Canon Powershot G11 Digital Camera Review

Review by Matt Grayson
Building on the high brow G series, Canon have replaced the über popular Canon Powershot G10 with the reworked G11.

Coming in at £499, the Canon Powershot G11 offers a 5x optical zoom, 10Mp resolution, RAW recording and ISO sensitivity from ISO80-3200. For the same price, the Leica D-Lux 4 offers half the zoom at 2.5x, a similar 10Mp resolution and ISO range and RAW recording. At nearly £200 less, the older Nikon Coolpix P6000 offers a slightly smaller 4x optical zoom, 13.5Mp resolution, wider ISO range from ISO50-6400 and RAW recording.

The rear of the camera has everything that a DSLR has. Note the swivel screen.

Canon Powershot G11: Features
With every camera maker fixated by pixel count, the most interesting thing about the G11 is that the resolution is a mere 10Mp when the predecessor was 14Mp. It seems that the Japanese company have decided to buck the trend, but with rivals offering more resolution for similar money, is the G11 at £499 overpriced?

With dimensions only a few millimetres difference from the G10, the G11 looks practically the same although some basic cosmetic areas have been reworked such as the relocation of badging and round power button over the rectangular version previously.

Canon Powershot G11: Specification

Zoom: 5x optical Resolution: 10Mp Sensor size: 1/1.7in Sensor type: CCD Max. image size: 3648x2736 File type: JPEG, RAW Sensitivity: ISO80 - 3200 Media type: Internal, SD, SDHC Focus types: Single, continuous, servo AF/AE Normal focusing: 50cm - infinity Close focusing: 1cm - 50cm Metering types: Multi, centre-weighted, spot Exposure compensation: +/- 2EV in 1/3 step increments Shutter speed: 15sec - 1/4000sec Flash: Built-in, hotshoe Monitor: 2.8in articulating TFT LCD screen Interface: USB 2.0 Power: Li-Ion battery Size: 112.1x76.2x48.3mm Weight: 355g

A mild reworking of the command dial has also taken place and it now has additional low light and quick shot modes added to it with bracketing being taken away. On the ISO dial which still sits below the command dial, high ISO has been removed, more than likely to make you use the low light or quick shot functions, while the sensitivity has been expanded by one stop. The reasoning behind the dial on top of dial method is to get a dedicated exposure compensation dial on the left shoulder and I think this is a really nice touch. Usually relegated to the navigation pad, I use the feature a lot so it's a welcome addition from my point of view.

An articulating screen has been added to the G11 which does mean a drop in size, but Canon have played it well by only dropping it down slightly to 2.8in. It also means that the camera has more depth and it's not the most comfortable camera to carry around in your hand. Still, that's not what it's for – this is a camera that will be in a protected pouch at the very least.

Canon have messed around with the menu systems and I can't decide whether I like them or not. Pressing the menu button in a standard mode, such as program, brings up a three tab menu laid out in the newer Canon menu design we saw introduced on the Canon EOS 50D. From here you can make changes such as changing the AF frame type between FlexiZone and Face AiAF or toggling continuous AF. One thing to be aware of on the G series, particularly the G10 and G11 are the sub menus. Not that they're dangerous or anything, but the menu looks relatively simple on the surface and that's because there are sub menus that hold even more information such as flash control, custom display and sound options. These are denoted by a blank area to the right of them. Options that can be changed in the first screen will have something next to them.

The left of the top plate has the exposure compensation dial.

Ports are located on the side for USB, HDMI and a 3.5mm jack for remote switch.

The unique command dial arrangement first seen on the G10 houses the ISO settings below the standard dial.

Canon were paying attention to our comments in previous reviews and have done away with the themes menu, opting for a much more useful common functions menu. In here, you can add five of your most frequently used options and they'll be available in the common functions menu straight away until you decide to change them. Personally, I'd like to see more than five available options. I can see the reasoning at capping it but not why only five.

Once the main menu has been mastered, all you have to do is get to grips with the function menu which is the quick access menu that comes up on screen when the function button is pressed. What features are made available are dependant on the mode you're in.

