In what is almost becoming a yearly ritual,
we have been looking forward to the arrival of the newest Canon
G-series camera. This time, it's the PowerShot G6.
The G6 carries on the high quality finish of earlier G cameras.
Its body is metal-clad but is taller than the G3 or G5. It also offers
redesigned controls, and a much deeper grip that has a better ergonomic
design.
A prime example of this redesign
is the positioning of the Shutter Release, Zoom Control, and
the Main Dial. The G6's shutter release and its zoom control
ring are angled sharply towards the front of the camera, making
them extremely accessible and very comfortable to use.
As usual, the zoom control also doubles as a means to zoom in and out of
photos displayed on the screen in playback.
The Main Dial, an angled black wheel
control that serves to select apertures or shutter speeds in
some modes and for some menu selections, can also be clicked
in, much like a mouse wheel, to confirm selections.
Moving on to the upper right side of the
camera, behind the Main Dial, the G6 provides a large LCD panel
that indicates all major camera settings. New with the G6,
the display can now be lit by pressing the button to its right .
The light turns off after 6 seconds.
The main power switch for the G6 is mounted on the back edge, and features
a small light gray locking button that needs to be pressed before the
switch can be pushed to either Record or Playback.
On the opposite side, the G6 provides
3 buttons, and a flash shoe. The G6's auto exposure mode is compatible
with Canon Speedlite 220EX, 420EX, 550EX, 580EX, Macro Ring Lite
MR-14EX, or Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX. Non-Canon flash units may
work as well in Manual mode.
Starting near the front
of the camera, the buttons control:
Flash modes: Auto, Red-eye
Reduction Auto, Flash On with Red-eye Reduction, Flash On,
Flash Off. A slow synch option can be enabled in the menu,
and configured for first or second curtain.
The next button, in the middle, is for:
either the Continuous modes,
or the Self-timer/Remote Control modes
Standard Continuous shooting, the default mode,
captures 1.2 frames per second when the image quality
is set to Large/Fine. While High Speed Continuous shooting,
selected in the menu to replace the Standard mode,
captures images at a rate of 2 frames per second.
Pressing
the button a second time starts the Self-Timer and Remote
control operation. In the menu, the Self-Timer can be selected
to last 2 seconds or 10 seconds. The Remote control, included
with the camera, allows control over the shutter release
and the zoom. Moreover, the Playback mode can be engaged
without switching the camera itself to playback, and images
can be shown as thumbnails, or magnified.
While the third button, nearest the back edge, offers both a function in
the Recording modes, as well as one in Playback:
selects the Metering pattern. Evaluative,
the default, or Centre-weighted,
or Spot which
can be set to be at the centre of the frame, or follow the
AF point, as it too is selectable.
In Playback the button serves
to jump 9 images at a time, forwards or backwards.
The upper part of the G6's back has
a large, vertically positioned Mode Dial next to the optical
viewfinder.
The viewfinder is equipped with a diopter correction, and with an AF mark.
Moreover, unlike the G3 and G5, the G6 is unencumbered by the design flaw
of these previous models which caused the lens to block part of the image
when the camera was set to wide angle.
The Mode Dial, albeit placed
differently than on many other Canon cameras, is arranged along
familiar lines, the Auto and Program modes representing
the boundaries of the Image and the Creative zones
respectively. The Creative zone begins with the Program mode:
Program Mode: gives the
G6 control over aperture and shutter speed, but allows the
user to change all other photographic settings.
Shutter Priority: allows
setting the shutter speed with the Main Dial while the camera
sets the aperture. The shutter speeds cover a range from
15 seconds to 1/2000 second.
Aperture Priority: allows
setting the aperture from f2.0 to f8, while the camera sets
the shutter speed.
Manual Mode: allows control
over both aperture and shutter speed, and the correctness
of the exposure is indicated in the upper left of the monitor
in EV (example: ±0 = correct, +1 = overexposed, -1
= underexposed).
Custom Modes 1 and 2: make
it possible to save two sets of user preferences for
most camera parameters available with the P, Tv, Av, and
M modes, including the shooting mode.
The Image zone begins with the Auto mode:
Auto Mode makes
the G6 a simple to use point-and-shoot. Most photographic
settings, aside from the image size, are controlled by the
camera.
Portrait mode: uses a
wide aperture to blur the background behind the subject,
and is most effective when the telephoto is used.
Landscape Mode: selects
a small aperture to maximize depth of field. The shutter
speeds can be quite slow, so a tripod may be required.
Night Scene Mode: uses
a slow shutter speed and the slow synch flash mode to capture
an image that has the background and foreground correctly
exposed.
