G10 a compact alternative to a DSLR

Author's Rating:

Pros: Beautiful retro style and build, extremely high resolution, terrific performance and speed

Cons: Noisy images at moderately high ISO, complex interface, heavy, expensive

The Bottom Line: 
Extremely capable compact a delight to use.  As versatile as a good DSLR, but smaller, lighter and handier.  DSLR image quality at low ISO, but noisy at 400 .

Author's Review
It has been a few years since I last went shopping for a digital camera, and while I was still happy with my Canon PowerShot S50, I was starting to feel limited by its lack of external flash capability.  I was still using my old Nikon film gear for serious photography, so there was no urgency here, but a digital SLR or another prosumer compact like the PowerShot G3 I used to own would allow me more flexibility without breaking out the old 35mm bag of tricks.

The fact that I could even consider a digital SLR shows how different the market is than the last time I was shopping 5 or 6-years-ago.  Back then an entry-level DSLR was in the $800 range for just the body, while today's entry-level models are far more capable at roughly half the cost.  I looked at both Canon and Nikon outfits that included a standard zoom lens for under $500 and was very impressed with the quality and features of both.

Then I looked at the subject of this review, the Canon PowreShot G10 compact and fell in love.  Unlike the DSLRs, which all look and feel modern, the G10 has a retro look and feel that I found very appealing.  Its body is mostly metal, and many controls, such as mode, ISO and exposure compensation are set with solid-feeling knurled dials just like on the cameras I grew up with in the 1970s.  DSLRs are faster and more versatile with their interchangeable lenses and larger sensors, but the G10 is more compact, lighter and just handier for casual use, while offering much of the capability of the SLR models.  I was so impressed with the look and feel of this camera (and its specifications) that I bought it on the spot.

The G10 is a member of Canon's G series, which has been around for almost a decade now and has always been aimed at advanced hobby photographers looking for a lot of manual control, but in a self-contained unit small and light enough for travel.  All G series cameras have Canon's best processing engine at the time, a high-quality zoom lens that is usually of decent speed (maximum aperture) and a solidly built body that is small enough to take with you, but large enough to manipulate easily.  Exposure modes and other electronic functions usually mirror Canon's EOS film and digital SLRs, and most important, G cameras have a hotshoe that supports all of the electronic flash wizardry available in the latest dedicated flash units.  While I sold my G3 to my brother-in-law years ago, I still had the Canon 420EX flash and it compliments the G10 even better than it did the G3.

Other G-series features are a large (for the time) LCD display AND an optical viewfinder coupled to the lens.  There is a mount for auxiliary lens converters and/or filters and with the exception of the G7, a RAW mode, which can be added through firmware.  I took many stunning images with the 4 megapixel G3 and 5 megapixel S50, so resolution wasn't really what I was after.  What the 14.7 megapixel G10 gives me that I didn't get with the older models is speed. 

This camera is VERY, very fast.  From pressing the power button to first exposure is less than two seconds, and most shots with the camera powered up are close to instant.  If I pre-focus, then shots ARE instant.  This is faster than any point-and-shoot digital camera that I've ever used, and only a tiny fraction of a second slower than my film SLRs.  The G10 has taken my biggest complaint about digital photography and completely eliminated it.  Automatic focus (I use the 9 point AiAF mode) is lightning fast and very accurate in a variety of conditions, and other controls and functions are also instantaneous in their use.  For instance, the zoom control is slow enough that you can easily select the focal length you want, but fast enough to respond without lag.  Those large dials are also intuitive and faster than any menu.  There is even a shortcut button that is user-programmable, which I configured for the built-in neutral density filter as I shoot a lot of outdoor portraits and often try for wide aperture to reduce depth of field.

One benefit of the 14.7 megapixel sensor that I expected but am still surprised by is the extent to which I can crop and enlarge.  I took a photograph of a street scene and later noticed a very small woman pushing a very large motorcycle up a hill in the distance.  She represented at most 5 or 10% of the frame, but since I had shot the photo at ISO 80 (base ISO on the G10) in RAW mode, I was still able to crop and enlarge to 8X10 with no pixilation or other artifacts whatsoever.  It looked every bit as good as a full-frame shot from a 4 megapixel camera, which is saying a lot.

That same photo revealed other surprises about the G10.  Dynamic range, the ability to render detail in light and dark regions simultaneously is greatly improved over the S50 and G3.  The woman is African American with medium dark skin, while the motorcycle she was pushing has a bright yellow gas tank and a lot of shiny chrome.  Highlights were not blown out while her face was fully resolved, with at least a 5 or 6 stop difference between the two.  Its not at the level of slide film yet, but not too far off.  Detail is terrific as well.  Even at such extreme magnification I was able to read the license plate on the motorcycle as well as "Harley Davidson" on the gas tank.

