Canon PowerShot G9 Review

Canon PowerShot G9 Review,
Simon Joinson, October 2007

Review based on a production Canon PowerShot G9, Firmware version 1.00

Until the arrival of the G7 last September the majority of observers had written off Canon's 'prosumer' G range, presuming that the arrival of affordable digital SLRs had effectively killed the market for high-end compacts such as this. Barely a year later the G7 has been replaced by the G9, a relatively minor update that increases the pixel count from 10MP to 12MP and the screen size from 2.5 to 3.0 inches and - more importantly given the outcry caused by its omission from the G7 - the return of raw shooting capabilities. Other minor tweaks include a better grip and the addition of wireless flash capabilities. Everything else; the 6x stabilized zoom, flash hot shoe, classic all-metal design and solid build, expansive feature set and extensive manual control system is carried over from the G7.

The G7 receive very mixed responses upon its arrival last year, though as we noted at the time, much of this was because it suffered in comparison to its predecessors (such as the G6) - the lack of defining features such as raw mode, remote control, info panel and rotating LCD made the G7 feel very much like a glorified A series model rather than the flagship it was obviously intended to be. Although there's still no vari-angle screen Canon has addressed a couple of the main complaints about the G7 (the lack of raw and difficulty of shooting single-handed due to lack of grip), and the price - around $500 - has stayed the same. So is it enough to return the G series to its former glory? Let's find out.

Note that some sections of this review (feature descriptions where nothing has changed) are reproduced from the G7 review.

Headline features

• 12.1 Megapixels (1/1.7” sensor) with RAW mode for maximum image control
• 6x optical zoom lens with optical Image Stabilizer and SR coating
• DIGIC III and iSAPS for lightning fast response, superb image quality and advanced Noise Reduction
• Face Detection AF/AE/FE and Red-Eye Correction in playback
• 3.0” high-resolution, PureColor LCD II with extra wide viewing angle
• ISO 1600 and Auto ISO Shift
• Compact body with dedicated ISO and Multi Control dials
• 25 shooting modes including full manual control and 2 custom settings
• Extra telephoto reach with Digital Tele-Converter and Safety Zoom
• Hot shoe support for Canon Speedlite flashes and optional lens accessories

Powershot G9 vs G7: What's changed?

The G9 is an incremental upgrade in the truest sense; externally the body is almost identical, and there are only three really key changes; the raw mode, the screen and the sensor.

• Higher resolution (12MP vs 10MP)
• Slightly larger sensor (1/1.7 as opposed to 1/1.8 inch)
• Redesigned front grip and rear thumb rest
• Enhanced Face Detection technology
• Red-eye correction in playback
• Auto ISO shift
• Compatibility with ST-E2 wireless flash transmitter
• Marginally better battery life (240 shots vs 220 shots, CIPA standard)
• Two custom White Balance settings (as opposed to one)

PowerShot G9 Key specifications

Street price	• US: $480 • UK: £330
Body Material	Metal/Plastic
Sensor	• 1/1.7" Type CCD • 12.1 million effective pixels
Image sizes	• 4000 x 3000 • 3264 x 2448 • 2592 x 1944 • 1600 x 1200 • 640 x 480 • 4000 x 2248 (16:9)
Movie clips	• 1024 x 768 @ 15fps • 640 x 480 @ 30 / 15fps • 320 x 240 @ 30 / 15fps • 160 x 120 @ 15fps • AVI Motion JPEG with WAVE monaural audio
Lens	• 35-210mm (35mm equiv) • F2.8-4.8 • 6x optical zoom
Focus	• TTL autofocus • AiAF (Face Detection / 9-point) • Single / Continuous AF • Manual focus • Focus lock • 1-point AF (center or flexizone) • 1 cm minimum focus range (macro)
Metering	• Evaluative • Center-weighted average • Spot (Linked to center or selected AF point)
Shutter speed	• 15-1/2000 sec
Aperture	• F2.8-F8.0 (wide) • F4.8-F8.0 (tele)
Shooting mode	• Auto • Program AE • Shutter Priority AE • Aperture Priority AE • Manual • Custom (2 modes) • Stitch Assist • Movie • Special Scene
Sensitivity	• Auto • High ISO Auto • ISO 80 • ISO 100 • ISO 200 • ISO 400 • ISO 800 • ISO 1600
White Balance	• Auto • Daylight • Cloudy • Tungsten • Fluorescent • Fluorescent H • Flash • Underwater • Custom
Image parameters	My Colors (My Colors Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, B&W, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Color)
Continuous	• Normal: approx 2fps • AF: approx 0.8fps
Flash	• Auto, Manual Flash On / Off, Slow Sync, Red-eye reduction • Second curtain sync • Range: 30cm - 4.0m (wide) / 2.5m (tele) • Hot shoe
Storage	• SD / SDHC / MMC card compatible • 32 MB card supplied
Viewfinder	• Real-image zoom • Dioptre correction
LCD monitor	• 2.5-inch P-Si TFT • 207,000 pixels • Adjustable Brightness • 100% coverage
Connectivity	• USB 2.0 High speed • A/V out (NTSC/PAL switchable)
Power	• Rechargeable Li-ion battery NB-2LH/NB-2L • Charger included • Optional AC adapter kit
Other features	• Orientation sensor • DPOF • PictBridge • Index view • Histogram • 4x digital zoom • Sound memo • Direct print (Canon & PictBridge) • 2 and 10 sec self-timer (plus custom) • 25 languages
Optional accessories	• Speedlite 220EX/ 430EX/ 580EX • Tele-converter (2.0x) TC-DC58C • Wide-converter (0.75x) WC-DC58B • Lens adapter/Hood set LA-DC58H • Waterproof Case WP-DC11 • Waterproof Case Weight WW-DC1 • Soft Case DCC-600 • High Power Flash HF-DC1 • AC Adapter Kit ACK-DC20 • Rechargeable Li-ION battery pack NB-2LH • Car Battery Charger CBC-NB2
Weight (no batt)	320 g (11.3 oz)
Dimensions	106.4 x 71.9 x 42.5 mm (4.2 x 2.8 x 1.7 in)

Design

Like the G7 before it, the G9 is an undoubtedly handsome, serious-looking camera with classic 'rangefinder' styling and a build quality that puts most digital SLRs to shame. The external skin of the body is nearly all-metal (only the top plate is plastic) and the attractive matt-black finish exudes quality; and impression that's reinforced by the weight; at around 370g with battery and card the G9 is one of the heaviest compacts on the market and is, for want of a better word, nicely 'dense'.

