Test: Canon G7X

All photos were taken by the author using the Canon G7X in Japan.

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It’s given objective for consumer electronics manufacturers to work hard on making their products smaller, lighter, and more powerful than ever, to get a leg up on their competitions’ offerings. That’s always been more of a good scenario for the consumers, as they win out when it comes to ticking off many items in their specs wish lists for a certain piece of gear as brands jostle and joust for their final choice.

Enter Canon’s latest offering for the premium compact camera category- the diminutive but mighty PowerShot G7X. It’s a bridge camera that’d comfortably fit in the palm of your hand, but is equipped with a lot more than a handful of high-end features that would impress and satisfy serious photography enthusiasts, and even professionals. With the many permutations in digital camera classifications- mirrorless, fixed lens vs. compacts with interchangeable lenses, DSLRs and everything in between, I found it more apt to just rate the G7X based on its output and user experience, and not make direct comparisons with other models.

Much ado about specs

The PowerShot G7X comes equipped with a fixed lens capable of 4.2x Optical Zoom, which in 35mm film terms, translate to a 24mm-100mm equivalent; a handy walk-around focal range with enough coverage on the wide end, and just enough reach on the long end. It’s actually a very bright lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.8 when zoomed-out full at 24mm, and f/2.8 when zoomed in at its maximum 4x/100mm capacity. It features a large (in compact camera terms) 1.0-inch 20.2-megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor which is considerably larger than those usually found in other compact digital cameras (1/2.3-inch).

Just as we equate image quality with the megapixel count (which shouldn’t be the case, I’ll explain later), a larger sensor houses more pixels to take in more light and color information, to provide you with images of a higher quality. If the sensor is basically a camera’s engine, its image processor can be viewed as its transmission- to make use and control all that imaging power, for optimal results. Canon keeps developing upgrading its Digic system, and it’s now all the way up to Digic 6, which in conjunction with its HS system, enables the G7X to make good use of a very high usable ISO (light sensitivity) range that maxes out to 12,800. For reference, entry level DSLRs from just 5 years back already exhibit obvious low light image noise at ISO 800. The G7X, even for those finicky with image noise or grainy images from shooting at low light, will find that ISO 3200 or even 6400 is very usable, and will yield exceptional low light images. That’s already DSLR territory. Of course, accurate- and actually rich & vivid color reproduction, and smooth gradations within a wide range of illumination are part and parcel of that too.

In the face of its interface

These days, industrial designers pay so much attention in attaining the elusive balance between a clean and minimalistic interface that’s free of clutter- basically aesthetically bare, and an engaging one- one that uses dedicated buttons/dials/switches for certain operations; you know, the shiny bells & whistles that turn gadget geeks’ heads. The Canon G7X in my book, has aced that balance with its handsomely simple form factor, with just the right amount of well made external controls for a very intuitive interface. Next to its on/off button are the two multi-function dials that were given tasteful albeit conservative anodized Red accents- the typical shutter button with the zoom in/out toggle switch, and the mode dial that sits atop the very handy exposure compensation dial, both sporting knurled edges that are spiffy and functional at the same time.

Rear panel controls are the familiar dedicated menu, function and video record buttons, as well as the selector wheel or dial, that has multifunction buttons for flash, WiFi, burst shooting mode, focus mode, flash and display. The rest on the side panels pop the built-in flash up, a dedicated Mobile Device Connect button to instantly launch the CameraWindow app on your paired smartphone (which of course, you’ll have to install first).

Then of course the high definition 180-degree upward tilting touch-LCD display that’s a pleasure to use for other control settings and image previews, aside of course from it being your only viewfinder. It’s sharp, responsive, provides accurate framing and exposure reference, and does well for those with a predilection for selfies (when tilted all the way up). On the downside, it’s hard to view the screen under bright/direct sunlight. It also doesn’t tilt downwards, so overhead shooting, holding up the G7X with your arms makes it difficult to view.

It’s all about the image quality

We’ve had smartphones with 21-megapixel cameras for quite a while now, and judging from the image quality you get from them, one should know that the quality of the optics and image processor is what matters more. The G7X has a very sharp high-quality lens to complement its big sensor and Digic 6 processor, to reward you with expressive photos with great contrast, color saturation and depth, and remarkable rendition of lighting on a wide dynamic range for more realistic and pleasing imagery when shooting during the day or night. And, speaking of night shooting, as seen on my sample photos, I’ve had more opportunities to shoot with the G7X during my evening walks around Tokyo on a recent trip- and taking a break from using my heavy DSLRs, I chose not to lug around even a pocketable tripod. Besides the essence of street photography is just to shoot spontaneously, and well, quickly- ideally without fussing on settings and controls. I resisted the urge to tweak, and just shot on Auto mode for most of the time. The benefits of having large maximum apertures were obvious, as the camera didn’t opt to set the ISO too high and the shutter speed to low, so handheld shooting at lowlight  was effortless- and well, enjoyable! The G7X being a very compact camera also kept me shooting with just one hand- which made the experience of shooting in the streets less conspicuous, and natural.

I processed all the photos I shot with the G7X the same way I process my DSLR shots- just via minimal tweaks. Of course being able to shoot in simultaneous RAW + JPEG formats is such an advantage, as the photos were more flexible to contrast, color saturation & balance, and lighting optimization adjustments. As you can see, on situations where low light noise should be present, it wasn’t or is just barely visible. The colors were natural and with the large image size via its large 1″ sensor, post cropping had virtually no effect on the quality of the photos.

Will I keep it in my pocket?

A great camera is what will keep you shooting more often. Shooting for work aside, Canon’s PowerShot G7X fulfills its destiny as a premium compact camera that you’d always want to have in your possession, and at the ready. If you’re a photo-OC like me, who wouldn’t mind bringing a heavy DSLR just because of the better photos you can take with it, the G7X provides such a welcome break. For a camera so small that looks quite stylish, the quality of the images it produces is astounding. It’s small, smart, and it definitely delivers. Now if I could only make calls with it… sigh.

This article was first published in our December 2015 issue.