Canon PowerShot G2 - full review! (UPDATED)
By
Mike Tomkins
(Thursday, August 16, 2001 - 22:00 EDT)
Dave Etchells reviews a production model of Canon's latest (just-announced) digital camera...
Canon's PowerShot has consistently been one of the most popular "prosumer" cameras since it was introduced over a year ago. Now, Canon's upped the ante with a 4 megapixel sensor, and improvements in nearly every aspect of camera performance!
We got our hands on an initial-production G2, put it through it's paces, and liked what we saw *very* much! All of Canon's "Year 2001" cameras have displayed beautiful color rendition, and the new G2 carries on that tradition. Also, even though the new G2 uses the same lens as the G1, the G2's images look much sharper than the 3 -> 4 megapixel increase in sensor resolution would seem to warrant.
Canon has also brought over noise-reduction technology from their Pro SLR the EOS D30, with the result that low light photos from the G2 are amazingly clean and noise-free. Finally, Canon has added myriad little tweaks and enhancements, with the result that virtually all of the most-requested improvements asked for by G1 users have now been addressed.
Oh - and the introductory list price will be the same $899 carried by the G1 when it was first announced. We think Canon has a real winner on their hands here, check out the review for all the details!
UPDATED 2001-08-16 20:02ET: Our friends at the Digital Camera Resource Page have also posted a full review of the Canon PowerShot G2, concluding: "I've tested three 4 Megapixel cameras (under $1000) so far: the Sony DSC-S85, Toshiba PDR-M81, and now the PowerShot G2. Of the three, the G2 is my favorite. From the useful swiveling LCD to the manual controls to support for external flashes and lenses, the G2 is an excellent choice. Of course, if you don't want to bother with all those manual controls, just put it in Auto mode and the G2 does all the work.
It edges out the Sony due to its support for CompactFlash Type II and the IBM Microdrive, which has a vastly higher capacity that the Memory Stick. The photo quality has also proved to be top notch -- and I plan on taking a lot more photos to make sure. Downsides? The main one for me is the price -- $1,000 is a lot of money for many people. Overall, the G2 is a great pick for the hard core digital camera enthusiast -- or someone who wants to print on large paper." Check out Jeff's review for more...
UPDATED 2001-08-16 20:07ET: Phil Askey at the Digital Photography Review has now posted his Canon PowerShot G2 review. He concludes: "Canon took the already successful G1, listened to the comments of reviewers and owners alike, added a four megapixel sensor, made the camera design a little more 'marketable' and came up with the G2. And the whole point is the G2 is a camera that just works, it does exactly what its supposed to and it does it well, and consistently. Resolution is what we'd expect from a four megapixel digital camera, colour balance is good and metering is improved over the G1.
Because of the sharpening / diagonal line artifacts I had considered marking the G2 down in my final conclusion, looking at my 'every day' shots it was clear that this was something that wasn't easily noticeable. Plus, considering all of the extra functionality and features compared to some of the competition it's still clearly still the cream of the crop and a 'Highly Recommended' digital camera." Read on for more of Phil's review...
UPDATED 2001-08-16 20:29ET: Whoops! Just noticed that the server clock was bumped an hour forward by mistake as we posted this item and the previous two. Mike makes a habit of resetting the server clock to the exact correct time as news items like this are posted, to ensure we don't jump our NDA by even a second - but I inadvertently typed 9pm instead of 8pm when I synchronized the clock. It has been reset now, but there's no simple way to change the time on these items... Sorry!
UPDATED 2001-08-16 20:45ET: Our friends at Steve's Digicams have been unlucky with the weather and timing getting their camera, so they're not yet completed their review, but Steve just emailed to let me know he's posted his Canon PowerShot G2 first look. We'll keep our fingers crossed that your weather improves, Steve! :)
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