Although superficially very similar to the G7 there are differences. Most obvious is the larger screen, which now takes up an even larger proportion of the back of the camera and has squashed the optical finder and meant a couple of the buttons (playback and shortcut/direct print) had to move out of the way - and shrunk a little in the process. One small - but welcome - change is a small thumb rest on the top right hand corner of the back plate and a slightly more prominent finger grip on the front of the body. This might not look like much but it improves handling significantly - far more than appearances might suggest. The only other immediately noticeable change is that the cosmetic ring around the base of the lens (which is removed when using the wide or tele converter) is now painted black. I preferred the chrome of the G7, but this is a small detail.

In your hand

The more I used the G7 the more I grew to appreciate how different it is to the vast majority of compacts that have passed through our offices over the last couple of years. It's one of those rare cameras that people can't resist picking up and playing with; it has that satisfying tactile quality and weight that comes with the kind of self-indulgent over-engineering normally reserved for swiss watches. Compared to the G7 - and now the G9 - even most entry level digital SLRs feel like plastic toys, and despite sharing many internal components with much cheaper compact cameras it really does have the air of a serious photographic tool about it.

But of course the classic 'rangefinder' styling and clean lines come at a price - unlike most cameras in this class the G7's lack of anything to really 'get hold of' meant it only really felt safe supported with both hands. The G9 is much better, thanks to the improved grip, but it's still essentially a fairly heavy smooth block - hardly the ideal design for a camera.

Body elements

	The G9 uses an NB-2LH Li-Ion battery that sits under a plastic covering door (the only vaguely flimsy part of the entire camera) on the base. The battery is supplied with an external charger (which takes around 105 mins). Battery life from the 720 mAh pack isn't great, but at around 240 shots (CIPA standard) it is marginally better than the G7 - and the battery type is very common, making inexpensive spares easy to find.
	The SD card slot is located in the same compartment. The G9 is compatible with standard SD cards up to 2GB, and SDHC cards for higher capacities. You can also, if you wish, use MMC / MMCPlus cards. Annoyingly you cannot open the battery door - and therefore cannot change the memory card - when the camera is mounted on a tripod. Grrr.
	The G7's screen was very nice, but the G9's screen is even better; it's bigger (3.0 inch), sharper (up from 207k to 230k pixels) and brighter, and has a very wide viewing angle. Like the G7 the G9's screen has an effective anti-reflective coating, but again it is prone to smearing unless you shoot wearing white gloves. And wearing a balaclava.
	The optical viewfinder is fairly bright but is very small and to be honest - like most such cameras - I found it all but unusable in most circumstances. Obviously with a 6x zoom (and a 210mm long end) there's only so much you can expect from an optical 'tunnel' finder, but we were impressed by how well it deals with parallax and how accurate it is for framing. Note that although it looks smaller than the G7's finder, it is identical.
	The shutter release sits inside a small circular zoom rocker and has a slightly more positive action than the G7 I used (there is less travel, and it's easier to find the 'half press' point). Below the shutter release is the main power button and to the left the main mode dial - complete with two custom modes for saving your own preffered settings.
	The G9's slim built-in flash has a 4.0m (13.1 ft) reach at the short end of the zoom, falling to 2.5m (8.2 ft) at full telephoto. Naturally there's lots of control, from standard flash modes to front/rear curtain slow synch, flash AE-compensation and three-step output control in manual mode (16 steps when using an external flash). We also found the flash worked perfectly in macro mode, down to around 11 inches.
	The G9's lens offers an impressive optically stabilized 35-210mm (equiv) 6x zoom range, biting at the ankles of the 'super zoom' models such as Canon's own S5 IS. What it doesn't have is the ultra wide aperture that was the signature of every G series model before the G7. The F2.8-4.8 range is nothing special, and does mean you have to rely on higher ISO settings than you might like - especially at the long end of the zoom.
	One of the big differences between the G9 and the majority of other compact digicams is the inclusion of a fully dedicated flash hot shoe, compatible with Canon's 220EX, 430EX and 580EX II guns (and several dedicated flashguns from independent suppliers). With Canon's flashguns you'll get most of the features you would using an SLR, including power zooming. To the left is the unique ISO dial, which we like a lot.
	The zoom retracts fully into the body when powered down. At the wide end of the zoom it extends by around 3cm, zooming to the long end adds about another 1cm.
	Canon currently supplies two add-on lenses for the G9; a 2.0x teleconverter (TC-DC58C) and the huge 0.75x wide converter (WC-DC58B), shown here, which takes the wideangle down to around 26mm equiv. The lenses bayonet on and off (after the removal of the cosmetic chrome ring). Note this is a picture of the G7.
	The rear controls. Canon adopted another new control system for the G7 that is carried through to the G9. Around the conventional four-way controller (which is used in record mode purely to change macro, flash, focus and drive modes) is a rotating ring that changes exposure settings and navigates menus. It takes some getting used to (especially if you're used to using a camera with a standard 4-way controller), but is very quick once you do, and it's really grown on me.
	As well as an AE/FE lock button (not shown) the G9 has a customizable shortcut button that can be assigned to control several useful functions including white balance, ND filter and AF lock.
	The USB (2.0 high speed) and AV ports are located under a plastic cover on the side of the camera (viewed from the rear). There is no DC-in port (you can use the G9 mains powered, but this requires the purchase of a separate 'dummy battery' type adaptor.

