Canon's new "high-end" Point and Shoot

At CES Canon announced the new G1 X. This is a new tier camera, having a sensor that roughly approximates what is in DSLRs but come in small package with integrated lens.

As a way of background, the race for higher and higher megapixels has pushed the pixel sizes to get very small. This causes the noise level to go up since there is not as many photons of light captured. Prosumer/Professional DSLRs use much larger sensors which allows them to have much higher sensitivity and with little noise.

Now Canon is bringing out the G1 X which while small, sports a large sensor. Hopefully, it will approximate the excellent noise performance of DSLRs. I really like my canon G10 but as soon as light levels go down, it gets super noisy. Its noise level at ISO 200 is probably the same as the DSLR at 1,200 or so. I get rid of the noise in software but that softens the image too much. Lack of sensitivity also means blurry shots if handheld which is the main use of these cameras.

Here is the preview on the camera: http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/01/13/CanonG1Xpreviewupdate

And comparison of sensor sizes:



The current Canon G series have the sensor size in dark orange. Compare that to the light green of the G1 X. That is a massive increase.

Steve Williams said:

BTW,for those at the show did anyone have a chance to peak through the Canon cameras on the second floor with the mega large telephoto lenses

Click to expand...

I try not to. I have all but the new 800mm and that thing will set me back another $9K which I prefer to not do right now .

Back go G1 X, yes the price is insane in this day and age where you get free cameras in your phone and such. It is said that in a 2-3 years, the market for point and shoot will disappear completely due to this factor. So camera companies are gearing up to focus on high-end/DSLR units. I think $500 would have been a much more reasonable price given the fact that the lenses are not interchangeable and such.