Taking a leaf out of Sony's book and offering an entire line of 1-inch sensor compacts, Canon brings in a model at the beginning of its now 5-camera G series line. Notably, the G9 X is Canon's first camera to jump on the 3-year-old retro-look bandwagon. It also enters the market to compete with the now 3-year-old Sony Cyber-shot RX100 , but with a less compelling feature set and a higher $530 price tag (directly converted, £345, AU$720).
The front and top look remarkably like the Fujifilm XQ2 (though there's more accent texture on the Fujifilm model), another less-expensive competitor, though the G9 X's back controls are substantially simpler. It is a little more compact than the Sony, assuming 0.1 or 0.2 inch (2.5 to 5 mm) matters that much to you, but it's almost the identical size of the XQ2. It has the front control ring for adjusting pioneered by Canon's PowerShot S series cameras.
It has all the features you'd expect from a modern compact, including Wi-Fi/NFC and 1080/60p video. The back display is fixed, however, so no selfie fun.
Irony alert: last year, Canon boasted about the G1 X Mark II "Currently there is a trend toward designing premium compact cameras like classic cameras. However, Canon has kept its distance from this trend. As a result, the design is not pretentious..."
My take
While it incorporates a similar 20-megapixel 1-inch sensor to the Sony -- the same one that's in the new G5 X and the older G7 X -- it also sports a disappointing 3x zoom 28-84mm f2-4.9 lens. Both the Sony and Fujifilm camera lenses start at f1.8 and end at the same aperture as the Canon, but they hit that at 95mm and cover a slightly bigger range.
The G9 X essentially replaces the 2-year-old PowerShot S120, bringing Canon's ultracompact, top-end point-and-shoot up to par with the competition. And that makes sense. Just don't pay manufacturer price for it; I'm guessing that price is set so that it will sell for $500 (£320, AU$700) at other retailers, and with Canon "instant rebates" to bring the price down even lower for the holiday shopping season.
Comparative specs
Editors' note: Canon provided few specifications prior to announcement.
| Canon PowerShot G9 X | Fufjilm XQ2 | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensor effective resolution | 20.2MP HS CMOS | 12MP X-Trans CMOS II | 20.2MP Exmor R CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1-inch (13.2 x 8.8 mm) | 2/3-inch (8.8 x 6.6 mm) | 1-inch (13.2 x 8.8mm) |
| Focal-length multiplier | 2.7x | 3.9x | 2.7x |
| OLPF | Yes | No | Yes |
| Sensitivity range | ISO 100 - ISO 12800 | ISO 100 - ISO 3200/ISO 12800 (exp) | ISO 100 - ISO 25600 |
| Lens (35mm equivalent) | 28-84mm f2-4.9 3x | 25-100mm f1.8-4.9 4x | 28-100mm f1.8-4.9 3.6x |
| Closest focus | n/a | 1.1 in/3 cm | 1.9 in/5 cm |
| Burst shooting | 6fps (likely with focus and exposure fixed on the first frame) | 3fps 200 JPEG (12fps for 9 frames or 9fps for 11 frames with focus and exposure fixed at first frame) | 2.5fps (10fps with fixed exposure) 12 JPEG/13 raw |
| Viewfinder (mag/ effective mag) | None | None | None |
| Hot shoe | No | No | No |
| Autofocus | n/a | n/a Hybrid contrast/phase-detection AF | 25-area Contrast AF |
| AF sensitivity | n/a | n/a | |
| Shutter speed | n/a | 30 - 1/4,000 sec | 30 - 1/2,000 sec; bulb |
| Metering | n/a | 256 zones | n/a |
| Metering sensitivity | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Best video | H.264 QuickTime MOV 1080/60p | H.264 QuickTime MOV 1080/60p, 30p | AVCHD 1080/60p, 50p, 25p, 24p |
| Audio | n/a | Stereo | Stereo |
| Manual aperture and shutter in video | n/a | n/a | Yes |
| Maximum best-quality recording time | n/a | 14 minutes | 29 minutes |
| Optical zoom while recording | n/a | Yes | Yes |
| IS | Optical | Optical | Optical |
| LCD | 3 in/7.5 cm Fixed touchscreen 1.04m dots | 3 in/7.5cm Fixed 920,000 dots | 3-inch fixed 921,600 dots |
| Memory slots | 1 x SDXC | 1 X SDXC | 1 x SDXC |
| Wireless connection | Wi-Fi, NFC | Wi-Fi | None |
| Flash | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Battery life (CIPA rating) | n/a | 240 shots | 330 shots |
| Size (WHD) | 3.9 x 2.3 x 1.2 in 98 x 58 x 31 mm | 3.9 x 2.3 x 1.3 in 100 x 58.5 x 33.3 mm | 4.0 x 2.4 x 1.4 inches 101.6 x 58.1 x 35.9 mm |
| Body operating weight | 7.4 oz (est.) 209 g (est.) | 7.3 oz (est.) 206 g (est.) | 8.5 oz 241.0 g |
| Mfr. price | $530 | $300 (est.) £270 (est.) | $500 £320 AU$750 |
| Release date (US) | November 2015 | February 2015 | July 2012 |
