Canon Powershot G11 Review

Conclusions

Canon scored a hit when they decided to reduce the number of pixels from 14.7 MP in the G10 to 10 in the G11. Noise levels have gone down and image quality (especially at high ISO settings) has gone up. The G11 is remarkably good up to ISO 400. Still very good at ISO 800 and acceptable at ISO 1600. Things are not so hot at ISO 3200 and the low light mode high ISO settings up to 12800 are maybe OK for web shots but prints are likely to be disappointing. However there certainly are times, especially for photojournalists, where any picture is better than no picture and for those situations the G11 may come though where other digicams don't. For those who need to extract all possible detail from their images, the G11 allows image recording in RAW mode as well as JPEG. RAW + JPEG is also possible.

The G11 lens is very good. Apart from some barrel distortion at the 28mm wide setting there's not a a lot to complain about. Both center and edge/corner sharpness are high, even wide open, and chromatic aberration is pretty well controlled. The range of 28-140mm covers everything from a true wideangle to a short telephoto and if you must go longer a front mounting 1.4x multiplier is available. The Image Stabilization system is very effective, allowing the camera to be used with shutter speeds 3 or 4 stops slower than might otherwise be possible.

Powershot G11 is easy to use and the dials (rather than menus and buttons) for exposure compensation and ISO setting are very convenient. The 2.8" articulating LCD is bright and sharp and the range of adjustments makes for very easy overhead shooting, low level shooting and self portraits. You can also shoot "around corners" so your subject may be unaware you are taking pictures, another plus for photojournalists.

The Canon G11 is fairly small and light, making it easy to carry in a jacket pocket. The small size, black color and non-intimidating appearance may attract much less attention than a full size DSLR camera and so enhance its usefulness in situations where staying inconspicuous is desirable.

If there are any problems with the Canon Powershot G11 they might include the lack of HD video, though SD video (with sound) is available if for some reason you really need it. In addition, some of the control buttons are rather easy to press accidentally with your thumb while holding the camera in one hand. The optical viewfinder is also rather tight, covering only 77% of the frame - though at least there is an optical viewfinder, something that's becoming a bit of a rarity these days.

So the G11 isn't perfect, but it's probably the best camera of its type currently available. If you want something you can put in your pocket that has an extensive set of features (and manual control of most of them), a good zoom lens, effective stabilization and good (by digicam standards) low light performance, the G11 should probably be top of your list.

If you found this article interesting, please share it with others:

Where to Buy

Note: The G10 and G11 share the same lens accessories and batteries, so if it works on the G10, it will work on the G11.