Canon is offering consumers a choice. The G11 is intended for those looking for top-grade still-image quality in a compact camera and the SX1 is there for those who are keen on shooting top-grade video and use a still-camera form factor to do it with.
I would expect that soon enough, though not right now, Canon will release a follow-up to the SX1 that will offer enhancements to still performance, etc. by following a similar route to the G series update only with a CMOS sensor that will, unfortunately trade off superior video performance with a less impressive still capability. Still, for video purposes, there is no value to having a sensor push all that hard to cram in more resolution. For stills, for that matter, I think 10MP is plenty. My 30D is an 8MP camera and it produces marvelous prints even when blowing the image up quite a ways.
I know we want it all and some day Canon and its competitors will deliver. But it's not going to happen right away. Some refining has to happen and I'm sure it will.
Still, not everybody is worried about high-grade HD video and for those people the G11 looks to be a rather impressive product. I'm betting the image quality is going to blow a lot of folks away. Next year, or maybe the year after, Canon will take the SX1 successor to new, equally impressive heights.
I'm sure, also, that the hybrid DSLRs are going to get progressively better both in terms of results (still and video) and controls in video mode.
Really, the most important aspect of the G11 is the decision to reverse the trend of progressively increasing megapixels, all but eliminating gains made in sensor design that should have yielded IQ advancements. Now, hopefully, as Canon and other manufacturers make progress in designing those sensors, the gains will go not to generating more impressive pixel count but rather more impressive photos and video. Let's hope the new Canons are sales successes because if they are, it will encourage a shift away from cramming in more resolution at the expense of IQ.