Operation and controls

It is perhaps inevitable that the G9 takes a little longer to master than your average compact camera; it has a hefty feature set and a is aimed at the kind of user that wants that control at his - or her - fingertips. The slightly bulkier body has allowed Canon to include a large number of buttons without completely filling every square inch of the surface, but it all still feels a little crammed in, and - as mentioned earlier - there's really not a lot of room for your thumb to rest if you're trying to shoot single-handed.

Like the G7 before it the G9 is not a camera everyone will take to immediately - at times it is frustratingly counterintuitive and some aspects of the control system/user interface are surprisingly inconsistent. But after a few day's use it all starts to 'make sense', and you start to appreciate the G9 as a true photographic tool. It's not an easy task to make a camera this small - and with this many features - transparent and intuitive in use, but Canon hasn't done a bad job at all.

In this way the G9 is much more like an SLR; you really do have to learn to use it, and to learn its foibles, before you can really start to take advantage of the large feature set. I started off hating the user interface, but I soon learned to love it.

It's also worth mentioning that the G9 is unusually fairly customizable; as well as the shortcut button (which can be assigned to control any of a number of functions) there are two custom modes that allow you to save your favorite settings.

Rear of camera

The rear of the G9 is fairly well covered with buttons and switches, putting just about every commonly-accessed photographic control at your fingertips; I found no need to enter the menu system at all when out shooting.

Top of camera

	The top plate of the G9 is equally busy; from the left is the ISO dial, flash hot shoe, mode dial, shutter release and zoom control and power switch. From this angle you can clearly see the slab-like minimalist styling and almost total lack of anything to really get hold of (though you can, just, see the slightly enlarged front 'fingertip' grip).

Display and menus

The most basic preview screen showing focus point, AE compensation setting and - as here - the setting being used in aperture priority / shutter priority mode.	As usual you can change the amount of information shown on-screen, and there is a 'grid' option (shown here) for those of us who struggle with straight horizons and - of course - a preview histogram. It can get get a little crowded on-screen with everything showing, but the extra screen real estate means it's marginally better than the G7 in this respect.
Half-press the shutter release and the camera will calculate exposure (AE) and focus (AF) indicating the aperture and shutter speed chosen, along with a camera shake warning if necessary. As with all modern Powershots the ISO in use is indicated - even in AUTO ISO mode.	If you hold down the AE lock button with the shutter half-pressed you get a program shift function with a very pretty display of aperture and shutter speed combinations.
In shutter or aperture priority mode turning the control ring moves up and down the scale with a very pleasing faux-analog display as shown here.	In manual mode the +/- button switches focus between the aperture and shutter speed settings; a nice 'needle' exposure meter also appears on the right of the screen.
As usual the FUNC menu offers a wide range of controls over shooting and image parameters. Like its predecessors the G9 has a 3 stop neutral density filter you can use if you need to cut down on the light.	You get the usual array of 'MyColors' effects and - more usefully - 5 levels of Sharpness, Contrast, Saturation, Red, Green, Blue and Skintone.
Of course the big news is that the G9 now supports RAW capture.	The record menu offers the option to save a Large/Fine JPEG at the same time as a RAW file (you can't save a 'Super Fine' but the visible difference is minimal).
There are three focus modes; 9-point AiAF (where the camera chooses the focus point 'intelligently'), FlexiZone (choose your own focus point from 375 across the screen) and 'face detection' (which does what its name suggests, and works very well).	Manual focus is a simple case of pressing the MF button and turning the control dial to move up and down the scale. You can choose to have the area around the focus point magnified in manual focus mode (not shown).
The scene (SCN) mode adds 13 subject programs covering most of the common shooting situations, plus a (low resolution) ISO 3200 mode and Canon's unusual Color Accent and Color Swap modes.	Record mode menu allows you to customize everything from flash synch to the spot AE point and self-timer delay. It is also here where you'll find the control for image stabilization. A new feature first seen on the S3 IS allows you to customize the on-screen display in record mode (there are two custom settings, activated by repeated presses of the DISP button).
The shortcut button (direct print button in playback mode) can be customized to control one of eight functions (including White Balance, metering mode, IS mode and AF-lock). Bizarrely Canon has removed some of the options (including file size/quality and MyColors options). It's not a big thing, but it's odd to see features being removed...	The G9 has a useful ISO 80-1600 sensitivity range, controlled by the dedicated dial on the top of the camera. As usual if you use either of the Auto ISO settings (standard or HI) the camera doesn't save the ISO used in the file's exif data.

Playback menus

One of the three alternative play mode views includes a histogram display and exposure information.	You can also get this handy focus check display which zooms in on the focus point (the SET button switches from one focus point to the other in AiAF mode). You can also set this as an option for the instant review display in record mode.
Turning the control dial in playback mode allows you to scroll quickly through images (you scroll through full screen images using the left and right keys).	The G9 provides play magnification up to to 10x. You can move around the image using the 4-way controller. Press the zoom controller towards the wide angle to switch to a 3x3 thumbnail index.
The G9 allows you to organize saved shots into 'categories', which you can assign to any image if you're the type who leaves hundreds of pictures on your card and needs to categorize them to make finding them easier.	The beefed up Jump feature has its own menu, allowing you to move from shot to shot based on various criteria.
You can apply 'My Colors' effects to saved images, which is much better than committing to them at the point you take the picture.	The G9 has Canon's fancy new playback options, including slideshow transitions and a useful playback mode orientation sensor.
The play menu offers the usual range of options, including protecting, rotating and deleting images, plus a sound recorder.	The G9 also has Canon's new separate Print menu, which now allows you to select a 'range' of images in addition to the options offered by the G7.
The G9 has a new improved red-eye correction option in playback mode (it uses face detection technology so you don't need to find the eyes yourself).	Finally the two page setup menu, where basic camera settings (and card formatting) are accessed.

Timing & Performance

Overall performance is roughly the same as the G7, which is generally speaking a good thing - in most respects the G7 was a very speedy camera. That said, I'd hoped Canon would use the G9 upgrade as an opportunity to improve on the slightly under-par shutter lag when using the LCD and to speed up the focus (particularly in low light and at the long end of the zoom). Whilst side by side tests showed that the G9 is marginally faster at finding focus it's still far from class-leading.

