Canon Powershot G10 Features

The Canon Powershot G10 is a 14.7 megapixel digital camera with a 5x wide angle, optical zoom. If you are prepared to shoot at a lower resolution extra zoom becomes available. 4x digital zoom is a further option for increasing zoom. The focal length of the lens is equivalent to 28 - 140mm in 35mm format.

Basics

Red-Eye Correction: During shooting and playback
Sound Memo: Up to 60 seconds per image
Self Timer: 2 or 10 seconds, custom, face self-timer
Setting for widescreen television playback
Image Stabilisation
CCD Size: 1/1.7 inches

Focusing Options

The focusing options include manual focus and Servo AF to track moving subjects. For close up shots the Powershot G10 can focus from 1cm. Focus bracketing is also available.

LCD and Viewfinder

The LCD monitor is 3 inches in size. The screen is made up of around 461,000 dots. This is double the standard number of pixels that usually make up a screen. The screen is the brightest and clearest I have come across when reviewing compact digital cameras.

There is also an optical viewfinder. The viewfinder has dioptre correction. This allows you to focus the viewfinder to suit your eyesight.

Flash

Canon has provided far more flash options with the Powershot G10 than a more standard digital camera has. The basic flash modes are: automatic, on and off. You can also apply slow sync speed and red eye reduction. In addition flash exposure compensation and flash exposure lock are available. You can also adjust the intensity of the flash and select second curtain synchronisation.

The maximum flash range is 4.6m. This falls to 2.8m when the zoom lens is fully extended.

Scene Modes

There are a number of preset scene modes. These are: Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Sports, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, Indoor, Sunset, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Aquarium and Underwater.

Colour Options

Further control over the way your photos will look is provided by a number of colour options. These are: Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red and Custom Color. You can also choose to swap and accent colours.

Movies

You can shoot movies with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. The top recording speed is 30 frames per second. Sound can be recorded and optical zoom can be applied before shooting starts. Digital zoom can be applied during shooting

The maximum length of a movie is 4GB of storage or 1 hour.

Advanced Features

Among the more advanced features are:

Metering Modes: Evaluative, Centre-weighted average, Spot
Exposure Compensation: +/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments
Store in RAW format
Manual Exposure: Fully manaul, shutter priority, aperture priority
Stich Assist for panoramic photos
Maximum Aperture: f/2.8 (wide) f/4.5 (tele)
Bracketing: 1/3 - 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments
Sensitivity: Auto, High ISO Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
Shutter Speeds: 15 to 1/4000 seconds
White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash, Underwater, Custom 1, Custom 2
Continuous Shooting: Up to 1.3 shots per second