Canon Powershot G10 14.7MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
by Canon
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon Powershot G10 14.7MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Customer Review: A very pleasant surprise and upgrade from the G7
Summary: 5 Stars
MY MOVE FROM THE G7 to the G10.
I own and really like the Canon G7. I passed on purchasing the G9, not seeing much that would attract me over the G7. But as I read about the G10, I began to see enough new stuff to make it sound interesting to me. Little did I guess what a huge leap up this purchase was going to be.
I'll try to focus here on items you may not have read about in the reviews below, or at least items that may not have been covered in any detail.
Overall, the feel and build of the G10 is simply great. Nothing about it feels flimsy or cheap to me. It has a bigger grip on the right front where your fingers wrap around the camera and the camera is a delight to hold and use.
The LCD is now 3" of course, and much sharper and crisper than my G7. The G10 still uses my SD and SD HC (SD High Capacity) cards and I am happy about that.
I wanted to test the new "I-Contrast" feature I had been hearing about, so I sat my wife in the bay window with a fully sunlit window behind her. I took a series of photographs from several feet away, focusing (with face detect) on her face.
With the test shots where I had "I-Contrast" turned off, her face was visible but pretty dark as were the interior walls around the window behind her. Not an unusable picture, but certainly not a good picture either. I was surprised they were as good as they were but I still wanted better than this.
So I enabled "I-Contrast" and shot the same scene. The results were a very pleasant surprise. The outside scene through the window was still slightly overblown ... almost exactly as in the first series. But my wife's face and the interior walls were now much more properly exposed and the pictures were truly usable ... something most of us would be happy to have taken. It was clear that "I-Contrast" really does work and since it is easy (using the camera menu) to engage "I-Contrast" I will certainly be using that feature often in contrasty scenes where I want to avoid harsh black shadows.
I was quite impressed with the quality of this new lens. I thought I had a sharp crisp lens on my G7 but the lens on my G10 is a definite step up. Or maybe it is the additional pixels ... whatever, the difference is remarkable and was totally unexpected.
I was a bit concerned about the loss of Optical zoom range from the zoom range available with my G7. I never used digital zoom on the G7 because it was too easy to lose picture quality and I didn't want to risk that. But I had read about a new feature of the G10 where it if you set the digital zoom to "standard", the camera would combine Optical and Digital zoom and allow you to seamlessly use them together up to a point just shy of where picture degradation would begin. Then it would stop zooming. If you then tried to zoom some more, the G10 will allow that but you will then be digital zooming into the range where there is a risk of picture degradation. All very clever I thought, but did it actually work?
I decided to test that. I sat the camera on a block wall and shot the street sign across the intersection (about 150 feet). As I expected, when I zoomed in the zoom ran seamlessly to what appeared to be maximum and stopped. I took the picture. Then I twisted the zoom button again and sure enough, the zoom continued zooming (into the possible degradation zone) to the true maximum zoom using not only all optical capability but ALL digital capability.
I fired up my computer and loaded the first shot ... the "standard" zoom. Taken at 14.7 Mega Pixels, I was immediately stunned by the quality of the shot. It wasn't just good, it was simply flawless! There was absolutely nothing about that shot that I wanted to improve except, perhaps, it still didn't bring the street sign all that close. So, using my photo editor, I just kept zooming in on the street sign until it virtually filled my monitor ... and the image was STILL FLAWLESS! I simply couldn't believe my eyes. Color was perfect, edges of the lettering were crisp and absolutely sharp. There was nothing for me to improve in a photo editor. I was stunned. (I may have even laughed out loud). Even the leaves of the mesquite tree in my neighbor's yard which is some 20 feet behind the sign were all visible and definable. WOW! WOW! WOW!
Then I loaded the next shot where I had zoomed the G10 out until it paused, then zoomed more to push the combination of Optical and Digital zoom to the absolute limit. To keep it short: It was about as good as I was used to getting from my G7 using Optical zoom only ... which is OK, but not truly sharp, crisp and the green color of the sign looked somewhat faded. Also the tree leaves in the background were no longer distinct ... Again this is not a picture you'd throw away by any means and one which could be improved with some work in Photoshop but even with that effort, it would be nothing near the quality I could get with the G10s method of combining Optical and just the right amount of Digital zoom. And the G10 gave it to me without any additional effort whatsoever.
My future approach to photography of distant objects in the future was immediately obvious. I will use the G10's built in magic (as I did in the first zoom shot) and then simply crop and enlarge the crop to the size I want for flawless, effortless results.
