Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Canon announces the G11 – my next point & shoot camera

Canon has FINALLY released a point and shoot worth owning – the new G11. Why is this one any different than the other G series? Well because Canon finally gets “it” that it’s now about image quality (and low noise) and not about megapixel count anymore. This camera actually has LESS megapixels (10 instead of 14 in the G10), but the advantage is that the image quality is superior (due to improved pixel density) which is the most important thing. Even better, if you find yourself in a situation where you have to crank up the ISO, this camera will go up to 12,800 – BUT they are brilliant by reducing the megapixel count to 2.5mp in this scenario to use as much sensor data as possible to create a higher quality image than would ever be possible at 10 or 14mp with such a small sensor. They’ve also added the latest version of the Digic IV processor with improved noise reduction.

Personally, I can care less about the flip out display, but I’ll finally be purchasing my first point and shoot since 2004 and this will be it! The G9 was great for my trip to Disneyland and the G10 was almost as good, but this one seems to be “the one” that has the quality needed to be a suitable “pocket DSLR” substitute for family situations that don’t lend themselves to using the big beast.

Check out more at DPReview or on Canon’s website.

You can order one now at Adorama like me, or at Amazon or B&H.

I’ve received mine and love it, and will be posting a detailed review soon. In the meantime, you can look at some of my G11 images here.

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6 comments:

Technology Slice said...

Only 10 megapixel? They could have done better than that.

ronmartblog.com said...

Technology Slice:

That's the whole problem with today - people seem to think more megapixels is a good thing - IT IS NOT! Unless the sensor size gets larger, you only reduce image quality when you get more megapixels out of the same size chip. This is why a 12MP P&S sucks compared to a 8MP DSLR.

FEWER megapixels is GOOD!

Unknown said...

Oh yeah. 10 mp is good. What's the use of a higher mp when we only pics online? ^^

ronmartblog.com said...

10 megapixels means you can print an image at 100% (no scaling) that is 15.2 inches by 11.4 inches at 240 dpi (which is all that dpi needed for excellent quality prints), and given the fact that products like Alien Skin Blow up can nicely scale up to 400%, then I'd love to know the actual percentage of Canon G series owners who have actually ever printed a print above 60.8" x 45.6"! This camera, with "just" 10 megapixels, has enough megapixels for anything you could possibly want to do with it! If you are doing > 15.2 x 11.4 then you should be using a DSLR, not a point and shoot!

Ron

Hendrik Demey said...

Perhaps You should visit the Luminous Landscape site for their comment on the G11....picture quality is not that great..... (and I personally have used a G2 and now a G9)

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/g11.shtml

ronmartblog.com said...

Zeus1 - I think you misread that article. They don't say it isn't that great. In fact, they say it is a 1 stop improvement over the G9.

I agree with some of their observations and not others.

My full review is forthcoming, but I can say that it meets my needs and is a excellent performer for what it is - a point and shoot camera with a tiny sensor.