Canon G10 Performance

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Canon PowerShot G10 Performance

Timing and Performance

Slow to good speed for a consumer camera.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	2.0 seconds	Time it takes for LCD to turn on and lens to deploy and capture a picture.
Shutdown	1.2 seconds	How long it takes to retract lens.
Buffer clearing time	5 seconds* (after 20 RAW + LF JPEG frames) 2 seconds* (after 20 LSF JPEGs)	Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared.

About average startup and shutdown times here, but pretty fast buffer clearing.

Mode Switching
Play to Record, first shot	1.4 seconds	Time until first shot is captured.
Record to play	1.2 seconds	Time to display a large/superfine file immediately after capture.
Display recorded image	2.1 seconds	Time to display a large/superfine file already on the memory card.

Mode switching times are about average, though displaying a previously recorded image is a bit sluggish.

Shutter Response (Lag Time)
Full Autofocus Wide	0.569 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position, using Flexizone (center) AF mode.
Full Autofocus Tele	0.671 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position, using Flexizone (center) AF mode.
Full Autofocus Flash enabled	0.921 second	Time to capture while forcing flash to fire, zoom lens at wide angle position.
Prefocused	0.068 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Continuous AF	0.614 second	This mode usually shows no speed increase with our static subject; we have no way to measure performance with moving subjects.
Manual Focus	0.303 second	For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused."

Full AF shutter response is about average at wide angle and slightly better than average at telephoto, at 0.57s and 0.67s respectively. Enabling the flash increases lag to 0.92s. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in a lag time of only 0.068 second, which while quite fast, isn't as fast as some. Times for continuous and manual focus are also about average.

Cycle Time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large SuperFine JPEG	2.15 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Single Shot mode Small Basic JPEG	2.12 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Single Shot mode RAW	2.53 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Single Shot mode RAW + LF JPEG	2.66 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Early shutter penalty?	No	Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.
Continuous mode Large SuperFine JPEG	0.73 second (1.37 frames per second); 20+ frames total; 2 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Continuous mode Small Basic JPEG	0.73 second (1.37 frames per second); 20+ frames total; 1 second to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Continuous mode RAW	1.26 second (0.80 frames per second); 20+ frames total; 3.5 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Continuous mode RAW + LF JPEG	1.40 second (0.71 frames per second); 20+ frames total; 5 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Flash recycling	10.2 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme III 8GB SDHC memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity also affects cycle times and burst mode performance, with higher ISOs generally increasing cycle times and reducing burst performance.

Shot-to-shot cycle times are a bit on the slow side, at about 2.15 seconds for large/superfine JPEGs, but the camera does capture frames continuously at this rate. (That is, given a fast enough memory card, it doesn't have to pause every few frames to wait for the card to catch up.) When shooting RAW, this slows to 2.53 seconds per frame, and RAW + large/fine JPEG is 2.66 seconds. The G10's continuous shooting modes were also on the slow side, capturing large/superfine JPEGs at about 1.37 frames per second. This rate slows to 0.80 frames per second with RAW, and 0.71 frames per second with RAW + large/fine JPEG. Buffer sizes were good though, at over 20 frames in any quality. The flash takes 10.2 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is rather slow, but not surprising given how powerful it is.

Download Speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	5,680 KBytes/sec	Typical Values: Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-769=USB 2.0 Low; Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are very good.

Bottom line, the Canon G10 won't be a good choice for any fast-paced action, especially if shooting RAW, but should handle most typical shooting situations fairly well.

Battery and Storage Capacity

Battery
Excellent battery life for a lithium-ion design.

Operating Mode	Number of Shots
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery, Optical Viewfinder (CIPA standard)	1,000
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery, LCD Monitor (CIPA standard)	400

The Canon PowerShot G10 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Although battery life is excellent, especially when using the optical viewfinder instead of the LCD to frame, we recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Canon PowerShot G10 accepts SDHC/SD/MMC memory cards, and does not include any built-in memory or a starter card.

	Images (Avg Size)	155 6.6 MB	261 3.9 MB	536 1.9 MB	47 21.4 MB	40 25.4 MB
Image Capacity with 1GB Memory Card		SuperFine	Fine	Normal	RAW	RAW + LF JPEG
4,416 x 3,312	Images (Avg Size)	155 6.6 MB	261 3.9 MB	536 1.9 MB	47 21.4 MB	40 25.4 MB
	Approx. Comp.	7:1	11:1	23:1	0.9:1	-
3,456 x 2,592	Images (Avg Size)	253 4.0 MB	426 2.4 MB	864 1.2 MB	-	-
	Images (Avg Size)	253 4.0 MB	426 2.4 MB	864 1.2 MB	-	-
	Approx. Comp.	7:1	11:1	23:1	-	-
2,592 x 1,944	Images (Avg Size)	389 2.6 MB	691 1.5 MB	1,396 734 KB	-	-
	Images (Avg Size)	389 2.6 MB	691 1.5 MB	1,396 734 KB	-	-
	Approx. Comp.	6:1	10:1	21:1	-	-
1,600 x 1,200	Images (Avg Size)	943 1.1 MB	1,744 587 KB	3,308 310 KB	-	-
	Images (Avg Size)	943 1.1 MB	1,744 587 KB	3,308 310 KB	-	-
	Approx. Comp.	5:1	10:1	19:1	-	-
640 x 480	Images (Avg Size)	3,696 277 KB	5,714 179 KB	8,980 114 KB	-	-
	Images (Avg Size)	3,696 277 KB	5,714 179 KB	8,980 114 KB	-	-
	Approx. Comp.	3:1	5:1	8:1	-	-

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SDHC or SD memory card at least a 2GB card, preferably a 4GB or 8GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings, RAW files or video. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)