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Back to Full Canon PowerShot G1 Review
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	*	3.34 megapixel CCD delivering up to 2,048 x 1536 images
	*	Auto, Scene Program, Program, and Manual exposure modes
	*	Unique tilt/swivel LCD panel
	*	Accepts Type II CF cards (MicroDrive compatible)
	*	Beautiful pictures!

Manufacturer Overview
Canon U.S.A. has been an active contender in the digital market this year, releasing a full complement of new digital cameras, all designed and engineered to live up to Canon's high standards. Its two May announcements, the PowerShot S100 Digital Elph and the EOS D30, are perfect examples of how versatile Canon's digital line has become. In a body originally debuted as the "world's smallest" APS film camera in 1994, the 2.1-megapixel Digital Elph was redesigned on the inside for digital capture, but still maintained its super-sleek, ultra-compact physique. The EOS D30, built to look and feel like a conventional 35mm SLR, was introduced as a "prosumer" version of Canon's professional digital line, which included the EOS D2000 and EOS DCS-1. Now the 3.3-megapixel PowerShot G1 takes its place in Canon's digital line-up, with the look and feel of a compact SLR and the user-adjustable features of a pro model.


High Points

• 3.34 megapixel CCD delivering up to 2,048 x 1,536-pixel resolution images.
• 1.8-inch, color LCD monitor.
• 3X optical zoom, 7-21mm lens (equivalent to a 34-102mm lens on a 35mm camera) with auto and manual focus.
• Up to 4X digital telephoto.
• Full automatic, program AE, shutter priority, aperture priority, and manual exposure modes, as well as several preset exposure modes.
• Manually adjustable aperture settings from f/2.0 to f/8.0, depending on zoom setting.
• Manually adjustable shutter speed settings from 1/1,000 to 8 seconds.
• Variable ISO sensitivity equivalents: Auto, 50, 100, 200, or 400.
• Two metering modes: Center-weighted average and spot metering
• White balance setting with seven adjustment modes.
• Built-in flash with five operating modes.
• External flash hot shoe.
• Continuous shooting, auto exposure bracketing, and movie recording modes.
• Remote control and utilities for controlling the camera from a computer.
• JPEG and RAW still image file formats, movies saved as AVI/Motion JPEGs.
• Images saved to CompactFlash Type I or II memory cards, 16MB card included.
• DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatibility.
• USB cable for high-speed connection to a computer.
• Canon Digital Camera 2.0 software included, plus Adobe Photoshop LE 5.0.
• Powered by Canon BP-511 rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack, with AC adapter included.

Design
With dimensions similar to many film-based, point-and-shoot 35mm cameras, the Canon PowerShot G1 is relatively compact and portable. It measures 4.7 x 3.0 x 2.5 inches (119.7 x 76.8 x 63.8mm) and weighs approximately 14.8 ounces (420 grams) without batteries, making it just slightly larger and heavier than the small- to mid-size point-and-shoots. It fits easily into a large coat pocket or purse, and the half-inch neck strap makes toting it around much more convenient.

The front of the camera includes the lens, optical viewfinder window, built-in flash, autofocus assist light, microphone, and remote control sensor. The 3X zoom lens telescopes out from the camera body when the G1 is powered on, and retracts when the camera is powered off. The lens is protected by a small plastic lens cap, tethered to the camera body with an attached cord. The microphone, barely visible next to the camera lens, records sound to accompany in-camera movies. A small, rubber finger grip on the front of the camera is positioned to counterbalance a curved, molded thumb grip on the back. Both are critical, as they are the only built-in design features provided to help you hold onto the camera body.

On the right side of the camera (as viewed from the back) is the single eyelet for attaching the neck strap, and a sliding chamber door to access the CompactFlash slot, which accommodates both Type I and II CompactFlash cards. The opposite side of the camera has a manual focus button, speaker, and an A/V Out jack in clear view, with the USB and DC-In jacks covered by a soft rubber flap that pulls outward from the camera and then slides out of the way.

The G1's top panel features a small status display window; an external flash hot shoe; a Main (lower) dial with a Shooting (or record) position, Off setting, Replay (or playback) position, and PC Connection mode; a Mode (upper) dial, with shooting and exposure options; a zoom control; a shutter button; and a Continuos Drive/Self-Timer/Wireless Controller button. The status display panel is always appreciated, as it reports camera settings and other miscellaneous information, without the need for powering up the LCD monitor. Positioning the exposure mode dial on top of the power switch, is a configuration we have been seeing more of lately. We are accustomed to the power control as a function of the mode dial, but this configuration works as well. The only troublesome thing we noticed is that the power switch is a little hard to control when turning the camera off. It seemed that we always wound up pushing the dial too far - all the way to the Replay mode setting - and had to switch it back the other way. We eventually discovered that a two-finger approach was necessary to control the dial's movement.

