New G7x - looking for views on image quality

Hi there,

first post on here so I apologise in advance for any silly questions!

I purchased a g7x after looking at the spec and some reviews ( the zoom range and handling swung it over the RX100 mk2 for me as with the Canon cashback they were the same price, the RX100mk3 being £200 more expensive)

I was hoping someone might be able to comment on the image quality from the camera and tell me if it as would be expected. At normal viewing everything looks fine, on a few images I have taken the right side seems to be a little blurred at the edge ( I am expecting softness at the corners at wide angle after reading various reviews). As I don't normally pixel peep, especially from a 20mp sensor I just want to make sure the camera is ok and doesn't have any problem with the lens.

At my normal viewing distance on a screen these pictures look fine and I would not generally print above A4 size. I am coming from using a panasonic TZ7 although I do own a Nikon D60 which unfortunately doesn't see much use at the moment.

I love the handling of the G7x and also the abilty to get blurred backgrounds for portraits is great from a compact. Also the low light capability is excellent (an amazing difference compared to the panasonic and worth the upgrade alone). I think it is a great small camera.

The subjects below are random shots to test the camera operation and were taken to try and include distance and some foreground. They are straight out of camera either on Auto, P or Av. They are possibly a little soft generally but I notice you can adjust sharpness in the custom colour mode of the G7x




straight out of camera, will sharpen fine






F4 - right hand edge seems quite fuzzy






F6.3 - right hand edge looks fine






F4 - right side slightly blurred






F6.3 better



The shots at F4 seem to show more right side blur than at F6.3, the house shot in particular but these are still fine at my normal viewing range.




Shot in quite dull light early morning.




This one seems fairly consistent across the lense






I like the colour from this one, overall quality seems ok?



I;m really looking for confirmation that the quality is as I would expect having not owned a premium compact with this size sensor ( some samples on some review sites looked a little sharper at 100% although they may have changed the default.

I like the G7x, it is portable, good zoom range, great portraits and easy to use ( if only you could tilt the flash!).

Thanks in advance.

Carl

Overall, they look like what I'd expect based on my own experience. At normal viewing sizes they look really good. Under 100% pixel peeping, the flaws reveal themselves. It's possible the lens is slightly de-centered, but you have to look really close to see it, and since it's not all that consistent among the focal lengths and apertures, I personally wouldn't worry about it. You could always return it for another copy and MAYBE the next one would be better, but it might be worse or just different - maybe the left would be slightly off. This kind of thing is sort of endemic to cameras this small and this ambitious... You can give it a try, but I made peace with this camera a while ago. I know it won't hold up under pixel peeping nearly as well as my DSLR or even my Nikon Coolpix A, but at any actual viewing size (up to full size on a 27" monitor or a 12x18" print), they look great to me. I haven't tried 20x30" - at some point you'd start to see the flaws if you looked really closely, but probably not otherwise...

-Ray
--------------------------------------
We judge photographers by the photographs we see. We judge cameras by the photographs we miss - Haim Zamir

The G7X can make some very nice images. I don't expect it to be the same as my DSLR because it's a smaller sensor and smaller lens. But it's a little compact that I can clip on my belt and walk around with. There's a lot to be said for that convenience. On Wednesday of this week, I was in Charleston SC for a day. The weather was lousy. Clouds, fog, and off and on periods of rain. I left my DSLR in the car and walked around with the G7X. I had no problem coming away with some images that I was very happy with.

You'll be much happier with your images if you shoot raw. The camera is capable, but in my opinion the G7X generated JPEG images are not as good as they could be.

Thanks for the comments,

I do not generally like viewing at 100% and am quite happy with the results at my normal viewing ranges. I do think that if I returned it I may get one slightly better but could also end up with one that is worse.

I do like this camera, the ability to shoot portraits with a nice blurred background from a compact is exceptional and something I have been looking for for a while. I would post an example but my wife doesn't want her photo on the internet!! She also has found the camera very easy to use. The reason to purchase was to upgrade our TZ7 to get better lowlight performance and nice portraits whilst having a pocketable camera. I think this has been a success . I probably just need to work out where the sweetspots are for this camera for various shooting conditions.

The lowlight ability of the G7x is incredible compared to my old Lumix TZ7 ( yellow blotches above ISO 400). ISO 3200 is usable on the G7x.

I will try RAW shooting at some point, it is something I haven't really tried apart from a few shots on my old D60 so am looking forward to this.

One thing, I registered for the Canon cashback and 3 days later had an email confirming everything had been accepted and payment will be made shortly. I know other cashback schemes from different manufacturers seem to have had issues so I am impressed it all went through so quickly.

thanks again, I'll hopefully post some better shots at some point.

Carl

My first sample of G7x had a severe right hand blur issue so I returned it and got a good one with no obvious decentering. The defect on the first sample was only really visible at lower apertures (1.8-2.8) at wide, so I would suggest taking some pictures at these apertures. To be honest it's a bit worrying that your F6.3 is sharper than your F4.0 (on the right side) at those distant subjects. But again, try lower apertures. If there is an issue it will most likely reveal itself there.
Jan

Yeah, that's one of the nicest abilities of the G7X - being able to get good portrait shots indoors with available light.

I wanted to make that point about shooting raw because I've read comments from other posters about the G7X having a "compromised lens" and a "soft lens". I haven't really found that to be true. I think some of those issues are not the fault of the lens. When I shoot raw, my shots are noticeably sharper and more detailed than when I let the camera make the JPEGs.

These pictures all look fine to me. About like my G7X on similar subjects.

Looks to me as if your softer right side is mostly due to depth of field issues. Closing the aperture to f/6.3 helps as it increases depth of field.

Find something big and flat (like the side of a brick building) and takes some shots of that at different focal lengths and apertures. That will tell you is your lens is soft on one side or not, and at what settings. Be sure to hold the camera square to the wall and focus on the part at eye level.

Basically, though, your shots look good to me. I don't see any blown highlights, color and contrast are good. With cameras like that, I shoot JPEGs with the camera set to Program and in My Colors I set Custom to +1 sharpening.

I think your shots look really nice! I'm very happy with the G7 X. Prior to purchasing it I was a staunch G16 devotee, and still love that camera and think it's one of the best and most balanced cameras Canon has made. It has so much depth that you don't see on paper but only realize after you've used it for awhile; a lot of the "minor" upgrades actually add up to a significantly improved camera. All that being said, while I love the image quality of the G16, the IQ of the G7 X in comparison was surprisingly better, and that's the bottom line for me. Detail and noise performance at higher ISOs is impressive and also noticeably better than the G16, and as others have mentioned, being able to isolate a subject by blurring the background is a very nice capability to have in a compact camera. There are many other pluses but I'll leave it at that for now. It won't replace my dslr, but it does make leaving it at home much more of a likelihood!

Andy