Finally got to see the G1X,G15, and S110 in person

Being that many stores here on the island only sell the lowest end cameras, it wasn't until I visited one of the larger Best Buy stores that I finally got to see them. The G15 left me unimpressed, I didn't really like the feel of it compared to the G12, especially the location of the playback and exposure buttons, as well as the new dial layout. The new screen is very sharp and bright, but it's not articulated, and that's a major drawback. As far as what I could tell from image quality, I wasn't impressed. It doesn't seem like much of an improvement, if any, over the G12 at lower ISO's between 80 and 200. In fact, images seem to have more noise. Corner sharpness seems abit worse at WA, perhaps due to the internal barrel distortion software. It felt "cheaper" than the G12 but its hard to describe without picking them up yourself.

I prefered the G1X much better, image quality by and far the best of any compact I've ever seen, but the thing is so darn heavy. It's also expensive, at $800, you could get a beginner DSLR. It also can't do macro, and is slow to focus.

Then the S110, I definitely found it more awkward to hold than it's predecessor, and that tiny on/off button would get old quick. I did find image quality to be slightly better and sharper than the G15 (go figure) and it selected a slightly higher shutter speed and lower ISO (G15 wanted 160 at 1/15 at 28mm, S110 100 at 1/20). There also seemed to be less noise at 80 and 100 ISO. But the tiny buttons are a problem, especially considering I have somewhat smaller hands than the average guy. Touch screen will just drain battery, I have no need for it. I wish they'd have kept the s100's GPS and design, minus all those lens errors.

The camera that actually impressed me the most was the 330HS. It felt best in the hand and offerred a better zoom range than the others. Although it's lens is slower, the difference in IQ between it and the higher end models doesn't make them worth twice the price of it. Sharpness at the longer end of the range was definately better than the s110, despite being slower.

I know others will come away with completely different opinions, but to me the G15 is not much, if any, of an upgrade from the G12 for basic outdoor shooting. Yes, indoors the g15 will win easily, because of that F1.8 lens. But the loss of the articulated screen is crippling, which I think Canon did on purpose to get upgrading g12 users to go for the g1x. The s110 also seems inferior to it's predessor, losing the GPS for wifi and having a touch screen, that for us "old fashioned" guys will only serve to drain battery life (and can't be switched off like the GPS).

I hope that the next iteration of the G1X will be abit lighter and have quicker AF as well as macro. This was also the camera getting the most attention at the display!