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Canon PowerShot G7 Performance


Timing and Performance

Good to slightly slow speed for a consumer digital camera.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on
to first shot
1.5 seconds
Time it takes for LCD to turn on and lens to deploy
Shutdown
1.5 seconds
How long it takes to retract lens
Buffer clearing time
1 second
(LSF JPEG)
Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared.
Mode switching
Play to Record,
first shot
1.2 seconds
Time until first shot is captured
Record to play
3.0 seconds
Time to display a large/superfine file immediately after capture
Display
recorded image
1.4 second
Time to display a large/superfine file already on the memory card.
Shutter response (Lag Time):
Full Autofocus Wide
0.54 second
Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position.
Full Autofocus Tele
0.55 second
Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position.
Prefocused
0.073 second
Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Manual focus
0.23 second
For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused"
Cycle time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode
Large SuperFine JPEG
1.54 seconds
Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots
Single Shot mode
640x480 Normal JPEG
1.45 seconds
Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots
Early shutter
penalty?
No
Some cameras refuse to snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer
Continuous mode
Large SuperFine JPEG
0.63 second (1.59 frames per second);
1 second to clear
Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first
Continuous mode
640x480 Normal JPEG
0.62 second (1.60 frames per second);
1 second to clear
Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first
Flash recycling
7 seconds
Flash at maximum output
Download speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0
1164 KBytes/sec
Typical Values:
Less than 600=USB 1.1;
600-770=USB 2.0 Low;
771-4000=USB 2.0 High
Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a Kingston Ultimate 120x SD memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode.

The Canon G7's performance ranged from good to a little sluggish in some cases, depending on the job. Startup time is on the slower side of average at 1.5 seconds, but shutter lag is good at both wide angle and telephoto. "Prefocus" time (half-pressing and holding down the Shutter button before the final exposure) is pretty good at 0.073 second. Shot-to-shot cycle times are on the slow side, at about 1.54 second for large/superfine JPEGs, but the camera captures frames continuously at this rate, though it only takes about one second to clear the buffer. Continuous-mode speed is fair, at about 1.59 frames/second, for the buffer length. The flash is a little slow to recycle at seven seconds after a full-power shot. Connected to a computer, download speeds are quite fast, however, so you won't feel a need for a separate card reader. Bottom line, the Canon G7 performs well enough for most consumer uses, despite slightly slow shot-to-shot cycle times. Performance is about average overall.

Battery and Storage Capacity

Battery
About average battery life with the LCD on, though better results with the LCD off.

Operating Mode Number of Shots
Li-Ion rechargeable battery, LCD on
220
Li-Ion rechargeable battery, LCD off
500

The Canon G7 uses a custom rechargeable LiIon battery pack for power, and both a battery and charger are included with the camera. Though runtimes are increased with the LCD switched off, I strongly recommend picking up a second battery pack and keeping it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Canon G7 accepts SD/MMC cards, and a 32MB card is included with the camera.

Image Capacity with
32MB Memory Card		 SuperFine Fine Normal
3,648 x 2,736 Images 7 12 25
File Size 4.4MB 2.6MB 1.3MB
2,816 x 2,112 Images 11 18 36
File Size 2.3MB 1.7MB 872KB
2,272 x 1,704 Images 14 26 50
File Size 2.1MB 1.2MB 637KB
1,600 x 1,200 Images 28 50 95
File Size 1.1MB 637KB 335KB
640 x 480 Images 106 163 256
File Size 302KB 196KB 125KB

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SD/MMC memory card at least a 512MB card, preferably a 1GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)

 

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