Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon PowerShot G9 Digital Camera - Black (12.1MP, 6x Optical Zoom) 3.0 inch LCD

I am usually a Nikon fan. I own a Nikon D200 and a Coolpix P5000.But I have not been happy with the P5000 (accurate exposures but too slow and limiting lens). My new G9 is a fantastic camera. In the past I owned one of the earlier Powershots, so I found my way around the menu system fairly quickly. The RAW mode gives some amazing results and the 6x lens is great. This camera is not for the point and shoot brigade, but for the enthusiast and an ideal camera to use when your DSLR is feeling heavy. It's a pity some of the reviewers have rated it without owning one, but I feel the G9 is worth every one of the 5 stars.

I have had the camera now for 5 months and can say the pictures are stunning. Quick start up and high auto shutter setting mean I can catch my kids without having to get blurred shots all the time. However, one issue only on build quality which was the ink on the dials coming off with general use and sweat. Sent it back to canon uk for a repair under warranty and waiting for its return. other than that its a real special piece of kit. Watch out for the dials though if you think ink is coming off send it in quick for replacement dials.....

What can I say, this is a fantasic camera. I've had other Canon products which have felt a bit flimsy and "cheap", but that ertainly doesn't apply to the G9. It's a good weight, not too heavy that you can't hold it for a hour shoot but not too light that it feels like it could break at any moment.
I bought a 8gb SDHC card with this, and it holds 1499 photos at the highest settings (Superfine, 4000*3000) or 64 minutes of high resolution video. You get a 32mb mmc card with the camera which only hold 5 photos at the highest quality so I suggest buying another SD card.
It really does what it says on the tin, there's so many settings you can get really creative. The sotware it comes with it is surprisingly good, many editing features and has a neat function of showing you the settings the camera was on when each picture was taken.
This has all professional features of much more expensive DSLR's, but in a smaller, less obtrusive package. For the price (£282 wheen I bought)this is the best you can get.

My main and large camera is the Canon 10D and excellent 24-70L lens, so I have fairly high standards when it comes to image quality.

Like many people I was looking for a small and discrete (read black) camera with a useable RAW mode, and optical viewfinder. Nothing has been available on the market like this since the ancient Canon G5 which prior to the G9's release has been selling like wildfire in the used market.

Plus points:
- Easy operation including ISO dial and settings wheel, also flash and macro focus are very easy to set
- Auto ISO (80 - 200) in P mode with RAW (let a beginner shoot, you process in Adobe Lightroom or equivalent later) I'm not buying another DSLR without Auto ISO!
- Raw files write quickly
- Amazing 3" LCD screen and automatic focus point review makes for pleasant use
- Face detection focus works very well, I want this on my next SLR!
- Very useable ISO 400 even for large prints, and perhaps 800 and 1600 are okay for small prints if processed well. It's incredibly only about 1 stop more noisy than my 10D overall due to the extra data of 12MP
- Great zoom range, couldn't be better in my opinion, L quality lens re: colour and contrast (just add a bit of local contrast using 'clarity' in Lightroom)good edge to edge performance
- Stunning build quality and finish

Negatives:
- Raw files don't take quite as much exposure adjustment or shadow recovery as those of DSLRs
- Files just aren't as clean as a DSLR even at ISO 80 - although this is only really seen in pixel peeping - not in prints
- Power button should be a lever switch type to prevent accidental use(but this isn't that big a problem in practice)
- The shutter button could be slightly better damped, it's not always as intuitive as a DSLR to achieve half focus
- A non-issue when considering they're trade-offs of the excellent all-round lens, but occasionally you will notice mild barrel distortion and vignetting.

Overall the G9 does not disappoint, and I don't think there's been a better pocket camera to date. Even the handling is good... I actually bought a 'Franiec' aftermarket grip but I'm debating whether to use it now as imo it's not really necessary and the G9 just looks great!

P.S. The optical viewfinder is not great, but certainly mine's not as innaccurate as people say. I find myself using the LCD 99% of the time - it's so big it's much nicer to use than the optical viewfinder. In fact, while I prefer my reduced frame SLR viewfinder to the G9's 3" LCD, the preference is surprisingly marginal.

I am a Nikon and Leica fanatic and over the years have used their film and digital cameras, SLRs, Rangefinders and compacts. I have previously only used the Canon Isus, the first film one, which was a good camera - lovely looking but really only good, not exceptional. Recently I have heard some great reviews about the Canon G9 on a few podcasts - including a Nikon biased one, and read a few reviews in some American magazines. I am off to the USA on a holiday soon and I really couldn't face taking my Nikon D300 and a variety of lens since it can be a both tiring and somewhat cumbersome to walk around with on holiday. I decided to look for a substitute/replacement camera and whilst I do have a Leica D-Lux 3, the zoom is more wide the on the telephoto side on that camera.

I decided to go for the Canon G9 and though I have only had it a few days, I am blown away by it!!! I like a nice chunky camera, one you can really appreciate in your hands. The G9 look quality and it doesn't disappoint.

There are many new features to me but those I love are the face recognition and the vibration reduction. The latter I had on the Leica and Nikon lenses, but I have never had the face recognition and I like it, have used it and it works brilliantly. The camera has 12 meg capability, which is more then some digital SLRs, though please tell me why Canon only provide a 32 meg memory card with the camera? Must have cost them all of 20p to provide that. I have already invested in an 8 gig memory card and feel that all canon producers should give you at least a 1 gig card with their cameras.

I am still learning the menus, which is very different from both the Nikons and Leica, but the camera punches way above its weight for its price.

I really appreciate this camera and really look forward putting it through its paces. Canon has provided a great range of ISO from 80 to 3200 (though to get to the top of the range you do need to go through the menus rather then use the dial on top). All my other cameras start at ISO of 200 and I like the inclusion of the 80 ISO and the auto ISO option. Also the camera has a ND option (natural density) which I accidently put on and wondered why I was very limited on ,my aperture and shutter speeds. I like this addition as I do like to use cameras on tripods and the ND option gives you the opportunity to be creative.

Ok, what are the downsides? Well whilst I like the camera neck strap. I would have preferred a wrist strap. The flash is pretty basic and whilst Canon do provide their own they are not cheap and if you go for the top of the range option you could be shelling out nearly as much as you paid for the camera for the flash. The ISO range is great but from reading some blog reviews the two I have read the ISO 3200 option is very poor. If that is true, I wonder why that option is in the camera. The memory card is way too small and worst of all, there is only a comprehensive manual on the disk so if you are a newbie your choices are either to print/read the manual, play with the camera to find out more (which I did) or buy a book about it - I did too cost me £30 imported from the USA and only available here second hand for up to £100 - now someone is trying to benefit from Canon's lack of a printed comprehensive manual.Finally I do some studio work and I did set up the camera for a studio shot but was somewhat surprised to see that the manaula settings only range from f2.8 to f8.00. I had hoped for this to be f2.8 to at least f16 and as such its a bit limiting for those who like to use the manual option.

I have only had the camera for a few days but already I like it and it excites me. I will endeavour to give it a great test and write an addendum to this review soon.