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We clicked with:
Solid, professional build
Huge feature set
Good optical performance
Ability to use RAW and off-camera flash
Shots in the dark:
Pro performance means a steep learning curve
28mm wide angle setting would be better
Very noise reduced high ISO settings in-camera
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The G-series has been at the pinnacle of Canon's digital compact camera range for almost as long as there has been a Canon digital compact camera range. There have been a few autumns where the latest G-model did not surface, fuelling fears that Canon had decided to leave the pro-grade compact user left out in the cold. Each time, Canon answers this with a bigger and better model. Which is why the Canon PowerShot G9 is the best compact camera Canon currently makes. It also makes a very strong case for being the best compact camera anyone currently makes.
That said, it's not that compact. Next to slimline Casios and even the odd Canon Ixus compact, the G9 is big and chunky; chunky enough to need a proper strap at both ends of the camera body instead of a one-sided hand-strap. This is in fact the Canon PowerShot G9's biggest strength, as you have a camera tough enough to resist the sort of shocks normally meted out to heavyweight DSLRs on a body big enough to house proper dials, a viewfinder, a meaty three-inch LCD and a hot-shoe (this allows use of Canon's wireless flash system, too - a worthwhile bonus). Of course, with a wealth of real-world options and controls to hand, the camera can be necessarily complex to control. If you line up the two green 'auto' settings on both dials, the camera becomes a point and shoot, but to really steer the camera in the manner it deserves, you need to plough through the thick manual. Also, with nigh on 240 shots per charge from a healthily-sized lithium-ion battery, the bulk also means good battery life.
With the provision to use flash, RAW, real-world workable Image Stabilisation (IS) and as much creative control as you could think of, no wonder this is the darling of the pro-photographer world - you may be surprised how many big Canon or Nikon wielding photojournalists have one of these babies stashed in a pocket, and how many G9 images end up on the pages of newspapers and magazines.
On paper, the Canon PowerShot G9 is at the top end of compact specifications today. It sports a 12.1 megapixel, 1/1.7” sensor that can be used in RAW shooting mode (as well as JPEG), and includes face detection and optical image stabilisation on a 6x zoom lens (equivalent to a 35-210mm zoom on a 35mm camera). At the 35mm setting, the lens works at f/2.8, (f/4.8 at the tele end), but the lens quickly moves away from f/2.8 as soon as you zoom from 35mm. Arguably a lens with a shorter telephoto and a wider angle would be better, given many 'prosumer' rivals now feature 28mm lenses, but the optical properties of this lens are so damn good, we'll let it pass.
Yes, the lens is not as good as a DSLR lens, which means a small amount of barrelling at the wide end, slightly less pin-cushioning at the tele end and some chromatic aberrations if you enjoy staring at treetops in the corner of your pictures. But, among its peers, this is a clean, crisp, tack-sharp lens. Similarly, the camera's abilities with a range of ISO is not up to the same mark as a DSLR, but it is noise reduced rather than noisy, which puts the Canon PowerShot G9 a head above its compact peers. Which means ISO 80-400 are fine, ISO 800 is so-so and ISO 1,600 is noise-reduced soup.
ISO: 80
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100
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200
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400
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800
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1600
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Things get better when using RAW mode, because you get to define the noise reduction. You still struggle to get a workable image at ISO 800 and beyond, but the images produced at ISO 200 are remarkably good for a compact. One thing when using RAW; Canon's supplied converter will not net you a lower noise result, compared to after-market converters. Running through Lightroom or Photoshop and then through a third party noise reduction system like Noise Ninja helps.
Canon's cameras (both compacts and - to a lesser extent - DSLR) can seem to over-exaggerate reds, but the Canon PowerShot G9 holds back from the brink of oversaturation. That said, the JPEG files seem to like saturated blues, where the RAW files go for the reds. These two colour charts (in all other respects identical, taken at the same time and merely resized in Lightroom), show the differences:
RAW file
In-camera JPEG
These are comparatively trivial limitations though, and the Canon PowerShot G9 is sometimes the victim of its own success. If you compare it with a good 12 megapixel DSLR, it comes up short, but that's like criticising a Mini for not being a Mercedes. The point is, it's good enough to stand scrutiny against the best DSLR. As for the rest of the compact world, it's bettered by none and matched by only a handful. In other words, this is the one pro camera you can afford.
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Megapixels
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12.1
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Screen
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3" LCD (230,000 pixels) + OVF
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Zoom
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6x optical zoom (35-210mm equivalent), 4x digital zoom
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Picture Modes
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Auto, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, Custom user modes (x2), Stitch Assist, Movie mode, 16 scene modes (portrait, landscape, night scene, sports, night snapshot, kids & pets, indoor, foliage, snow, beach, fireworks, aquarium, underwater, ISO3200, colour accent and colour swap)
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Stabilisation
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Yes - lens-based
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Sensitivity
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ISO80-1600
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White balance
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Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent (x2), Flash, Underwater, Custom (x2)
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Storage
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SD
No internal memory
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Battery
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720mAh Lithium Ion pack NB-2 (CIPA rated 240 shots)
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Other / Key features
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RAW facility
Auto ISO shift
Hot shoe for Canon speedlights and wireless flash system
Face Detection
Optional wide angle and teleconverters
Canon and Pict-Bridge direct print
Sound memo recording
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