Canon PowerShot G7

The Canon PowerShot G7 has a fully manual exposure mode, along with manual focus, white balance, and selection of ISO. The camera also has priority modes that limit the manual functionality but still provide access to a lot of options. If users prefer a certain set of manual controls, they can save it in the Custom 1 and 2 modes on the camera’s mode dial for easy access later. Overall, manual control options are plentiful.

 

Auto Focus (8.25)
The Canon PowerShot G7’s through-the-lens auto focus system is impressive. The camera’s Digic III image processor claims to speed things up, and it seems to have worked. The G7 is quick to focus and grab a shot. It works well too, with the pictures clearly focused. The auto focus can be set to single or continuous. The auto focus mode can be selected with the designated auto focus/delete button above the left side of the multi-selector. After it is pressed, users can scroll through the modes with the navigational dial: FlexiZone, AiAF, and Face Detection.

FlexiZone allows users to select one spot to focus on with the multi-selector. AiAF is the same 9-point system that is included on most other PowerShot digital cameras. Both systems are speedy, but the FlexiZone is faster because it doesn’t spend any time searching for subjects like the AiAF does. The AiAF isn’t a slouch; it just isn’t as fast as FlexiZone. The Face Detection is just as fast as the AiAF, amazingly, and can recognize and track up to nine faces at a time. Face detection technology is a trendy feature this year, as many other manufacturers have come out with the like.

Nikon was the first to use face detection technology in its cameras, with its Coolpix models hosting face-priority auto focus modes. Nikon’s face detection system is slow, though, and doesn’t track faces well at all. The face detection technology on the G7 and a few other recent PowerShots is the first time this technology has been available on Canon digital cameras. The system on the Canon G7 works exceptionally well. It finds faces quickly, and tracks them so fast that it almost looks like a video game. The system shows white brackets around the faces that move when subjects move. The catch is that subjects have to be facing the camera in order to be recognized; a turn of the head or some hair in the face can throw the camera off. Canon claims the system is so fast because it is run by hardware rather than software, like some other manufacturers do.

The Canon PowerShot G7 has a large auto focus assist lamp on its front to aid in low light. The lamp projects a bright green light and it can be turned on and off in the recording menu. The G7 can focus properly in low light, although it’ll take a few extra tenths of a second. The more zoomed in the lens is, the more difficult it is to focus in low light. The auto focus assist beam isn’t exactly lined up with the lens. While the assist lamp does just fine when the lens is zoomed out, its path veers farther and farther from the zoom’s vision as it is zoomed in.

 

Manual Focus (4.0)
The manual focus can be accessed from the top side of the multi-selector. Adjusting the focus is done with the large rotating dial; a vertical bar appears with distances to show the whereabouts of the camera’s focal point. The center of the image can be magnified, if that option is activated in the recording menu. Overall, manual control freaks will still prefer the zoom and focus rings of a true DSLR, but having a manual focus mode on a compact model is still a commodity. The G7 has a focus bracketing mode in the Func./Set menu that only works when the manual focus is activated. Users can snap three pictures in a burst at three different focal ranges.

 

ISO (8.0)

The Canon PowerShot G7 has an old-school ISO dial complete with automatic and manual settings. Its automatic settings include traditional Auto and a more updated High ISO Auto for shooting in low light. The old G6 had ISO sensitivity that only reached 400. Thanks to the new Digic III processor and its noise reduction technology, the G7 offers more manual ISO settings: 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600. Live views of the exposure setting are shown as users scroll through the options.

 

Scrolling through the white balance options has live views too: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash, Underwater, and Custom. The white balance menu is is accessed by pressing the Func./Set button. There are on-screen directions, which guide users through setting up the Custom white balance.

 

With 25 exposure modes, the Canon PowerShot G7 has a little something for everyone. There is a full Auto mode that truly is automatic. The next level of control includes the scene modes that allow access to a few options. The Program mode offers a bit more control, followed by the Priority and Manual modes. Users can also save custom modes and settings, which are accessible by the mode dial. There is an exposure bracketing mode that lets users shoot three pictures at varying levels of exposure within the standard range. The exposure compensation scale has its own designated button and has adjustments in the +/- 2 EV range.

 

There are three metering modes available from the Func./Set menu: Evaluative, Center-weighted Average, and Spot. The Spot metering is linked to the auto focus zone, including faces when in the Face Detection auto focus mode. There is a live view when scrolling through the metering options.

 

 

Users can scroll through the shutter speeds using the large navigational dial. The shutter can open as long as 15 seconds and flip as fast as 1/2500th of a second. The shutter speeds can be manually selected in the Manual and Shutter Priority modes, but are automatically selected otherwise. Any shutter speed longer than 1.3 seconds operates automatically with the noise reduction system.

 

The high-quality 6x optical zoom lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.8 and a minimum of f/8.0. The max aperture shrinks when zoomed in on subjects, though, to f/4.8. This isn’t as small as some 3x lenses. For example, the Fujifilm FinePix F31fd’s 3x lens shrinks to f/5 in telephoto. Still, the G7’s predecessors had much wider apertures. The G6 has a 4x lens with an incredible f/2.0 aperture. You can’t find that anymore. The f/2.0 aperture allows a lot more light than the G7’s f/2.8 maximum aperture. Sure, the G7 has higher ISO sensitivity and image stabilization, but those are still no replacement for natural light. The aperture can be manually adjusted in the Manual and Aperture Priority modes. In the Manual mode, the Jump button must be used to jog between the aperture and shutter speed manual adjustments.