As I said, I skipped the G9 so I cannot compare the G9 and the G10, but I couldn't be happier with my decision to upgrade my G7 to the G10. The G10 clearly takes this type of photography to a new level with features, a great lens and picture quality.
For several years, I actually had a $6,500 setup including the Canon Mark II and some "L" glass lenses. It was heavy, cumbersome and took pictures which, as expected, cried out for work in Photoshop. Professional cameras produce pictures that expect the photographer to work on them. While I enjoyed fiddling with the pictures from the Mark II, I eventually tired of that weight, bulk and switching lenses so I gave the camera to my son. Now, that I have this G10, I will never look back.
I guess I will need Photoshop again if I try to take pictures in the dark with the G10, it does have a bit more noise at higher ISOs. And if you are a true pro, you will probably rant and rave about noise at higher ISOs I suppose.
For the rest of us, the pictures up to ISO 400 are quite acceptable and if are really picky, noise removal is simple enough to accomplish with Photoshop or any other software capable of noise reduction. In real life, I guess I don't shoot much where I use ISOs beyond 400 anyway.
I have owned cameras all my life and I have never owned a camera I liked more than this G10, or from which I got better pictures right out of the camera than this G10. This camera is Worth every penny to me.
Customer Review: Excellent point and shoot
Summary: 5 Stars
Most of the criticisms in other reviews relate to high noise over ISO 200, and that is true. But below 200 they are very good. Luminous Landscape just posted a comparison of the $500 G10 against a $40,000 Hasselblad H2 with a 39 megapixel back and was amazed to find little observable difference in 13x19 prints. 8 professional photographers could not distinguish reliably between them. That is a lot of performance for a camera the size of a cigarette pack and 1/80th the price of the other camera.
I like the controls. ISO and over/under compensation are dials on top of the camera. No more hunting through the menu to make those adjustments. Image stabilization makes it possible to shoot at relatively low shutter speeds. RAW and full manual controls make this a very versatile and easy to use camera.
I rarely shoot at ISO 400 or above so I don't think the noise at higher settings is a major flaw. I previously used a Canon Proshot 1 that cost twice as much as the G10 and it only went up to ISO 400. I suspect Canon included 800 and 1600 in case you had to use them but you will need them less because of image stabilization.
Overall a great camera to take traveling.
Update:
I just returned from a two week trip. Along with the G10, which weighs nothing and fits in a jacket pocket, I took a Canon 1Ds III with a full set of lenses in a pack that weighed about 30 pounds. Hauling the 1Ds around cities was just too much of a hassle so the G10 was the camera that got used except in instances where the big camera was with me or it was worth going back to take a shot I couldn't get with the G10. That gave me a good comparison between the best camera Canon makes and the G10.
First, ignore all the people that found the camera's image quality inadeqate, especially the megapixel freaks. I previously used a Canon Proshot 1 as a carry around camera. It has 8 megapixels and an L quality lens that has about the same range as the G10. The G10 produces a noticeably better image. The color is dead on in multiple light conditions from bright sun to shadow to indoor under artifical light. The quality is comparable to the 1Ds except when a wider lens was needed or light was very low.
The image stabilization is a big advantage. Shots are amazingly clear and sharp. The camera can be reliably hand held down to 1/15 and lower if care is taken. I took one shot of an alter illuminated with artifical lights inside a dark church. The shutter speed was 1/5 but by steadying the camera on the back of a bench I got shots the 1Ds could not surpass on a tripod. What really amazed me was that the color was right on shooting in program mode and making no color adjustments on my own. I also noticed that one shot was at ISO 100 while another was ISO 400. I printed both to compare. The 400 shot has noticeable grain in the shadow areas but the illuminated portions of the alter are very close to 100. The camera also has a lot of exposure range. Rarely was a shot unusable because either the highlights or shadows were blown.
The lens is excellent. Very sharp and free of flare, even with the sun in the frame. The self contained lens cover is also helpful. The cap on the Proshot 1 was prone to falling off if it brushed against someone in a crowd leaving the lens exposed for the rest of a trip. I also really liked having the exposure compensation and ISO dials on the top of the camera. That made it much easier to adjust for shots when needed without having to stop and work in the camera's menu.
In sum, this is a very good camera, especially for traveling. It will not take very wide or long photos and shots are grainy at higher ISOs but cameras with fewer megapixels will not take better photos and the high ISOs combined with great IS and the ease of carrying it around makes it possible to get shots that would be impossible otherwise.