Stitch Assist Mode: to
capture a horizontal or vertical series of overlapping images
which can be stitched together into a panorama later, using
the software supplied with the G6.
Movie Mode: captures
video clips with sound at any one of three frame sizes:
640 x 480 pixels at 10 frames per second for up to
a maximum recording time of 30 seconds.
320 x 240 pixels at 15 frames per second for up to
a maximum recording time of 3 minutes.
160 x 120 pixels at 15 frames per second for up to
a maximum recording time of 3 minutes.
During the recording AE (auto exposure), AF (auto focus),
white balance, and zoom settings are locked at the first
frame.
Two more buttons are positioned on the upper left side of the camera's
back, and both of these also offer a secondary function in Playback, indicated
by a blue icon. The top button is to:
Select the Macro mode,
or the Super Macro mode when held in more than a
second. In macro mode, the G6 can focus from 5 to 50 cm
(1.95 to 19.5 inches) with the lens set to wide angle,
and from 15 to 50 cm (5.85 to 19.5 inches) when its lens
is set at the telephoto end.
With the Super Macro mode, the lens is limited to a maximum telephoto
setting equivalent to 86mm, and to a 3 megapixel image size (2048
x 1536 pixels).
In Playback, the same button
can be used to display an index (9 thumbnails) of
the photos that have been captured.
And the lower button controls:
The Manual Focus in the recording,
which displays a distance scale on the LCD monitor that serves to
select the focus distance using the Main Dial. To assist in focusing,
the central part of the frame is magnified on the monitor.
in Playback, the button serves to add
a Voice annotation. A sound recording, up to 60 seconds, can
be attached to any still image.
The Omni Controller — a
4-direction control that serves to navigate menus and images
when the camera is in playback, dominates the right side of the
G6's back. In addition, the Omni controller also acts as a shortcut
to 2 of the most commonly accessed settings:
Pressing the Up arrow immediately
overlays an exposure compensation scale on the lower
part of the monitor. Exposure compensation can be adjusted
over a range of ±2EV in 0.3EV increments.
The Down arrow is a
shortcut to the White Balance options: Auto, Daylight,
Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent (cool white or warm white),
Fluorescent H (daylight fluorescent), Flash, Custom Setting
1, Custom Setting 2.
Four other buttons are positioned just below the Omni Selector:
SET is used to confirm
some menu selections, or some of the other settings. In
addition, the button also serves to select the AF point.
Then using the Omni Selector, the AF point can be moved
anywhere in the screen allowing the shot to be taken with
an off-centre focus point. Returning the AF point to the
centre is accomplished by holding the AF selector button
in for a couple of seconds.
Calls up the G6's full menus. (See
the Characteristics and the Interface and Software sections
for an overview of the settings available in the various
menus.)
Controls the way information
is displayed on the LCD monitor. Each press of the button
cycles through one of three settings: a display that overlays
basic camera settings on the monitor, a display with no
information except for the AF frame, and the third press
of the button turns off the monitor.
In Playback the button cycles through displays that include different
levels of image information, including one that provides a histogram
of the image under review.
Function calls up a
menu that quickly accesses the most commonly used settings. (See
the Characteristics section of the review for a
description of this menu.) And, in Playback,
the button serves to delete unwanted photos.
The last external control of the G6 is the AE/FE Lock button, placed directly
below the power switch, which is only functional when the camera is set
to P, Tv, or Av:
With the monitor turned on, the AE/FE
Lock serves to lock-in the Auto Exposure making it
possible to reframe a shot while retaining the same exposure,
or, when the flash forced On, can be used to evaluate
the flash exposure and lock it.
Looking to the back of the camera,
the G6, as with previous models, is equipped with a swing-out
LCD monitor. However the G6 has one critical advantage, it has
a 2 inch LCD monitor.
When not in use, the back of the monitor faces out, protecting the screen.
While in use, the monitor can be rotated 90° to the left, and down
90° or 180° forward, allowing it to be swung back onto the back
of the camera with the screen facing the user.
With the release of the
PowerShot G6, Canon has made major improvements to G-series cameras.
The taller shape eliminates the problem of seeing the lens in
the optical viewfinder at the wide angle setting and provides
a much better grip, while the larger LCD monitor is more legible.
The G6 should prove to be even more popular than its predecessors.
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Introduction
.
The light turns off after 6 seconds.
or Playback 
.
Pressing
the button a second time starts the Self-Timer and Remote
control operation. In the menu, the Self-Timer can be selected
to last 2 seconds or 10 seconds. The Remote control, included
with the camera, allows control over the shutter release
and the zoom. Moreover, the Playback mode can be engaged
without switching the camera itself to playback, and images
can be shown as thumbnails, or magnified.
