Canon Powershot G10 Review

Pressing the Play button will bring up the last picture captured in full screen mode with minimal overlay information (depending on menu settings). Pressing the DISPlay button controls the amount of data that will be shown on the LCD. These include the extended picture information screen with histogram, AF-Point zoom preview, and all info cleared.

Pressing the zoom control to Wide enables the thumbnail index mode. Here you can quickly search through the stored images and find one to playback in full screen mode.

You can also search through images by using the Control dial. It will show the screen above, with the date and time of capture. Once you stop on an image, it will display full screen.

The playback image can be magnified up to 10X by pressing the zoom control to Tele. You can stop at any enlargement step and scroll around inside the image with the 4-way selector.

The Playback menu has options for: starting an automatic Slideshow, placing images in categories, Erase a file, Protecting images from accidental erasure, use i-Contrast to help brighten up subjects and backgrounds, correct Red-eye in your portraits, Trim (crop) a picture, Resize an image, change the color, use the camera as a digital sound recorder, Rotate an image, choose the Transfer Order when uploading images to a computer, choose which image is displayed when you enter playback mode (Last Shot, Last Viewed), and select the Transition between images.

The resize option allows you to save a smaller version of the original. Perfect for emailing and sharing on the web.

The Trimming function lets you "Crop" out a specific area or an image and save it as a new file.

The i-Contrast option allows you to detect and brighten dark areas in an image, then save the changed picture as a new file. There is also an i-Contrast setting via the record menu, which automatically puts these settings in effect.

You can also change the Color of an image for that creative look.

Movie clips can be played in the camera with audio thanks to the built-in speaker. You get "VCR-like" buttons to control the playback functions.

You can also shorten (edit the length) a movie clip.

The Sound Memo options is activated by pressing the dedicated button on the back of the camera. It lets you record memos or notes up to 60 seconds in length which are attached to still images. You can overwrite or delete previous memos.

The G10 can also become a Sound recorder and record for up to 2 hours. You can even choose the sample rate (44.100kHz, 11.025kHz, 22.050kHz), but the recorded file size will change depending on which setting is used. You can then play back the audio in camera. Files are saved in WAVE format, and are Not attached to images. The length of a clip is limited by the amount of space available on the memory card (2 hours max.)

The Setup sub-menu lets you Mute camera sounds, adjust the volume of several functions, set Audio settings (Mic level, Wind Filter), adjust LCD brightness, choose the Power saving settings, set the Time Zone, set the time and date in the internal clock, choose the amount of time the clock is displayed, format the SD card, Choose the File Numbering method, Create a Folder, turn auto rotate on/off, set the Distance units (m/cm or ft/in), adjust the Lens retract time, set the menu language, specify the video out format (NTSC or PAL), set the print method, and RESET all settings to factory default.

The MyCamera sub-menu lets you customize the start-up and shutdown screens and the camera's sound effects. When you install the included software you will find a wealth of themes, start-up screens and sounds to choose from our custom build your own.