The majority of the exposure controls are located on the camera's back panel, along with the optical viewfinder and LCD monitor. The G1's eye-level optical viewfinder features a diopter adjustment switch and two LEDs that report camera status. We were intrigued by the camera�s LCD panel, which pops out of the camera back and folds forward to face the front of the camera. It also swivels around 270 degrees, to accommodate several shooting angles, and the monitor screen can be turned around and popped back into the panel face-down, protecting it from accidental scratches and fingerprints. A raised thumb grip, just to the left of the Omni selector arrow pad, provides counter support to the rubber finger grip on the front of the camera, affording a reasonably secure hold.

Other camera controls on the back panel include the Menu, Set, and Display buttons; an Auto Exposure (AE) and Flash Exposure (FE) lock; dual-function buttons for Spot Metering/Enlarge, Macro mode/Jump, and Flash mode/Index Control; and a four-function button for controlling Exposure Compensation/White Balance/Auto Exposure Bracketing/and Flash Exposure compensation. This last control is by far the most complicated of the group; however, each of its functions is related to exposure, and therefore uses the -2 to +2 EV bar to make its adjustments (with the exception of the white balance bar, which gives you a choice of seven light-quality options). The first function, exposure compensation, is activated with one press of the button; the white balance is activated by pressing the button twice, and so on. And like many digicam models, the dual-function buttons perform their first functions in capture mode and their second functions in playback mode.

The G1's bottom panel is reasonably flat, with a sliding door to the battery compartment and a threaded metal tripod mount. The tripod mount is positioned off-center (to the left of the lens), presumably to compensate for the extra weight of the battery compartment. Because the battery door and tripod mount are so close to one another, it would be difficult to make quick battery changes while working with a tripod.

Accompanying the camera is a small infrared remote control with a working range of up to 16.4 feet (5 meters). By activating the Continuous/Self-Timer/Wireless Controller button in Shooting mode, you can use the remote to fire the shutter, adjust the optical zoom, or scroll through the LCD display screens without coming in contact with the camera body. This works well with the rotating LCD monitor, because you can mount the camera on a tripod and compose the subject while standing in front of the camera. The remote also offers several playback functions which are useful when viewing images on a television screen. The Index display and Replay zoom buttons on the bottom of the remote enable you to view up to nine thumbnail images at a time, or enlarge one captured image on the LCD monitor. The four arrow buttons on the remote give you the same capabilities as the Omni selector arrow pad on the back of the camera, permitting you to scroll through stored images or maneuver within a larger one. Depressing the remote's shutter button while in Replay mode lets you play movie files on the camera's monitor or television. We were glad to see the inclusion of this simple gadget as a standard feature, especially with the G1's video capabilities, which allow the camera to be used as a presentation tool.

Viewfinder
The G1 features both an eye-level optical viewfinder and a repositionable LCD monitor on the back of the camera for image composition. The real-image optical viewfinder zooms along with the lens (except in Digital Telephoto mode, which requires the LCD monitor), and displays a set of target crosshairs in the center of its screen. A diopter adjustment control on the left of the eyepiece adjusts the viewfinder focus for eyeglass wearers, and two LED lights report the camera�s status during certain operations. For example, when you depress the shutter button halfway, a steady green light (on top) indicates that the camera is ready to record and/or the flash is charge is complete; a flashing green light indicates that an image is either being written to, read from, or erased from the CompactFlash card; a steady orange light (on top) indicates that the camera is ready to record and/or the flash is adequately charged; and a flashing orange light indicates a camera-shake warning (i.e. the shutter speed is too slow to handhold), or the battery is charging. The lower LED light glows yellow when the camera is set in Macro or Manual focus modes.

Measuring 1.8-inches diagonally, Canon's low-temperature, polycrystalline silicon, TFT, color LCD monitor features a smart, swiveling design for nearly unlimited viewing options. The monitor's plastic casing actually pops out of the back of the camera and swings around to face forward (the same direction as the lens). From that position, the monitor can be rotated forward 180 degrees or backward 90 degrees, allowing you to hold the camera in practically any position and still see what's going on in the viewfinder. It's a real boon to photographers who frequently have to shoot over people's heads in a crowd!