Programmable modes such as program, aperture-priority, shutter-priority and manual will give you the most freedom and areas such as the built-in ND filter and bracketing won't be available in auto or any of the scene modes. Notably, the image quality option has been removed and if you want to shoot both RAW and JPEG, you have to set it up in the main menu.

Earlier, we briefly covered the quick shot mode and this has its own menu system which is laid out in a way that I think is easier to understand. It's designed in the same way as the Olympus DSLRs which I'm a big fan of for their easy operability.

At first glance, it appears that the whole of the screen can be used for making adjustments here and there, but pressing the set button to access it only allows access to the two middle lines. This means that you can only change around eight options, the rest of the screen is simply information. Interestingly, the previously elusive image quality setting makes an appearance here until RAW is selected.


Canon Powershot G11: Build and handling
As with all the G series cameras, the G11 is built to a very high standard. It's solid with firm, responsive buttons and my only complaint is the screen is too springy, it can only be straight out at 90° angles. It's a nice screen though, with a bright, easy to use interface and I think newcomers to the G11 will welcome the clipped menu.

Even the battery door is well made and snaps open like a card door on a DSLR. In fact, it's because the camera is so similar to a DSLR, Canon have ensured you feel like you're using one.

The main problem I had with the camera was with playback to shooting. When I took a picture, the camera would show me the image which is ok, but I'm an impatient person and like to press the shutter button to return the camera to shooting mode. The Canon gets a little confused at this point and I had it freeze on me as well as bringing the lens in and out.

I also noticed that when I was flicking through the scene modes, the camera had to stop on each scene until the description of the scene has come up on screen. It would then carry on to the next mode. I found that disabling the descriptions in the main menu solved this problem, but it really shouldn't be one in the first place.

Canon Powershot G11: Performance
Nestled in the function menu above the resolution is the continuous shooting menu and there are two modes to choose from. In standard continuous, it's quite a promising result for a compact camera spewing out 11 photographs in ten seconds giving a result of 1.1fps. Continuous shooting AF is slightly slower than the standard mode but has the addition of an AF tracking system for moving subjects.

Looking at the colour test chart shows an abundance of colour from all the tiles although I'd prefer to see more coming from the pastel tiles. However, most compacts tend to stay away from the warmer colours and boost the cooler tones such as blue and green, which also aids with landscapes, so it's good to see them all getting a look in.

I love the richness of the earthier tones although I think the skin tone tile is a bit too pink for portraits and they could suffer as a result.

With yellow accented, the rest of the image pales.

Colour seems to be the big thing with the G11 as there are a number of different features that allow you to adjust colour in one way or another. A number were seen on other cameras such as the colour picker and colour swap. The colour picker mode allows you to sample a colour that you can see in the frame, then any colour that has the shade or tone you've selected will be highlighted while the rest of the image will be in black and white.

In contrast, colour swapper allows you to select two colours and the camera will then swap them around. It's name suggests that it works by displaying the two selected colours in reverse but it's not like that. In fact,  chose a red and blue panel on the side of a building and it didn't do what I expected. Where it worked was when only one of the colours was present in the image, similar to what is seen in the sample image. The banner is yellow, but I swapped yellow for a green so the banner showed green. If I'd photographed the area where I sampled the green, it would show yellow but if they were side by side it wouldn't work.

Accenting red gives more of an indication. The rest of the image goes to black and white, though it's not perfect.

As well as these fun colour modes, there's also the MyColour options which are located in the function menu. They will boost or retract colour, set it to black & white, sepia or positive film. It also has provision for light or dark skin tones, boosting red or green as well as a custom option of you prefer something else.

Landscape mode shows good detail in the grass and good metering in a tricky situation.

A sudden burst of sunshine broke through the clouds, proving that when the bad weather comes, the sun isn't hibernating. In fact, it fought long and hard before it was finally defeated by the rolling greyness. It meant I managed to get some strong contrast to see if there was any chromatic aberration present on the image.

I used the white bars leading into the lock as they were bathed in harsh light. There's a little CA visible on the edges of the bars, but it's only noticeable at 100% magnification.

