Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II Review
Image Quality
All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 20 megapixel SuperFine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 8Mb.
The Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II produces images of very good quality. It recorded noise-free images at ISO 125-1600, with some noise at ISO 3200. ISO 6400 shows more obvious noise but still remain perfectly usable, although the fastest setting of ISO 12800 is best avoided.
The Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II handled chromatic aberrations well, with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations and generally at the edges of the frame. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure, although there's noticeable vignetting at 24mm. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 and the Bulb mode seconds being long enough for after-dark shots.
Anti-shake works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. Macro performance is good, allowing you to focus as close as 5cm away from the subject. The images were a little soft straight out of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting.
Noise
There are 8 ISO settings available on the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting for both JPEG and RAW formats.
| JPEG | RAW |
|
ISO 125 (100% Crop) |
ISO 125 (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
ISO 6400 (100% Crop) |
ISO 6400 (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
ISO 12800 (100% Crop) |
ISO 12800 (100% Crop) |
|
|
Focal Range
The Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II's 4.2x zoom lens offers a fairly versatile focal range, as illustrated by these examples:
|
24mm |
100mm |
|
|
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting. You can change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look.
|
Original (100% Crop) |
Sharpened (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
|
File Quality
The Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II has 2 different JPEG image quality settings available, with SuperFine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.
|
SuperFine (6.34Mb) (100% Crop) |
Fine (4.23Mb) (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
RAW (25.2Mb) (100% Crop) |
|
|
Chromatic Aberrations
The Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II handled chromatic aberrations well during the review, with fairly limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.
|
Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop) |
Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop) |
|
|
Macro
The Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II has a good macro mode that allows you to focus on a subject that is 5cm away from the camera.
|
Macro |
|
Flash
The flash settings on the Canon Powershot G7 X Mark II are Auto, On, Auto Red-eye Reduction, Slow Synchro and Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.
|
Flash Off - Wide Angle (24mm) |
Flash On - Wide Angle (24mm) |
|
|
|
Flash Off - Telephoto (100mm) |
Flash On - Telephoto (100mm) |
|
|
And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On or the Red-eye-Reduction settings caused any red-eye.
|
Flash On |
Flash On (100% Crop) |
|
|
|
Red-eye Reduction |
Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop) |
|
|
Night
The Canon Powershot G7 X Mark II's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds and there's a Bulb mode too, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds at ISO 125.
|
Night |
Night (100% Crop) |
|
|
Anti Shake
The Canon Powershot G7 X Mark II has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, we took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on.
| Shutter Speed / Focal Length | Anti-Shake Off (100% Crop) | Anti-Shake On (100% Crop) |
| 1/10th sec / 24mm | |
|
| 1/10th sec / 100mm | |
|
Sample Images
This is a selection of sample images from the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II camera, which were all taken using the 20 megapixel SuperFine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.
1/80s · f/3.5 · ISO 125
26.06mm
Download Original
1/500s · f/4.5 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download Original
1/400s · f/4.5 · ISO 125
36.8mm
Download Original
1/125s · f/8 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download Original
1/800s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
24.84mm
Download Original
1/800s · f/4 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download Original
1/320s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
36.8mm
Download Original
1/400s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download Original
1/1000s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download Original
1/60s · f/5.6 · ISO 500
8.8mm
Download Original
1/160s · f/2.8 · ISO 640
23.71mm
Download Original
1/160s · f/2.8 · ISO 640
23.71mm
Download Original
1/200s · f/2.8 · ISO 3200
31.63mm
Download Original
1/1000s · f/4 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download Original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download Original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 160
8.8mm
Download Original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 250
36.8mm
Download Original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 200
8.8mm
Download Original
1/200s · f/2.8 · ISO 500
36.8mm
Download Original
1/320s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
36.8mm
Download Original
1/400s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
36.8mm
Download Original
1/400s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
18.62mm
Download Original
1/160s · f/5.6 · ISO 250
24.45mm
Download Original
1/400s · f/1.8 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download Original
1/500s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
36.8mm
Download Original
1/60s · f/4 · ISO 250
8.8mm
Download Original
1/500s · f/4 · ISO 125
36.8mm
Download Original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download Original
1/400s · f/4 · ISO 125
36.8mm
Download Original
1/60s · f/1.8 · ISO 400
8.8mm
Download Original
1/25s · f/4 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download Original
1/40s · f/4 · ISO 200
8.8mm
Download Original
1/80s · f/4 · ISO 400
8.8mm
Download Original
1/160s · f/4 · ISO 800
8.8mm
Download Original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 1600
8.8mm
Download Original
1/500s · f/4 · ISO 3200
8.8mm
Download Original
1/1250s · f/4 · ISO 6400
8.8mm
Download Original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 12800
8.8mm
Download Original
Sample RAW Images
The Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Canon RAW (CR2) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).
