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The Canon website says ‘DSLR-like creativity in a connected large sensor compact’ which seems to sum up this powerful unit.
It is small enough to fit in your pocket or purse at 10.5x6.5x4cm the last figure increase to 8cm when fully zoomed. It is somewhat heavier than a standard digital camera at 318grams.
A novice user could turn the nine position wheel on top of the unit to ‘Auto’ and get very respectable images via point and shoot but this unit offers so much more.
The right side has a neck strap anchor point if you choose to wear the unit like a large DSLR; it also has a Wi-Fi button for quick transmission of images and a very clever rubber bung that covers USB and HDMI sockets. The left side has the pair to the neck strap anchor as well as the manual flash pop up control. The base has a standard tripod screw near the middle and the right edge has a door behind which is the solid battery and any SD card you insert to store the images and videos.
The face has the 4.2x zoom lens, on the top the left side is where the flash pops up, the central area has twin microphones while the right edge has the nine position wheel and another user controlled wheel under it. Just forward of this the shutter release with the telephoto lens control around it. Unlike a lot of cameras that had a big grip point here – dating from the days of ‘AA’ batteries – there is just a small rubber protrusion which together with a thumb anchor on the back very near the top provide stability of holding.
Finally the back that is dominated by a 6.5x4.2cm TFT screen that can flip through 180 degrees to sit on top of the unit to allow you to take the now near compulsory selfie. For me the double hinge has a better use in enabling you to get the screen at other angles to see over/round obstructions. To the right of this two pairs of well-marked buttons and between them the ubiquitous five position joystick to let you move easily through the units many menus.
This small unit takes excellent still images as well as fine HD movies –up to 50FPS - and for a firm camera as a video taker sceptic that was hard to say. The 24mm wide angle lens lets you capture a lot more of the scene from closer to the subject.
For a pocket camera to take excellent RAW images is rare. There are as normal with Canon L, M, S images each in two compressions, so you can capture in 20MP, 9MP and 5MP.
The aspect ratios available are 16:9, 3:2, 1:1 and 4:3.
Now I have a problem I always like to emphasize the minus points and I am struggling, I could say lack of viewfinder but a lot of far more powerful large units do not have them now so the only snag is the price, but this is quality and that never comes cheap.
The PowerShot G7X is available from Amazon for £590.89 with free delivery.
http://www.canon.co.uk/for_home/product_finder/cameras/digital_camera/powershot/powershot_g7_x_mark_ii/
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