Specifications

PC MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 16, 2003 www.pcmag.com
36
FIRST LOOKS
BY LES FREED
T
he new 5-megapixel
Canon PowerShot G5 cuts
to the front of the line in
Canon’s lineup of point-and-
shoot digital cameras. At $800,
this isn’t the camera to get your
mom started in digital photogra-
phy. But the
G5 will appeal to
hobbyist shutterbugs who can’t
afford the $1,500 price that digital
SLRs command.
The
G5—and similar cameras
like the Nikon Coolpix 5700 and
the Olympus Camedia C-5050—
have a lot to offer displaced 35-
mm
SLR users. The G5’s image
quality isn’t at the same level as
that of the digital
SLR cameras
we’ve tested, but it is excellent
for a compact camera.
Although the
G5 includes only
one interchangeable lens, the
built-in 4
X lens (equivalent to a
35- to 140-mm lens on a 35-mm
camera) should provide more
than enough flexibility for most
users. And the
G5’s fine close-
focus macro feature lets you get
up close on small objects. For
users who want to go beyond the
basics, Canon offers add-on tele-
photo, wide angle, and close-up
lenses, as well as a wide range of
external flash units.
The
G5 is a pleasure to use. On
the outside, the
G5 has a busi-
nesslike flat-black finish in place
of previous models’ satin
aluminum look. Canon’s trade-
mark twist-and-flip screen has
been slightly improved; it now
folds completely flat against the
camera body when not in use.
The
G5 is one of the first cam-
eras we’ve seen to include an
orientation sensor. The camera
(and Canon’s excellent Zoom-
Browser image viewer software)
knows which pictures were
taken vertically, so vertical shots
display vertically on your moni-
tor without your having to
rotate the image.
Despite its point-and-shoot
mission in life, the
G5 has a very
complete range of manual con-
trols. Its exposure meter and
automatic white balance per-
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lllll
Macromedia
Contributes
Even More
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The PowerShot G5 point-
and-shoot is an
impressive
choice for
serious
hobbyists.
formed better than most com-
pact cameras we’ve tested, pro-
ducing good color and accurate
exposure even in difficult light-
ing situations. Like Canon’s
SLR
cameras, the G5 uses a short pre-
flash to determine proper flash
exposure, which helps avoid
washed-out pictures taken with
flash at close range.
Compared with the Pentax
Optio 550, our current Editors’
Choice among enthusiast cam-
eras (see “Snap Happy,” Septem-
ber 2), the
G5 is better in every
way. In fact, the
G5 delivers the
best image quality we’ve seen yet
from a digital point-and-shoot.
The unit comes with a 32
MB
Compact-
Flash card, a
lithium ion battery, a charger,
and an infrared remote control.
Battery life is indeed impressive:
We took more than 400 pictures
(with extensive use of the
LCD
screen for framing and image
review) on a single charge.
The one drawback is inherited
from the
G3: At the
widest zoom set-
ting, the camera’s
lens blocks part of the
view in the optical
viewfinder. But for many
users, the great images and excel-
lent battery life will be enough to
compensate.
Canon PowerShot G5
$800 street. Canon USA Inc., 1-800-
828-4040; www.usa.canon.com.
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Top-of-the-Line Point-and-Shoot