The best part of the LCD�s swiveling monitor design is that it can be flipped around to face the back panel and then closed, keeping the screen safe from scratches and fingerprints. The Display button controls the LCD monitor�s image and information display. Pressed once, it activates the LCD monitor. The second press turns on the information display, which reports exposure mode, digital zoom, single or continuous shooting, manual focus, and flash mode (depending upon the shooting mode you are using). At the bottom of the screen are the shutter speed and aperture settings, which are always a bonus when analyzing a shot. The third press of the Display button cancels both displays.

In Replay mode, the LCD monitor provides a full-frame display of captured images, which you can view individually by scrolling left or right with the arrow buttons on the Omni selector arrow pad. Depressing the Flash/Index button brings up a thumbnail index display of nine images at a time, which you can also scroll through with the arrow buttons. A Digital Enlargement button (marked by a magnifying glass) allows you to enlarge an image 2.5X and 5X its normal size in the screen. The arrow keys permit you to move around the image and check the fine details.

Depressing the Display button one time in Replay mode pulls up detailed information about the captured image, including the file name, date and time it was recorded, compression, resolution, and what number it is in the sequence of captured images. Depressing the Display button twice adds exposure information such as the Image Zone (portrait, landscape, etc.), shutter speed, f/stop, exposure compensation, and white balance. A third press turns off the information display.

The LCD viewfinder is also involved in setting a number of exposure parameters, controlled by a four-function pushbutton. Successful preses of this button cycle you through screens for setting exposure compensation, white balance, auto bracketing, and flash exposure compensation.

We found the G1's optical viewfinder to be quite tight, showing about 85 percent accuracy at wide angle, and about 82.6 percent accuracy at the telephoto setting. The LCD monitor was much more accurate, showing approximately 96.5 percent of the final image area at wide angle, and about 97 percent at telephoto. (We actually found that the measurements for the LCD monitor differed slightly with the image resolution at the telephoto setting. Measurements indicated 97 percent at 2,048 pixels, 96.9 percent at 1,024 pixels, and 96.8 percent at 640 pixels.) Since we generally like to see LCD monitors as close to 100 percent accuracy as possible, the G1 performed well in this respect.

Optics
The G1 features a built-in, 3X, 7-21mm zoom lens (equivalent to a 34-102mm lens on a 35mm camera). When the camera is powered on, the lens telescopes out from the camera body into its operating position, then retracts again when the camera is shut off. A plastic lens cap protects the lens when not in use, and features a small tether to attach it to the camera body. Focus can be automatically or manually controlled, with a range of 2.3 feet (70cm) to infinity in normal mode. Macro mode features a focus range of 2.4 inches to 2.4 feet (6 to 70cm). The aperture adjusts automatically or manually, with an f/2.0-f/8.0 range, depending on the zoom setting.

Manual focus is activated by depressing the Manual Focus button on the left side of the camera. As it's held down, a distance indicator appears on the LCD monitor, providing a reference scale for focusing. The up and down arrows of the Omni selector are used to focus on the subject in the monitor (the top of the scale represents infinity). Although the LCD scale is not marked numerically, the Canon G1 Camera User Guide provides an approximate scale in feet and meters on page 74 for reference.

When shooting in Autofocus mode, the G1 offers both Continuous and Single Autofocus functions. In Continuous mode, the camera is constantly adjusting focus, even when the shutter button is not depressed halfway. In Single mode, the camera focuses only when the shutter button is depressed halfway, which helps to conserve battery power. A Pan focus mode is also provided as a preset exposure on the Mode dial. It fixes the lens at the widest possible angle, allowing you to photograph at any distance (25.6 inches/65cm to infinity), without having to refocus on close-up or far-away subjects. This mode is great for fast-paced action, when subjects are in constant movement.

Digital zoom is controlled within the camera�s Record menu, with options for 2X or 4X enlargement. Digital Telephoto is not available when shooting with the G1�s Continuous Shooting or Movie modes, or when using the RAW file format. It�s important to note that the digital zoom simply enlarges the center of the CCD image, ultimately resulting in some image degradation. (Loss of image quality often shows up as increased noise or reduced image sharpness.) The good news is that the G1 accommodates several optional lens converters with a lens adaptor kit. Options include a wide-angle WC-DC58 conversion lens, which augments the lens focal length by a factor of 0.8; a tele-converter TC-DC58, which increases the lens' focal length by a factor of 1.5; and a close-up lens 250D, which brings the camera's focusing range down to 4.7-7.9 inches (12-20cm) in Macro mode.

