A discussion of the photo quality of the Canon PowerShot G11 with sample images.
Lori Grunin
I've been reviewing hardware and software, devising testing methodology and handed out buying advice for what seems like forever; I'm currently absorbed by computers and gaming hardware, but previously spent many years concentrating on cameras. I've also volunteered with a cat rescue for over 15 years doing adoptions, designing marketing materials, managing volunteers and, of course, photographing cats.
There are no surprises in the G11's noise profile. Photos look clean at ISO 80 and ISO 100, while softening begins at ISO 200. At ISO 400 you can begin to see some degradation in detail, in addition to the softness, and by ISO 800 there's enough blue-channel noise to produce some yellow splotches.
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Noise, ISO 400
ISO 400 was a bit disappointing for this class of camera, especially given the drop in resolution. There's still sufficient detail for a lot of scenes, but you also see the yellow blotches and some white pixels from the noise suppression.(1/20 sec, f2.8, spot metering, AWB, ISO 400, 28mm equivalent)
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Noise, ISO 800
Depending upon scene content, ISO 800 shots may be usable scaled down a bit. Switching to raw at high-ISO sensitivities didn't help much (processing using either Adobe Camera Raw or Canon's Digital Photo Pro); the JPEGs are fairly well optimized. (1/20 sec, f3.2, spot metering, AWB, ISO 800, 28mm equivalent)
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Noise, G11 vs. G10, ISO 800
Thanks to the drop in resolution, the G11's photos display significantly less noise than the G10's. The trad-eoff is that at ISO 80 and ISO 100, where both cameras are relatively noise-free, you lose the extra resolution the G10 provided. Overall, though, the G11 delivers more-accurate colors as well.
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Distortion
At its widest, 28mm equivalent, the G11's lens displays some symmetrical barrel distortion, but not an usual amount.
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Sharpness
The G11 renders pretty sharp details (1/100, f4.5, ISO 200, AWB, evaluative metering, ISO 200, 140mm equivalent)
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Fringing
The G11's lens doesn't display much fringing, but there is a bit, especially around the edges where there's a touch of lens distortion. It's not usually bad, though.
