Canon Powershot G10

Photo answers review

Photo answers rating

Features & handling

Canon’s PowerShot G10 compact camera could well be the camera to change your mind about compacts. Based on the hugely successful G9, it now boasts a wider and faster 28-140mm f/2.8-4.5 lens and a healthy boost in resolution from 12MP to 14.7MP (more than most enthusiast DSLRs). Like a DSLR, it also offers full manual control, as well as all the usual auto modes. The hotshoe means you can add-on a proper flashgun or even fire off-camera flash via an extension lead or wireless trigger.
As it shoots RAW files, the G10 offers the ability to record a wider exposure range and get more creative in post-processing. It’s also rugged enough to take a few knocks, and has some lovely control dials that will make even the most diehard traditionalist feel right at home. But is it really a substitute for a proper DSLR?
In days of old, when cameras used 35mm film, a good compact using the same film as a top-of-the-range SLR could produce results that were virtually indistinguishable. Only the lens quality would make any difference.
With digital, you have to factor-in another massive variable: the sensor. All compacts – except Sigma’s quirky DP-1 – use a sensor that’s tiny compared to those used by DSLRs. That means you can never get image quality, handling or control as good.
The small sensor in compact cameras also has ramifications for depth-of-field. The focal length of the lens is tiny compared to the DSLR equivalent, leading to great depth-of-field whether you want it or not. If you want to take maximum control and go for shallow depth-of-field effects, you’ll be underwhelmed. At the equivalent of 140mm, the actual focal length is just 30.5mm. And the maximum aperture is f/4.5 so depth-of-field is still reasonably large. The G10 just can’t deliver differential focus like a DSLR can.
Shockingly, the minimum aperture is just f/8. So the full manual adjustment range of aperture is a tiny 1 1/2 stops. Hardly ‘full manual control’.
Under bright conditions this limited minimum aperture also means you can’t slow the shutter speed right down, to record movement as a blur, for instance. But it’s not a huge problem on the G10 as it cleverly includes a 2-stop built-in ND filter. One day, DSLRs will offer this too.

Performance

The PowerShot G10 does produce fantastic quality files, but there’s always one caveat – stunning for a compact. They can never be as sharp as a sensor that’s 20 times bigger. That said, the G10’s images are fantastic, especially if you shoot RAW. Loads of contrast, sharp, packed with colours and full of detail especially at low ISO. But if you expect it to produce images that are as good as a DLSR (even one that cost significantly less) you’ll still be a bit disappointed. And, once you start to crank up the ISO beyond 400, you’ll notice a big fall-off in quality.
Where the G10 did do surprisingly well was in action pictures. We attempted some panning shots of a speeding motorbike at dusk and expected the usual compact camera foibles – massive shutter lag and imprecise framing – to render the shots useless. We were wrong, and the built-in image stabilisation helped produce a fine-quality detailed action shot that we’d have been quite pleased to capture on a DSLR.
Away from full manual control, the G10's fully auto ‘green’ mode does all the work for you. Menus allow you to alter everything from white balance to AF points, to built-in face detection to the metering pattern, AF area size and the self-timer delay – even the sound the shutter and self-timer make. That’s before you even get to the video mode. The problem is that although you can adjust just about everything, it can be fiddly and it’s not totally intuitive. Be prepared to spend a long time studying the manual, then more time fiddling and cursing in the field.

Verdict

This is a fantastic compact camera: maybe a bit fiddly to navigate through the menus and predictably noisy at high ISO. But as a carry-anywhere camera, enthusiast photographers will love it. Use it as a happy-snap party camera – you can’t go wrong. And to get creative, take control of the settings and you’ve got a useful proper camera that will give great results, especially at low ISO and if you shoot RAW.
But it’s still no replacement for a DSLR, in either quality or control. That’s mainly due to the small sensor and short focal length lens a small sensor requires. If Canon had squeezed in an APS-C size sensor like Sigma has done, this would have been the first compact to rival a DSLR for quality, control and handling. Until then, it remains one of the finest, best quality compacts you can buy. 



Specification
Price (RRP): £399
Resolution:14.7
Sensor type: CCD
Exposure modes: P/A/S/M
Metering: Evaluative, centre-weighted and spot
Burst mode: 1.3fps
ISO range: 80-1600
LCD monitor size: 3in (460k dot)
Built-in stabilisation: Yes
Weight: 350g
Dimensions: (WxHxD) 109x78x46mm