Canon Powershot G2 Review

The zoom lens control is built around the shutter button. Below that is the Drive button to select either the continuous mode or the selftimer/remote control mode. Around the Mode Dial is the Power switch, it turns the camera on in either Record or Play mode.

The Mode Dial has positions for:

• Manual - you set both the shutter speed and aperture
• AV (Aperture priority) - the camera automatically selects a shutter speed to match the aperture you set. Aperture settings available are: F2.0, F2.2, F2.5, F2.8, F3.2, F3.5, F4.0, F4.5, F5.0, F5.6, F6.3, F7.1, F8.0
• TV (Shutter priority) - camera automatically selects an aperture setting to match the shutter speed you set. Available shutter speeds are: 1/1000, 1/800, 1/640, 1/500, 1/400, 1/320, 1/250, 1/200, 1/160, 1/125, 1/100, 1/80, 1/60, 1/50, 1/40, 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/13, 1/10, 1/8, 1/6, 1/5, 1/4, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.8, 1, 1.3, 1.6, 2, 2.5, 3.2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 15 seconds
• Program AE - camera automatically set the shutter speed and aperture settings like AUTO but the user can change many options like white balance, exposure compensation, saturation, sharpness and more.
• AUTO - camera sets everything automatically, this is "point and shoot" mode

The pre-programmed "Image Zone" modes include:

• Pan Focus - When you need the fastest "grab" shot possible, sets lens to wideangle for greatest depth of field (25 inches to infinity)
• Portrait - Sets a large aperture value to have a minimum depth of field so your subject is sharp but the background gets blurred.
• Landscape - Sets the focus to infinity and uses a small aperture
• Night Scene - Uses slow shutter speed (tripod recommended) to capture night backgrounds and synchronizes the flash to illuminate foreground subjects
• Color Effects - Vivid, Neutral, B&W or Sepia tone
• Stitch Assist - The user will be aided by the LCD when creating multi-image panorama pictures. Five types of assistance are available:
  1. Horizontal - left to right
  2. Horizontal - right to left
  3. Vertical - top to bottom
  4. Vertical - bottom to top
  5. Clockwise starting at top left.
  
  
  
  
  Onscreen view of Stitch Assist mode
  
  

• Movie - capture full motion video and sound clips up to 30 seconds in length at 320 x 240 resolution at a rate of 15fps or up to 120 secs at 160 x 120 resolution.
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  The data LCD located on the top displays the major camera settings at a glance. Shown here with a shutter speed of 1/60 and an aperture of F2.0, Medium/SuperFine image setting, single exposure mode, self-timer / remote activated, flash set to On, battery level is full, 486 shots remaining and white balance set to Auto.

  Depending on the operational mode other icons are displayed on either the monochrome data display or the color LCD for the various programmed AE modes, drive modes, spot metering, exposure compensation, flash exposure compensation, AE lock, manual focus, digital zoom and raw mode.
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  Across the top is the Spot Metering button, Macro focus mode button (acts as the Jump buton in Play mode), Menu button enables onscreen menu system, 4-way controller lets you navigate menu screens, the SET button accepts selections. When in Record mode the SET button is used to change the Focus Point (more on this on page 4).

  The "Star" button is used to pre-calculate and lock the exposure. In Play mode this is the single image Delete button. The middle button cycles through the four onscreen exposure adjustment modes: Push it once for Exposure Compensation, again for White Balance, again for Flash Compensation and again for the Auto Exposure Bracket offset. The DISPLAY button controls the color LCD and the amount of data that is overlayed on it.
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  The I/O ports are also on the left side:
  

  
  The DIGITAL connector is for the USB data port cable.

  The DC IN port is for the battery charger/AC power supply.

  The A/V OUT handles both the audio and video (NTSC or PAL, selectable).
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  On the right side is the Compact Flash Type II card slot. The G2 is supplied with a 32MB CF card and can use any Type I or II solid state flash memory card or one of the IBM Microdrives.
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  The G2 is powered by a BP-511 lithium rechargeable battery pack.   A fully charged battery is good for approximately 260 images when using the LCD or up to 800 images when you use only the optical viewfinder. Or a playback time of approximately 160 minutes.

  A 90% charge takes 80 minutes and a full charge is reached in another two hours. The included CA-560 battery charger is also an AC power adapter. The battery is charged while it is in the camera but cannot be charged when the camera is turned on. There is an optional external battery charger and car (12VDC) power cord available.

  The Canon BP-511 batteries are excellent but there are several alternative batteries available from third-party sources that are direct replacements. They are less expensive and more powerful, one is the Lenmar LIC-511 and the other is the ACDelco AC-511 with a 1500mAH capacity. You'll find them at the Battery Barn.
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  The supplied WL-DC100 infrared remote controller can be used up to approximately 5m (16.4 ft) directly in front of the camera to shoot or control playback. In record mode it can trip the shutter (two seconds after pushing - due to autofocus and exposure calculation), control the zoom lens and toggle the overlay information displays shown onscreen. In Playback mode it can display the next or previous image, play and replay movies, enable zoomed playback and pan around the magnified view and toggle the various onscreen data overlays.