Canon PowerShot G7 review

Aimed squarely at photo enthusiasts and creatives, the Canon PowerShot G7 is Canon's top-of-the-range digital compact camera.

It follows on from the well-regarded 7 megapixel G6 but with a new, smaller body and lower price. As well as a hike in resolution to 10 megapixels, it sports a larger 2.5in TFT and a 6x optical zoom using the company's optical image stabilising technology from the popular S3 series.

Other features include those we've seen from the company's Ixus range, such as the Digic III processor with sensitivity to 1600 ISO (up to 3200 ISO at 2 megapixels) and the adaptable nine-point AiAF system with face recognition. In fact, the G7 shares nearly all of the Ixus' firmware-delivered specification and processing options, including XGA movie clips and the extensive colour-modifying options offered by the company's consumer models. Sadly, most of this is more suited to beginners than to serious creative work.

Although the body design is reminiscent of a 35mm rangefinder, purists won't welcome many of the main features, especially Canon's choice of zoom lens. Where the G6 featured a 35-140mm zoom with one of the fastest maximum apertures (f/2.0-3.0) we've seen, the G7's wider-range 35-210mm, f/2.8-4.8 zoom has compromised the new model's low-light autofocus accuracy and picture quality. While the optical image stabiliser is a worthy and effective feature - preventing blur in our test shots at 1/10 of a second at 35mm - the G7 would have been far more desirable, albeit more expensive, with a similarly fast, wide-angle, optically stabilised lens.

Other controversial changes include dropping Raw file capture and moving from the versatile flip-out and swivelling screen to a fixed panel. In spite of that, though, the new 2.5in TFT is excellent: it can clearly be viewed even under intensely bright light.

A small optical viewfinder is provided, although critics will no doubt cite the G7's shorter battery life for its inclusion. The G7's handling is an improvement on that of the G6, which is mainly due to the large Eos-style rear command dial that's quick and accurate in selecting the various functions.

We also liked the shooting mode and ISO dials on the top plate, the former being particularly useful for checking settings with the camera powered off. As you would expect, the control options are generous - the G7 has custom white balance, aperture and shutter priority, program shift and metered manual exposure, as well as novel on-screen analogue scales.

White balance is surprisingly accurate both indoors and out, and images are silky smooth even at low sensitivities, although slight mottling can still be seen in the shadows. Ultimately, this is the biggest setback. Detail is good, but Canon's gentle noise reduction doesn't disguise the inherently grainy images - a combination of high pixel count and the same 1/1.8in type CCD sensor found in rivals.

As far as prosumer compacts are concerned, affordable digital SLRs have rewritten the camera-makers' roadmap, but the G7 still has plenty to offer the creative. It might appear pared down compared with the model it replaced, but it doesn't have to ape a digital SLR. Currently, the Canon PowerShot G7 is the most attractive and satisfying to use of the semi-pro compacts.