The battery is also very good. I ended up taking about 350 photos with the G10. The battery indicator showed full charge the whole time.
This camera has limits. It was not built to be used for professional quality shots in a studio but it could probably be used for that purpose to an extent. It has too much lag in setting up the shot to be used for sports or active children or pets. It was never pitched as a camera that could do those things. But it does take very good photos. Better than any small camera I have ever used and equal to the best cameras in a broad range of conditions.
2/28/09 Third installment
A mea culpa is in order plus a drop to 4 or even three stars. The camera is inconsistent. It remains great for traveling and shooting without a flash. I keep the 5 stars for that. But shooting indoors with flash is poor bordering on unuseable. Shots of my grandson are full of grain and lack detail. They remind me of shooting 400 asa print film with a mediocre point and shoot camera. The camera is also slow to shoot and slower to recover and shoot again. Shots under similar conditions with my 1Ds III are stunningly clear and I can shoot five or six shots quickly in succession. With the G10, I get one shot and have to wait several seconds before I can take the next shot. The G10 is simply not useable for indoor flash.
It is strange that the camera can be so good in natural light without a flash and so bad with the flash. It is not the settings because I have tried it in auto and AV at ISO 80.
Customer Review: All I can say is wow.
Summary: 5 Stars
First, allow me to introduce myself: I am a pixel-peeper. I have to be because my clients are; I'm not that way out of OCD although I do suffer from OCD. I am a DSLR user, a user of professional lenses, and someone who takes pictures for almost solely the purpose of selling them commercially.
I got started about 6 months ago looking for a compact camera that I could take with me everywhere I go, since taking my pro gear is not always feasible for a multitude of reasons. I tried out a few things personally but mostly I did exhaustive research. My standards are very high since I rarely take pictures for personal use or for fun. My research was made confusing because I have seen both excellent and not so excellent test shots made with this camera posted online. In my experience, the good ones were more accurate. Some of the test shots online seriously make me wonder since my results have been much better. Look up the online comparison between this camera and a $40,000 Hasselblad. Those are more in line with what I am seeing. I am happy to say that this camera has exceeded my expectations and I really like it generally.
I am going to randomly name a few things about this camera that I really like:
Noise: If you are like me, this is the most important issue to you. I don't do low-light shooting so low noise at low ISO is the only thing of importance to me. That being said, I have zero tolerance for noise. The noise at ISO 80 on this camera is indistinguishable from the noise of every DSLR I have used! That is such a huge deal. I wish I could have put that sentence in bold and 18 point type. I just don't see any difference, and my eye is very well trained from using Photoshop 4+ hours per day. I am positive that prints will bear out the same result. ISO 100 is virtually indistinguishable, certainly enough that in almost all photos you will not see a difference and you will almost certainly see no difference in prints either. I won't be shooting higher than ISO 100 on this camera so I can't tell you about the performance at those levels. I don't normally shoot high ISOs anyway, but I will certainly not be attempting it with a compact P&S. My gut tells me that it would do well, but I simply just don't have a use for the feature so I haven't checked.
Grain: to the extent that there is noise at ISO 80/100 (every digital camera ever made has some level of noise), I have to say I really like the effect! It is much more natural than recent DLSR setups I have shot with. The grain looks like a very slow film type grain. Converted to B&W it looks fantastic. This will be a great camera for street photography in that sense. I can already see that there will be prints--large prints--taken with this camera that will end up on a gallery wall. I converted a few pictures I took to B&W and then looked at them on a 26" LCD monitor and they look amazing. The grain is really just so realistic and artistic. I haven't really commented on this with other digital cameras I have reviewed because I haven't experienced such a noticeably realistic grain character with other cameras.
Color accuracy: more accurate than virtually all cameras I have used with maybe the exception of the Canon 5D.
LCD: the brightest and the most beautiful I have ever used on any camera, ever. Love the LCD.
So, any problems at all? These are totally nit-picky and I include them only to be thorough. I am not complaning anf these are nowhere near the level of being a dealbreaker for owning the camera.
Distortion: noticeable in many cases. This is easily correctable in a variety of ways, and you will really only feel the need to correct it if you are shooting wide open or you are shooting architectural/straight-line subjects. It's a P&S camera so this is to be expected anyway.
CA: not as bad as I thought so I am pleasantly surprised here, however there is some in certain shots. Again correctable and not really a big deal. Again it's a P&S camera so this is to be expected anyway.
