Canon Skips G8 and Goes Directly to Powershot G9

In terms of high-end compact cameras, Canon has updated the Powershot G7 with... well not with the G8 as you'd have expected, but with the G9. Judging from the specifications, things look pretty good for the future owners of Canon's "professional" compact model.

Aside from the already classic design, you get an insanely high 12.1 pixel count (you know the story of the tiny sensor packed with gazillions of photodiodes) on a 1/1.7 inch CCD, which does offer some advantage over the smaller 1/2.5 inch imaging units.

Moving right along, we have the new DIGIC III processor, which is now being introduced in most of the cameras, be them compact or DSLRs. According to Canon, this implementation offers superior image quality and speed and a Fuji feature, namely face detection. But the most important feature is the RAW mode, which was absent from the previous G7. In fact, when the G7 came out, many aficionados complained about Canon's decision of removing the RAW feature and it seems that all was not in vain for the G series. According to Canon's description, the Face Detection algorithm automatically prioritizes and selects faces and not simply the closest object (based on Canon's Intelligent Scene Analysis/iSAPS technology). It will then optimize the focus, exposure and flash to ensure the best possible results.

Optically speaking, Canon's stabilized lens boasts a 35-210mm focal range (6x optical zoom), the standard for the G series, but the maximum aperture is slightly disappointing, f/2.8 at the wide end and only f/4.8 at the tele end.

Other features include the hot-shoe, which takes EOS Speedlite flashes, a 3-inch LCD monitor and ISO sensitivities ranging from 80 to 1600 (ISO 3200 is possible via special mode).

All in all, the PowerShot G9, likely to be available in stores in October for $499.99 offers a good array of features and can be regarded as a possible purchase by pro photographers who want a holiday camera and by more serious amateurs who don't want to invest in a DSLR system.

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