Canon slashes megapixels from next-gen PowerShot
From the 14MP G10 to the 10Mp G11
Canon has introduced its latest PowerShot camera: the G11, which replaces the existing G10.
The first thing to note about the G11 is that Canon’s significantly reduced the number of megapixels between the two models. Whereas the G10 featured a 14.7Mp CCD sensor, the G11 is actually only a 10Mp camera.
That's no bad thing. The race to bring more megapixels to compact cameras has come at the cost of the need for more complex noise-reduction technology which has had an inevitable impact on picture quality, a problem even on the 12MP PowerShot G9.
Canon's PowerShot G11: fewer megapixels than its predecessor
Indeed, Canon claimed the G11 "greatly improves noise performance” by up to two stops, compared to the G10.
It also features what Canon calls "I-Contrast" technology to prevent high-light blowouts while retaining low-light detail in images.
The latest PowerShot still has the G10’s same 5x optical zoom, but offers a slightly smaller LCD screen: 2.8in, compared to the G10’s 3in display.
As a plus, the G11 features a “low light” mode that enables the camera to shoot at 12,800 ISO sensitivity – but you will have to jump down to 2.5Mp to achieve this. Images can be captured at up to 2.4fps, and Canon added that the G11 improves on the G10’s external flash sync speed by jumping from 1/500th second to 1/2000th second.
Elsewhere on the PowerShot G11 you will find an HDMI port – although the HDMI cable is optional.
Canon’s PowerShot G11 will be available in the UK from October, priced at £570 ($943/€662). ®
COMMENTS
Image quality, not pixel count is what matters
Finally, common sense has broken out.
Cameras had FAR too many pixels for their sensor size and had become noisy in anything but bright sunlight of flash.
Following the lead of the Panasonic LX3, Canon have topped out the pixels at 10 MP and got the pixel size up a bit.
dpreview.com has a lot to answer for as they publish resolution measurements on perfectly lit targets, but at least some common sense has prevailed here.
Educating the "rest of the world" that pixel size is more important than excessive pixel count will be a tall order - people (especially men) like simple numeric variables to judge by.
Maybe, you just specify the pixel area in square microns (bigger is better).
Finally, some sanity!
This is excellent news. The G series has always been considered "professionals' companions", and this will endear them no end as their most obvious competition in Panasonic dither around with rumours rather than products. Hopefully it will mark the start of a real change, though I'm not too optimistic. Olympus recognise that even at DSLR sensor sizes there is no benefit in going above 12Mp, and are instead focusing (sic) on making the most of that resolution. 10Mp on a 1/1.7" sensor is still a little dense for my liking (23Mp/cm²), but probably unavoidable on a compact, and definitely a step in the right direction... which doesn't have a hope in hell of filtering down to any more consumer-oriented cameras, alas.
