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Canon Powershot G10 14.7MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom | 
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| Brand: Canon
Category: Photography
List Price: $499.99
Buy New: $412.95
You Save: $87.04 (17%)
New (63) Used (3) from $388.00
Rating:  75 reviews
Sales Rank: 11
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Monitor Size: 300
Includes Software: Yes
Optical Zoom: 5
Digital Zoom: 4
Connectivity: AV
Display Size: 3
Maximum Focal Length: 30.5
Minimum Focal Length: 6.1
Maximum Resolution: 14700000
Has Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 4.3 x 3.1 x 1.8
nv:Sensor: 14.7 Megapixel
Image Resolution: 1600 x 1200
Image Resolution: 640 x 480
Image Resolution: 2592 x 1944
Image Resolution: 3456 x 2592
Image Resolution: 4416 x 3312
Image Resolution: 4416 x 2480
Movie Resolution: 640x480
Movie Resolution: 320x240
Storage Media: MultiMediaCard
Storage Media: HC MMC Plus Card
Storage Media: SD/SDHC Memory Card
Storage Media: MMC Plus Card
Compressed Format: JPEG (Exif Ver 2.2 )
Movie File Format: Mov
Optical Zoom: 5x
Digital Zoom: 4X
Combined Zoom: 20x
MPN: G10
Model: G10
UPC: 013803100075
EAN: 0013803100075
ASIN: B001G5ZTPY
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | 14.7-megapixel resolution for the highest image quality and editing flexibility | | • | 5x optical zoom with Optical Image Stabilizer; 28mm wide-angle lens | | • | DIGIC 4 Image Processor improves Face Detection; full range of shooting and recording modes, including RAW | | • | 3.0-inch PureColor LCD II with even greater true-to-life color reproduction | | • | Capture images to SD/SDHC memory card |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Advanced amateur photographers are a discerning group, and theyve flocked to Canons G-Series for its ability to meet and exceed their demands. The third-generation PowerShot G10 is a stunning successor, loaded with uncompromising specs like 14.7 megapixels, a 28mm wide-angle lens, and Canons new DIGIC 4 Image Processor for notably improved face and motion detection. This is a camera that supports and nurtures creativity, with a full range of shooting and recording modes and compatibility with exciting accessories including Speedlite flashes.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 70 more reviews...
 Bad noise over ISO 200 October 7, 2008
B. Husick (Seattle, WA USA)
198 out of 242 found this review helpful
I am a professional photographer who shoots with many different cameras. My SLRs are Canon. I also shoot digital and film with Leicas. I bought the G10 in the hopes that Canon's use of the Digic IV processor would yield low noise images. I was wrong. The noise starts to ruin the photos at levels of ISO 200 and above. That's not acceptable in today's camera market. Unless you plan to shoot outdoors in bright conditions all the time, don't bother with this camera. The ergonomics are good and the build quality is top notch, but the imager is just not up to the job. Perhaps someday the megapixel race will end and manufacturers will go back to 6 or 7 megapixels with super-low noise at high ISO. They would do us all a favor if they moved in this direction. I did not own a G9 so I can't compare them.
I returned the camera the same day it arrived after shooting test images in RAW format, giving the camera the best possible chance of pleasing.
It is possible to have great image quality in a pocket camera. Just look at the Sigma DP-1.
Since first writing this review, I did similar tests on the new Leica D-Lux4 (similar to the Panasonic LX3) and the performance of this camera was great up to and including ISO800. The Leica is more expensive ($849) but the Panasonic is about the same price as the Canon G10.
 A great in-between camera October 14, 2008
Lauren Holmes (USA)
179 out of 183 found this review helpful
I'm a hobbyist who long ago owned a Konica SLR and shot lots of slides. In the digital age, I've only owned point-and-shoot cameras and have become frustrated by their lack of flexibility and quality. I looked long and hard at SLRs but don't yet feel I can spring for the price. I also wanted something more easily portable. But I wanted complete control over shutter speed and aperture, and I wanted to be able to shoot in RAW for more post-processing flexibility. I decided to spring for the G10.