Optical distortion on the G1 is moderately high at the wide-angle end, as we measured approximately 0.5 percent barrel distortion. The telephoto end fared much better, showing only about two pixels of pincushion distortion. Chromatic aberration is also relatively low, with about one or two pixels of coloration on each side of the black target lines. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.) All distortion figures are lower than average among digicams we've tested.

Shutter Lag/Cycle Times
When you press the shutter release on a digital camera, there's usually a lag time before the shutter actually fires. This time allows the autofocus and autoexposure mechanisms to do their work and can amount to a significant delay in some situations. Since this number is rarely reported by manufacturers or reviewers, and can significantly affect the picture-taking experience, Imaging Resource now measures shutter lag and cycle times using a prorietory electronic test setup.

Operation and User Interface
Though its combination of control buttons and dials may seem a little complicated at first glance, the G1's user interface is actually very straightforward. We generally prefer to change as many exposure settings as possible without resorting to the LCD menu, and the G1 provides a fair amount of such external control. The camera controls are somewhat spread out, but you could conceivably operate the camera one-handed and still access the majority of the buttons. We appreciated the small status display panel on top of the camera, which allows you to check current camera settings without having to activate the LCD monitor (a battery conservation feature). We also enjoyed shooting with the rotating LCD screen, which made composing shots from odd angles a little easier to manage. The ability to flip the monitor all the way around to face the back panel was great for keeping fingerprint smudges off of the screen when handling the camera.

Though we missed the security of a bulky hand-grip, it made sense to keep this already substantial camera down in size, and the small finger grips on the front and back of the camera provide a reasonably firm hold. The only control feature we had a hard time operating was the power dial, which is difficult to turn with just one finger or thumb (especially one-handed). We found the force required to turn the dial from the Shooting mode to the Off position actually pushed it beyond the target setting and on to the Replay mode. A two-finger approach worked a little better; gripping the front and back of the dial with a thumb and index finger provided just enough control to do the job right. Take note that when using the Mode dial, the settings align with a very small and inconspicuous marker jutting from the base of the flash hot shoe mount; it's easy to miss if you're not paying attention.


Control Enumeration


Zoom Toggle: Encircling the shutter button on top of the camera is toggle switch that controls the optical zoom in any record mode. Pushing it to the left gives you wide-angle and pushing it to the right zooms into telephoto.

Shutter Button: In the center of the zoom toggle switch is the shutter button. When halfway depressed, it sets focus and exposure; when fully depressed, it trips the shutter release. In the Self-Timer/Wireless mode (see below), fully depressing the shutter button triggers a 12-second countdown before the shutter is released. Holding the shutter button down after an exposure displays the captured image on the LCD monitor for as long as you hold it down. You can also program the camera to provide an automatic 2- or 10-second display of the captured image by setting the Review value in the Record menu.


Contiuous/Self-Timer/Wireless Controller Button: Located just behind the shutter button and zoom toggle switch, this button cycles between the Continuous Shooting, Self-Timer/Wireless Control, and Single frame recording modes.


Mode Dial: To the left of the Continous/Self-Timer button, and sitting on top of the camera's power control, this notched dial is used to select the camera's shooting modes. Olympus divides these functions into two categories: Image Zone and Creative Zone. Their options are as follows:

Creative Zone

• Manual (M): Provides complete control over all exposure settings, including shutter speed and lens aperture.
• Aperture-Priority AE (Tv): Allows you to set the lens aperture from f/2.0 to f/8.0 (depending on the zoom setting), while the camera controls the shutter speed. In this mode, you maintain control over all other exposure variables.
• Shutter-Speed Priority (AE): Allows you to control the shutter speed settings from 1/1,000 to 8 seconds, while the camera controls the aperture. All other exposure settings are available.
• Program AE (P): Places the camera in control of shutter speed and lens aperture, while you maintain control over everything else (i.e., white balance, ISO, metering, exposure compensation, flash, etc.).
• Auto: The camera controls everything about the exposure, except for flash mode and the image size and quality settings.

