Canon PowerShot G2 4MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

Make a list of features you'd expect and not expect to find from a "prosumer" digital camera, and chances are you'll find them on the G2. This is a little camera that was designed to act a lot bigger than many other digital cameras in its class.

You only have to pick up a G2 to realize that there's a lot more to it than meets the eye; this camera's significantly heavier and feels sturdier than any other camera in its class! The extra weight means better camera stabilization. The G2's sturdiness inspires confidence and makes the camera feel like a photographic tool, not an electronic gizmo.

From the tilt-and-swivel LCD, the magnification loupe for manual focusing, dedicated and fully functional flash hot-shoe, evaluative metering, IR autofocous assist mechanism, ISO 50, RAW image format, etc., etc., this camera has it all!.

Many photographers will argue that the real measures of any camera lie in the controls and results. The G2 doesn't disappoint in either of these respects. Although you'll have to familiarize yourself with the camera's controls initially, you'll soon find them very intuitive and actually use them more often than not.

The quality of images captured with the G2 is nothing short of superb! You'll get clean, detailed, very high-resolution photographs with the G2, especially if you use the camera's RAW mode at ISO 50.

The Canon PowerShot G2 is still a point-and-shoot digital camera. Anyone who's ever used an SLR will miss the optical viewfinder, true manual focus, and lens selection not available in the G2. However, this can be said for any other digital camera in the G2's class. In every other respect, the G2 rises above its inherent limitations and really challenges its competition to try and keep up!

Beyond the camera itself, Canon has really done the consumer proud by offering most every accessory that you would want included at no extra charge, i.e. an remote control unit, high-capacity rechargeable Lithium Ion battery, and remote capture software.

If you're in the market for a capable digital camera at a reasonable price, thank Canon for making the choice really very simple.

Positives:
- extensive feature set
- excellent build and design
- superb results, especially in RAW mode at ISO 50
- Excellent lens produces very little distortion and chromatic aberrations
- extremely reasonable price
- All the accessories that should come standard do come standard.

Negatives:
- Certain exposure adjustments, i.e. flash compensation, aren't available in full manual mode.
- The fact that the G2 isn't an SLR.
- Not much else.

Things I like about G2 (from personal experience):
- swivel LCD very useful in quite a lot of situations.
- swivel LCD protects LCD when not in use.
- long battery life. I have bought an extra battery just in case, but I have never used it so far (I have been using G2 for more than 3 months now). On average, I can use one charge for about 200 shots, with 50% of shots taken with flash; or > 300 shots on normal usage. I think I will use the extra battery when I go on travelling...
- manual focus magnifies the subject, thus allowing easy and accurate focusing.
- ability to show 9 thumnails at a time, and ability to let you jump 9 photos forward/backward at a time.
- remote control comes very handy. The downside is: I always forget to turn on the remote control feature on the G2, and I wonder why my remote control is not working... I wish future cameras will allow use of remote control, without having user to remember to turn on/off the remote control feature everytime he wishes to use it.
- G2 normally produces good and sharp photograph.

Things I dislike about G2:
- slow to focus: causing me to miss many great photos.
- unable to auto focus: the camera could not auto focus during night time even with street light. The G2's light assist does not help much and is of little to no use. Fortunately, manual focus is available. On another situation, I cannot auto focus on subjects are close (less than 1.5 foot) to the camera.
- video recording has max time limit of 30 seconds. This is useful for short clips, but generally videos require much longer than 30 seconds block. Note: Olympus C-4040Z has no video time limit.
- unable to zoom in or out after you have started video recording. However, you can zoom in or out before starting a video session.
- flash insufficient. When taking indoor pictures, flash assisted photos will look artificial, and gives you a feel that there is insufficient light (i.e. subject too bright, background too dark). I have read that adding an external flash will solve this problem, although I have never tried it. In the meantime, I use Night mode to compensate for this artificial lighting. With Night mode, your photo will look natural. The drawback is: the subject will need to stay still a little longer for the shot, so that there is more exposure for the darker areas. Unfortunately, my subjects do not always stay as long as I want them to.
- auto stitching does not work very well. Initially, I was impressed by auto-stitching. But upon further examination, I find that the stitching is done correctly only on certain parts of the photo. For example, auto-stitch is done correctly at the bottom half joining two pictures, but somehow auto-stitch did not stitch the top half correctly (i.e. top half is misaligned). In all, I would give auto-stitching a B- to C+ grade.
- photos taken tend to be more magenta in color. Fortunately, I can resolve this by setting Saturation level to Low (from Normal).
- noise found in higher ISO. Generally, G2 produces good quality photo at ISO 50 or ISO 100. I do not recommend using any ISO higher than 100 since I experience a lot of noise at these higher ISO.

