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Canon Powershot G6 By: Dave Etchells The next generation of Canon's popular "G" model updates the line with a larger, 7.1-megapixel CCD and a redesigned camera body. Select a topic Reference: Datasheet G6 Sample Images G6 Imatest Results G6 Photo Gallery! --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Changes from the Canon PowerShot G5 3. Executive Overview 4. Design 5. Viewfinder 6. Optics 7. Exposure & Flash 8. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 9. Operation & User Interface 10. Camera Modes & Menus 11. Image Storage & Interface 12. Video, Power, Software 13. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on G6 Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 5:Viewfinder Review First Posted: 09/28/2004

Viewfinder

The G6 features both an eye-level optical viewfinder and a tilt/swivel 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 slider directly below the eyepiece adjusts the viewfinder focus for eyeglass wearers. The viewfinder optics seem pretty 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 at the "nearsighted" end of its range.) 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. 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 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 that the camera's exposure metering system believes the image will be underexposed. The lower LED light glows yellow when the camera is set in Macro or Manual focus modes, and blinks yellow when a focusing problem is detected.

Unlike the G3 and G5 before it, the G6's optical viewfinder is just a little further away from the lens. Thanks to this change, the lens no longer protrudes into the lower left-hand corner of the viewfinder frame at wide angle focal lengths, a major complaint I had with the previous cameras. This change will also yield (very) slightly increased parallax error, but that will only affect close-in shooting - and we find it infinitely preferable to the viewfinder being obstructed in common shooting situations. Kudos to Canon for listening to users and reviewers!

Measuring 2.0-inches diagonally, Canon's low-temperature, polycrystalline silicon, TFT color LCD monitor features the same smart, swiveling design we first saw years ago 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 smudgy 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 and a handful of other exposure settings (when 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. Note that when the LCD is enabled without the information display, settings are still shown on the LCD monitor for six seconds after the most recent change to one of the camera's settings, and the shutter / aperture choices are displayed when the Shutter button is half-pressed.

The G6 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. The G6'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.

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 Four-Way Arrow pad. Depressing the Macro / Index button brings up a thumbnail index display of nine images at a time. Alternatively the same effect can be achieved by tapping the Zoom lever towards the wide-angle position once. Moving the Zoom lever to the telephoto position activates the G6'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. The arrow keys permit you to move around the enlarged image and check the fine details. Unlike the implementation of this feature on some cameras, zoomed playback on the G6 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 a second time 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 G6 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 displays - but not the histogram - remain on the screen if you use the zoom toggle to magnify the playback image from either of the information display modes.