The focus speed is perfectly acceptable in undemanding shooting conditions, especially given the huge zoom range, but there are faster cameras on the market - even the S5 IS, with twice the zoom range, consistently beats it at the wide end of the zoom. The G9's autofocus is actually quite slow in low light or macro mode. Shutter lag when using the LCD is also a little disappointing (though to be fair I didn't personally notice any problems when out shooting; I don't really 'do' action). This is down to the lag in the live view itself (which is around 0.07 secs) - the time between pressing the shutter and taking the picture is a very short 0.05 seconds (approx) - so if you need to use the G9 on a 'hair trigger' - don't use the LCD screen. Note that the shutter lag with flash (one the G7's problem areas) has been improved - down from 0.5 seconds to around 0.3 seconds.

The larger files created by the 12MP sensor have also impacted on the continuous shooting speed, which now tops out at around 1.5 frames per second (the G7 managed 2.0 fps), though again this will only be of concern if you shoot a lot of 'action' - and there are plenty of cameras out there better suited than this one to that particular type of photography.

On a more positive note the G9 is one of the only compact camera we've ever used that offers a genuinely usable RAW mode; shot to shot times are 3.0 seconds at worst (including focus time) and you can even shoot continuously at around one shot every 1.1 seconds in RAW mode. That's pretty impressive buffering for a non-SLR camera.

Timing Notes

All times calculated as an average of three operations. Unless otherwise stated all timings were made on a 4000 x 3000 Super-Fine JPEG image (approx. 5,300 KB per image). The media used for these tests was a 1.0GB SanDisk Extreme III SD card.

Action	Details	Time, secs
Power: Off to Record		1.2
Power: Off to Play	Image displayed	1.3
Power: Record to Off	Lens retracted and all activity ceased	1.6
Power: Play to Off	When buffer is empty (lens extended)	1.4
Power: Play to Off	When buffer is empty (lens already retracted)	< 0.2
Record Review	Image displayed	0.8
Mode: Record to Play		1.7
Mode: Play to Record		~ 1.3
Play: Magnify	To full magnification (10x)	0.9
Play: Image to Image	Time to display each saved image (fade effect transition)	~ 0.5
Play: Image to Image	Time to display each saved image (no effect) *1	~ 0.3
Play: Thumbnail view	3 x 3 thumbnails	0.5

Action	Details	Time, seconds
Zoom from Wide to Tele	35 to 210 mm (12 x)	1.7
Half-press Lag (0->S1)	Wide angle (AiAF or FlexiZone focus)	~ 0.4 *2
Half-press Lag (0->S1)	Telephoto (AiAF or FlexiZone focus)	~ 0.5 *2
Half to Full-press Lag (S1->S2)	LCD live view	~ 0.12 *3
Half to Full-press Lag (S1->S2)	Optical Viewfinder	~ 0.05
Full-press Lag (0->S2)	LCD live view, wide angle	~ 0.6
Off to Shot Taken	LCD live view	2.7
Shot to Shot	Flash off, JPEG Super Fine	2.3
Shot to Shot	Flash off, RAW + JPEG	3.0
Shot to Shot	Flash on (red-eye reduction off) *4	2.3
Shot to Shot	Flash on (red-eye reduction on) *4	2.7

*1	You can also hold down the left or right buttons and scroll very quickly through images at approx 5 frames per second.
*2	Under ideal conditions. The G9 focus slows down in low light at longer focal lengths and when shooting at or near the closest focus distance.
*3	With the flash on the shutter lag extends to around 0.3 seconds
*4	In this test the subject distance is only 3 feet (0.9 m) - the recycle time will increase at greater subject distances and after a few consecutive shots.

Lag Timing Definitions

Half-press Lag (0->S1) Many digital camera users prime the AF and AE systems on their camera by half-pressing the shutter release. This is the amount of time between a half-press of the shutter release and the camera indicating an auto focus & auto exposure lock on the LCD monitor / viewfinder (ready to shoot).	(Prime AF/AE)
Half to Full-press Lag (S1->S2) The amount of time it takes from a full depression of the shutter release button (assuming you have already primed the camera with a half-press) to the image being taken.	(Take shot, AF/AE primed)
Full-press Lag (0->S2) The amount of time it takes from a full depression of the shutter release button (without performing a half-press of the shutter release beforehand) to the image being taken. This is more representative of the use of the camera in a spur of the moment 'point and shoot' situation.	(Take shot, AF/AE not primed)

Continuous mode

The tables below show the results of our continuous shooting test, indicating the actual frame rate along with maximum number of frames and how long you would have to wait after taking the maximum number of frames before you could take another shot. Media used for these tests was a 1.0GB SanDisk Extreme III SD card. Shutter speed was kept above 1/200 sec during these tests.

Continuous drive mode

The G9 has two continuous shooting modes (standard and AF-continuous), both of which allow you to shoot pretty much indefinitely (we gave up counting after about 70 shots) with a fast card. The Continuous AF mode shows the normal live preview between frames (and attempts to refocus between shots), but the normal Continuous mode only shows a very brief review image after each shot (no live preview), and the focus is fixed after the first shot. It's worth noting that the figures below (and those quoted by Canon) are only for ISO settings of under 400; at higher ISO's the frame rate drops to around half these values.

Image Type	Mode	Avg. frames per sec	Frames in a burst *1	After burst *2
12MP RAW + JPEG *3	Continuous	0.7 fps	No Limit	n/a
12MP RAW + JPEG *3	Continuous AF	0.7 fps*4	No Limit	n/a
12MP/6MP/4MP Super-Fine	Continuous	1.5 fps	No limit	n/a
10MP/6MP/4MP Super-Fine	Continuous AF	0.8 fps *4	No limit	n/a
10MP/6MP/4MP Super-Fine	Continuous mode (flash on)	1.1 fps	No limit	n/a

*1	In a single "burst" (finger held down on shutter release).
*2	With the shutter release held down. With a fast card it is impossible to fill the buffer
*3	Average speed - it will slow down if the camera has trouble focusing

Although the performance is a step down from the G7 it's not a bad showing at all, and the fact you can shoot at a reasonable rate in RAW mode is very impressive - as is the ability to shoot almost indefinitely at 1.1fps with the flash turned on (though this only works at short distances and in fairly good light).