Summary of main points: G2 is an above average digital camera for an advanced amateur, with many bells and whistles to play with. 3x zoom might be a little too small, but sufficient for most shots. Main problems of camera are slow focusing and sometimes inability to focus. Strengths of G2 are swivelling LCD and sharpness. Considering its price, it gives good value for money, but there is much room for improvement.

Note: You will definitely need a 128MB CF card. 32MB just isn't enough for a 4MP camera.

I especially enjoy taking candids in available light, and this is the first compact camera I've used that actually lets me do this effectively. This is because I have reliable control over the flash and I can review pictures taken in questionable light to see if they worked or not.

I also used the G2 on a tripod to make a photographic copy of a large family oil painting, and the results were about what I'd expect from typical 35mm film in the hands of a casual user. I used the "remote capture" mode with a laptop, and must say that this mode works, but not as smoothly as you might expect.

When using available light, I admit I'm disappointed that the ISO setting maxes out at 400, but in my experience that's usually been enough, especially with an f2.0 lens, and the G2 can generally provide f2.0 (though you lose that maximum opening at longer focal lengths). The G2 gamely tries to take pictures even when the light is a bit too low, and it simply tries to warn you to hold the camera extra-steady.

The low-light picture results were comparable to what I achieved with film - some sharp, some blurry, some grainy, often depending on the quality of the lighting. The level of detail I achieved in my JPEGs was comparable to what I'd seen under similar conditions with a good film camera.

I often ran the G2 in "slow motor drive" mode since this would allow you to take several pictures in a row. Otherwise the camera would pause dramatically between shots as it pushed the previous image onto the compact flash card. In a sense, this was the biggest adjustment I had to make to this camera -- its computer would occasionally go off and do things, leaving the camera insensible to my need to take a picture, and I'd have to wait a second or two for it to catch up with me. The motor drive mode helped minimize this problem.

Of course, the digital camera, and the G2 in particular, carries benefits that were only fantasies in the world of film. I installed a 256K CF card, and the thing held HUNDREDS of pictures! And even though I overused the motor drive setting, I could go back and discard the less interesting pictures WITHOUT WASTING FILM. So by the end of my 4-day event, I had already edited out many of the less promising pictures I'd taken.

Another G2 shortcoming is that there's no way to change the orientation of a picture stored on the CF card. Even if you tell the camera which way to orient a picture (there's a menu entry), you lose that information if you simply copy the picture off of the CF card. I found that surprising. (For that matter, today's smart camera ought to sense which way is up, and store the image appropriately.)

In closing, let me comment on battery usage. I bought a second battery and didn't start using it till the THIRD DAY of shooting! Note that I mostly relied on the viewfinder, and rarely used the flash. But I regularly used the LCD to review and edit the pictures I'd taken. I never plugged in the camera during the entire four days, since I'd already charged up the other battery. So you can push A LOT of pictures through a single battery charge.

Plusses: the benefits of digital technology, film-like resolution, lots of control, a relatively fast lens, a usable viewfinder, awesome battery life.

Minuses: ISO tops off at 400, the camera's computer can be slow, and you must use separate editing software to orient pictures. But I suspect the G2 is comparable, if not better, than most other digital cameras in these respects.