Image Zone

• Pan Focus: Fixes the camera's lens at the widest angle setting, so that close-up and distant subjects will remain within the depth-of-field. Best used for sports or fast-action photography.
• Portrait: Uses a large aperture setting to blur the background and keep the primary subject in sharp focus.
• Landscape: Employs a small aperture setting to keep both the background and foreground in focus.
• Night Scene: Uses slower shutter speeds and flash to even out nighttime exposures. The slow shutter speed allows more ambient light to be recorded in the low-light areas, while the flash freezes the subject. The red-eye reduction mode can be used with this exposure mode to eliminate red-eye in night portraits.
• Black and White: Records the image in black-and-white monotone.
• Stitch-Assist: Allows you to record a series of images, either horizontally, vertically, or in a clockwise, 360-degree pattern, to be "stitched" together into one large image or panorama on a computer.
• Movie: Records up to 30 seconds of moving images with sound, at approximately 15 frames per second.

Main/Power Dial: Located directly beneath the Mode dial, this larger notched dial controls the camera's operating mode. The following options are available:

• Shooting Mode: Sets up the camera to record still or moving images, using a variety of exposure modes. When the dial is set to a record position, the lens telescopes out from the camera body.
• Power Off: Powers the camera off, and signals the lens to retract back into the lens barrel.
• Replay Mode: Frequently referred to as "playback" mode, this function allows you to scroll through captured images, as well as erase, protect, or rotate them; make a slide show; or set them up for printing on a Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) device.
• PC Connection Mode: Sets up the camera for connecting to a computer, for either image download or remote control.

Omni Selector Arrow Pad: Positioned in the top right corner of the back panel, this rocker pad features four arrows, one in each cardinal direction. In any settings menu, these arrows navigate through menu options. In shooting modes, the left and right arrows work in conjunction with several exposure controls to adjust settings. When manual focus is enabled, the up and down arrows manually adjust focus. In manual exposure mode, the left and right arrows set the shutter speed, while the up and down arrows set the lens aperture. In aperture and shutter-speed priority modes, the left and right arrows adjust the designated exposure variable. When using the four-function exposure compensation button, the arrows help you select exposure variation in the three exposure conpensation functions, and it scrolls through white balance settings. In playback mode, the right and left arrows scroll through captured images. When the Magnifying Images mode is enabled, all four arrows allow you to move around within the enlarged image to examine detail.


Menu Button: Just beneath the Omni selector is the Menu button, which calls up the Record and Setup menus on the LCD display in all camera modes. A second press of the Menu button cancels the menu display.


Set Button: To the left of the Menu button, this button confirms or sets any on-screen menu selections. While in record mode, you can depress the button immediately after capture to bring up a review of the recorded image. It will stay on screen as long as you hold down the button. In playback mode, it sets menu options and plays back movie files.


* Button: Located to the right of the LCD monitor, this button serves as the Auto Exposure (AE) lock and Flash Exposure (FE) lock button in record mode. When Review mode is active, pressing this button pulls up an erase menu for erasing the image.


Exposure Compensation Button: Immediately below the * button, this four-function button scrolls through four shooting adjustments: exposure compensation, white balance, flash exposure compensation, and auto exposure bracketing. When set on exposure compensation (press the button one time), you can use the right and left arrow buttons to control the exposure compensation from -2 to +2 EV in one-third-step increments. The white balance setting (press two times) lets you choose the white balance value from Automatic, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Flash, and Custom. Flash exposure compensation (press three times) works similarly to the standard exposure compensation function, by adjusting the flash intensity from -2 to +2 EV in one-third-step increments. Finally, the auto exposure bracketing mode allows you to take a series of three images at different exposure variations.


Display Button: Just beneath the exposure compensation button, the Display button controls the LCD monitor's display mode. In record mode, this button turns on the image display with the first press, activates the information display with the second press, and cancels both with the third press. In playback mode, the button cycles through the captured image information displays.


Macro/Jump Button: Located over the top right corner of the LCD monitor, this button accesses the Macro function when the camera is in record mode. In playback mode, it pulls up the "jump bar." When the jump bar is displayed, the right and left arrow buttons jump either nine images forward or nine images backward.


Metering/Enlarge Button: To the left of the Macro/Jump button, this control places the camera in either spot or center-weighted average metering modes when the camera is in record mode. In playback mode, this button digitally enlarges the captured image on the LCD screen, for close-up viewing of fine details.


Diopter Adjustment Lever: Hiding on the left side of the optical viewfinder eyepiece, in a recessed niche, this lever adjusts the optical viewfinder's focus to accommodate eyeglass wearers.


Flash/Index Display Button: Positioned in the very top left corner of the back panel, this button cycles through the automatic, red-eye reduction, auto, red-eye reduction (normal), flash on, and flash off internal flash modes. In playback mode, this button displays up to nine images at a time, in a thumbnail index format, on the LCD screen.