File Write / Display and Sizes

Timings shown below are the time taken for the camera to process and "flush" the image out to the storage card, the timer was started as soon as the shutter release was pressed and stopped when activity indicator went out. This means the timings also include the camera's processing time and as such are more representative of the actual time to "complete the task". The media used for these tests was a 1.0GB SanDisk Extreme III SD card.

Image Type	Time to store (secs)	Time to display (secs) *3	File size *1 (approx.)	Images on a *2 1.0GB Card
12MP RAW	2.5	~0.3	12,500 KB	57
12MP RAW + JPEG	2.5	~0.3	15,500 KB *4	47
12MP JPEG Super-Fine	~1.2	~0.4	5,300 KB	189
12MP JPEG Fine	~1.1	~0.4	3,000 KB	318
12MP JPEG Normal	~1.1	~0.2	1,500 KB	658
8MP JPEG Super-Fine	~1.3	~0.3	3,200 KB	286
5MP JPEG Super-Fine	~1.2	~0.3	2,300 KB	391

*1	All file sizes are an average of three files. As is the case with JPEG it's difficult to predict the size of an image because it will vary a fair amount depending on the content of the image (detail and noise).
*2	Camera estimation.
*3	With transition effects turned off
*4	Combined size of RAW and JPEG files

The G9 can process and save a 5MB plus JPEG in around 1.2 seconds, and more impressively a 12.5MB RAW file in under 3.0 seconds, leaving us in no doubt that Canon has not only increased the buffer size, but has beefed up the entire image pipeline, producing performance that, with a fast card, is excellent.

White Balance

The G9 features a grand total of eight white balance settings including the default automatic mode. There's also two manual (custom) white balance options, which are created by aiming the camera at a white (or gray) subject and pressing the SET button. Automatic white balance appeared to work well outdoors and not terribly in mixed lighting, but as per previous Canon digital cameras less well in artificial fluorescent or incandescent light, where it produced a pronounced color cast. It is advisable to switch to the tungsten preset (or set a custom WB) when shooting indoors if you don't like a warm cast to your indoor shots.

Incandescent - Auto WB Red 11.6%, Blue -17.0% Poor	Incandescent - Incandescent preset WB Red -1.7%, Blue -1.9% Good
Fluorescent - Auto WB Red 3.8%, Blue -17.9% Poor	Fluorescent - Fluorescent preset WB Red 1.4%, Blue -5.1% Average

Flash Performance

The built-in flash unit has a specified range of 4.0 m at wide angle and 2.5 m at telephoto (when the ISO is set to auto) - which is fine for social snaps and the occasional bit of fill-in, but is hampered by the relatively small maximum aperture as you move up the zoom range. In use we found the flash to work very well indeed, with most indoor flash shots perfectly exposed. The FUNC menu offers a Flash Exposure Compensation setting (-2.0 to +2.0), and the AF illuminator helps focus in low light. We found the red-eye reduction to work well at shorter distances but to be less effective if you move further away and zoom in. One thing worth noting is that the shutter lag when using flash (because of the pre-flash metering) increases to around 0.3 seconds (though this is an improvement over the G7). On a more positive note you can use the flash in continuous (burst) mode.

Of course the inclusion of a dedicated hot shoe means you can expand the G7's flash capabilities as and when you need to.

Skin tone - Slight warm tone.	Color chart -Slight warm tone, excellent exposure

Macro Focus

Macro performance is, unsurprisingly, identical to the G7, with the minimum focus distance at the wide (35mm equiv.) end of the zoom a very impressive 1cm, allowing you to capture an area around an inch across. Of course it's not always practical or desirable to get that close, which is why macro performance at the long end of the zoom is also important. At the 210mm equiv. end of the zoom the G9 can focus down to 50cm, capturing an area just over 10cm across. There is some corner softness at the long end, but distortion is very low.

Wide macro - 26 x 19 mm coverage 153 px/mm (3886 px/in) Distortion: Average Corner softness: Average Equiv. focal length: 35 mm	Telephoto macro - 104 x 78 mm coverage 38 px/mm (972 px/in) Distortion: Low Corner softness: Above average Equiv. focal length: 210 mm

Barrel and Pincushion Distortion

The G9 exhibits pretty low distortion given the large focal length range - 1.3% barrel distortion at the wide end, and only the barest measurable distortion (0.3%) at the full 210mm telephoto end. There is also virtually no vignetting at either end of the zoom. There is a hint of corner softness and chromatic aberration when shooting at either end of the zoom with the aperture wide open.

Barrel distortion - 1.3% at Wide angle Equiv. focal length: 35 mm	Pincushion distortion - 0.2% at Telephoto Equiv. focal length: 210 mm

Specific image quality issues

Perhaps unsurprisingly the G9's JPEG output isn't significantly different to the G7; the extra two million pixels make little if any difference in 'real world' photography, the color, tonality and contrast are almost identical, and the limitations of such small sensors still painfully obvious if you look too closely. At ISO 80 the output, especially outdoors in good conditions is simply superb (if a little 'over the top' color and sharpening-wise), and aside from the usual dynamic range issues there really isn't much to complain about.

At anything over ISO 100 the effects of noise reduction can be seen on low contrast detail (such as distant foliage or very fine texture), but it's important to note that you'll only see this at 100% on-screen, and at more reasonable enlargement sizes the output is perfectly usable at up to ISO 400.

The ability to bypass the G9's noise reduction (using ACR to process RAW files) means that more experienced users are now free to eke the maximum detail out of the lens/sensor, an important development and one that puts the G9 head and shoulders above its predecessor. The difference in the amount of detail you can get at, say, ISO 160 when shooting raw as opposed to JPEG is remarkable, and you'll only really realize the G9's potential if you shoot raw and expose carefully.

