Canon PowerShot G2 Review
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 |
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| 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.