Manual Focus Button: Located on the speaker side of the camera (closest to the lens), this button puts the camera into manual focus mode, or returns it to autofocus, when in record mode.


Battery Cover Lock: This sliding latch is located on the bottom panel of the camera, next to the battery compartment door. Sliding the switch locks and unlocks the battery compartment.

Camera Modes and Menus
We explained the G1's shooting modes in the previous section, in the process of describing the functions of the Mode Dial settings. Rather than repeat that information in this section, we'll just show you the menu screens for the major modes.

Record Menu (Red): With the exception of the Auto exposure mode, and most of the Image Zone exposure functions, the Record menu provides virtually the same options for all exposure modes. These menus are accessed by depressing the Menu button once while in one of the Shooting modes. Following are the available settings:

• Resolution: Sets the image size to (L) 2,048x1,536, (M)1,024x768, or (S) 640x480-pixel resolution (still images only).
• Compression: Alters the JPEG compression ratio to Superfine, Fine, or Normal (still images only).
• File Format: Changes the file format for still images to JPEG or RAW.
• ISO Speed: Adjusts the camera's light sensitivity to Auto, 50, 100, 200, or 400 ISO film speed equivalents.
• Digital Zoom: Activates the digital zoom function, with the options: Off, 2X, and 4X. Digital zoom is immediately applied when the setting is confirmed.
• AF Mode: Sets the frequency of the autofocus mechanism. Single autofocus sets focus whenever the shutter button is depressed halfway. Continuous autofocus adjusts the focus continuously.
  
  
• Review: Establishes a "quick review" time duration, with options for 2 or 10 seconds. You can also disable the Review function.
• File No. Reset: Options are On and Off. When this function is turned on, file naming is reset with each new CompactFlash card that is inserted into the camera.
• Contrast: Adjusts the image contrast to Weak, Neutral, or Strong.
• Sharpness: Controls the amount of image sharpness to Weak, Neutral, or Strong.
• Saturation: Sets the amount of color saturation to Weak, Neutral, or Strong.
  

Set-up Menu (Yellow): The Set-up menu provides universal camera control options that remain the same in both Shooting and Replay modes, with the exception of shutter and speaker volume (see below). This menu is accessed by depressing the Menu button once and scrolling to the right with the Omni selector arrow pad. Following are the available settings:

• Beep: Turns the camera's Beep sound On or Off.
• LCD Brightness: Adjusts the brightness level of the LCD monitor to Normal (small sun) or Bright (large sun).
• Shutter Volume (Shooting): Adjusts the volume of the shutter sound when an image is recorded. Volume options, which are selected by holding down the camera's shutter button, are on a scale of 1 to 5 and Off.
• Speaker Volume (Replay): Adjusts the camera's speaker volume when listening to recorded movies. This function uses the same scale and method of selection as above.
• Auto Power Down: Activates or deactivates the camera's automatic shut off feature.
• Date/Time: Sets the camera's internal clock and calendar.
• Format: Formats the CompactFlash card, deleting all images saved on the card.
  
  
• Language: Changes the G1's menu language to English, German, French, Spanish, or Japanese. (Some models offer additional language choices).
• Video System: Sets the video output signal to NTSC or PAL.
  

Play Menu (Blue): This menu is only available in the Replay mode. It allows you to scroll through captured images; erase, protect, and rotate them; or set them up in a slide show or for printing on a DPOF compatible device. The Play menu offers the following selections:

• Single Erase: Erases the currently displayed image from the CompactFlash card.
• Erase All: Erases all images from the CompactFlash card.
• Protect: Write protects the currently displayed image from accidental deletion, except by card formatting.
• Rotate: Rotates captured images 90 to 270 degrees clockwise.
• Slide Show: Automatically plays images in a slide show format.
• Print Order: Sets the number of images to be printed on a DPOF compatible device, as well as the number of copies.

Transfer Mode: Denoted by the crooked arrow symbol after the Playback symbol, this mode allows the camera to connect via USB cable to a computer for image downloading or remote control through the accompanying software. No menu appears in this mode.

Image Storage and Interface
The Canon G1 uses CompactFlash memory cards for image storage, accommodating both Type I and II card sizes. This means that the camera is also able to store images to an IBM MicroDrive for increased storage capacity. A 16MB CompactFlash Type I memory card is supplied with the camera. Entire CompactFlash cards cannot be write-protected, however, the G1's Play menu allows you to write-protect individual image files, protecting them from accidental erasure, unless the card is reformatted.

