Canon Powershot G9 Camera Reviewed (Verdict: A Fiddler's Dream)
Wired reviewed the new Canon Powershot G9, a 12.1-megapixel snapper that attempts—successfully, it seems—to bridge the space between point-and-shoots and SLRs, at least as far as manual controls go. I've already got a DSLR that I haul around a lot, but I can't help but be intrigued, if only because I could ruin the portability of the G9 by putting my giant Canon flash in the G9's hotshoe.
From the review:
But there's a price to be paid for more than a dozen buttons, dials, and toggles in addition to deep, complex menus. We spent an entire three-day weekend fiddling, tweaking and analyzing every aspect of the G9. It's worth it. Stills and video are razor sharp and color-rich. The fast focus picks up multiple faces easily while image stabilization eliminates all but the most violent jitters. The flash is surprisingly robust and also balances daylight very nicely.
Review: Canon Powershot G9 -- Small. Powerful. Perfect. [Gadget Lab] (Thanks, John S., for bringing the G9 to my attention!)
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Looks like a digital rangefinder to me.
One very cool aspect of the Canons is that for quite a while they've made an API available for the top of the line PowerShots that allow them to be controled via USB. So you can set up the camera to say, monitor its preview stream for motion and then take a high rez shot.
Don't tell me that, a random John. It just makes me want one more.
I actually played around with one at a press event last night. Of course that's just knob-fiddlin' and useless memory card filling, but it still seemed kind of awesome. Canon are real stingy bastards about review units, though, so I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to take one out for a spin without actually buying it.
The problem with the G series is the small sensor, which leads to noisy images in low light. In my experience, the thing looks like a Leica, but it performs like any other consumer point-and-shoot. DSLR isn't just about control-it's about sensor size. The APS and full-frame sensors in DSLRs mean less noise and better available light shots.