The other feature that I've really come to depend on and always wanted on my older cameras is image stabilization.  Unlike the electronic image stabilization on cheaper cameras, there is no loss in image quality from the purely optical system built into the G10's lens, which is the same system Canon uses on its SLR lenses.  With my S50 I can handhold at normal focal length down to 1/60th of a second easily, 1/30th with concentration, whereas with the G10 1/30th is easy and 1/15th is possible with concentration.  More impressively is that when I really push it, the results on the G10 are better.  A handheld shot on the S50 at 1/30th does have blur, just not enough to notice on a smaller print.  With the G10, there is no blur even when enlarged.

The automatic focus and exposure modes are very accurate on the S50, and are equally good on the G10.  I'm sure that the system is smarter and can correctly meter even more challenging scenes, but for the way I use it, which is evaluative metering and aperture priority, I have no issues on either camera.  Set to full automatic or program AE I can give either camera to anyone and expect a perfectly exposed and focused photograph, so my belief is that these systems were already largely foolproof in 2003 and remain so today. 

Where the G10 really improves over the older models is in creative control.  Exposure compensation and flash exposure compensation (with both the external and built-in flash) were possible on the G3 and (other than external flash) S50, but are so much easier to access and use on the G10 that there is no reason not to experiment.

That large mode dial is also a delight.  Turn it to Auto and the G10 is a normal point-and-shoot (though with incredible image quality), but you also have all of the standard modes from the heyday of 35mm multimode SLRs and a scene mode with many choices such as night, sunset, portrait and even underwater.  Of course there is full metered manual control and two custom settings, one of which I have configured for black and white with superfine JPEG (lowest compression) and the other which I have set for manual control, RAW image mode, center-spot focus and spot metering for precision work like portraits, macro or product shots.

Another feature that impressed me right away actually has nothing to do with image quality, and that is the LCD display on the back of the camera.  This is no ordinary LCD, as it has roughly 420,000 pixels (better pixel density than many laptop computers) and many display options for both live and review.  I have it set with a grid (tic-tac-toe board) that makes proper registration easy when shooting architecture, and a live histogram to help with proper exposure.  I have the display set to review photos for 2 seconds after exposure and to display detailed information.  In full auto mode, its just a big, sharp and clear image with which composition is easy, while in detail mode as I usually use it, it is extremely informative and makes it easy to control all aspects of ambient and flash exposure as well as white balance, ISO and image mode.  Also, unlike many point-and-shoots, the G10 gives a fairly accurate graphical representation of remaining battery life and always shows how many exposures remain on your memory card.

Okay, so obviously I'm very impressed with Canon's latest G camera, are there any downsides?  Well, this is a compact camera and uses a compact sensor.  Compact sensor with extreme resolution means noise.  Back in 2004 all of the reviewers were complaining about the increased noise when moving from the 4 megapixel PowerShot G3 to the 5 megapixel G5, and there was a difference.  The G3, if I recall, was largely noise-free up to ISO 100, was still quite good at 200 and acceptable at 400.  The S50 (same sensor as G5) was also noise-free up to ISO 100, was good at ISO 200 and extremely noisy at ISO 400.  The G10 is better than the S50 for noise, and about equal to the G3.  Beyond ISO 400, however, quality rapidly sinks.  ISO 800 is fine for casual shots to be sent by email (I drop resolution down to 2 or 4 megapixels) and adequate even for 4X6 prints, while ISO 1600 is extremely noisy, though still adequate for fun shots to be shown to friends and laughed over.

Other problems?  None really.  It is heavy and expensive for a compact, the same price and weight as an entry-level DSLR and kit lens actually, though far more compact.  It is also quite complex once take off of the auto modes, so beginners might have trouble when picking up the G10 if they accidentally nudge a dial. 

The G10 is an extremely powerful and complex camera, and I've barely scratched the surface of its capabilities in the month or so that I've owned it.  I was a very serious photographer in the 70s and 80s with my own black and white dark room, and got back into the hobby about 7-years-ago with both digital and film.  Since buying the G10, I haven't touched either of my Nikons or my S50, which is likely going to eBay shortly.  Yes, the Canon PowerShot G10 is that good. For serious amateurs who might miss the glory days of the 60s and 70s the G10 is an exquisite piece of gear.  It appeals to people like me who prefer analog over digital watches, revolvers over pistols and metal over plastic, while adding easy access to modern technology to that retro look and feel.