Still images can be saved at one of three resolutions (2,048x1,536, 1,024x768, or 640 x 480 pixels), while movie images are recorded at 320x240 pixels. Still images also have three JPEG compression levels available: Superfine, Fine, and Normal, plus a RAW setting that records the image straight from the CCD, with no further processing. RAW images require the Canon Zoom Browser software for processing on a computer. The benefit of the RAW data file format is that it compresses the image file without any loss in image quality.

A full complement of interface software comes with the G1, as does a USB cable for speedy connection to a PC or Macintosh computer. The USB interface makes it feasible to download images directly from the camera, although it still isn't quite as fast as a good external card reader. In our tests, the G1 transferred a 2.2 megabyte file in only 6.1 seconds, a data rate of 369 KBytes/second. This is about average for USB-connected cameras we've tested.

Following are the approximate resolution/quality and compression ratios for a 16MB card (compression numbers are based on our own computations):

Video Out
The G1 has a video-out port which supports the NTSC timing format on US and Japanese model televisions (the PAL standard is supported on European cameras). The video output can be used for reviewing previously recorded images or running slide shows from the camera. It also shows all three LCD menu screens, as well as the preview display from the LCD viewfinder. Combined with the very flexible controls of the wireless remote transmitter, the live video output display opens up interesting possibilities for portrait photography, such as using a video monitor as a remote viewfinder.

The output cable is a true AV cable, as it fans out into two RCA jacks, one for video, and one for audio. Plugged into any video monitor (or TV with direct video and audio inputs), the audio capabilities of the G1, combined with the wireless remote control, could make it an effective portable presentation device.


Power
The G1 is powered by an internal BP-511 rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack. The camera ships with one battery pack, as well as an AC adapter that doubles as an in-camera charger. A stand-alone charger is sold separately, as is a car AC adapter that plugs into any automobile cigarette lighter. A CR2016 lithium battery keeps the G1's internal clock going, and fits into a small compartment within the battery chamber.

Because the G1 relies on its LCD display for viewing and selecting some of its settings, it can be somewhat of a drain on the power supply. Fortunately, the camera has an automatic three-minute shutdown mode to help conserve battery power, and you can control power consumption by reducing the amount of information displayed on the LCD monitor, and keeping the autofocus mechanism in Single mode rather than Continuous mode.

This last function is the most interesting of Canon's software offerings. The RemoteCapture software interface displays a preview window with the same image as that seen on the camera's LCD monitor, along with thumbnail views of already captured images, the number of shots available, a histogram of the preview window, a listing of exposure settings, and a set of control buttons that enable you to release the shutter, rotate the image, view the image, and delete the capture. There's also a "Comments" feature that allows you to add short notations to the image file. Unfortunately, you can't change the exposure settings through the software interface, but you do have access to the self-timer and an interval shooting mode through the File menu. The Interval shooting mode is only available through the RemoteCapture software (not on the camera), and sets the camera to record a series of images at set intervals, creating the effect of time-lapse photography. Adobe Photoshop LE 5.0 provides more extensive image correction and enhancement capabilities, including a full menu of creative filters and image effects.

Like most recent Canon digicams, the G1 also supports a "RAW" file format, in which the data is taken straight from the CCD with no processing inside the camera. These RAW files can subsequently be processed on a personal computer using Canon's ZoomBrowser EX software, which lets you adjust white balance, brightness, color saturation, and sharpness post-exposure. This has several benefits. First, the RAW files are completely lossless, in that they contain all the information captured by the CCD. Relative to the more common uncompressed TIFF files though, they are quite a bit smaller, at only 2.7 megabytes instead of 9.0. (!) Finally, any modifications or tweaks you make on these files with ZoomBrowser begin with the full 10-bit data that the camera captured. This means that fewer image artifacts will result from your adjustments. Our one complaint about ZoomBrowserEX though, is how slow it is: It took a couple of minutes per image to export RAW images to TIFF format on our (admittedly now slightly elderly) 350 MHz Pentium III Windows machine. - I mean *minutes*? We don't know what the software could possibly be doing for that long, but we do appreciate the results you can obtain. It would be much preferable though, if we were able to set up the adjustment parameters for a number of images separately, then walk away while the machine converted all of them. The software will convert multiple images at once, but only one set of adjustment parameters may be applied to the whole batch.

Test Results
In keeping with our standard policy, the following comments are condensed, and summarize our key findings. For a full commentary on each of the test images, see the Canon PowerShot G1's "pictures" page.