Purple fringing & Chromatic Aberrations

Although nowhere near as bad as we've seen on some Canon compacts (and actually seems better than the G7), the G9 does suffer from occasional mild purple fringing, particularly at the wide end of the zoom and in contre-jour situations such as this. We also saw some red fringing around a couple of blown highlights in over-exposed shots, but this was rare. In some of our test charts you can see fairly obvious chromatic aberration, but it's not something we detected in 'real world' shots.

100% crop	35mm equiv., F2.8

Exposure / Dynamic range / clipping

As we saw with the G7 (and virtually every high resolution compact we test) the G9 suffers from highlight clipping in bright contrasty conditions, a result of the limited dynamic range of sensors with such small pixels. As we see so often things aren't helped by a tendency to over exposure when faced with such scenes, meaning you need to watch the histogram and manually intervene if you want any chance of rescuing highlight detail. Shooting raw helps (there's a little headroom, but not a lot), but the key thing is to watch your exposures when shooting in very contrasty situations (low, bright winter sunlight, for example).

100% crop	35mm equiv., F4.0

ISO Sensitivity / Noise levels

ISO equivalence on a digital camera is the ability to increase the sensitivity of the sensor. This works by turning up the "volume" (gain) on the sensor's signal amplifiers (remember the sensor is an analogue device). By amplifying the signal you also amplify the noise which becomes more visible at higher ISO's. Many modern cameras also employ noise reduction and / or sharpness reduction at higher sensitivities.

To measure noise levels we take a sequence of images of a GretagMacBeth ColorChecker chart (controlled artificial daylight lighting). The exposure is matched to the ISO (ie. ISO 200, 1/200 sec for consistency of exposure between cameras). The image sequence is run through our own proprietary noise measurement tool (version 1.4 in this review). Click here for more information. (Note that noise values indicated on the graphs here can not be compared to those in other reviews.)

Canon PowerShot G9 vs Nikon COOLPIX P5100 vs Canon PowerShot G7

	Canon PowerShot G9 ISO 80	Nikon Coolpix P5100 ISO 64	Canon PowerShot G7 ISO 80
Crops
	Canon PowerShot G9 ISO 100	Nikon Coolpix P5100 ISO 64	Canon PowerShot G7 ISO 100
Crops
	Canon PowerShot G7 ISO 200	Nikon Coolpix P5100 ISO 200	Canon PowerShot G7 ISO 200
Crops
	Canon PowerShot G9 ISO 400	Nikon Coolpix P5100 ISO 400	Canon PowerShot G7 ISO 400
Crops
	Canon PowerShot G9 ISO 800	Nikon Coolpix P5100 ISO 800	Canon PowerShot G7 ISO 800
Crops
	Canon PowerShot G9 ISO 1600	Nikon Coolpix P5100 ISO 1600	Canon PowerShot G7 ISO 1600
Crops

With tiny, high pixel count chips noise is always going to be an issue, and to a large degree this is more a test of the effectiveness (both measurable and visible) of a camera's noise reduction system. Designers have to balance the desire to produce smooth, clean results with the need to retain as much detail as possible (if you blur away the noise, you blur away image detail too).

When we reviewed the G7 I commented on how much better it would have been had Canon used a lower resolution sensor with larger pixels, but I guess it was kind of inevitable that the G9 would have even more pixels (though to be fair the sensor is also a little larger). At lower ISO settings the difference in the end result (noise-wise) is negligible (the amount of noise and the detail loss through noise reduction are very, very similar). At ISO 800 the G9 looks like it's applying slightly higher noise reduction than its predecessor (presumably because the sensor is producing more noise), and at ISO 1600 the appearance is very different - there's little if any difference in the amount of detail lost, but the G9 result looks softer (and the G7 looks noisier). If anything the G7 actually produces better results at ISO 800 and above, though we're splitting hairs, and you always have the option with the G9 to shoot raw.

Unsurprisingly, given that they almost certainly share the same sensor, the G9 and Nikon P5100 results are very similar (from a noise point of view), with both pretty useless at anything over ISO 400 for serious work. We found that the G9 produced very noisy images at ISO 800 in low light - noisier than these crops might suggest.

Low contrast detail

What the crops and graph don't show is the effect of noise reduction on low contrast fine detail such as hair, fur or foliage. An inevitable side effect of noise removal is that this kind of detail is also blurred or smeared, resulting in a loss of 'texture'. In a new test the crops below show the effect of the noise reduction on such texture (fur) as you move up the ISO range.

100% Crops
ISO 80	ISO 100	ISO 200
ISO 400	ISO 800	ISO 1600

We were actually pretty impressed with the G7's performance in the low contrast smearing test, and the G9 is roughly the same at lower ISO settings. Sure there's some loss of detail at anything over ISO 100, but it's less destructive than we've seen with some other high resolution/small sensor compacts recently (don't forget we're looking at 100% crops from a 12MP file here - you'd need to be producing very large prints to be looking this close in the real world). ISO 800 and ISO 1600 are strictly in the 'emergency use only' file (and ISO 400 isn't for anything too detailed), but Canon has to be given credit for retaining a good balance of noise reduction and detail in the ISO 80-200 range.

Real world example

Although most photographers shooting outdoors are going to be looking to avoid using anything but ISO 80 when photographing detailed landscapes, there are always going to be times - in poor light, at the long end of the zoom and so on - when the ability to turn up the ISO in such situations can be very useful. The G9's noise reduction has visible effect at anything over base ISO, but you need to look very closely to see serious blurring of distant foliage at ISO 200, and even at ISO 400 the results are far from unusable. As always you're going to get the best results at ISO 80, but I'd feel perfectly happy going up to ISO 200 for a shot like this if I had to, something you can't say about a lot of today's compact cameras. Note that you can remove the noise reduction totally if you shoot raw and process using Adobe ACR.

100% Crops
ISO 80	ISO 100
ISO 200	ISO 400

Luminance noise graph

Cameras compared:
Canon PowerShot G9, Canon PowerShot G7, Nikon COOLPIX P5100

Indicated ISO sensitivity is on the horizontal axis of this graph, standard deviation of luminosity is on the vertical axis.