1/80s · f/3.5 · ISO 125
26.06mm
Download original
1/500s · f/4.5 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download original
1/400s · f/4.5 · ISO 125
36.8mm
Download original
1/125s · f/8 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download original
1/800s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
24.84mm
Download original
1/800s · f/4 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download original
1/320s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
36.8mm
Download original
1/400s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download original
1/1000s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download original
1/60s · f/5.6 · ISO 500
8.8mm
Download original
1/160s · f/2.8 · ISO 640
23.71mm
Download original
1/160s · f/2.8 · ISO 640
23.71mm
Download original
1/200s · f/2.8 · ISO 3200
31.63mm
Download original
1/1000s · f/4 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 160
8.8mm
Download original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 250
36.8mm
Download original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 200
8.8mm
Download original
1/200s · f/2.8 · ISO 500
36.8mm
Download original
1/320s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
36.8mm
Download original
1/400s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
36.8mm
Download original
1/400s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
18.62mm
Download original
1/160s · f/5.6 · ISO 250
24.45mm
Download original
1/400s · f/1.8 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download original
1/500s · f/2.8 · ISO 125
36.8mm
Download original
1/60s · f/4 · ISO 250
8.8mm
Download original
1/500s · f/4 · ISO 125
36.8mm
Download original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download original
1/400s · f/4 · ISO 125
36.8mm
Download original
1/60s · f/1.8 · ISO 400
8.8mm
Download original
1/25s · f/4 · ISO 125
8.8mm
Download original
1/40s · f/4 · ISO 200
8.8mm
Download original
1/80s · f/4 · ISO 400
8.8mm
Download original
1/160s · f/4 · ISO 800
8.8mm
Download original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 1600
8.8mm
Download original
1/500s · f/4 · ISO 3200
8.8mm
Download original
1/1250s · f/4 · ISO 6400
8.8mm
Download original
1/320s · f/4 · ISO 12800
8.8mm
Download original
Sample Movie & Video
This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 50 frames per second. Please note that this 20 second movie is 84.9Mb in size.
Product Images
|
|
Front of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
|
Front of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II / Lens Extended |
|
|
Front of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II / Pop-up Flash |
|
|
Side of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
|
Side of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
|
Side of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
|
Side of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
|
Side of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
|
Side of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
|
|
|
Rear of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
|
Rear of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II / Image Displayed |
|
| Rear of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II / Turned On |
|
| Rear of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II / Main Menu |
|
| Rear of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II / Function Menu |
|
| Rear of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II / Ring Function Menu |
|
| Tilting LCD Screen |
|
| Tilting LCD Screen |
|
| Tilting LCD Screen |
|
| Top of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
| Bottom of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
| Side of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
| Side of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
| Front of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
| Front of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II |
|
| Memory Card Slot |
|
| Battery Compartment |
Conclusion
Although owners of the original Canon PowerShot G7 X won't be too excited by the improvements on offer, the new Mark II does represent a step forward for Canon's premium pocket compact camera, particularly in its operational speed. Continuous shooting rates, auto-focusing speed and general all-round performance have been boosted by the impressive Digic 7 processor, while image quality is subsequently slightly better too.
A new handgrip, an LCD screen that can be tilted down as well as up, improved image stabilisation and longer battery life are also desirable features that mean the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II can compete with the market-leading Sony Cyber-shot RX100 Mk IV. The lack of a viewfinder (or any way of fitting an external one) on the G7 X Mark II remains the biggest single reason to choose the Sony model for the keen photographer, although the Canon camera has touchscreen capabilities and a longer zoom, things that Sony have so far resisted adding.
In summary, the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II does just enough to keep up with the main competition, although the continued lack of any kind of viewfinder, optical or electronic, gives the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 Mk IV the edge. If you don't value that feature, though, then this new camera remains a serious rival to Sony's offering.
| Ratings (out of 5) | |
|---|---|
| Design | 5 |
| Features | 5 |
| Ease-of-use | 4.5 |
| Image quality | 4.5 |
| Value for money | 4 |
Main Rivals
Listed below are some of the rivals of the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II.
Fujifilm X70
The Fujifilm X70 is a brand new premium compact camera with a large APS-C 16 megapixel sensor, fast 28mm lens, 180-degree tilting LCD touchscreen, built-in wi-fi and a 60p movie mode. Read our Fujifilm X70 review, complete with full-size sample JPEG and raw images, videos and more...
