Canon PowerShot G2 Review

Timings & File Sizes

The G2 is a relatively quick performer, crippled primarily by its slow startup time. Operational speed, focusing, shutter lag and write times are all good (especially considering the larger file sizes) and compatibility with the IBM Microdrive means that although times are a little slower they are still acceptable.

Timing Notes: All times calculated as an average of three operations. Unless otherwise stated all timings were made on a 2272 x 1704 Super-Fine JPEG image (approx. 2.0 MB per image).

The media used for these tests were:

• 32 MB Canon Type I CompactFlash card (as supplied)
• 320 MB Lexar Pro 12x Type I CompactFlash card
• 1 GB IBM Microdrive Type II CompactFlash card

Action	Details	Time, seconds (Canon CF)	Time, seconds (Lexar 12x CF)	Time, seconds (Microdrive)
Power: Off to Record	Lens extension	5.8	6.2	5.8
Power: Off to Play	Image displayed	3.1	3.8	5.0
Power: Record to Off	Lens extended	4.2	4.2	4.2
Power: Play to Off	Lens retracted	1.2	1.2	2.2
Power: Play to Off	Lens extended	4.2	4.2	5.3
Mode: Record to Play	Image displayed	2.5	2.2	4.0
Mode: Play to Record	Lens extended	2.1	2.0	2.0
Mode: Play to Record	Lens retracted	5.1	5.0	5.2
Play: Magnify		0.5	0.5	0.5
Rec: Thumbnail view		1.1	1.1	1.9

Action	Details	Time, seconds
Zoom from Wide to Tele	Full zoom from 34 mm to 102 mm (3 x)	2.6
Auto Focus LAG	Half zoom, Normal AF *1	0.9 - 1.0
Auto Focus LAG	Half zoom, Macro AF *1	1.1 - 3.0
Shutter Release LAG	Using viewfinder	<0.1
Shutter Release LAG	Using LCD monitor	0.1
Total LAG	*2	~1.0
Off to Shot Taken	Using supplied 32 MB Canon CF card	6.6
Shot to Shot	Same for LCD in review or preview modes (AF)	2.6

Auto Focus LAG is (roughly) the amount of time it takes the camera to autofocus (a half-press and hold of the shutter release button), this timing is normally the most variable as its affected by the subject matter, current focus position, still or moving subject etc. This timing is an average.

Shutter Release LAG is the amount of time it takes to take the shot after autofocus, this timing assumes you have already focused (half-pressed the shutter release) and now press the shutter release button all the way down to take the shot. This timing is an average.

Total LAG is the total time it takes (not just the two above added together) if you haven't pre-focused, that is no finger touching the shutter release button, press it all the way down in one movement, this new timing is how long it'd take if you were in one of those spur-of-the-moment situations. This timing is an average.

Continuous modes

The G2 now features a new 'High Speed' continuous shooting mode as well as normal continuous. The manual states normal continuous mode as 1.5 fps and high speed continuous as 2.8 fps. Our results show that this depends on the selected image size / quality.

The table below shows the results of our continuous shooting test, indicating the actual frame rate along with maximum number of frames and how long you would have to wait after taking the maximum number of frames before you could take another shot. Timings taken using the supplied 32 MB Canon CF Type I card.

As you can see the high speed continuous mode has an impact on the maximum number of frames which can be shot in a burst, this is because it is filling the cameras buffer far quicker than the normal continuous mode, at the other end of the buffer the CF interface is trying to write the images out to the CF card as quickly as possible.

Continuous mode Flush Timing

The timings above represent the speed of the camera and its internal buffer, however the speed of the Compact Flash card will also have an impact on shooting continuously, it defines how long we must wait before the "burst" of frames are written away to the card (flushed). The flush process happens in the background, you can still take a shot as long as there is space in the internal buffer.

There's an amazing difference in performance between the 32 MB Canon CF (not sure who it's really made by) and the 320 MB Lexar Pro 12x and (performing well) the 1 GB IBM Microdrive.

File Flush / Display Timing

Timings shown below are the time taken for the camera to process and "flush" the image out to the Compact Flash card, the timer was started as soon as the shutter release was pressed (shutter click was heard) and stopped when activity indicator LED beside the viewfinder stopped blinking. This means the timings also include the cameras processing time and as such are more representative of the actual time to "complete the task".

The media used for these tests were:

• 32 MB Canon Type I CompactFlash card (as supplied)
• 320 MB Lexar Pro 12x Type I CompactFlash card
• 1 GB IBM Microdrive Type II CompactFlash card

Again, the Lexar card puts in the best performance, clearly faster than the Canon card and generally faster than the Microdrive. For me the Microdrive is still the best storage solution here, it's not far behind the Lexar in write performance (sure it's slower on playback but I could live with that) and it offers by far the best $/MB.

File Sizes

Here's a comparison of the average byte size of each of different image size / quality combinations.

Battery life

We ran the camera through our new battery life test. This test is designed to be fair and comparative to each camera and battery type:

• Take 4 shots without flash
• Wait 2 minutes (50% of the time powering the camera off)
• Take 1 shot with flash
• Wait 1 minute
• Repeat

This test routine was carried out on five different cameras simultaneously. All batteries had been fully discharged and recharged before the test and all cameras were reset to their factory default settings. Here are the results:

Clearly Canon have made some efficiency changes to the G2, it lasted a good half an hour longer than the G1, it's right up there with the DSC-S85 as one of the best lasting digital cameras. During the test the camera got warm around the LCD area but the rest of the camera stayed cool.