Since digital cameras were first developed in the late 1980s, sensor resolution has increased continuously every year, and almost every new camera or update of an existing model has featured a more powerful sensor. However there’s a point at which simply adding more megapixels ceases to have any real benefit, and in fact can have a negative effect. Cramming more photocells onto a tiny compact camera sensor means those photocells have to be smaller, and are therefore less efficient at capturing light, especially at low light levels, leading to reduced dynamic range and more noise at higher ISO settings.

The camera manufacturers have spent millions on marketing to convince us that more megapixels means a better camera, which makes it a very it’s a brave decision by Canon to buck the trend and actually reduce the sensor resolution of its flagship compact camera, the new PowerShot G11. The previous model, the PowerShot G10, had a 14.7-megapixel 1/1.7-inch CCD sensor and was widely criticised for its inferior image quality. Canon has listened to critics and to feedback from users, and for for the G11 the sensor resolution has been reduced to 10.0 megapixels on the same sized chip, with increased pixel pitch and improved light sensitivity. Canon is obviously hoping that sacrificing of image size for better quality pays off.

Verdict
Canon has taken something of a risk by reducing the sensor resolution of the PowerShot G11, but it has paid off handsomely. The G11 all of has the build quality, features and performance for which the G-series is rightly renowned, and the image quality is as good as a small-sensor compact is ever likely to get. Restored to its rightful place, the G11 is one of the two or three best compacts currently available.

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Cameras & Camcorders · Canon · Canon PowerShot · Charge-coupled device · Digital camera · Film speed · Photography · Shopping

We’ll certainly be going back for seconds, but at first blush Canon’s new PowerShot G11 is quite the attractive piece. The real standout, of course, is that flip-out LCD — which feels bolted on by the gods — but really the whole camera’s build quality (and corresponding weight) is immediately obvious. We found the LCD plenty bright and colorful, though it certainly feels small for a modern camera. The price isn’t small, but hopefully the RAW, 10 megapixel results will speak for themselves.

Source: Engadget

Camera · Canon · Canon PowerShot · Engadget · LCD · Liquid crystal display · Photography · PowerShot G11

t’s fat. It’s $500. It takes fantastic photographs.

The G11 is Canon’s top-of-the-line point-and-shoot. It occupies a sorta strange spot, towering over the average point-and-shoot in basically every metric—image quality, size, weight and price—but sits just below entry-level DSLRs and more recently, micro four thirds cameras.

So, there are two ways to look at the G11: It’s an amazing street camera. More discreet than a DSLR, but more powerful than a run-of-the-mill point-and-shoot. You can’t stuff it in your jeans pocket, but that’s fine, because you want to sling it over your shoulder anyways. The other way is that you can buy a more versatile entry-level DSLR that’s not much larger for around the same price, especially if you step back a generation or so.

Okay, but do I buy it?
I like this camera a lot. It’s what I’d reach for whenever I wouldn’t feel like tugging along a honkin’ DSLR, and I’d feel like I wasn’t sacrificing too much. The real question, I think, it how it stacks up against Panasonic’s Lumix LX3, which is in the same demographic—a lauded $500 point-and-shoot—and outgunned the G10 in many respects (though the G10 tried to cram 14 megapixels onto the same-sized sensor the G11 only squeezes 10 megapixels onto). The slightly cheaper S90 offers the same sensor as the G11 as well, and inside of a pocketable body—though you lose perks like the dedicated control dials and a viewfinder, as far as that’s a perk on the G11.

If you do buy the G11, you won’t regret it—you’ll be too busy taking pictures.

+ Photographs are top-notch for a compact camera

+ Solid low-light performance

+ Built to smash into people’s spaces and live to smash again

- It’s huge

- The viewfinder is basically useless

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Camera · Canon · Digital single-lens reflex camera · Lumix · Micro Four Thirds system · Panasonic Corporation · Photography · Point-and-shoot camera

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

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