For years, a G-series Powershot has been the flagship of the Canon compact digital fleet – starting with the G1 about mid-year 2000, all have featured RAW and JPEG shooting formats along with full manual controls. As the line progressed, resolution predictably moved higher and new and/or additional features or upgrades to existing systems found their way into subsequent models. Last year, the PowerShot G10 hit the streets packing 14.7 megapixel resolution on a 1/1.7 inch sensor, Canon’s current generation DIGIC IV processor and a 3.0 inch LCD monitor.
Now, Canon has introduced the PowerShot G11: “Designed for those looking for a pocket-sized camera with SLR functionality, this new powerful camera is ideal for the consumer who is looking to capture beautiful landscapes and professional portraits.”

CONCLUSIONS
When Canon brought out the successor to the G10 and dropped resolution from 14.7 to 10 megapixels, some eyebrows may have been raised. The trend in compact digitals has been to keep bumping up resolution (while not necessarily keeping pace with physical sensor size), but Canon heard some grumbling about the G10’s noise performance and, to their credit, responded.

The G11 is a wonderful combination of a lens with very good optical performance, good auto focus and shutter performance, and lowered resolution on the same physical-sized sensor that produces excellent noise performance for a compact digital. Image quality from the G11 is the best overall of any compact digital I’ve ever reviewed – at 100% enlargements the images are quite clean, without the artifacts that seem to pop up to one degree or another in the other guys.

The viewfinder is poor for image composition due to its inaccuracy (77% coverage), but that’s about the end of the gripes for this camera. It’s bigger and heavier than the typical 5x point and shoots and the MSRP is bumping entry-level DSLR territory at $500, but the camera offers something for everyone – full auto controls, scene shooting options, face detection et.al. for the new user, and manual controls with DSLR-like adjustability (and RAW) for the more experienced shooter.

Pros:

Excellent image quality
Good AF and shutter performance
Excellent ISO performance
RAW shooting option

Cons:

Inaccurate viewfinder
Large, heavy compared to most compacts
Expensive

Read the full review on Digital Camera Review

Arts, Camera, Canon, DIGIC, Digital camera, Digital single-lens reflex camera, Liquid crystal display, Photography