Amateur_Photographer_-_04_October_2019

(Sean Pound) #1

42 28 September 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113


Testbench CAMERA TEST

ThePowerShotG7XMarkIIIsportsaraftof


powerfulfeaturesinitspocket-friendlybody


Focal points

105.5mm

60.9mm

41.4mm

24-100mmequiv
f/1.8-2.8lens
TheG7X MarkIII is
equippedwitha 4.2x
opticalzoomthat
employs 11 elementsin
9 groups,includingone
double-sidedaspherical
lens,onesingle-sided
asphericalUAlens,one
single-sidedaspherical
lensandoneUDlens.
Thezoomis controlled
viaa switcharoundthe
shutterbutton,butcan
alsobemovedin steps
via the control ring.


4Kvideo
4Kvideofootagecan
berecordedatupto
30fpsforjustunder 10
minutes.In addition,it
provides1080pFull
HDvideocaptureat
25/50fpsforjust
underhalfanhourof
continuousfootage,
alongwith720p HD
at 50fps.


Built-inNDfilter
AswithmostG-series
models,theG7X MarkIII
featuresa built-in
three-stopNDfilterthat
facilitatestheuseof
eitherfasteraperturesor
slowershutterspeeds in
bright conditions.

Hi-SpeedRaw
Thisnewfeaturetakes
advantageoftheG7X
MarkIII’selectronic
shuttertoenableraw
captureatanimpressive
30fpsforupto 70 frames.
Imagescapturedthisway
arestoredasa stack,
whichyoucanbrowse
in thePlaybackmenuto
select the ones you want.

Exposure
compensation
Locatedunderneath
theexposuremode
dialonthetopofthe
camera,theG7X Mark
III providesupto
+/-3EVofexposure
compensationforwhen
youwanttooverride
thecamera’smetering
calculationstoeither
brightenordarken
the image.

Bluetooth& Wi-Fi
connectivity
Inadditiontobuilt-in
Wi-Fi,theG7X MarkIII
alsoprovidesBluetooth
connectivitytoa paired
smartphoneviathe
CanonCameraConnect
app.Youcanchoose
whethertotransfer
imagesattheiroriginal
size or a reduced size.

Exposuremodesextend
totheusualarrayof PASM
settingsformoreadvancedusers,
backedupbya fullyAutomatic
modeandrangeof Scenemodes
forpoint-and-shootduties.Within
theseyou’llfinda Panoramictool
thatallowsyoutopanthecamera
forultra-wideangleshotsandan
AutomaticHDRmodethattakes
threeconsecutiveimagesin one
quickburstandblendsthem
together.Lastbutnotleastare
a rangeof CreativeFilterdigital
filtereffects,whichincludesold
favouritessuchasToyCamera,
MiniatureandFisheye options
amongothers.

Bodyanddesign
Intermsof itsgeneralappearance,
dimensionsandweight,theG7X
MarkIII remainsalmostidentical
totheG7X MarkII. It’sa small,
sleekandattractivelittlecompact
thatfeelsreallynicein thehand,
thankslargelytoitstextured
rubberisedcoating.Aswithits
predecessora raisedfingergrip
andthumb-restprovideadditional
securityagainstaccidentaldrops.
Despiteitsdiminutivesizeit weighs
304gwitha cardandbattery,
whichgivesit a surprisingyet
reassuringsolidfeelwhenheldin
thehand.Youcertainlywouldn’t
wanttodropit though,soa strap
is a must.Ontopof this,youmight
alsowanttoconsiderfittinga
decentscreenprotectorin order
tokeepthetouchscreendisplay
freefromscratches.
Giventhecamera’sdiminutive
size,buttonsremainquite
generouslyspacedandclearly
labelled.Aswithitspredecessor,it
alsofeaturesa controlringaround
thebaseof thelensthatcanbe
settocontrola rangeof functions,
althoughtheoptionstosetit up
are a little buried within the

in-cameramenu.Bydefaultit will
controleitherapertureorshutter
speed,dependingontheexposure
modeyou’veselected;however
youcanalsouseit toadjustfocus
in manualfocusmode,orto
controlthezoomwithincremental
jumpsthrough24mm,28mm,
35mm,50mm,85mmand
100mmwitheachindividualclick
of thedial.Otheroptionsinclude
ISO,EVcompensation,WBand
suchlike.Butwestronglysuspect
mostuserswilluseit tocontrol
aperture/shutterspeed,orfor
manualfocusortocontrolthe
zoom,asthisfeelsmuchmore
naturalandintuitive.
The3in,1.04-million-dot
touchscreenonthebackis both
responsiveandclearlysignposted
foreasynavigation,althoughin
brightsunlightwefoundthatit can
beslightlydifficulttoseeclearly.
In thisrespectat least,thebuilt-in
EVFof theG5X MarkII hasa
clearadvantage.Pressingthe‘Q’
buttoneitheronthedisplayorin
themiddleof therearcontroldial
callsupanintuitivemenuthat
providesdirectaccesstoallof the
camera’skeysettings.Fromhere
youcanuseeitherthed-pador
yourfingertipstoselectand
adjustthecamera’ssettings.We
favouredusingourfingersasthis
is moredirectthanthed-pad
andspeedsthingsupquitea bit,
especiallyonceyou’reaccustomed
tothelayout.Beawarethatthe
on-screenselectionboxesare
quitesmallthough.Whilethis
didn’tcauseusanyparticular
issues,thosewithlargerfingers
couldpossiblyfindthemselves
inadvertentlypressingthewrong
bitof thescreenfrom time to time.

Performance
Whiletheadditionof 4Kmovie
recording might be the headline-

Imagestabilisation
TheG7X MarkIII benefits
frombuilt-inimage
stabilisationthatprovides
threestopsofshutter
speedcompensation,
whichhelpstokeepyour
imagessharpatslow
shutter speeds.

Colour is rendered faithfully and lifelike24mm equivalent, 1/200sec at f/5.6, ISO 320
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