Canon PowerShot G1X MkII

           I've always wanted a nice compact camera with a big sensor and I did buy the Sony NEX 3 and NEX 5, five years ago. Those were groundbreaking cameras back then. Super compact body with an APS-C sensor. However, the lenses were a huge disappointment. The 18-55mm kit lens and 16mm f2.8 pancake lens were terrible. The kit lens was a very soft, everything looked soft and fuzzy. The pancake lens was my favourite 24mm FF equivalent focal length but at f2.8 just didn't cut it for me. It also had a horrible, bulky, screw on flash. The size of the camera wasn't all that compact either, with the 18-55mm lens and flash. It was actually quite front heavy and unwieldy. I sold them off after a while. I much preferred my Leica D-Lux 4 and Lumix LX3. Those 2 lil cameras were fantastic and I've always yearned for a new camera with the qualities of the D-Lux4/LX3 but with a big huge sensor in it. Anyway, let's get on with the Canon PowerShot G1X MkII.

            It has taken Canon a long time but they have finally come out with a superb lil pocket rocket camera. I was quite tempted by the first G1X but it was riddled with flaws. The new G1X MkII is now a dream come true for me. I've waited 5 long years for a camera like it. Here's why I love it so much.

1. Compact body. Fits in my cargo shorts pocket.

2. Big 1.5" sensor which is almost as big as full APS-C.

3. Very nice focal length of 24-120mm FF equivalent.

4. Very fast lens at f2.0-f3.9.

5. Built in pop up flash that can bounce.

6. 2 Control Rings on lens barrel which allows customisation for eg. Aperture, Shutter, Exposure compensation etc.

7. NFC and Wifi with iOS and Android compatibility. The Android phone/tablet app works very well and file transfers are very quick. I haven't tried it with IOS yet.

8. Hotshoe is compatible with all my Canon Speedlites including the ST-E2 wireless flash commander.

9. A nice and sharp, tilting 3", 1.04M dot touchscreen LCD. The tilting LCD combined with the 24mm wide angle lens makes for very good selfies. Don't laugh, I do it a lot and I know you do too. Haha.

10. Solid build. Full magnesium and aluminum construction if I remember reading correctly. Feels like a Panzer Tank in my hands.

11. I also read an interview of the Canon engineers who developed the camera, that the lens unit is actually made to Canon L Lens standards. They just couldn't label it as such because it's a designation allowed on the full frame EF lenses only. I remember there was actually a PowerShot with a red ring and labeled as L Lens but Canon never used the L Lens label on a compact ever again. Maybe it suffered from bad sales figures or something and Canon didn't want to jeopardise the L reputation?

I've only had it for a couple of days and that's all I can think of. I will add more pros and cons about it after using it for another week or so.

Here's some sample pics. I will post up more soon.