Once upon a time I had a camera. Actually I've had quite a few and never really been completely happy with them despite the fact they were all at least OK and some were very good at some things. None of them however really met all my criteria, those stipulations being portability, ease of use with the option of being as complicated as I want it to be, extreme versatility, excelent video and of course, outstanding pictures. I think I have finaly managed to meet all those needs with my new Canon G10.

First off, some specs:

* 14.7 Megapixel CCD sensor

* 5x wide-angle (28mm) optical zoom lens with optical Image Stabilizer

* RAW image recording plus support for Canon Digital Photo Professional

* DIGIC 4 for clear, sharp images, high-speed AF (including Servo AF) and fast response times

* Targets all the main causes of blur with High ISO Auto, optical

Image Stabilizer, Motion Detection Technology and Auto ISO shift

* Great people shots with improved Face Detection AF/AE/FE/WB plus

Face Select & Track and FaceSelf-Timer

* 3.0" PureColor LCD II (461k dots resolution) with wide viewing angle and optical viewfinder

* i-Contrast boosts brightness and retains detail in dark areas

* Dedicated Exposure Compensation and ISO dials

* 26 shooting modes with manual control and custom settings

* Accessories include tele-converter, Speedlite flashes and waterproof case

* Smooth, 30fps VGA movies

The first thing you notice about the G10 is the look. With it's very retro black metal case and little machined dials sticking out all over the place it's hard not to reminise about the rangefinder cameras your dad carried in the sixties. The heft is pleasently solid without being anoyingly heavy, there are no shiny chrome things to tart up the otherwise classic black on black colour scheme and although you need a decent sized pocket to carry it around in, you can carry it around unlike a DSLR which pretty much dictates what you do and how you do it due to it's unavoidable bulk and fragility.

15 megapixels. 15 million dots of colour is a lot of dots. In fact, many consider it to be way too many for a compact image sensor as opposed to the larger sensors of most DSLR's. Too many pixels on too small a sensor can result in muddy blurry pictures. I'm pleased to say this isn't the case with the G10, in fact, it's been said by more than one reviewer that the G10 in the lower ISO settings (under 400) is capable of producing images every bit the equal of Canons upper middle range DSLR, the 50D. At ISO settings over 400 you are looking at a bit of noise but nothing unreasonable and I like the slightly gritty effect it adds to some of my darker pics.  The picture below is at 800 ISO

The LCD display on the back is one of the largets and clearest screens I have seen on a camera. The 3" display is sharp enough to be usefull for manual focusing as it has one of the higest available resolutions to be found on the back of a camera anywhere.

The face focus feature works great and is kinda fun to use. It locks on to one or more faces and tracks them as you move the camera around. Your portait and group shots are always properly focused and exposed. The G10 also has a self timer linked to the face recognition. You lock focus on a person you are taking a picture of and then the camera automaticly takes the shot when another face comes into the frame. You can set it to take muliple shots so you can experiment with expressions without having to get up and set it again.

The exposure compensation dial is right on top on the left side and when using it in conjuction with the live histogram you will never take a bad exposure again unless you want to. Likewise the various photo modes and ISO setting are accessed quickly and easily by a dial on the right next to the shutter release and zoom. The shutter can be controlled with an optional infrared remote.

The Zoom is 4x with a digital zoom that will take it up to 20x. (Ya ya, I know, digital zoom sucks, why even have it on the camera. Check out the pic below shot from about 200 feet at full digital zoom, hand held to boot. Any other camera I've ever tried that with would have just given me a blur.) At the low end the 28mm lens is quite a bit wider than the average point and shoot and very equivelnt to the kit lens found on most DSLR's. The camera will focus at less than 1cm for macro shots.

I've never really had a lot of faith in digital image stabilisation, all that has changed now. In short, it really works well. You can see for your self how well by looking at the image in the LCD as you hold it by hand and them turning the IS off and looking at the same shot. You won't believe how much vibration it cancells out. It does this by actualy tilting the lens elements. It also delivers a 4 stop advantage for improved performance in low-light conditions, when shooting at the telephoto end of the lens and when vibrations are more severe. It also features increased sensitivity to low frequency vibration, such as the rocking of a boat. Minute vibration gyros detect camera movement caused by hand shake.

The panorama Feature is pretty slick and a piece of cake to use.

For those of us that like to play with our pictures in photoshop, you have the option of shooting in RAW for the ultimate in data retention and image control. You can also shoot in RAW and JPEG at the same time.

So are you getting the imression I recomend this camera? I really love it. For $450 you just aren't going to find a better point-n-shoot with this much optional control. The Canon G10 is considered the compact camera of choice for many professional photographers to use when they don't feel like hauling all their gear around. I can see why.