The PowerShot G series has earned Canon a good reputation and, thankfully, the G5 does nothing to dent it. Not that it will win awards for styling, as the G5 remains slightly boxy for our liking and the casing has more plastic than the G3. It also feels every gram of its 487g weight; the similarly heavy Fuji S5000 is more comfortable to hold and use.
As with most cameras on test, the G5 is aimed squarely at the prosumer and offers comprehensive control over image settings. Naturally, a range of modes is available, from fully automatic (with 12 preset scene modes), right up to fully manual. We found the auto focus very capable, but manual focus, as usual with digital cameras, was a hit-and-miss affair, even with the aid of magnification.
One nice touch is that you can select the area where you want the G5 to focus, and it’s even possible to link the exposure to this point. Many will appreciate the ‘intervalometer’, which lets you take a series of time-lapse images, and there’s also limited control over contrast, saturation and sharpness.
The G5 has a 4x optical zoom, equivalent to 35-140mm on a 35mm camera. It’s faster than most with an aperture of f/2 at wide angle and f/3 at telephoto. Macro performance isn’t incredible, though, capturing an area of 69 x 52mm in our tests.
You can expect plenty of detail in your photos, with the 5-megapixel CCD allowing a maximum image size of 2,592 x 1,944. We were also pleased to see support for RAW files, but the 32MB CompactFlash card seems stingy – fortunately, there’s support for Microdrives too.
We also like the rotating 1.8in LCD – a feature shared with the Nikon Coolpix 5400 – which makes it simple to take very high or low shots, but the narrow vertical viewing angles are frustrating. However, a handy status LCD means you don’t need to use the main screen.
Canon is keen to boast about the G5’s iSAPS system, which is supposed to improve exposure, auto focus and white balance. We found that the G5 excelled outdoors, with generally good exposures and natural colours and skin tones. But in scenes with harsh backlighting, areas tended to be burnt out and chromatic aberrations were evident. Indoors, the G5 produced an unacceptable amount of noise but flash shots were respectable. Even if the flash may be a touch underpowered, there’s a hotshoe for external speedlights.
With lengthy battery life and a handy backup battery to boot, the G5 is a great camera for outdoor shots, but those looking to do mainly indoor work should look elsewhere.