Canon PowerShot G2 Review, Phil Askey, August 2001

Review based on a production PowerShot G2

Canon unveiled the original PowerShot G1 just before Photokina last year (September 2000). It took quite a few people who were expecting a Pro70 replacement by surprise. The G1 immediately struck a chord with people considering Nikon's Coolpix 990 or Olympus's C-3030Z. And here we are just less than 12 months on with the next evolution, the 4.0 megapixel PowerShot G2.

The G2 is based on the same 'prosumer compact camera' form factor with an almost central lens, viewfinder window and right-handed flash unit. Immediately obvious this time around is that Canon realized the little 'blip' of rubber on the G1 wasn't enough as a sensible grip, now we get a fully moulded (though plastic and a little thin) hand grip. The second most obvious change is the colour. The camera is done out in a kind of 'three tone' - the front is champagne coloured magnesium alloy, the center (top / sides) silver plastic and the rear a kind of metallic painted silver plastic.

The G2 features the same extending 3x, F2.0 - F2.5 'Canon Zoom Lens' (which I'm assured is made by Canon) as we saw on the G1 and the ring surrounding the lens can be removed to take the optional lens thread adapter, required to add optional wide angle, telephoto or macro lenses.

Here's a quick breakdown of the primary differences between the PowerShot G1 and G2.

		Canon PowerShot G2	Canon PowerShot G1
CCD effective pixels		4.0 megapixels	3.2 megapixels
Max image size		3.8 megapixels	3.1 megapixels
CCD size**		1/1.8"	1/1.8"
CCD Colour Filter Array		G - R - G - B	C - Y - G - M
Max resolution		2272 x 1704	2048 x 1536
Lower resolutions		1600 x 1200, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480	1024 x 768, 640 x 480
Metering		Evaluative, Center-Weighted, Spot	Center-Weighted, Spot
AE Program Shift		Yes, after AE Lock	No
Shutter speeds		15 - 1/1000 sec	8 - 1/1000 sec
Continuous shooting		2.5 fps or 1.5 fps	1.7 fps
Focus Areas		Three, selectable	Automatic
Colour Exposure mode		Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, B&W	Colour, B&W
Manual Focus Zoom		Yes	No
RAW mode 10-bit		Yes	No, 8-bit
16-bit RAW acquire		Yes	No
Histogram		Yes, play review mode	No
Supplied storage		32 MB Compact Flash card	16 MB Compact Flash card
Direct Printing		Yes, Canon printers	No

It's good to see that Canon have been paying attention to G1 owners complaints and solved some of the problems it had. Especially noteworthy is the new Evaluative metering system and the ability to select one of three focus points (I can imagine the sighs of relief on our Canon Talk forum as I write this).

Review notes: Products shots / menu captures were made on a pre-production G2, final review was completed (image quality / comparison / features / samples) using a full production G2.

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this review (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

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This review is Copyright 2001 Phil Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact: Phil Askey.