Since purchasing this camera about a week ago, I've taken about 2,000 shots. (I went a little nuts!) Here's what I've learned so far:
-- Although the auto settings produced very good pictures, this camera really comes into its own when you shoot in Manual mode. I was able to routinely get some vivid fall sunset scenes on a lake with beautifully saturated color and contrast by tweaking shutter speed and aperture settings separately.
-- I'd say that the noise at 400+ without post-tweaking is considerable, though nowhere near what I used to see on 400 ISO film back in the day. It was easily reduced post-processing using a noise-reduction program that works within Photoshop, and I ended up with some beautiful indoor shots with minimal effort. I even took some night landscape pictures with a bright moon at 1600, and was pleasantly surprised at the results after tweaking them afterward.
-- I was able to get extremely sharp photos in macro mode (closeups of bees in flowers, that kind of thing), again without a tripod. I'm still getting the hang of focusing on the exact part of the flower that I want; I find it more cumbersome to do it with this camera than I did with my old SLR (where you just turned the lens with your hand).
-- The camera did a good job out of the box at face recognition. The built-in flash on auto settings was just OK; it didn't hideously over-expose the faces, but it didn't look entirely natural either. Again, moving away from the auto settings and using fill flash judiciously helped me create some much more natural and attractive portraits. I would imagine adding a separate flash attachment would help even more. I found my favorite portraits were taken with no flash at all and some light tweaking with contrast in Photoshop.
-- The optical zoom met my needs well. I loved having the wide-angle capability for landscape shots, and I got some gorgeous, very clear pictures of a bald eagle at the top of a tree with the telephoto zoom. The camera clearly showed me when I was moving beyond the optical zoom into digital zoom, and my pictures of the eagle deteriorated accordingly. I will probably turn off the digital zoom.
-- The camera comes with all kinds of built-in scene settings (snow, night snapshots, sunsets, underwater, etc.), most of which I haven't yet found that helpful. I did get a couple of fun foliage shots using the sunset and foliage settings, but in both cases I could've gotten the same results simply tweaking in Photoshop afterward. If you don't want to mess with post-processing programs or playing with the camera's controls, I could see how these scene settings could be useful.
-- Photoshop CS3 can't open the RAW files from this camera yet. This is a big drawback for my purposes. I have opened the RAW files in the Canon software that comes with the camera, but it's not nearly as powerful or intuitive as Photoshop. So for now, I'm exporting the RAW files to Photoshop as TIFFs, and they're enormous -- 85 MG. The quality is marvelous, however, and I'm hoping that Adobe will quickly add support for the G10.
I'll try to add some photo examples to this review. I noticed they get a little washed out when saved for the web; the originals are much more vivid.
As point-and-shoots go, this is about as good as it gets for my purposes. I gave it five stars, though I'd like to give it a half-star demerit for the lack of RAW support in Photoshop (a problem I hope will soon be corrected). If you're not quite ready for the leap to an SLR but you want more control and quality than the common point-and-shoot camera, this is an outstanding choice.
The happy medium between dSLR's and point and shoot cameras October 7, 2008
N. Hawkins (Chicago)
98 out of 107 found this review helpful
It's important to understand this camera within context: This isn't a digital SLR replacement or a pocket d-SLR. This is an excellent camera for someone who is a dSLR shooter as a backup, or even someone wanting to graduate from a point and shoot to allow them more control over the camera.
The Powershot G10 incorporates a few new features over it's predecessor, the G9. It loses it's 6x optical zoom down to 5x optical zoom, but packs 14.7 megapixels, features a wide-angle zoom compared to the G9, and uses Canon's new Digic IV processing engine.
The Pros:
* RAW capture. RAW photos don't feature any of the conversions that JPGs do, but also takes up a lot more space. Your typical RAW photo out of this camera will be 15MB, versus 4MB for a high quality JPG. It's nice having this flexibility.
* Supports Canon's Speedlite external flash units.
* Manual controls over aperture and shutter speed for additional controls. This is the single biggest advantage to the G10: if you have a SLR of any type, you're used to changing f-stops, shutter speed and other things on the fly to take better and more creative photos.
