hit by a loose skateboard or a 150-pound kid moving at 15-20 MPH are the kind of painful blunders I try to avoid. We spent about four hours shooting skateboarders and bikers. That may seem like a very long time, but optimal framing/timing (centering the subject in the frame and stopping the action in mid-air) is very difficult. The G7's image stabilization worked really well, allowing us to shoot at fairly high shutter speeds and use the IS (in shoot only mode) to help counter camera shake – making it easier to freeze the action and capture sharply focused frame filling shots of bikers and boarders frozen in mid-air. Image stabilization can’t do magic - if you shoot lots of action you'll get lots of blurred images with heads, hands, and feet cut off, but (if you’re lucky, patient, and relatively skilled) you'll also get some super action images that you almost certainly wouldn’t have gotten without image stabilization. Image Stabilization won't counteract sharp jerks or hard shifts and it can't defeat the blur inherent in rapid panning or trying to lock on to rapidly moving subjects, but it does beat most of the simple shakes and tremblies associated with shooting action. The G7 is very fast and that simplified everything and I did manage to get a couple of nice shots.
For our final outing with the G7 we headed for Iroquois Park in Louisville's south end. Iroquois Park was designed by America's best-known 19th century landscape architect - Frederic Law Olmsted - who also designed Manhattan's Central Park and Audubon Park in New Orleans. The heavily forested park covers a large hill that rises almost 1,000 feet above the Derby City's southern suburbs. Once you drive into the park it is easy to believe that you are out in the country somewhere, rather than completely surrounded by residential neighborhoods, mom & pop businesses, fast food restaurants, strip malls, and light industry. There are several small wetland areas scattered around an area of restored native mixed grass prairie near the top of the park. Marsh/swamp/wetland areas are always interesting nature subjects, even in the winter. We were hoping to get some nice reflections of brownish-yellow dead cattails bordering the small pools of open water. We weren’t very lucky in that regard because there was just enough of a breeze to ruffle the water’s surface and kill any possibility of mirror like reflections in the dark water. To compound our problems the overcast sky provided some fairly dull hard-edged lighting so most of our shots ended up being a bit too contrasty, but that wasn’t the fault of the G7. We spent a couple of hours shooting Eliot Porter style intimate landscapes, but the harsh lighting, stiff breeze, and lack of color pretty much doomed our little expedition to failure, but the eerily quiet little hilltop refuge is a great place to spend an afternoon, even if we didn’t get any show stopping images.
After we gave up at Iroquois Park we headed for the nearby Wyandotte Cafe, a funky old south Louisville tavern. The interior of the Wyandotte is one long narrow wood paneled room with a couple of pool tables, Several TVs, and a short noisy bar. The Wyandotte's major charms are its cheap long necks and excellent cheeseburgers topped with melted Monterey Jack pepper-cheese and grilled onions. We ordered a couple cheeseburgers each and a pair of cokes and walked to the rear of the old tavern to shoot some eight ball and sneak a few candid (high ISO -- no flash) shots of our fellow patrons while we waited for our food. The G7's f2.8 maximum aperture and high sensitivity scene mode (ISO 3200) made it easy to capture several sneaky shots of the Wyandotte’s eclectic crowd and proletarian ambience. Unfortunately, due to the old bar’s dim interior all our shots were far too noisy tom use for anything other than low light performance assessment.
PERFORMANCE
Image Quality
We reviewed everything we'd shot (on a 19" NEC CRT monitor) over the course of our camera assessment tests. We really put the G7 through its paces (from full Auto to full Manual) and it consistently delivered. We both felt the outdoor images were dependably well exposed, the color was excellent, and the overall image quality was equal to or better than any comparable P&S digicam either of us has used to date. The G7 consistently produces well-exposed images with good dynamic range.
Colors are hue accurate and slightly over saturated, but not garish - reds are a bit warm and blues are a little bright, but most amateur photographers probably won’t consider this a fault. Caucasian skin tones are slightly warm, but not ruddy. All images (except those shot at the two highest sensitivity settings) showed balanced contrast, excellent shadow/highlight detail, and sharp resolution. We did notice some very minor chromatic aberration (in high contrast color transition areas, especially at maximum aperture) in a couple of shots. The G7's AiAF auto focus is unvaryingly accurate, so resolution is reliably tack sharp. Contrast is balanced and shadow detail is impressive. Highlight detail is also generally good, but I did notice some minor clipping (burnt out highlights). Noise management is very good and chromatic aberration (which was a common complaint with the G3/G5) has been reduced significantly.
