Canon PowerShot G10 review

Hard-bodied flagship PowerShot marries extensive manual control to 14.7 megapixels – but is it really a DSLR in compact clothing?

If you want to create stunning images and exercise a greater degree of control over how they’re captured, conventional wisdom says invest in a DSLR rather than a compact. However, there are times when, for size, packing a DSLR or even a bridge-style ‘superzoom’ simply isn’t practical. Enter Canon’s PowerShot G10, a step-up from the G9, with a 14.7MP resolution (to its forebear’s 12MP) that betters the majority of consumer-level DSLRs, yet compact dimensions that ensure it slips into the pockets of your winter coat.

So, does the top-of-its-range G10 really pack sufficient specification and image quality for you to leave that DSLR at home?

For the enthusiast market at which it is aimed, the robust and boxy exterior of the camera immediately impresses, looking like the result of putting a DSLR into a car crusher. Insert the provided lithium-ion power pack, grasp the camera’s rubberised grip in your palm, and it feels reassuringly brick-like in its solidity too, more so than some entry-level DSLRs, in fact. Those who love getting hands-on will really relish, as we did, being able to turn dials to select ISO speed and adjust exposure, as well as select capture options from a more standard-issue Shooting Mode dial. Generally, the camera feels very well made, with a control layout that, while busy, avoids looking cluttered, and controls that both offer the right amount of resistance and are large enough to be easily and quickly accessed in the heat of the action.

With a latest generation DIGIC IV processor pulsating under the bonnet, the G10 is quick to power up, taking a second or so, the lens extending from within the body to customary maximum wide-angle setting – here the equivalent of 28mm, so very useful for those landscapes (a built-in neutral density filter provided), group portraits or shooting in tight spaces.

The three-inch fixed LCD at the back is not only big but bright too, a 460,000-dot resolution ensuring a commendably fluid and crisp rendition of either the scene before you or that captured, with, for traditionalists, the alternative of an optical viewfinder with its own diopter wheel above. Live histograms and nine-zone compositional grids can also be called up on-screen, if desired, plus Face Detection employed, so there’s no excuse for not getting the shot just right in-camera.

As indicated, this is a semipro model that displays its rangefinder-like wares on the outside, the top plate housing a penny-sized wheel for adjusting exposure compensation (+/-2EV), a hotshoe for accessory flash (although there is also a built-in bulb), plus a larger wheel for adjusting ISO (80-1600 at full resolution) that encircles a smaller Shooting Mode dial. The latter features settings for the likes of Auto, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual, along with two user-customisable settings, a smattering of Scene modes, a Stitch Assist mode to aid with shooting panoramas and finally a Video mode. No High Def here though, resolution is a standard issue 640 x 480 pixels at 30fps, and unfortunately the optical zoom is disabled when filming.

Just to the right of these dials we find a springy, raised Shutter Release button surrounded by a rocker switch for operating the optically stabilised 5x zoom (28-140mm equivalent), which claims to provide a four-stop advantage, and, just behind that, out of harm’s way, a lozenge-shaped Power button. Though accompanied by a low mechanical noise, the zoom is responsive and smooth as it travels through its focal range, so it’s fairly easy to arrive at the framing you want. A half-press of the Shutter Release button and exposure and focus is determined in second or so, though busy scenes can inevitably confuse things. Re-compose if necessary, or use the provided scroll wheel to adjust the focus point, go on to take the shot (with infinitesimal shutter lag) and a full resolution 14.7-megapixel JPEG in Single Capture mode is committed to memory (SD or SDHC) in just over a second, the screen blanking out momentarily.

Users also have the option of shooting widescreen ratio, at a reduced 11 megapixels, or RAW. Choose the latter and you’ll wait two to three seconds between captures, which again really isn’t bad at all. However, a continuous capture speed of 1.3fps really isn’t anything to write home about for sports photographers.

The back plate of the G10 is understandably dominated by the elegant LCD screen, with the buttons above (user-definable shortcut plus playback) and to the right looking a little cluttered by comparison, yet still large enough and with sufficient surrounding space to be comfortably operated by the thumb. The combination of four-way control pad and encircling Selection wheel takes a bit of getting used to, however, as the latter is very sensitive it’s rather too easy to shoot past the setting or image you required.

Another minor grumble is that the vacant slot for an SD or higher capacity SDHC card is located under a sliding cover for the battery at the base of the camera, where it’s awkward to access if shooting on a tripod – shame this couldn’t have some how been moved to the side (as on the admittedly larger Casio EX-FH20 and Canon’s own SX10 IS), where the issue wouldn’t have occurred.

So, do the G10’s 14.7MP images offer any extra detail over and above a camera – such as Canon’s own G9 – offering a 12-megapixel sensor? Though they are indeed visibly crisp, suggesting lens quality is good, both when viewed on LCD and PC desktop, it’s very hard to say.

Given that the sensors in the two are the same physical size (1/1.7-inch), noise fortunately doesn’t appear to be a problem here, despite the denser population of pixels, grain being something that blighted earlier generations of the G-series, such as its G7 predecessor (there was no G8). While there is occasional barrel distortion at maximum wide angle and pixel fringing if you’re really looking for it, it’s well controlled, and, colour-wise, images are as a well-saturated as you’d find on a consumer-level DSLR – particularly the red, greens and blues – without looking unnatural. Indeed, the G10 delivers results closer to the human eye than most compacts we’ve used.

Should you be unhappy, a press of the Function button at the centre of the G10’s four-way control pad brings up a familiar L-shaped toolbar, from which users can select a range of ‘My Colours’ effects. Exposure is also even, with an i-contrast setting buried away among the menus to boost brightness in shadow areas.

As you’d expect for the price, most of the control you’d want from a DSLR is on board, except of course the ability to swap lenses, and it will be interesting to see what sort of a challenge Olympus’ evolution of its Micro Four Thirds Standard – on which optics can be changed – will pose to cameras like the G10 (and Nikon’s P6000 rival) early in 2009.

Ultimately, while the G10 is not cheap, it is a rare beast: a camera that mixes a comprehensive and fully featured range of hand-holding controls with real photographic ones and impressive results to make you feel you’re a better photographer than you actually are. Few cameras can do that, so this is a model certainly deserving of an ‘Editor’s Choice’ badge.