Noise is low up to ISO 400 (thanks to an effective NR system). As you move up the range the G9's stronger noise reduction really kicks in, and at the highest settings measurable (and visible) noise is actually lower than the G7.

RGB noise graph

Indicated ISO sensitivity is on the horizontal axis of this graph, standard deviation of each of the red, green and blue channels is on the vertical axis.

Image stabilization

The optical image stabilization system used on the G9 works pretty well for most everyday photography - though don't expect miracles. There are three modes: Continuous (IS on all the time), 'Shoot only' (IS is activated at the moment the exposure is made) and Panning (for horizontally panned shots).

The first option makes framing easier - the IS system steadies the preview image, and we found it more consistently effective at extremes (where the shutter speed is more than 3 stops slower than would normally be used for the focal length you're shooting at) than the shoot only mode.

Shoot only - which doesn't steady the preview image, but is theoretically more efficient because it minimizes the amount of corrective movement required by waiting until the instant the picture is taken - is perfectly effective when you're nearer to the correct shutter speed (and once you're within 1 or 2 stops it is actually more reliable). You may find you get different results than me; we have no quantitative tests for stabilization, and every person's 'shake' is different; users often disagree on which mode works best, so you just have to find which best suits your style of shooting.

Overall I was very impressed with the G9's system, though the design of the G7 means it is more prone to camera shake than some of its larger 'SLR-like' competitors, such as the Panasonic FZ50.

These tests are rather extreme - up to four stops slower than you could safely use without IS - and in 'real life' shots - where you are maybe using a shutter speed two stops slower than normal - the system is remarkably effective- as long as you support the camera carefully with two hands and don't try to 'grab' shots too quickly.

The stabilization test

In this simplified version of our SLR IS test, ten hand-held shots were taken of a static scene with the stabilization off and on. The shutter speed was decreased and repeated (from 1/200 sec to 1/13 sec). The zoom was set to its maximum position (210mm equiv.), the test target was 3 m away from the camera. The test was repeated three times and an average taken.

The resulting images were then inspected and given a blur score - 'Sharp' (no visible blurring at 100%), 'Mild Blur' (the kind of camera shake that is tolerable at small print sizes) and 'Heavy Blur' (virtually unusable due to camera shake) and 'Very Heavy Blur' (little discernible detail).

As the charts below show the IS system does give you about a three stop advantage over shooting without IS, and even dropping down to four stops below the recommended minimum for a 210mm lens I was getting usable shots half the time, with one in four perfectly sharp. Impressive stuff.

Hand-held, no stabilization (210mm equiv.)

As you can see from the chart below even at 1/200th second I was unable to get more than half the shots I took at 1/200 second completely sharp (this is probably due to the design of the G9, which is built for style over comfort). By the time you get to 1/50th sec (2 stops down from the recommended minimum) it's almost impossible to get a sharp - or even usable - result.

Hand-held, stabilization on (210mm equiv.)

With stabilization on the results are much better - we got no blurred shots at all above 1/200th sec, and the majority of shots down to 1/25 sec have little or no blur. Even down to 1/13 sec - a good four stops below the recommended minimum - you've still got a 50:50 chance of getting something usable, and if you take a few 'safety shots' you'll get at least one completely sharp.

Software and RAW conversion

RAW mode

By far the most common complaint about the G7 was the loss of the raw shooting mode that had been a feature of every previous G model, and it came as no surprise when Canon finally relented and added it back in to the the G9 (it's been a couple of years since we saw a Raw shooting mode on any Canon compact). As well as allowing photographers maximum control over parameters such as white balance (and to a degree, exposure) after the shot has been taken, it also allows them to overcome some of the issues we see with all small sensor compacts (over enthusiastic noise reduction, tone curve and dynamic range issues). We were also very pleased to see that Canon has managed to produce a raw mode on a compact that is actually usable - the shot-to-shot time is surprisingly short (it's not unheard of for compact cameras to make you wait 10 seconds or more between shots in raw mode).

Supplied software

As usual Canon supplies a comprehensive suite of applications with the G9, including an updated version of its ZoomBrowser for Windows and Image Browser for Mac (now a universal binary), which hits version 6.0 and, unusually for a compact camera these days, a remote capture utility for controlling the camera over a USB connection. The Raw Image Task utility has also been upgraded and now offers a sort of 'baby version' of the DPP software supplied with EOS cameras.

The Raw conversion software offers a fairly comprehensive set of controls (including a new Adaptive Noise Reduction filter and a full set of 'MyColors' presets) with a friendly face, but lacks the level of sophistication of more 'manual' utilities such as Adobe's Camera Raw converter. By default the supplied software produces output that is basically identical to camera JPEGs - it is effectively a software emulation of the camera's internal processor.

JPEG & RAW Resolution compared

Although the G9's JPEG resolution is very good there is a slight advantage to shooting raw (though you'll only see it if you use a third party raw converter such as ACR).

As the crops below show the camera is by default applying quite a lot of sharpening during JPEG processing and when processing raw files using the supplied software. The raw files processed using ACR (using the default settings) look very soft by comparison - perfect for post-processing - and have a little more usable resolution. Note here we're using a Beta build of ACR 4.3.

Canon Raw Image Task RAW -> TIFF Default settings	JPEG from camera	Adobe Camera Raw (4.3 beta) RAW -> TIFF (Auto)

ISO 80 Studio shot comparison (JPEG vs RAW)

As mentioned above, Canon's Raw Image Task processor produces results that are - from a detail and noise point of view - identical to the out of camera JPEGs. Color is also identical (though obviously you have a lot of control over this in the raw software, so this is just the 'starting point'). The ACR result shows how much sharpening is being done by Canon (the default setting in ACR uses relatively low sharpening, though you can of course turn this up to match Canon's 'look').