Ten million pixels is a lot of pixels and while resolution is obviously a factor in just how good the images from any digital camera will be, there are two additional image quality assessment criteria that are equally important - the optical excellence of the lens and just how well the processor does its job. When Canon unveiled the DIGIC (Digital Imaging Integrated Circuit) processor on the G2 it was a revolutionary engineering feat, a new "all in one" processor chip that enhanced AF accuracy, markedly boosted processing speed, provided substantially improved power management, and utilized complex Canon imaging algorithms to produce images that were optimized for sharp detailed resolution, balanced contrast, low image noise, and consistently realistic color. The third generation version of Canon’s DIGIC processor continues that outstanding high-performance tradition. The G7 is also blessed with a remarkably fine quality zoom lens.
Images shot at ISO 80 looked best, with extremely low noise levels – ISO 100 images are essentially identical to the G7's ISO 80 images, neither of us could detect any visible difference. At the ISO 200 setting noise levels begin to rise a bit, but the images are still excellent. Noise at ISO 400 is lower than average - images are noticeably noisy, but still usable. ISO 800 images are very noisy, but a bit better than expected – it is important to note here that my expectations weren’t very high. ISO 1600 images were far too noisy, effectively useless for anything critical. Images shot at the G7's highest sensitivity ISO 3200 setting are so noisy that they are actually mushy-soft with faded pastel look colors - sort of like a photographic interpretation of an impressionist painting.
Shutter Lag/Timing
The G7 is noticeably faster (1.5 seconds) at start-up than its predecessor, easily the fastest "G" to date. AF lag is essentially non-existent in good lighting and shorter than average in lower light. Depress the shutter button halfway and the camera focuses almost instantly. Write to card and shot to shot times (1.6 seconds) are about the same as the G6, conspicuously faster than average. Shutter lag shouldn't be a problem in most shooting situations. Shutter fire is essentially real time (1/10th of a second, according to Canon) with pre-focusing, 2/10th of a second (according to Canon) from scratch, and about ˝ a second in dim/low light - appreciably faster than the G7's competition.
When shooting action with the on-board flash shutter lag increases noticeably - the pre-flash metering function adds about ˝ second to the exposure process, so if you’re shooting skateboarders or BMX bikers (or other rapidly unfolding action) you’ll get lots of perfectly lit and properly exposed, but empty frames. Tests were conducted with the camera (primarily) in Program mode, quality set to 10 megapixel-superfine, preview off, flash off, LCD off, and all other settings at default. Images were recorded to a Kingston Elite Pro 1GB (50X) SD card.
A Few Concerns
Six hundred bucks is a pretty stiff tariff, more expensive than the excellent Pentax K100D dSLR I tested last summer.
The G7 has a very slight tendency toward over-exposure and the evaluative (default) metering system is apparently calibrated to preserve shadow detail at the expense of highlight detail and that built-in exposure bias results in clipping (burnt out highlights). I really like the G7’s svelte elegant retro look, but I miss the G6’s large handgrip. Red-eye will be an ongoing problem for informal/environmental/street portrait shooters – those who do a lot of portraits may want to consider investing in an external Canon speedlight (or the latest version of Adobe Photoshop).
Conclusion
The key elements in assessing the performance of any camera are image quality and how well the device responds to the needs/demands of the user. The new Canon Powershot G7 was clearly designed by photographers for photographers. The new 6X zoom and Optical Image Stabilization are real pluses. Image quality is reliably excellent – very close to what you'd expect to get from an entry-level digital SLR. Many camera enthusiasts have complained about G6 features that the G7 lacks. The G6’s 4X zoom had a faster maximum aperture (f2.0) than the G7 (f2.8), but no OIS. The G7’s 2.5 inch hi-res (207,000 pixels) LCD screen is fixed, while the G6 featured a 2.0 inch lo-res (118,000 pixels) tilt-swivel LCD. The G6 supported RAW mode images and the G7 doesn’t. Finally, the G6's battery (300 exposures) was more powerful than the G7's battery (220 exposures). Where and when it really counts, the G7 is a winner.
The observations, opinions, recommendations, and conclusions provided in my digital camera reviews are based on over 30 years experience as a photographer and extensive hands-on testing of each of the cameras I review.
Links
For definitive advice on How to Choose a Digital Camera please see my review:
If you would like to see a selection of images that are typical of the sort of test pictures I shoot for my epinions digital camera reviews, click on the top link under Favorite Links on my Epinions profile page (to get to my EPS profile page from this review, just click on my name under about the author above). The Favorite Links url will take you to my forum page at digitalcamerareview.com. Click on the Find all posts by Howard Creech (under Forum Info). My digitalcamerareview.com reviews each feature a selection of my images. I receive no compensation from digitalcamerareview.com for your visit. You can return to epinions at any time (either open the link in a new window or hit your back button).
Recommended:
Yes
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Solid Enough for a Professional
10-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 18 x 24-inch prints 6x image-stabilized optical zoom; 2.5-inch vari-angle LCD with wide view...More at Amazon Marketplace
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