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100 is a premium compact camera like no other. The LX100 features a large Micro Four Thirds sensor, 4K video recording, fast 24-75mm lens, class-leading electronic viewfinder, all in a camera that you can fit in a jacket pocket. Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100 review with sample JPEG, RAW and video files to find out just what this exciting new camera is capable of...
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV is the latest version of Sony's flagship pocket camera for enthusiasts, now offering 4K video recording, a new image sensor and an electronic shutter. Is this the ultimate compact camera? Read our Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV review to find out...
Specifications
IMAGE SENSOR
Type
1.0 type back-illuminated CMOS
Effective Pixels
Approx. 20.1M (Aspect ratio 3:2) ¹
Effective / Total Pixels
Approx. 20.9M
Colour Filter Type
Primary Colour
IMAGE PROCESSOR
Type
DIGIC 7
LENS
Focal Length
8.8 – 36.8 mm (35 mm equivalent: 24 – 100 mm)
Zoom
Optical 4.2x
ZoomPlus 8.4x
Digital Approx. 4x (with Digital Tele-Converter approx. 1.6x or 2.0x ¹)
Combined approx. 17x
Maximum f/number
f/1.8-f/2.8
Construction
11 elements in 9 groups (1 double sided aspherical lens, 1 single sided aspherical UA lens, 1 single sided aspherical lens and 1 UD lens)
Image Stabilisation
Yes (lens shift-type), approx. 4-stop ¹.
Intelligent IS with 5-axis Advanced Dynamic IS & Auto Level
FOCUSING
Type
TTL
AF System/ Points
AiAF (31-point, Face Detection or Touch AF with Object and Face Select and Track), 1-point AF (any position is available or fixed centre)
AF Modes
Single, Continuous, Servo AF/AE ¹, Touch AF
AF Point Selection
Size (Normal, Small)
AF Lock
Yes, via customisable buttons
AF Assist Beam
Yes
Manual Focus
Yes, plus MF Peaking
Focus Bracketing
Yes
Closest Focusing Distance
5 cm (Wide) from front of lens
40 cm (Tele) from front of lens
EXPOSURE CONTROL
Metering modes
Evaluative (linked to Face Detection AF frame), Centre-weighted average, Spot
AE Lock
Yes
Exposure Compensation
+/- 3 EV in 1/3 stop increments
Auto Lighting Optimizer
ND Filter (3-stop) On / Auto / Off ¹
AEB
1/3 – 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments
ISO sensitivity
125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200, 4000, 5000, 6400, 8000, 10000, 12800 ¹
AUTO ISO: 125 - 12800 (possible to set Max. ISO speed and rate of change)
SHUTTER
Speed
1 – 1/2000 s (factory default)
1/8 - 1/2000 s (Movie Mode)
BULB, 15 – 1/2000 s (total range – varies by shooting mode) ¹
WHITE BALANCE
Type
TTL
Settings
Auto (including Face Detection WB), Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash, Underwater, Kelvin Settings, Custom 1, Custom 2
White Balance Compensation
White Balance Compensation in Underwater mode Colour adjustment in Star mode
COLOUR MATRIX
Type
sRGB
LCD MONITOR
Monitor
Tilt type 7.5 cm (3.0”) Touchscreen LCD (TFT). 3:2 aspect ratio. Approx. 1,040,000 dots. Capacitive type, sRGB colour reproduction
Coverage
Approx. 100%
Brightness
Adjustable to one of five levels.
