Introduced as an upgrade to the G6, Canon’s chunky and solidly built G7 looks and feels every inch the photo enthusiast’s dream, marrying a maximum resolution of 10 million pixels with a flexible 6x optical zoom, which can focus on objects in the distance without loss of quality. Its attractive black and silver casing lends an impression of sophistication.
The G7 is best viewed as a more compact alternative to owning a semi-professional digital SLR (D-SLR) with interchangeable lenses. While you can’t swap the 35-210mm zoom boasted by the Canon Powershot G7, you can add optional wide-angle and telephoto (zoom) attachments should you want to extend creativity. Unlike an SLR, it can be slipped into a coat pocket for spur-of-the-moment shots, and it also boasts high-quality 1,024 x 768 pixels video capture.
Other notable features include a low-reflection, wide-view angle 2.5in screen for framing and playing back shots (there is an alternative optical viewfinder, but it’s small and less clear), plus a dedicated dial for rapidly switching light sensitivity settings – from auto up to ISO1600. There’s also a hot-shoe bracket for adding an extra flash gun if required, although the built-in bulb should meet most users’ needs.
The Canon G7 includes a fully automatic Face Detection setting for sharp portraits, and advanced features to reduce noise, where photos look grainy when taken at higher ISO settings.
Picking the camera up, one-handed operation is possible, though its weight means that two-handed use feels steadier and, along with its well-performing optical image stabiliser, helps avoid image blur when shooting at lengthier zoom settings.
Activate the camera and it’s ready to capture the first shot within two seconds, the lens extending to maximum wide-angle and the monitor simultaneously switching on. The camera’s speediness is due in part to the inclusion of a new internal Digic III processor.
Because the G7 lacks a proper grip to the left-hand side of the body, the screen itself quickly becomes covered in thumbprints. Although there are 25 shooting modes to hand, it’s possible to point and shoot from the off, and then pick and choose your settings as your confidence grows.
The shutter button is spring-like in feel, so you have to be reasonably gentle with your pressure, but there’s no noticeable shutter delay while the first maximum-resolution image is processed and the camera is ready to take a second.
Canon has singled out the G7 as its most complete compact to date, but it misses out on convincing some users of that status by neglecting to include top-quality Raw capture – which gives photographers more hands-on control over exposure and colours – alongside regular Jpeg files.
But, because the images that the Canon G7 does deliver are well saturated with colour and razor sharp, we didn’t miss that more sophisticated Raw capture feature.
Overall, the G7 makes you feel like a better photographer than you probably are.
Although it suffers from image noise, under the vast majority of conditions the G7 marks itself out as a real winner, taking sharp images.
Price: €529
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