Canon PowerShot G10 IS

Canon PowerShot G10 Point-and-Shoot Camera

PowerShot G10 IS Review, by Kathleen Cullen, PC World December 16, 2008

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• Latest User Reviews 1 review
• Reviewed by: mirceadim

  Duration of ownership: 2 Weeks

  Strengths: image quality...

  Weaknesses: Higher ISO shots are noisy.

  Overall: However it is Canon from all the point of view.

• Reviewed by: Apollonarian

  Strengths: Are there any for a serious amateur photographer of 50 years experience? I go on image quality..

  Weaknesses: image quality above 80 ISO is noisy. Above 200 it is useless.Above 400 it is a sick joke. Overcrowded tiny sensor. Useless focusLCD screen.Fussy multiple control buttons.

  Overall: The movie mode has been reduced from the G9.The zoom also. Even at 80 ISO in controlled shots, white surfaces show unacceptable noise.The LCD is subject to damage and the camera does not fit in a pocket..then why call it a compact ? The Panasonice LX 3 is superior with less Megapixils, and pictures taken with an Olympus 4Mpixil are comparable. For me, this is a waste of money and an over cluttered toy with almost nothing to recommend it. this may be a good (not excellent) studio camera, but who wants it for that? I have plenty of good studio cameras..this promises plenty, delivers nothing and Canon..you have failed miserably with this excuse for a camera.Mine is back sealed in its box..next to a trade in place, and Ill be very careful of a Canon purchase next time..i challenge Canon to take this back and give me a model that delivers what is promises.

• Reviewed by: ltj2003

  Strengths: Wide Angle lens, Outstanding high quality 3 inch display, good battery life, convenient, easy to use controls

  Weaknesses: Only decent quality photos, no better than Canon models costing half as much money. Really bad noise levels at ISO 400 and higher. New DiGiC 4 is less reliable in setting a good exposure

  Overall: I cannot be more disappointed in this camera. I was really thinking that I would get something superior for this much more money. This is my 4th Canon camera, and the first to disappoint me. Image quality is no better than my SX100 IS or S3 IS. All of the extra megapixels seem to make sharpness actually WORSE. In fact, exposures are often worse, as the new DiGiC 4 in this camera appears to be far less reliable than DiGiC 3 in my other Canons in automatically setting a good exposure. I'm having to manually override settings often with this camera in order to get good pics. This is totally unlike my other Canons, and I can only attribute it to the new DiGiC 4 system. It must have bugs in the firmware.The 28mm 35mm equivalent wide angle zoom lens is a great feature, as is the outstanding high quality 3 inch screen. Battery life is good, and ergonomics excellent. Canon did somethings very good on this camera.But I wanted a camera that delivers superior images, and this one does not do that. Noise level is absolutely terrible at higher ISO settings. Even hurts ISO 400 image quality, and ISO 1600 is a total joke, it is so extremely noisy.My Canon Powershots A70, S3 IS, and SX100 IS have all been good, easy to use cameras. But I expected more from this camera due to its significantly higher price, and it clearly does not deliver on that hope. It is definitely overpriced for what you get.This is one Canon to avoid. I wish that I had purchased the Powershot SX10 IS instead, as it has a larger sized sensor. But I really wanted something more compact, so that is why I unfortunately bought this model. This camera crams way too many megapixels into too small of a sensor, the the result is a camera that does not deliver on image quality.The Powershot SX10 IS really is not that much bigger or heavier. And here it sells for over $100 less. I sadly bought the wrong new Canon. This camera is one of Canon's rare misses.

• Reviewed by: philldo

  Strengths: Great Image Quality at lower ISO, Large LCD, Great unterface

  Weaknesses: Higher ISO shots are a little noisy

  Overall: So far, this is a great camera. The image quality is suburb at lower ISo. The body feels really solid.Works great with my 580 ex II flash. It does feel a little weird / top heavy when using a flash in the hot shoe.

• Reviewed by: tony_the_tiger

  Strengths: Excellent picture quality, best camera coming close to DSLR

  Weaknesses: Weak zoom and noise

  Overall: This is one of Canon's best camera's out. Definitely high megapixel and features 14.7-megapixel resolution for the highest image quality and editing flexibility, 5x optical zoom with Optical Image Stabilizer, 28mm wide-angle lens, DIGIC 4 Image Processor which improves Face Detection, full range of shooting and recording modes, including RAW, 3.0-inch PureColor LCD II with even greater true-to-life color reproduction. The problem is that it makes some sacrifices with a weaker 5X zoom than I am use to and digital noise at higher settings. I had a Canon S3 IS before and that zoom was much higher. However, the G10 does have a wide angle lens and supports an external flash, which are great in my opinion. I would say this is a great camera as long as you don't have expectations that this would replace a DSLR camera, but it comes very close.

• Reviewed by: FedericoGonzalez

  Strengths: Good picture quality.

  Weaknesses: Lots of digital noise at high magnifications (enlargements)

  Overall: GOOD OR BAD?(FEDERICO GONZALEZ - 10/9/08) No question about it! This camera is a great camera, but I guess the people at Canon could have done a much better job. Upgrading from an already great camera like the G9 had to be a very difficult task, but leaving great features out is a poor decision on their part. 5X zoom instead of 6X (addition of wider angle 28mm is great, but don't sacrifice telephoto 210mm). Movie resolution also sacrificied from 1024 X 768 back to 640 X 480. I guess they are not ready, or don't want to be ready for a high res. movie/still camera combo. Cosmetics don't look as good as the previous G9 (kind of funny: it took a while to get used to the design of the previous model (G9) and now they redesign it for worse). The new battery is great at twice the amps, but what about the people that invested lots of $'s on the previous NB-2LH batteries...not good for the consumer. The only reason why I considered the purchase of this camera was the ability to use a remote control (wired that is!), since I do a lot of long exposure work. The redesign of the lens to become a primarly wide angle lens is OK, but the people that got hooked on the telephoto capability of the camera, will be very dissapointed. Conclusion, the camera is a great addition to the Canon's digital arsenal, but they could have done a much better job.