The Good: Optical viewfinder; articulated LCD; built-in neutral-density filter; very good photo quality for its class. The Bad: Shot-to-shot performance still a little sluggish; some annoying controls. The Bottom Line: Relatively unchanged from its predecessor, save the addition of 720p video, the Canon PowerShot G12 remains a very good, more-or-less compact model, designed to please photo enthusiasts. Photos:Canon PowerShot G12 Practically identical to its predecessor, the G11, the few updates to the Canon PowerShot G12 include 720/24p video capture--a much-needed boost over the outdated VGA movies--now with stereo audio and a Mini-HDMI connector. Like the S95, the G12 also adds an HDR scene mode that combines three shots. Unlike implementations that take advantage of fast , however, it requires the steadiness of a tripod, making it only marginally useful. As you'd expect, the G12's image quality mirrors that of the G11's. It looks great at the lowest ISO sensitivities, with excellent color and exposure; you can start to see a slight bit of detail degradation starting at ISO 200 that becomes more overt (along with noisy) at ISO 400. ISO 800 is probably the highest usable setting under the most forgiving circumstances. Picky shooters really won't want to go beyond ISO 200. Canon PowerShot G12 photo samples Unlike the LX5, processing the G12's files as raw doesn't deliver an unambiguous advantage over the JPEGs. The artifacts and colors are a bit different, and you might be able to gain a little sharpness from the raw, but it doesn't gain you any shooting exposure advantages. The G12 lens is quite sharp. Though it's not terrible, the G12 does display visible barrel distortion at its widest of 28mm as well as a bit of fringing on high-contrast edges, especially close the edges of the frame. Unsurprisingly, the video looks better than the old VGA offering, and overall is pretty good for shooting short clips; it's certainly worth it compared to a typical mini camcorder. Plus, the articulated LCD, stereo mic, and mic jack add to its video flexibility. But it lacks the ability to zoom while recording, and there are no manual exposure controls save exposure compensation and the built-in neutral-density filter. The G series' unremarkable performance hasn't changed significantly in generations either, and the field in general still lags behind the LX5. It powers on and shoots in about 2.1 seconds. In bright light, shot lag runs 0.4 second, and in dim light that increases to 0.6 second, shaving about 0.1 second off the G11's time. There's a relatively large 2.2-second gap between sequential JPEGs--2.5 seconds for raw--and adding flash recycle increases that to a ho-hum 2.9 seconds. While its continuous-shooting rate bumps up to 2fps from the G11's 1.1fps, that's still slow enough that you really don't want to count on it for burst shots. Especially if you're used to shooting with a dSLR, the G12 doesn't feel very fast. But part of that's perception; it's certainly zippy enough to catch animals a reasonable percent of the time. The articulated LCD remains big, bright, and useful, and in practice the optical viewfinder feels almost identical to the P7000's. Canon PowerShot G12 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 Sensor (effective resolution) 10-megapixel CCD 10-megapixel CCD 10-megapixel CCD 10-megapixel CCD 10-megapixel CCD 1/1.7-inch 1/1.7-inch 1/1.7-inch 1/1.7-inch 1/1.63-inch Sensitivity range ISO 80 - ISO 3,200 ISO 80 - ISO 3,200 ISO 80 - ISO 3,200 ISO 100 - ISO 3,200/6,400 (expanded) ISO 80 - ISO 3,200 Lens 28-140mm f2.8-4.5 5x 28-140mm f2.8-4.5 5x 28-105mm f2-4.9 3.8x 28-200mm f2.8-5.6 7.1x 24-90mm f2-3.3 3.8x Closest focus (inches) 0.4 0.4 2.0 0.8 0.4 Continuous shooting 1.1fps frames n/a 1.1fps frames n/a 0.7 frames n/a 1.1fps n/a 2.5 fps JPEG/n/a raw Viewfinder Optical Optical None Optical Optional OVF or EVF Autofocus n/a Contrast AF n/a Contrast AF n/a Contrast AF 99-area Contrast AF 23-area Contrast AF Metering n/a n/a n/a 256-segment matrix n/a Shutter 15-1/4000 sec 15-1/4000 sec 15-1/1600 sec 60-1/4000 sec 60-1/4000 sec Flash Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Hot shoe Yes Yes No Yes Yes LCD 2.8-inch articulated 461,000 dots 2.8-inch articulated 461,000 dots 3-inch fixed 461,000 dots 3-inch fixed 921,000 dots 3-inch fixed 460,000 dots Image stabilization Optical Optical Optical Optical Optical Video (best quality) 30fps VGA H.264 QuickTime MOV Mono 720/24p H.264 QuickTime MOV Stereo 720/24p H.264 QuickTime MOV Stereo 720/24p H.264 QuickTime MOV Stereo 720/30p AVCHD Lite Mono Zoom during video capture No No No Yes n/a Manual iris and shutter in video No No No No Yes Zoom while recording No No No Yes n/a Mic input No No No Yes No Battery life (CIPA rating) 390 shots 390 shots 220 shots 350 shots 400 shots Dimensions (WHD, inches) 4.4 x 3.0 x 2.0 4.4 x 3.0 x 2.0 3.9 x 2.3 x 1.2 4.5 x 3.1 x 1.8 4.3 x 2.6 x 1.7 Weight (ounces) 14.5 14.2 6.8 12.6 9.2 Mfr. Price $499.99 $499.99 $399.99 $499.95 $440 Availability October 2009 October 2010 August 2010 September 2010 August 2010
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