Photography News 14

Camera review

CanonG7 X Premium compacts are as popular as ever, and the star of Canon’s PowerShot G series doesn’t appear to be waning. Let’s find out if the latest G7 X is a superstar ON TEST

SPECS

STREET PRICE £579 body only

CONTACT canon.co.uk SENSOR

20 megapixels, 1in, 13.2x8.8mm CMOS IMAGE DIMENSIONS 5472x3648 pixels ISORANGE 125-12,800, auto AUTOFOCUSMODES Contrast detect (sensor), multi-area, centre, selective single point, single, continuous, touch, face detect, live view SHUTTER 40secs-1/2000sec EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ± 3EV in 0.3EV METERING Multi, centre-weighted, spot SHOOTING SPEEDS 4.4fps with AF in continuous FOCUS POINTS 31 INTEGRAL FLASH Yes FLASHMODES Auto, on, slow sync, off FILE FORMATS Raw, JPEG, MPEG-4 H.264 MOVIE RESOLUTION 1920x1080 (60p, 30p) LCD SCREEN 3in tilting, 1040k dots STORAGEMEDIA

Words & pictures by Will Cheung

is just over one second. Zooming the lens to it longest setting only extends the lens front another centimetre. The 4.2x optical zoom gives a focal length equivalent of 24-100mm in the 35mm format with a variable maximum

Only two sectors of the camera market are growing. Action cameras – known generically as Go Pros even though models from many brands are available – have seen massive growth, while the other is the premium, high spec compact camera market. Compact camera sales, as a whole, have declined dramatically thanks to most people using their mobile phone or tablet. But premium models have more than held their own because they offer something extra in terms of usability, functionality. versatility and image quality. For the experienced photographer the latter is important because they demand quality comparable to a CSC or DSLR. The Canon PowerShot G7 X is one of the latest top-spec compacts to be launched. While the G7 X might just about be compact enough to pass the shirt pocket test, its weight would not make it comfortable for the wearer. That might sound a minus point but far from it. The G7 X’s heft gives it a solid feel that is reassuring and rather gratifying. Buy one, and you are shelling out £579, and you want it to feel it’s worth the money so here the G7 X delivers in spades. Press the on/off button and the lens is uncovered and it quickly, smoothly and quietly extends 3cm to its working position. Start-up time

aperture of f/1.8 to f/2.8. It’s f/1.8 at the shortest focal length and this drops to f/2 with one touch of the zoom lens control and f/2.2 soon after that. Generally, it’s a high spec optic and features IS technology too, offering a 3EV benefit.

image from in front of the camera. It will satisfy the keen selfie shooter but will disappoint those who like to shoot over a crowd. The 1040k monitor has touch control which makes accessing regularly used features simple and fast; it can be cancelled if preferred. Control layout is good and while the two top-plate dials for selecting exposure mode and setting exposure compensation lack locks I didn’t have many problems with altering settings by mistake. I found the exposure compensation odd though. With most cameras I have used, rotating the exposure compensation dial anti-clockwise usually sets a plus compensation value. On the G7 X you get a negative value. Around the lens barrel is a control ring that can be assigned to nine functions in total. So it can be an aperture ring, a manual focus barrel or ISO setting. It’s a handy feature although it doesn’t feel or sound right for a camera of this price level. Its click-stops are noisy and it doesn’t feel smooth. One option for the control ring is manual focusing and it’s far from ideal for that because you need a click-stop free control. Actually, manual focusing is not great on this camera, especially at the 100mm end where the control ring needs a lot of turning if the subject is closer than 5m. Inevitably, given the three-inch monitor and small body, there isn’t a great deal of room on the back panel so the remaining controls are tightly packed in. In terms of handling, though, the layout works well and proved very functional. The only issue I had was accidently catching the movie record button on a couple of occasions. This button – and the RING/FUNC button – can be reassigned to another function in the menu if preferred. Much has been made of battery capacity and rightly so. The quoted figure is 210 shots per full charge with 310 in Eco mode, which turns off the monitor after ten seconds of non-use. It might

One feature that sets premium compacts aside from their compatriots is their larger sensors. This Canon has a 13.2x8.8mm CMOS sensor boasting 20 effective megapixels. The G7 X is a monitor only camera, which may put some people off. There is not even an accessory shoe to hold an optional finder even if one was to be made available. The monitor itself takes up most of the back panel and it articulates in one direction only, allowing you to shoot from low down or at waist level and it flips all the way up so you can view the

SD, SDHC, SDXC DIMENSIONS (WXHXD) 103x60x40mm WEIGHT 304g

The G7 X is amonitor only camera, whichmay put some people off. There is not even an accessory shoe to hold an optional finder even if onewas to bemade available

For the full version of the Canon G7 X review please see issue 51 of Advanced Photographer magazine, on sale in newsagents now or go to iTunes to get the digital version.

Photography News | Issue 14