As with all Imaging Resource camera tests, we encourage you to let your own eyes be the judge of how well the devices performed. Explore the images on the pictures page, to see how well the Canon G1 did, and how its images compare to other cameras you may be considering buying.

Overall, the G1 performed very well, with great color balance in most instances. Automatic and manual white balance settings functioned well, with good interpretation of most light sources. The indoor tungsten light test proved a little tricky, however, producing a warm, magenta cast. We also noticed odd highlights in the indoor portraits. The G1 accurately reproduced the large color blocks in the Davebox test target with reasonably vibrant color balance, and tonality was handled very well, as the subtle tonal variations of the Q60 target were completely visible up to the "B" range. The G1's color saturation adjustments did a great job of controlling color intensity, without "over-adjusting." Other than the slight casts and odd highlights, the G1 did an excellent job overall in terms of color.

The results of our resolution test supported our conclusions from the other test shots we took with the G1: The camera captures an exceptional amount of detail, easily the equal of any other 3 megapixel camera we've tested, but its images are just slightly soft, compared to the sharpest 3 megapixel cameras we've seen. (Easily corrected post-exposure in an imaging program though.) Numerically, we'd "call" the G1's resolution as about 800 lines per picture height in both vertical and horizontal directions, but there's significant detail visible well beyond that point. At very high spatial frequencies (1100 lines per picture height and above), moderate color artifacts appears, particularly in the horizontal direction. Overall, an excellent performance but, contrary to our usual chiding of manufacturers for using too much sharpening, we'd like to have seen a little more in the G1's images.

The G1 provides excellent exposure control, with automatic, program AE, shutter priority, Aperture priority, and manual exposure modes, as well as several presets for special shooting situations. The user can also control automatic or manual focus; image sharpness, contrast, and saturation; spot or center-weighted averaged metering; ISO settings; exposure compensation (for flash and normal exposures); white balance; and flash mode.

The G1 performed very well in low-light tests, producing bright, useable images in 1/16 foot candle (0.67 lux) light readings. (That's really dark!) At these low levels, and with the resultant long exposure times, there is only moderate noise present in the images, most notably at the 200 and 400 ISO settings. The 50 and 100 ISO settings showed a very minor noise level. (We direct readers to Mike Chaney's excellent Qimage Pro program, for a tool with an amazing ability to remove image noise without significantly affecting detail.) Detail looks good in each of the low-light images, but color balance is slightly warm. To put the G1's low-light performance into perspective, an average city night scene, lit by modern street lamps, has a light level of about one foot candle. Bottom line, the G1 can probably see better in the dark than you can!

We found the G1's optical viewfinder to be quite tight, showing about 85 percent of the final image area at wide angle, and about 82.6 percent at the telephoto setting. The LCD monitor was much more accurate, showing approximately 96.5 percent at wide angle, and about 97 percent at telephoto. (We actually found that, at the telephoto setting, measurements for the LCD monitor differed just slightly with the image size. It showed 97.0 percent of the image at 2,048 pixels, 96.9 percent at 1,024 pixels, and 96.8 percent at 640 pixels.) We like to see LCD monitors perform as close to 100 percent accuracy as possible, and the G1 comes very close to the mark.

The G1 also performed well in the macro category, capturing a minimum area of just 3.21 x 2.41 inches (81.64 x 61.23mm). Color balance is a little cool, but detail and resolution both look great. The G1's built-in flash does a good job of throttling down for the macro area, tricked ever so slightly by the shiny coin. Color balance appears a little blue with the flash exposure, and the large silver coin shows a few magenta highlights.

Despite some difficulties with color and white balance under incandescent lighting, the G1 turned in an impressive performance. Throughout our testing, the camera's exposure controls and features proved excellent for fine-tuning exposures to achieve optimum results. It also did a great job in both the macro and low-light categories. Overall, a very solid, performance with excellent control.


Conclusion
Its compact size, excellent exposure controls, and unique rotating LCD monitor, make the Canon PowerShot G1 a great option for novice consumers who want a camera with room to grow, and the RAW data file format and RemoteCapture computer-control capabilities should also entice more advanced digicam consumers. Overall, the G1 produces excellent image quality, good color balance, and is accompanied by a robust software package. All things considered, we think the G1 is a great solution for anyone who wants the utility of a fully manual digicam, with the ease of automated control. Clearly, one of the strongest performers in the three megapixel arena: Canon's going to sell a lot of these!

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