IS change always good?
After a two-year hiatus, the acclaimed Canon Powershot G series of high-end digital cameras has been reborn in a beautiful and retro-looking body.

rugged black metal housing, adorned by classic dials and a narrow shutter button that is lovely to caress with your finger, exudes class from every angle.

But Canon has taken away the one thing that was awesome about the G-cameras - the old G-series' 'fast' zoom lens.

The lens had a minimum aperture of F2.0 to F3.0. In plain English, it meant it was the perfect lens for low-light shooting.

It was 'fast' enough to capture moving objects (like kids and pets) sharply under low lighting and was good at creating background blur.

With my old G3, I shot everything from portraits to products and many of the photos were published in this newspaper.

The G7's lens is not 'fast' - it ranges from F2.8 to F4.8, meaning it is better for outdoor shoots than indoor ones.


GREAT MANUAL CONTROL


To make up for it, Canon has added optical image stabilisation (which is more useful for stationary objects), and the lens completely retracts into the camera (unlike the protruding lens of the older models).

Still, the new lens means fewer professionals will be enticed by the G7 as their backup camera.

Which is a pity, since it takes
an experienced photographer to
fully exploit the G7's comprehensive manual controls.

There is a wonderful scroll wheel that is activated by one's thumb, making it easy to change exposure settings on the fly and the LCD shows a moving meter that looks like a weighing scale.

There is also a cool metal dial that changes the ISO film speed.

The new face-recognition feature, also found on other new Canon digicams, picks out faces for the camera to focus on.

It is good for people who cannot figure out what is in focus.

However, I always switch off a camera's multiple-point autofocus and just use the centre focusing point.

The camera's metal construction feels rock solid and its ergonomics are excellent.

At the end of the day, what makes a G-camera unique is its image quality. I would say this one fares quite well for a 10-megapixel camera.

The colour reproduction is excellent and the lens can capture fine details like facial hair, but prevalent image noise means you should avoid using the
ISO 800 and 1600 film speed settings.

The $969 camera is very slick and is probably the best digicam in its class. On the other hand, for about $300 more, you can get a digital single lens reflex (dSLR) camera like the Canon EOS 350D with far superior image quality and interchangeable lenses.

dSLR prices are falling and don't be surprised if they go below $1,000 next year.

So prosumer digicams (for those who demand more and can pay more for their cameras) in the $1,000 range (like the G7) are fast becoming less relevant in the marketplace. They offer great portability and convenience but are not as attractive as before.
Rating: *** 1/2

The Canon Powershot G7 is one of the most advanced digital cameras available today.