The PowerShot G Series

The PowerShot G Series is the high performance compact series from Canon that originally started in 2001 with the launch of the PowerShot G1.

Each manufacturer has so called high performance compacts and one can typically recognize them by the following key aspects: 

• Their ability to record a picture in RAW format.
• Creative zone photography (PASM)
• Long zoom lens or high performance lens.
• High quality finish.
• In most cases they fitted with a Hot Shoe.
• They typically has the ability to accept add-on accessories.

Personally I am lucky to own the older PowerShot G3 in absolute mint condition plus the PowerShot G7, which was the reason for this web site. I also owned the PowerShot G9 for a short while, mainly because I felt it will be important to have one for this web site. I then ended up being not happy with the G9 and returned it.

Pictures taken with the G9 I had, suggested that something could have been wrong with it. That combined with regular reports of people experiencing quality problems with the G9 made me return the one I had. With hindsight I also think it is very difficult for somebody owning the G7 to “step up” to the G9.

That said, the G9 is a beautiful camera and the Canon engineers has really done a great job of packing the G9 with the best they have in terms of technology and functionality.

On this page I will give a brief description of this excellent range of cameras and in the sub menu pages I will add some more interesting information for you.

The PowerShot G1 & G2

I never had one of these in my hand taking pictures. One find them regularly in dedicated camera shops on the secondhand shelve. Holding them in such a shop, I thought, they large and have a nice and solid feel to them.

The glass or lenses on the G1 and the G2 were something special. With a specification of 34mm to 102mm zoom range and a aperture of f2.0 to f2.5 at the maximum end, made these real high performance lenses. In addition special lens elements were used in these lenses to make sure they perform at absolutely the best level possible.

Reading up on these beautiful cameras it is clear that Canon were paving the way to have a range of high performance digital compacts that would be trademarked by their outstanding high performance parts, like the glass or lenses they used, the functionality and things like remote control or a swivel screen.

The PowerShot Pro 1 was the last and the ultimate expression of this strategy and was fitted with the equivalent of Canon’s professional L glass used only in the EOS range or SLR cameras. Still today you often find owners of this outstanding camera reporting about high quality pictures they today still take with the Pro 1. So why the last or the ultimate? Personally I believe that the media has steered the industry in a direction that in fact reduced the modern camera into a high volume money making commodity. Endless discussion and pictures on noise, pixel size, how fast does the camera switch on and off and how far can the camera zoom resulted in the manufacturers building cameras to please the reviewer. I do not suggest their was a secret plan, it was rather a case of sad circumstances. Technology developed so fast that the reviewer could not always stay on top of everything, some took the lead and a “standard” developed amongst reviewers. A standard I believe that was easier to discuss and that would help the media in producing the reviews in less time to a demanding audience.

The PowerShot 3 has been the one that really established the G series name and reputation I think. Many folks hold on to theirs and only really upgraded when the G9 was launched.

As said before I am fortunate to own one of these and its in mint condition. Released in 2002 it already enjoyed many advanced technologies also found in current models. The main difference is speed of operation.

If its your only camera I will not be surprised if you still enjoy it a lot. The lens on the G3 has a focal range of 35mm up to 140mm with a aperture range of f2.0 up to f3.0. I added a articles written by Gordon Buck, talking about upgrading from the G3 to the G9. You also welcome to read his regular block on the G9 and photography. The button found for his blog is on the front page.

Why is the lens on the G series such a issue, one can ask?

Lets have a brief look. The older lenses with a large f-stop of f2.0 made them perfect for places with poor exposure. With a maximum of ISO 400 the added stop in fact made it possible to take a picture using the equivalent of ISO 800 but without the negative noise aspect. The new G7 / G9 lens has a answer for this by offering the user IS. That effectively can have the same exposure ability as the G3 at F2.0 The G7 will allow one to two stops less shutter speed at F2,8 that effectively allow the two cameras to take a picture in the same exposure or light conditions at low ISO settings.

That, however is only one aspect of having a lens at f2,0. The real benefit of having a aperture of f2,0 is the creative aspect it offers. This cannot be replaced with IS, its only the actual ability of the lens to open the aperture wide that will open this creative aspect of a lens.

The PowerShot G5 was launched a year after the G3 in 2003. It basically stayed the same as the G3 except for a higher resolution sensor. Many photographers were disappointed as they expected a little more. Both the G3 and the G5 enjoyed the first version of the DIGIC processor from Canon including technologies like iSAPS, advanced focus option like Flexizone. Both has the ability to take pictures in RAW format. The physical size of the G series sensor is also larger than the typical sensor used in the compact type camera. The bigger sensor typically has a higher resolving ability, its more stable and it has better “noise” characteristics.

Lots has been written on the sensor and the number of pixels packed on the digital camera sensor. Its a highly technical subject and personally I think not really something the laymen could talk about. For example the popular believe was that high resolution sensors has a higher chance for producing noise than for example a lower resolution sensor. The 2 sensors shown here are from a G series and the other from a 5D. If you look closely then you will see that the one has bigger individual sensors than the other;-) That is not really true. To give you and example, these sensors are so small that we will need a microscope to really see the individual sensor. If a virus and his family wants to go for a walk, then they will look for another place to walk because the passages between the sensors are to small. My question always is, should we really be discussing the width of these passages?

That’s why I said above, I think the industry drifted a little and instead of discussing things that really make or break a good camera they were talking about individual sensor sizes. That was until Canon launched the G7 and later the G9. The G7 was already outstanding in terms of image quality and low noise in relation to its 10MP with tiny sensors. When the G9 with 12MP were launched, noise would have been so high that no one would buy these cameras. From what I can remember, the G9 had a little more noise than the G7. Canon, however, left the decision to the photographer of how precisely he or she wants to manage noise. Not much has been said about the pixel size theory as many folks against small pixels now own the G9.

The PowerShot G6 is for me the best looking G series camera to date. It has all the trademarks of the G series, fast lens, swivel screen, large sensor, info screen on the top plus hot shoe.

Sadly it does not have the DIGIC II processor also used in the best SLR to date, the 350D. The older DIGIC processor resulted in the G6 being a little slow.

The G6 is packed with features and for many it was the last great G series camera build and many folks today still enjoy their G6.

The PowerShot G7, my favorite, is one of the most exciting G Series cameras to date I think. Yes, after all the above background I discussed the G7 I believe was something new, it was based on the old and it projected something different to come. It easily became one of the most popular compacts of all time I like to believe.

This was the first camera to date that could stand in and that could take really awesome pictures if something went wrong with the SLR.

The biggest disadvantage was the fact that RAW was excluded from this camera. Still today having though about it a lot and even taking in account what the mass product was expected to be, the mere fact that RAW was left out was WOW.

With hindsight I believe that the G7 with its “new image” could have been better accepted amongst the amateur if it had RAW.