I'm also impressed at the level of detail in the shot, for example the grassy area in the bottom right of the frame looks great. Metering has coped pretty well considering the harsh lighting it had to deal with.

I love the amount of detail in the portrait shot but it's just too warm making Nikita look a bit flushed. Adding fill-flash has cured the problem, filling in the shadowy area, adding catchlights and highlighting more detail in the hair.

Portrait is a bit too warm for my tastes.

Adding flash soon sorts that out.

Canon Powershot G11: Focus and metering
An impressive focusing system has been fitted to the Canon Powershot G11 and there are plenty of choices to make ensuring that you have a way to keep things sharp in most situations. In the main menu, the first option is to select the type of focus frame you'd like to use between face detection or the Flexizone system, a focus box that you can manipulate around the screen for the camera to focus on wherever it lands. Focusing has a tendency to hunt, the same as any compact but doesn't take too long and has a pretty powerful AF assist light.

After the digital zoom option in the menu, you can then choose to toggle between AF-point zoom, Servo AF, Continuous AF and the AF-assisst beam and whether you'd like them on or off. An AF frame button above the navigation pad allows you to either adjust the size of the AF frame by pressing the display button or snapping to a face in the frame by pressing the menu button.

Metering is adjusted by pressing the appropriate button on the back of the camera next to the AF point selection button above the navigation wheel. A small icon showing the three metering options will flag onto the screen and you can scroll through these using the wheel. It won't allow use of the navigation pad, which is a little frustrating, and pressing the set button to confirm the metering only opens up the function menu. Instead the metering button has to be pressed when your desired metering option is highlighted and then it's set.

I think the metering coped quite well in my tests taken in varying conditions such as tunnels and backlit subjects although the latter suffered a little from time to time.

Canon Powershot G11: Noise test
Sensitivity ranges from ISO80-3200 on the Powershot G11 and I'm happy to say that it's acceptable in terms of not seeing it at anything other than full magnification, until the ISO800 setting. From ISO1600, the image is too distorted to get away with as noise invades the low key areas and coloured blotches appaer on the grey card. Detail is also starting to dissipate on the flowers from ISO800 but it's still acceptable at that stage.

ISO3200 isn't very nice at all, but credit where credit's due, the camera has coped really well in the face of adversity and given some pretty stirling results.

Because the camera has RAW recording, we can see how the it performs at low and high ISO. You can download the RAW files from our download area by clicking the links below:

Canon Powershot G11 ISO80 RAW file
Canon Powershot G11 ISO3200 RAW file

The ISO80 test.	The ISO100 test.
The ISO200 test.	The ISO400 test.
The ISO800 test.	The ISO1600 test.

The ISO3200 test.

DxOMark provides objective, independent, RAW-based image quality performance data for lenses and digital cameras to help you select the best equipment to meet your photographic needs. Visit the DxOMark website for tests performed on the Canon Powershot G11.

Canon Powershot G11: Verdict
It's certainly a camera packed with features and that's something I've always liked about the Canon G series. For the photographer who wants to go out and get quality results without the need for a full DSLR system, the G11 is perfect and I think the drop in resolution was the right way to go judging by the performance and noise tests. Images are sharp and nicely exposed and I like the fun aspect of the camera as well as the serious attributes it can bring to photography.

Is it worth £499? The same price can get you the Leica D-Lux 4 which is older but has a higher prestige to it. It's also the same price as some DSLRs and that's the unfortunate point; it's a compact. Sure, it's a high spec compact with a lot to offer and in some cases, a better performance but it's a compact nonetheless.

If you're in the situation where you need a camera for taking on holidays but you don't want to compromise on performance or you're looking for a special Christmas gift for a keen photographer, then the Canon Powershot G11 is a camera definitely worth getting.

Canon Powershot G11: Plus points
Excellent build quality
Everything you need from a DSLR
Lovely colour reproduction
Great noise performance

Canon Powershot G11: Minus points
Wheel isn't very responsive
Playback to shooting is hit and miss
Portraits are overly warm

FEATURES

HANDLING

PERFORMANCE

OVERALL


The Canon Powershot G11 costs around £499 and is available from Warehouse Express here:

Canon Powershot G11