| Likes |
- Hot shoe
- Enormous LCD screen
- Retro design
- Lots of manual controls
- Optical image stabilization
- Image inspection tool
- Excellent color accuracy
- Great resolution
- Excellent videos for a digital camera |
| Dislikes |
- Inaccurate viewfinder
- Slow 1.5 fps Burst mode
- Heavy body
- Green AF assist lamp
- Unavailable optical zoom in videos
- Pokey autofocus system
- High noise levels
- Mediocre dynamic range |
Conclusion
Canon made a lot of improvements on the PowerShot G9 – most notably the image quality, LCD screen, and RAW file capability. The Canon G9 offers more megapixels than its predecessor, the G7, which on paper suggests it will have better resolution but more noise and worse dynamic range. Our tests prove the G9 has significantly better resolution, better than most cameras released this year. Noise levels are high, but not any higher than the G7, which is commendable. Color accuracy is fantastic, as is the Movie mode, both of which have become consistent successes for high-end Canon PowerShots.
The LCD screen is enlarged to 3 inches and is matched with excellent resolution and very wide viewing angles. Older G-series digital cameras have RAW shooting capability, but the G7 does not; it is a welcome reunion on the PowerShot G9.
The good features on the G7 stayed put on the G9. The black retro design remains, with its easily accessible ISO and mode dials and more modern elements, such as the rotary dial. The Canon G-series remains somewhere between DSLRs and compacts with its flattened DSLR-like design, hot shoe, and host of Scene modes.
The Canon PowerShot G9 isn’t perfect – its Burst mode is slow, its 6x optical zoom doesn’t function in the Movie mode, and its autofocus system takes more time than it should – but it’s almost there. It is fairly priced at $499, as it is stuffed with lots of great features, manual controls, and high-quality components, which make it worth the price.
