On the left is a pop-up flash button, speaker, and NFC tag. The right side compartment has a port for a remote, and AV Digital and HDMI outs. They’re straightforward and would be familiar to any Canon owner, and put the camera squarely in the enthusiast camp with access to so many parameters. Within the jog wheel are Exposure Compensation, Flash, ISO, Macro, and a center Function/Set key. Nearby buttons include red-dot video, Shortcut, Focus, Metering, Display, and Menu. Thanks to the touchscreen there were no issues quickly porting hundreds of images to our Droid 4 with the Canon CameraWindow app (downloadable from the Google Play Store an iOS version is available via the iTunes App Store). You press this to quickly pair the camera with your phone via Wi-Fi (another new feature, along with near-field communication, or NFC). Starting at the top is the tiny Mobile Device Connection key.
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To the right of the screen are a series of buttons and a jog wheel. If you plan to be out in the desert sun at high noon, be prepared to shift positions – or buy that EVF. The quality is good in most instances but it faltered under very bright sunshine, even with brightness at maximum. It lets you shoot overhead or at waist level, and it even flips upward for selfie mode. The rear is dominated by the tilting 3-inch touchscreen LCD (rated 1,040K dots). There’s also an on/off button, combo shutter/zoom toggle switch and a shooting mode dial with 12 settings. If you must have one, Canon offers an optional electronic viewfinder for $299. We already noted the Mark II has lost the porthole viewfinder. Hopefully Canon will make the transition for the next generation. Although this video quality is an improvement over the G1 X’s 24p it’s still behind competitors offering 60i and 60p.
The Mark II captures 1080/30p videos in the MOV format, and thanks to the two-channel audio via the stereo mics, your movies will look and sound better on a big screen. Many of the just mentioned cameras have fixed focal length lenses so they’re definitely not apples-to-apples comparisons, but they do share larger imaging sensors. These cameras cost anywhere from $650-$1,100, so the $800 Mark II is not out of the ballpark, price wise.
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The fact the chip itself is more than 5x larger than the typical 1 /1.7-inch (7.6 x 5.7mm) chips of enthusiast digicams like the G16 is another major plus since – in theory – the larger the imager, the better the stills.Ĭanon engineers definitely found the sweet spot – you’ll have no issues taking wide-angle shots in low light.The fact the Mark II has such a larger chip with a price to match, puts it more in the category of the Nikon Coolpix A, Ricoh GR, Fujifilm X100S, and Sony Cyber-shot RX100 II – enthusiast cameras with APS-C imagers (exception, 1-inch for the Sony). We have no problems with losing a little resolution in order to have a camera with decent response (more on this in the Performance section). By lowering the resolution and adding the new DIGIC 6 processor, the new camera is faster, now rated 3.1 frames per second instead of 0.7 (in Live View). The Mark II now has a 12.8-megapixel, 1.5-inch (18.7 x 12.5mm) sensor instead of a 1.5-inch, 14.3MP imager of the G1 X. Another plus is the built-in lens cover, so there are no worries about losing the cap!Įqually as important are the not so obvious internal changes. One ring lets you focus while the other changes camera parameters, depending on your shooting mode. The Mark II has a faster 5x zoom versus the 4x glass of the G1 X. One of the biggest external changes is right on the front of the camera. Put simply, the G1 X Mark II is built and feels like a brick. The Mark II is just slightly smaller overall than the original G1 X (measuring 4.6 x 2.0 x 2.6 inches), tipping the scales at 19.5 ounces with battery and card. It’s all-black and boxy, but just like Canon’s ELPH series, the styling is pretty timeless. Moving beyond these first impressions, the Mark II has the same basic design themes as the classic G-series such as the current G16 as well the mirrorless EOS M. We didn’t find these changes to be onerous and in fact, we like the raised thumb rest on the back of the Mark II. Instead of a vari-angle LCD on the back, now it’s tiltable. Features and designĪt first glance, the G1 X Mark II looks similar to the still available predecessor, but zero in and you’ll notice the porthole for the viewfinder is gone and there’s no jog dial on the front. Hearing the howls of negative feedback such as incredibly pokey performance, Canon unveiled the Mark II with a new chip, processor, lens, design, and LCD mechanism. And for good reason – the original G1 X was a real disappointment. With its newest enthusiast zoom digicam, the PowerShot G1 X Mark II ($800), Canon practically went back to the drawing board.