g111The Powershot G series has already made its place on the top steps of the competing compact camera ladder and the Powershot G11 does not take away from the already earned reputation as one of the most purchased compact camera names.

With a 10 megapixel CCD Sensor and a 2.8 inch tilt and swivel LCD boasting 460,000 dot resolution and 100% coverage, the G11 does not fall short in delivering just what a photographer needs in a compact camera.

You might be curious at this point, as the G11’s predecessor had a 14.1 megapixel Sensor…Canon has done their research and generally speaking, there is no major drawback of having those additional pixels (ignoring the fact that your memory card would fill up faster and your camera would operate slower with the additional information it is processing) BUT a camera with less pixels will often have larger photosites and these will receive more light in the same exposure as a camera with additional pixels. So having less pixels in the G11 helps the camera to produce clearer images in lower light. Canon has made this move to compete with Panasonic’s LX3 and have done so wisely as this seems to be their main competitor in the compact camera range.

Other features of the Canon Powershot G11 include a 5 times wide angle zoom lens with an optical image stabilizer (28 – 140mm equivalent), 26 shooting modes with manual control as well as custom settings and the ability to record VGA movies at 30 frames per second (recording up to 4 gigs or one hour of film).

ISO settings range from between 80 and 3200 ISO. The previous model only reached 1600.
There are some fun scene modes like colour swop and colour accent as well as the standard array of scene options like kids & pets, landscape, portrait, snow, night etc

The Auto White Balance option includes face detection white balance. There are other white balance features as well to assist in tricky surroundings like the beach.
You also have a self timer to play with which can be set at 2 or 10 seconds and continuous shooting options range from 1.1 shots per second to 0.7 shots per second in autofocus mode and 0.8 shots per second in live view (running until the memory card is full)

There is an great feature called My Colours which aids you in creating a more personalised image by enhancing certain colours.
the various options in My Colours include; Vivid, Sepia, Light Skin Tone, Dark Skin Tone, Vivid Green / Blue / Red, Positive Film, Black & White, Neutral and Custom.

Handling the Canon Powershot G11 was an incredibly comfortable process. Canon has brought back some of the features that were taken away in previous models, like the tilt and swivel LCD and boast newer features like dedicated Exposure and ISO dials and  Low Light and Quick Shot modes. The body is very snug to hold and does not differ much from the G10.

Weighing in at 355 grams without the battery the camera is light and easy to carry with dimensions of 112 x 76 x 48 mm. The battery is a rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery NB-7L

Although the Canon Powershot G11 has a powerful flash built in, you have the option of using external flashes such as the E-TTL with EX series Speedlites, Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX, Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX and the Canon High Power Flash HF-DC1.

The G11 is compatible with the following memory storage options: HC MMCplus,  MMCplus,  MMC, SD, SDHC.

The lens on the Powershot G11 is a 35mm equivalent: 28 – 140mm. It has an f range of 6.1 to 30.5 and as mentioned above, a 5 times optical zoom.

All in all a great choice for a compact camera the Canon Powershot G11 gives its competitors a good run for their money!

http://www.sacamera.co.za/productdetail/CANG11/Canon-Powershot-G11.html

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