The G1's 7-21mm 3x zoom (34-102mm 35mm equivalent) boasts a maximum aperture of f/2.0-2.5, which is the fastest found on any digital still camera. The real Iris-type aperture can be used to create background blur for professional-grade portraits.

Focus range is 70cm (2.3 ft.) to infinity in normal mode. Macro autofocus range is 6cm (0.2 ft.) (wide-angle) / 20cm (0.7 ft.) (telephoto) to 70cm (2.3 ft.). Manual focus range is 6cm (0.2 ft.) (wide-angle) / 20cm (0.7 ft.) (telephoto) to infinity.

Canon designed three add-on lenses for use with the G1, they all require the LA-DC548 lens adapter:

• WC-DC58 - 0.8x wideangle, focus range 0.4in to infinity, 58mm threads
• TC-DC58 - 1.5x tele, focus range 1.3ft to infinity, 58mm threads
• 250D - 250mm macro lens, focus range 4.7 - 7.9in., 58mm threads
  Lets you shoot macro shots from a more comfortable distance.

Here's the WC-DC58 wideangle conversion lens mounted on the G1.

Pictured here is the LensMate grip/bracket for the Canon G1 that resolves the primary issues related to handling and neckstrap attachment. The tripod socket has also been moved and placed directly under the lens. Rugged, but not too heavy or clunky, it's constructed of laser cut stainless which is bead blasted. The base is hard anodized aluminum and the thumbwheel is machined stainless. Also pictured is the LensMate lens adapter for the G1.

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. Click here for the Mode dial description.

On the left side is the manual focus (MF) button and the speaker for playing back the audio portion of movie clips and camera shutter sounds. The manual focus does not indicate any kind of distance measurement on the LCD, just a bar graph. Sadly there is no enlarged area on the LCD either which severely limits the overall useability of the manual focus feature.

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

The DIGITAL connector handles both the serial and USB data port cables.

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 G1 is supplied with a 16MB CF card and can use any Type I or II flash memory card including the IBM Microdrive.

The current "ultimate" storage devices - the SanDisk 300MB CF2 card and the 1GB IBM Microdrive. Using the 1GB Microdrive yields 584 Large/Superfine or 406 RAW images, all the smaller or higher-compressed image settings show "999" pictures remaining on the counter.

The CF card ejector does not pop cards out very far, in fact it's what I'd call "barely ejected." This isn't a real problem with CF cards as you can catch the edge with your fingernail. The Microdrive has no raised edge so it requires a pair of needle nose pliars or some other type of mechanical aid to remove it. Luckily you don't need to remove the Microdrive all that often, for some maybe never if using the USB port to transfer the data. But for those of us that use card readers it is a problem.

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.

The G1 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. During the charge cycle the amber LED by the viewfinder lets you know what's going on. It blinks slowly at first, then double-blinks, then triple blinks and when it stays on steadily you're at 90%. A fully charged pack is indicated by a steady green LED.

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 very good but there are several alternative lithium 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.

The Nikon Coolpix 880 and Canon G1 for size comparison.