Night Display Mode available
FLASH
Modes
Auto, Manual Flash On / Off, Slow Synchro
Slow Sync Speed
Yes. Fastest speed 1/2000 s
Red-Eye Reduction
Yes
Flash Exposure Compensation
+/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments. Face Detection FE, Safety FE
Flash Exposure Lock
Yes
Manual Power Adjustment
3 levels with internal flash
Second Curtain Synchronisation
Yes
Built-in Flash Range
50 cm – 7.0 m (W) / 40 cm – 4.0 m (T)
External Flash
Canon High Power Flash HF-DC2
SHOOTING
Modes
Smart Auto (58 scenes detected), Program AE, Shutter priority AE, Aperture priority AE, Manual, Custom, Hybrid Auto, Creative Shot, SCN (Portrait, Self-Portrait, Panning, Star (Star Portrait, Star Nightscape, Star Trails, Star Portrait, Star Time-Lapse Movie), Handheld Night Scene, High Dynamic Range, Oil Painting Effect, Water-Painting Effect, Miniature Effect, Toy Camera Effect, Background Defocus, Soft Focus, Grainy B/W, Underwater, Fireworks), Standard Movie, Short Clip, Manual Movie, Time-Lapse Movie, iFrame Movie
Photo Effects
Picture Styles (Auto, Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Fine Detail, Neutral, Faithful, Monochrome, User Defined x3 (Sharpness (Strength, Fineness, Threshold), Contrast, Color Saturation, Color Tone, Filtering Effect, Toning))
Drive modes
Single, Auto Drive, Continuous, Continuous with AF, Self-Timer
Continuous Shooting
Approx. 8.0 shots/s for up to 19 frames in RAW and 30 frames in JPEG
with AF: Approx. 5.4 shots/s for up to 46 frames in JPEG
¹²
RECORDING PIXELS / COMPRESSION
Image Size
3:2 - (RAW, L) 5472 x 3648, (M) 3648 x 2432, (S1) 2736 x 1824, (S2) 2400 x 1600
4:3 - (RAW, L) 4864 x 3648, (M) 3248 x 2432, (S1) 2432 x 1824, (S2) 2112 x 1600
16:9 - (RAW, L) 5472 x 3072, (M) 3648 x 2048, (S1) 2736 x 1536, (S2) 2400 x 1344
1:1 - (RAW, L) 3648 x 3648, (M) 2432 x 2432, (S1) 1824 x 1824, (S2) 1600 x 1600
In-camera RAW processing & Resize available
Compression
RAW, Fine, Normal
Movies
(Full HD) 1920 x 1080, 59.94 / 50 / 29.97 / 25 / 23.98 fps
(HD) 1280 x 720, 29.97 / 25 fps
(L) 640 x 480, 29.97 / 25 fps
Movie Length
(Full HD & HD) Up to 4 GB or 29 min 59 s ¹
(L) Up to 4 GB or 1 hour ²
FILE TYPES
Still Image Type
JPEG compression (Exif 2.3 [Exif Print] compliant) / Design rule for Camera File system and DPOF ver. 1.1 compliant), RAW (14bit, Canon original RAW 2nd edition), RAW+JPEG
Movies
MP4 [Video: MPEG-4 AVC / H.264, Audio: MPEG-4 AAC-LC (stereo)]
iFrame
DIRECT PRINT
Canon Printers
Canon SELPHY Compact Photo Printers and Canon Inkjet Printers supporting PictBridge
PictBridge
Yes (via USB or Wireless LAN)
OTHER FEATURES
GPS
GPS via Mobile (linked to a compatible smartphone)
Red-Eye Correction
Yes, during shooting and playback
My Camera / My Menu
My Menu customisation available
Intelligent Orientation Sensor
Yes
Histogram
Yes
Playback zoom
Yes
Self Timer
Approx. 2, 10 s or Custom
Menu Languages
English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Greek, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Spanish, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Simplified Chinese, Chinese (traditional), Japanese, Korean, Thai, Arabic, Romanian, Farsi, Hindi, Malay, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Hebrew
INTERFACE
Computer
Hi-Speed USB dedicated connector (Micro-B compatible)
Other
HDMI Micro (Type-D) Connector
Computer/Other
Wi-Fi (IEEE802.11b/g/n), (2.4 GHz only), with Dynamic NFC support ¹
MEMORY CARD
Type
SD, SDHC, SDXC (UHS Speed Class 1 compatible)
SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEM
PC & Macintosh
Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 SP1 ¹
Mac OS X 10.9 / 10.10 / 10.11
For Wi-Fi connection to a PC:
Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 SP1
Mac OS X 10.9 / 10.10
For Image Transfer Utility:
Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 SP1
Mac OS X 10.9 / 10.10 / 10.11
SOFTWARE
Other
CameraWindow DC
Map Utility
Image Transfer Utility
Camera Connect app available on iOS and Android devices
Image Manipulation
Digital Photo Professional for RAW development
POWER SOURCE
Batteries
Rechargeable Li-ion Battery NB-13L (battery and charger supplied)
Battery life
Approx. 240 shots
A/C Power Supply
Charging via USB available with Compact Power Adapter CA-DC30E ¹ or other typical USB charging methods
ACCESSORIES
Cases / Straps
Soft Case DCC-1880
PowerShot Accessory Organizer
Waterproof / Weatherproof Case
Waterproof Case (40m) WP-DC55
Flash
Canon High Power Flash HF-DC2
Power Supply & Battery Chargers
Compact Power Adapter CA-DC30E
Battery Charger CB-2LHE
Rechargeable Li-ion Battery NB-13L
Other
Interface cable IFC-600PCU
PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Operating Environment
0 – 40 °C, 10 – 90% humidity
Dimensions (WxHxD)
105.5 x 60.9 x 42.0 mm
Weight
Approx. 319 g (including battery and memory card)
Loading comments…