* Shoots VGA video. I would have like to have seen 720p video myself.
The cons:
* Expensive spare batteries. $70? Seriously, that's insane.
* Early adopters will find out that Adobe products (Lightroom, Photoshop) and Apple Aperture won't support the G10's RAW - yet. *fingers crossed* You can use the included Canon software, which I find unweildy and a pain to deal with.
I do recommend picking up a 4gb SDHC card, such as a Kingston or Sandisk. Class 6 cards are recommended to handle those large files that you'll be shooting. Also, this won't fit in most camera pouches (I couldn't get it to fit in any of the Lowepro pouches without me feeling like I'm smushing it in there) so you're better off going to a camera store and trying them out.
In the few days that I've had this camera, I feel happy for having it, and it definitely feels like a more "adult" camera than my previous Powershots (not to say that they weren't any good, it's just that I've gotten to the point as a photographer where I *need* the flexibility that this camera can provide.) If you're looking at making the jump to something more advanced, then give this camera a try. You won't regret it.
 The Shooter's Point and Shoot October 10, 2008
E. F. Paredes (California USA)
70 out of 71 found this review helpful
If you're in the market for a general purpose advanced point and shoot digital camera, try this one for size.
- The controls are nicely laid out - all the things you need to compose your shot (exposure settings, macro/normal button, flash on/off etc) are all readily accessible on the right side of the camera body
- It's lightweight yet feels sturdy
- It lends itself well to accessories such as teleconverters, external flash units, and even a waterproof shell
- The LCD screen is huge and bright and contains plenty of useful information like (for example) a live histogram, exposure settings, gridlines to help you shoot straight, and even an exposure meter when shooting fully manual
- At 28mm wide you can get a big group of people into the shot quite easily
- There's plenty of shooting options that will cover most needs
I gave the G10 4 stars because I'm being nitpicky:
- When shooting through the viewfinder, there is no info at all about your exposure setting, number of shots, battery life, etc. Nothing. Just the view. (I do like how the image magnifies accordingly when you zoom)
- The aperture opens up only to 2.8 and closes down only to 8.0, when shooting full manual mode.
- And sadly yes, there is a fair amount of pixel noise when shooting in low light without either a flash or tripod. This could be a problem for those of us who have been scolded for popping off flashes where we shouldn't.
I did not expect this camera to rise to the level of a high quality film SLR or DSLR. When I bought it I was in the market for a good street photography camera - something light and surreptitious enough to photograph unique things I would come across in my daily romps in the city. Something that I could tweak a bit instead of relying on the camera's preset exposures.
For that use the Powershot G10 suits me just fine - even exceeding my expectations at certain levels. It's worth a try.
The best compact camera under $1000. October 10, 2008
N. Schweitzer (Tempe, AZ United States)
44 out of 50 found this review helpful
I was quite nervous about the G10. I would have hoped Canon would keep the resolution (megapixels) low in order to decrease noise, and when I saw the 15MP resolution, I assumed the photos would be sub-par. Nevertheless, I needed a full-manual compact camera and took the plunge.
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with the G10's performance. Indeed, the image quality is not the same as the shots from my 40D (digital SLR), but it is very good. The images are clear, sharp and vibrant. There is only minimal artifacting and noise at ISO 80 - 200. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I think ISO400 is fine for everyday shots. ISO800 is fairly noisy, and 1600 is a last resort setting. (But, make no mistake, the image quality at these settings is as good or better than all other compacts I've seen, including my Fuji F31fd, which is legendary for good low-light performance.)
If you are looking for an advanced point-and-shoot camera, I believe you won't find a better one than the G10. There are a few very expensive ($1000+) rangefinder and APS sensor compacts, but I haven't tried them.
One last thing to keep in mind when judging this camera. Because of the high resolution, the noise is going to be finer and more subtle when you look at an overall image. If you zoom in to 100% resolution on a 7MP photo, you are seeing twice the image area as when you zoom in to 100% on a 15MP photo. If you want to compare the G10's image quality to that of other cameras, make sure you zoom both images to the same size, and not just to 100%. Only then can you make an accurate comparison of the image quality.
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