Shooting at f/2.8: It is noticeably soft and the CA gets much worse here also. I won't be shooting at this aperture very often anyway, but after seeing test shots at f/2.8 I will try even harder to avoid this aperture. Anything smaller than f/2.8 and everything's fine. Again this being a P&S it gets a pass.
Construction: Holding the camera right takes some getting used to. It doesn't just go into your palm like a glove like many cameras do. It takes some practice to find the right way to hold it; it isn't intuitive. The camera is also larger and heavier than I thought it would be but it is still within the limit of what I needed and the "solid-ness" is reassuring as far as long-term use and/or resale value is concerned.
In summation, I was worried that there were too many pixels crammed into this camera and it delayed my purchase for a while until I could do more research and hear from owners. I was assured by many owners that the MP cramming hadn't had a deleterious effect on IQ so I took a chance. Amazon does allow returns, after all, so what the hey. I'm happy that I did because the camera has met or exceeded my high expectations and I will be keeping the camera. No more "I wish I had a camera with me because that would make a great picture" moments. This will be with me all the time.
Customer Review: Canon G10 is a superior camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I have owned the G10 for many many months now. I purchased it within a few weeks of its release, and after some "hands on" at the local Ritz Camera shop. I also researched this camera extensively on the internet. I made direct comparisons to its Nikon (P6000) and Lumix (Panasonic DMC FX-150) competetors. In addition, I have the following accessories. Wide angle lens, 2X telephoto lens, converter tube, several macro and filter sets, and the "Magic Lantern G10" help book. I have also ordered the new Speedlite 270ex flash, but have not received it yet. My picture counter reads just under a thousand exposures.
When I first received my G10, I was very pleased. As I had already put my hands on the camera, I was not suprized by its heft. This camera is larger than the typical point and shoot, and thus a bit heavier. You can not comfortably put this camera in your shirt or back pocket. It will fit in a cargo pant's side pocket. It is still portable with a belt case or in a purse without much hassle.
The build quality is expectional, and even though larger, very comfortable to hold (even one handed). I wear a man's medium sized glove for comparison. In my opinion, its size and heft actually help with holding the unit still. When using the converter tube and the additional lenses, you can put your left hand under the "barrell" just like an SLR for additional support.
This camera is a photo enthusiasts dream. When I first opened the package, I was so excited, I had to start taking pictures immediately and without reading the manual. I left the camera to completely automated settings and snapped at anything that moved or had color. After about a hundred (particularly useless) photos, I realized that this camera takes absolutley gorgeous pictures even on its auto setting. Colors are amazing and detail is tight. I experienced no problems with white balance, focus/blur, or noise. I was very pleased, as my wife has no interest in ISO and can care less about apeture, so as a point and shoot, she will be able to use this camera with wonderful results.
The manual is very detailed, but like all manuals, difficult to "read". So I purchased the "Magic Lantern G10" guide. This is an excellent resource and is when my G10 truly started to shine. Knowing not just how this camera does things, but why, has let me begin to use the G10 to a much fuller extent. I mostly shoot in the more manual modes now. The G10 has a complete full range of settings to allow an exceptional amount of creativity. And the image quality is stunning. As with most photography, I try to stay in that magic ISO range of 80 (the G10's lowest setting) to 400. In regular light with good composition, I get fantastic clean pictures. I have gone higher in the ISO with some small grains of noise. But lets face it, if there was never a problem with noise, cameras would not have an ISO setting. I hate it when people review (any) camera and complain about noise when it really is their own composition in question. Saying that, this camera does do well in lower light situations.
The features of image stabilization and a hearty 5X zoom with a 14.7mp sensor put this camera in top specs. The LCD screen (920k) is really nice and the controls are all easy to manipulate and of quality build. A great feature is the ability to take RAW images. I recently got photoshop elements (version 7) as a present, and have had great fun. Which is really what this hobby is all about.
The G10 was a great purchase. A quality camera with lots of features and creative room. Fast auto focus, high image quality, excellent processing from the digic 4 chip, image stabilization, and canon glass all have made me very very happy with it.
So after all this glowering review, what are my quibbles? Just a couple really. First, the longest exposure allowed is 15 seconds. While 99.9% of exposures are fractions of a single second, I would like to have a 30 second shutter for some longer blur pictures or moon shots. Second, when using the converter, you have to turn off your AF lamp as the extending tube slightly blocks the lamps beam, and skews your autofocus. (No problems if your not using the extender tube and additional add on lenses). Lastly, the flash takes about 3-4 seconds for a recharge. If the flash is charging, the camera will not fire, and you might miss a shot. I would love to see the camera automatically flip to a higher ISO and still take the picture without the flash rather than miss or make me wait. However, I do not know of any camera that does this, or if it is even technologically possible. Then again, thats why the G10 has a fully functional hot shoe, and I have ordered the new Speedlite 270ex flashgun.
