Canon PowerShot G7 X II Premium Starter Kit (Black) - Vlogging camera (Full HD 60p movies, flip-up screen, superfast autofocus, 5-axis stabilisation) + leather case + 16GB SD card - Amazon exclusive

Initial ReviewI am intending to review this product in stages, from initial impressions through to a more detailed analysis of the camera as I work my way though its many features.First of all, that delicious moment when you unbox the product.Canon have a lot to learn from apple about the undoing experience as the box is opened to reveal warranty paperwork etc and the camera in a crumpled foam pocket. However I digress....Having charge the battery, and inserted it with a memory card, the big moment comes of turning the camera on. The only set up required is to enter the date and time, and away you go.The first impressions are that the camera is well engineered, everything having a very solid feel, especially the flap you open to remove the battery for charging and the memory card.I was worried that the camera may be a little bit on the small side, making the controls fiddly to operate, but it fits nicely in my hand and the controls are well laid out and as a previous cannon compact owner they are easy to work out and understand.Initial impressions:Great size, this camera is compact enough to carry in a pocketThe menu system is easy to navigate and is quite intuitiveThe only niggle so far - the instruction manual. It literally just covers popping the battery in, the rest, well - I guess the controls are quite straightforward but it would have been nice if Canon took you through them!The key features that I really love are:The exposure compensation is controlled by a dial rather than in a software menu.The lens. It really is bright and pin sharp.The touch screen to set focus pointsThe manual focusThe build qualityFirst shotsUsing the camera in aperture priority or in shutter speed priority is a breeze with the lens ring being the control. It just feels so right.The lens, really is that good f1.8 is a wonderful aperture to have to isolate the subject from the background.So far I am very impressed with the image quality and the level of manual control that I am able to set.This really is the first compost camera that feels as capable as an SLR that I have owned.I will update this review further as I use the camera more but so far I could not be more impressed.=====Update=====I am really enjoying getting to know the camera...The Macro function is particularly good, with he lens capturing amazing detail, such as individual pollen grains on flowers.It is possible to set controls by careless touching of the screen, I turned on the manual focus by accident today just taking some photos of some plants.=====Would I buy it again=====I have given this a lot of thought.My main camera is a Canon EOS 5D MkIII and I really love that.I have a Canon EOS M3 compact camera, which I do find more intuitive in use, but it is not compact enough, as the lens does not retract.I am getting to know the G7 MKII better and the only drawback so far is when you select a focus point on the screen, the camera sometimes misses it.However when you get it right the image quality is as good as the 5D MKIIII hope these comments help, do ask if you want to know anything specific.(And YES. I would buy it again)

Camera solved all my needs on my recent holidays and honeymoon. Small enough to put on my belt and pull out for a quick snap but always takes amazing shots. Mountain ranges, Night time dance floors, selfies with the Mrs on the riverside.Im not a photographer and couldn't tell you what 90% of the setting do but with this little camera ive managed to take some really breathtaking shots that will be going up on my wall that i would of never been able to do with my phone.Took it up a glacier, on boats, to tango festivals and weddings and its a rock solid bit of kit with the case.Being able to charge it with the USB was a life saver, And uploading all my photos to my laptop was a breeze. Id recommend getting a 64gb card if you are planning on doing any videos. And getting the case with it is a 100% must if your the adventurous sort.This camera will be coming with me all over the world :D

I really liked the first version and use this abroad for work purposes. The mkii version was purchased to have a compact camera at home as the mki version was no longer available. I have no complaints with the new model, I don't overly notice most of the improvements - the single improvement I do notice however is the quiet front ring - the clicking of the original was too loud! I had to be selective when choosing a 3rd party spare battery for the Mkii as it will not operate with all 3rd party batteries as it detects they are not Canon Original. The big advantages of this camera are that it is truly "pocketable", the larger sensor is superior to standard compact cameras, the focal range (24-100 35mm equivalent) and the low light (F1.8) capability of the lens - great for indoor shots (restaurants etc) where lighting is poor without needing to use flash.

Only gripe is battery life in use, not really long enough, but that doesn't detract from the fact that this is a very worthy camera. Only gave it four stars because of battery life, otherwise five stars for the camera performance and ease of use. A good buy.

I use a DSLR for shooting videos on YouTube but needed a pocket sized point and shot with depth of field for longer trips where I wanted to be more lightweight.This suits me fine. Very happy with it.Auto focus is a bit slow and ponderous but I can live with it.It’s a decent “cheaper” option. No 4K but I’m not bothered about that personally.Picture quality is good, sound quality is very good. In built mic only but it’s of a decent standard.Very happy overall.

I was torn between this and the Panasonic TZ100, which has a 10x zoom, but the G7 has a much smaller aperture.As I like low light pics, in particular buildings at night, I chose the G7 and am very happy with it.It's smaller than you'd think, not much bigger than an Ixus, and the controls are all pretty easy to use. The only thing that confused me was that you need to pop the flash before changing any of its settings.Although the 4x zoom to 100mm seems short compared to many others, I've not found this to be a problem, particularly given the upside of how good the low light pics are thanks to the fairly wide aperture.As for low light, I've been using the night landscape (or whatever) mode a lot, and it's amazing how good that is without needing to use a flash (not that you can use a flash in that mode).If you like low light photography, want a small camera with a larger sensor, and are happy to pay the premium, then you could do a lot worse than this.