Out of camera JPEG, Super Fine, default settings
Canon Raw Image Task , RAW-TIFF, default settings
Adobe Camera Raw , RAW-TIFF, default (auto) settings

ISO 400 Studio shot comparison

At ISO 400 shooting raw starts to give you more options on how you deal with the noise issues that are an inevitable result of squeezing 12 million pixels onto such a small sensor. Again the Canon convert or produces results that are indistinguishable from the camera JPEG,. but ACR allows you to experiment with the amount of noise reduction used (or to apply none at all if you prefer a dedicated NR application such as Noise Ninja). Note that the Adaptive Noise Reduction filter in the raw converter makes very little difference at all (see next page for more details). As mentioned earlier in the review the G9's ISO 400 JPEGs are actually pretty good, but the noise reduction does remove detail, and you can get some of this back by using ACR.

Out of camera JPEG, Super Fine, default settings
Canon Raw Image Task , RAW-TIFF, default settings
Adobe Camera Raw , RAW-TIFF, default (auto) settings

Software and RAW conversion contd...

ISO 800 Studio shot comparison

Once again you can pull a little more detail out of the scene if you shoot high ISO in raw mode and convert using ACR, though be prepared for quite a lot of work as you attempt to balance the noise reduction and detail/sharpness.

Out of camera JPEG, Super Fine, default settings
Canon Raw Image Task , RAW-TIFF, default settings
Adobe Camera Raw , RAW-TIFF, default (auto) settings

ISO 1600 Studio shot comparison

ACR reveals just how noisy ISO 1600 is, and just how heavy Canon's noise reduction is. You'll preserve a little more detail by converting from raw using ACR, but you'll also have a huge amount of noise to deal with.

Out of camera JPEG, Super Fine, default settings
Canon Raw Image Task , RAW-TIFF, default settings
Adobe Camera Raw , RAW-TIFF, default (auto) settings

Noise reduction options (ISO 1600)

Both ACR and Canon's Raw Image Task offer a level of control over noise reduction, though in the case of the latter it doesn't seem to make a huge amount of difference even at ISO 1600, with a huge amount of detail lost whichever end of the scale you set the slider. ACR's noise reduction routines - if turned up to the max - are no better, producing a slightly sharper result, but one that has a distinctly 'watercolor' appearance. If you seriously want to play with noise reduction on a camera that produces results this noisy at high ISO you are going to have to invest in some dedicated software - and don't expect miracles.

Canon Raw Image Task Adaptive Noise Reduction = 0	Canon Raw Image Task Adaptive Noise Reduction = 10
Adobe Camera Raw All noise reduction set to 0	Adobe Camera Raw All noise reduction set to maximum

Low contrast detail recovery

Dropping to a more reasonable ISO setting (ISO 400) it's possible to recover a lot of the very finest low contrast detail lost in the in-camera noise reduction process, though you'll obviously have a more 'grainy' image as a result.

Out of camera JPEG, ISO 400 Fine, default settings	Adobe Camera Raw, ISO 400 ACR 4.3 beta, luminance noise reduction zero, chroma noise reduction maximum

Dynamic Range: RAW vs JPEG

The G9, like all small sensor cameras we test these days suffers from dynamic range issues, most specifically the rather harsh clipping of highlights in high contrast scenes. With most compacts we can only guess at what part the tone curve applied in camera (as opposed to the inherent lack of dynamic range of the sensor itself) has to play, but the raw data tells us a lot more.

After spending several hours with the G9's raw files I can report that they give you a little, but not a lot of headroom in the highlights. Using ACR's 'Recovery' or Highlight/Shadow tools it's possible to pull back a little of the highlight detail that's lost in the in-camera JPEG processing, and more importantly to apply custom tone curves to your own taste (or more suited to the subject matter). But don't expect miracles; pulling down the highlights can easily introduce color casts to highlights (the G9's built-in tone curve seems designed to just hit the spot where the green channel starts to clip), and if it looks completely white in the JPEG the chances are there's no more information in the raw file.

That said as the examples below show even a little headroom is better than none, and if you're prepared to put a little work into the processing, even with seemingly irredeemable files the return is often worth the effort.

Out of camera JPEG default settings	RAW+ACR 'Recovery' set to maximum
Out of camera JPEG default settings	RAW+ACR Custom tone curve
Out of camera JPEG default settings	RAW+ACR 'Recovery' set to maximum

Movie mode

The only major difference between the G9's movie mode and that of its predecessor is the inclusion of an extra 'interval timer' mode, which takes a frame every one or every two seconds and saves them into a single movie file, which is a fun (if a little esoteric) option.

Standard movie options include three sizes (High Resolution, VGA and Compact -160x120) and two frame rates, 15 and 30 fps (you cannot choose 30fps in High Resolution or Compact modes). You can also use many of the parameters available in stills mode, including (if you really want to), the 'special effects' in the MyColors menu.

The movie quality is excellent (the AVI files are large; about 1.7MB/s for VGA/30fps) with no really obvious artefacts and good exposure, though they can get a little noisy in low light. The large 1024x768 movies look very jerky compared to the 30fps VGA clips, and the digital zoom (you can't use the optical zoom) produces very 'blocky' looking results, but as stills cameras go, the G9 is a pretty good movie camera.

	There is a dedicated movie mode on the main mode dial too, which is where the screen captures here were taken. The main difference is that you can preset a couple of options. As with stills recording you can choose the amount of information overlaid on the live preview image.
	You can, if you so desire, shoot your movies using the Color Accent and Color Swap effects. There is also a new 'Interval Timer' option for producing time lapse movies.
	There is a simple brightness control which can be used during the recording of a clip (the zoom can also be used). In movie mode (as opposed to just pressing the movie button) you can preset the brightness level.
	In movie mode the FUNC menu offers quick access to white balance, My Colors effects and movie size / frame rate. There is a also a cut down record menu in Movie mode.
	Whilst recording you get a basic screen showing elapsed time (you can optionally turn on the grid too).
	In playback mode you get some basic controls for playing movies, slow motion, fast forward and rewind and edit.
	Choose edit and you can trim the start and end of the movie clip, and save the result as a new file or overwrite the existing clip.

Sample movie

	640 x 480 pixels @ 30 fps File size: 11.42 MB 6.16 seconds Click on the thumbnail to view the movie (caution: large file!)