Canon PowerShot G7 Digital Camera Review

Model Design / Appearance (8.0)

The Canon PowerShot G7’s clean lines, beveled edges, and combination of retro and modern components give it an appealing look. The body is black with silver highlights – the most prominent being the serrated rim around the lens. The serration seems to be a theme with the edges of dials on the G7, which is great because this style is functional and makes the camera easier to grip. This is only one of several retro elements. The mode and ISO dials are a throwback to the analog days, along with the rough leather-like texture of the top panel and front grip. The body has an SLR-like profile, but it is much flatter and compact than SLRs. This design allows the Canon G7 to fit into the WP-DC11 underwater housing, which can take the camera 130 feet under water. The old-school features are complemented by new-school elements like the rotating navigational dial and the multi-selector that is more common on compact digital cameras. The Canon G7 proves a compact digital camera can still be for serious photographers, though its lack of RAW format will affect it's viability with these shooters. 

Size / Portability (6.5)

The G7 has a similar thickness to A-series models but has much more function and substance. The camera measures 4.19 x 2.83 x 1.67 inches (106.4 x 71.9 x 42.5 mm) and has protrusions where the ISO and mode dials and hot shoe are. There is also a slightly thicker right side with a textured strip for better handling. The G7 is quite heavy at 11.3 ounces (320 g) without the card or battery. This is not a camera for one-handed shooting. The G7 is most comfortably handled with both hands and a neck strap. There are eyelets on both sides of the camera for a neck strap, but they aren’t exactly even. The right eyelet is on the top edge, while the left eyelet is clearly on the left side. The G7 doesn’t hang unevenly like some cameras, but its heft and thin strap aren’t plush either. The camera comes with a thin leather strap that isn’t very comfortable. If you plan to use the G7 for long photo shoots, invest in a better camera strap. The Canon PowerShot G7 certainly isn’t a pocket camera and despite its compact design, users will want to tote it in a camera bag to keep its hot shoe and other components as clean as possible.

Handling Ability (6.75)

The Canon G7 has a few good handling features, but still has a ways to go to be truly comfortable. Its hefty weight requires that users grip it with both hands. This PowerShot does have a slight protrusion for a right hand grip with a textured vertical strip on the front meant to keep fingers in place. This works fairly well, but would have been better complemented with an equally nice grip on the back for the thumb. Instead, there isn’t much support. There is a button on the top right corner of the back that has a half-circle protrusion beneath it to keep the thumb from sliding down. There is nothing to keep the thumb from sliding up though, which is more likely with the heavy body. A deep thumb divot would have been more helpful. Still, the controls’ placement makes quick grip changes possible.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (8.25)

The G7 has interesting controls that include mode and ISO dials on top of the camera and more modern controls like buttons and a rotating navigation dial on the back. The controls are all nicely sized and spaced. The only exception is the shutter release button, which isn’t tiny but isn’t as large as many of the other buttons. Compared to the other controls, the all-important shutter release button looks disproportionately small. On the back of the camera are plenty of buttons that match nicely and are properly labeled, although the * button in the top right is a bit ambiguous; that symbol somehow represents the exposure lock function. The navigational control is one of the best features on this digital camera. It has a central Func./Set button that calls up a menu of frequently used settings and also makes selections within the normal menu. Surrounding this button is a traditional multi-selector ring that rocks in four directions and has icons on all sides depicting its double features. Around the multi-selector is a nicer rotating dial that can be quickly turned to navigate through menus and pictures. This takes a bit of getting used to for beginners, but you’ll be hooked once you get a feel for it. Those who appreciate the more traditional multi-selector can choose to avoid the rotating dial altogether; the multi-selector is fully functional on its own.

The Canon G7’s menu is similar to other PowerShot menus. It has a Function menu that is accessible from the center of the multi-selector; this calls up such frequently used features as the white balance and image size, among other things. It provides live views too. Its options are as follows.

 

The other menu is accessed with the Menu button and is set up with three tabs at the top to organize it. The left tab is red and has an icon with a camera on it, the one in the middle is yellow with tools, and the right one is purple with a person’s head on it. This setup should be familiar to Canon PowerShot users; nothing has changed in this area. Here are the options available under the first tab.

 

The Setup menu provides a lengthy list of options too.

 

The custom menu is the same found in other Canon PowerShot digital cameras. Users can choose from three picture and sound options for the following features: startup image, startup sound, operation sound, self-timer sound, and shutter sound. The noise and pictures can also be turned off. If these options don’t satisfy an individual’s needs, more options can be loaded into the menu with the included software on the Canon Solution Disk. The software includes everything from baseballs to animals.

Alternatively, users can avoid the text menus by using the mode and ISO dials and several on-camera controls. There is even a shortcut button in the top left corner of the Canon G7’s back. This can be set to access 11 different functions from the recording menu (yes, it requires some initial dabbling in the menu).

Overall, the menus are straightforward and don’t require much fuss to set. The rotating dial makes navigation fabulous and fast. There are also on-screen directions that instruct users how to cancel out of options and return to the main menu.

The Canon PowerShot G7 doesn’t have a built-in help guide, but it is fairly intuitive nonetheless and offers face detection auto focus and auto exposure. Its body may look like the A-series, which is for point-and-shooters, but it has many more options and features to wade through. The body is compact so the numerous buttons make the camera look feature-laden. The controls are well-spaced, placed, and labeled despite the number of them. Navigation is flawless with the rotating dial.

The most difficulty I had with the G7 wasn’t actually with the camera. I tried to look up a few things in the included user manual (remote shooting, for instance) and was referred from one manual to the next to the next. The G7 comes with several manuals: a basic guide, an advanced guide, and a software guide. They all refer to each other rather than citing information in each booklet. It’s a pain to find and flip through all these manuals! Besides this quirk, the G7 does a fantastic job of retaining ease of use despite its high-end classification.

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