So minor quibbles aside, this camera deserves to be Canon's compact king. An amazing camera that I can whole heartedly recommend.
Thank you for reading my review.
Greg
Customer Review: Expectations are sometimes too high
Summary: 5 Stars
The G10 gets trashed in reviews by people who expect it to take its nearly 15 megapixels on a tiny sensor and give results akin to a full-frame DSLR. Well, that's just plain dumb. If that's what you expect, think again. If you want the highest possible image quality even at high ISOs, you should save up the $$$$ for that DSLR. Or, better yet, learn photographic technique and processes and buy an 8x10 view camera with a heavy tripod and get the best in image quality.
The G10 is what it is. It is a well-built, versatile, small camera that is highly capable in highly capable hands and still very functional to those less capable. It's a camera for the person who uses bigger cameras who doesn't always want or need to carry a bigger camera. It produces satisfying results and it has a super good lens that covers the most useful focal length range (35mm equivalent 28mm to 135mm--I know, it says it goes to 140mm but 135mm is a traditional focal length and 5mm +/- doesn't matter at all when you get into the telephoto range).
My background includes three plus decades in photography as a former professional to present enthusiast. Taking up digital photography some time back, I discovered there's not much difference in the practice compared to using film. Many people try to complicate things, but photography is still pretty basic. You don't have to be a deep thinker, you just have to see things. I like equipment that doesn't get in the way of seeing. I've been using the G10 for the past week and I'm impressed with the results I've gotten. I also like the way it handles. For a number of years, I have used Canon EOS film cameras and more recently DSLRs. The ergonomics and functions of the G10 seem fairly familiar to me. I've also used Leica rangefinders when I wanted something smaller and quieter for candid photography on trips or when attending events. The G10 fits nicely into this niche and for a heckuva lot less than a Leica M8 digital.
I've shot 35mm Tri-X and HP5+ film pushed to high ISOs in order to accomplish pictures under low light without using flash. I'm familiar with grain. It's not my enemy. It's not a bad thing. It just "is". So when people complain of noise at high ISOs with the G10, I have to respond, "So what?" The important thing is not that there is grain or noise in the picture, it's whether or not the picture you took was worth taking. Image quality is secondary under those circumstances. The G10 pictures are perfectly fine under these circumstances.
But if you have to ask about image quality at the lower ISOs, the G10 does a great job. JPEGs straight from the camera are excellent. There are two custom functions that can be set to your preferences. I have one set for black and white and one set for super vivid color. I also have been shooting in RAW and I've gotten good results here as well. I'm still playing with RAW conversions from this camera. The conversion process seems a little more cumbersome than how it is done with my Canon DSLR's software. I'm still in the learning process in the regard. I'm probably complicating a process that is really not that complicated.
Who would benefit from using this camera? Just about anyone from the vacation/family/holiday chronicler of events to the seasoned professional looking for a "pro"-grade point and shoot (a contradiction in terms, I agree). It produces great results shooting in bright light at low ISOs and the results under low light at higher ISOs is only a cause for concern if your expectations are too high.
UPDATE May 30, 2009:
I've used this camera for six months now. It has replaced my dSLR for most general shooting. RAW works great and B&W JPEGs rival results from film. I'm still more interested in prints than in viewing photos on a monitor and tightly cropped 8.5x11 prints from the G10 really look good. Sure, they will fall apart if you enlarged to billboard size but who really prints billboards? B&W photos at ISO 400 are not at all noisy compared to Tri-X's grain. Outside in good light, using ISO 80, the quality is amazing, especially shooting RAW and processing the image yourself. You can even get interesting grain-like effects using high ISOs and playing with exposure compensation. It's a very versatile camera.
The camera is now well used with a lot of scuffs on the LCD and a couple of scratches on the lens, but it continues to function perfectly. It was getting so much use, I decided to buy the Canon leather case to slow down the wear and tear.
Yeah, the camera could be better. A larger sensor would enhance high ISO image quality. A faster lens would make life easier for those of us who hate electronic flash and refuse to carry tripods everywhere. Both of these changes would result in a heavier, larger camera so maybe it's best to accept the G10 as it is.