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Canon PowerShot G3 The third generation of Canon's popular G model retains last year's 4 megapixel CCD, but brings a 4X zoom lens and a host of other improvements. Select a topic Reference: Datasheet G3 Photo Gallery! G3 Sample Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on G3 Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:Viewfinder Review First Posted: 9/16/2002

Viewfinder

The G2 features both an eye-level optical viewfinder and a repositionable LCD monitor on the back of the camera for image composition. The real-image optical viewfinder zooms along with the lens (except in Digital Telephoto mode, which requires the LCD monitor), and displays a set of target crosshairs in the center of its screen. A diopter adjustment control on the left of the eyepiece adjusts the viewfinder focus for eyeglass wearers. The viewfinder optics seem particularly well-suited for eyeglass wearers: The objective has a high enough "eyepoint" to accommodate even fairly thick eyeglass lenses, and the diopter adjustment seems to cover a very broad range. (Accommodating even my own 20/180 vision.) Two LED lights to the right of the viewfinder eyepiece report the camera's status during certain operations. For example, when you depress the Shutter button halfway, a steady green light (on top) indicates that the camera is ready to record and / or the flash charge is complete. A flashing green light indicates that an image is either being written to, read from, or erased from the CompactFlash card. A steady orange light (on top) indicates that the camera is ready to record and / or the flash is adequately charged, while a flashing orange light indicates a camera-shake warning (i.e. the shutter speed is too slow to handhold), or the battery is charging. The lower LED light glows yellow when the camera is set in Macro or Manual focus modes.

I don't recall whether this was an issue with the G2 or not, but with the G3, Canon positioned the optical viewfinder very close to the lens, apparently to minimize parallax between lens and viewfinder. One result of this though, is that the lens protrudes into the lower left-hand corner of the viewfinder frame at wide angle focal lengths. Overall, I'd have favored a bit more parallax and no interference by the lens barrel, as the present arrangement results in poor viewfinder coverage across quite a range of operation, whereas increased parallax error would only affect close-in shooting. Removing the cosmetic lens collar reduces the viewfinder obstruction somewhat, but that's neither a complete nor a practical solution.

Measuring 1.8-inches diagonally, Canon's low-temperature, polycrystalline silicon, TFT, color LCD monitor features the same smart, swiveling design we first saw on the PowerShot Pro 70, and later on the original G1. The monitor's plastic casing actually pops out of the back of the camera and swings around to face forward (the same direction as the lens). From that position, the monitor can be rotated forward 180 degrees or backward 90 degrees, allowing you to hold the camera in practically any position and still see what's going on in the viewfinder. The best part of the LCD's swiveling monitor design is that it can be flipped around to face the back panel and then closed, keeping the screen safe from scratches and fingerprints.

The Display button controls the LCD monitor's image and information display. Pressed once, it activates the LCD monitor. The second press turns on the information display, which reports Exposure, Single or Continuous Shooting, Manual Focus, and Flash modes (depending upon the Shooting mode you are using), as well as Digital Zoom, when it's enabled. At the bottom of the screen are the Shutter Speed and Aperture settings, which appear only when the Shutter button is halfway depressed. The third press of the Display button cancels both displays.

The G3 preserves the enhanced manual focus utility we first saw on the G2's LCD display. Not only does the LCD show numbers on its distance scale (a feature I consider almost mandatory), it also enlarges the center of the image, making it easier for you to focus accurately based on what you're seeing in the LCD. Per my note in the Optics section of this review, I'd like to see a bit more enlargement in the manual-focus mode though, as the roughly 2x magnification provided by the G3 is still somewhat marginal to use in determining critical focus.

The G3's LCD is also used when selecting exposure compensation, white balance, flash exposure compensation, and autoexposure bracketing options. Pressing the middle (FUNC) button next to the LCD on the camera's rear panel calls up a series of tabbed sub-menus that let you control ISO, picture effects, exposure and focus bracketing, flash exposure compensation, and image size and quality. The Picture Effects menu options include Vivid Color, Neutral Color, Low Sharpening, Sepia Tone, and Black/White recording. A final "Custom Effect" option provides access to the manual Contrast, Sharpness, and Saturation adjustments, by hitting the "*" button. This is the first time I've seen focus bracketing in a prosumer digicam, and it strikes me as a good idea. I've often seen digicams select a portion of the subject to focus on that is either slightly in front of or slightly behind the part of the subject I was actually interested in. By snapping three frames in rapid succession with slightly different focus settings, you're more likely to get exactly the focus setting you want. The size of the focus step between successive shots in focus bracketing mode can be adjusted to one, two, or three units on an arbitrary scale.

The exposure compensation and white balance adjustment options that were part of what's now the FUNC menu on the G2 have now been moved to the Omni Controller pad. Pressing the top of the Omni Controller calls up the exposure compensation control, while pressing the bottom of the controller calls up the White Balance menu. As with the G2, I like the way the exposure compensation and exposure bracketing functions interact on the G3, to show the net exposure settings that have been selected.

In Replay (Playback) mode, the LCD monitor provides a full-frame display of captured images, which you can view individually by scrolling left or right with the arrow buttons on the Omni Controller pad. Depressing the Flash / Index button brings up a thumbnail index display of nine images at a time, which you can also scroll through with the Omni Controller. The zoom control on top of the camera activates the G3's Digital Enlargement mode, which lets you enlarge an image anywhere from 2.5x to 10x its normal size on the screen, in ten steps. (Another enhancement over the G2, which had playback magnifications of only 3 and 6x.) The arrow keys permit you to move around the image and check the fine details. Unlike the implementation of this feature on some cameras, zoomed playback on the G3 lets you see all the way to the extreme edges of the image, important for checking critical framing. The 10x magnification is also quite sufficient for critical focus evaluation.

In Playback mode, one press of the Display button pulls up detailed information about the captured image, including the file name, date, and time it was recorded, compression, resolution, and what number it is in the sequence of captured images. Depressing the Display button twice adds exposure information such as the Image Zone (portrait, landscape, etc.), Shutter Speed, Aperture, Exposure Compensation, and White Balance. Included in this extended information display is a small histogram, which plots the tonal distribution of the image in a graph. Histograms are useful tools for checking exposure, as they report the distribution of highlights, shadows, and midtones, but they don't do a good job of informing you when small highlight areas are blown out. The G3 deals with this by flashing any overexposed portions of the image black and white in the image accompanying the histogram display, indicating that you need to adjust the exposure. A third press of the Display button turns off the information display, returning the LCD to the main image display mode. A nice feature is that the expanded information display seen in histogram mode remains on the screen if you use the zoom toggle to magnify the playback image from that mode.