Description

-10.0 megapixels-High-powered, wide-angle 5x optical zoom (equivalent to 28mm140mm)- 2.8 vari-angle LCD with 461,000 dots for shooting at a variety of angles plus an optical viewfinder-DIGIC(R) 4 Image Processor-Full range of shooting & recording modes including RAW + JPEG for the ultimate creative control-Optical image stabilization-HDMI(TM) output-Smart auto intelligently selects the proper setting for the camera based on 22 predefined shooting situations

Customer Reviews

 Awesome little camera! - Aug 31, 2010

I have been lugging around my DSLR and all its lenses and accessories wherever I go and feel awkward sometimes but a friend recommended a Canon G series camera. I did a lot of research and decided to buy the G11. I have it for about 2 weeks now and i absolutely am in love with it! its portable, I love the swivel screen too. and i dont need to be changing lenses. Its perfect for me. I would recommend anyone to buy this.

 Canon G11 or S90...... - Aug 27, 2010

There are way many reviews about G11 and S90, and it's the most headache thing for me to select the correct one, which I would like to spend money on walk and shoot porpose instead of carrying my Canon 30D. After deep thinking and borrow G11 and S90 from friends to play couple days. Yes, I like S90, which is a perfect size compact camera. It have way more advantages and improvements. However, G11 fits more my personal requirements.

I finally choose G11.

Here are reasons:

1. Both G11 and S90 are based on Canon's DIGIC 4 Image Processor, so everyone feels both with the same performance. I have to say not true. You can check Canon 50D, which is also Canon's DIGIC 4 Image Processor, but people use Canon 50D not saying S90 the same as 50D. The reason is all about lens. S90 F2.0-4.9 is btter than G11 F2.8-4.5. This is my key concern for selecting S90 instead of G11, so I took some indoor pictures with both S90 and G11. After comparing those picture, I would say, S90 is awesome, but G11 is good enojugh because low light mode did help with Canon's DIGIC 4 Image Processor improvement.

2. S90 has bigger LCD, which is 3.0", but G11 LCD size is only 2.8". 3.0" LCD is bigger, but I want to take my picture on my self for fun sometimes, so G11 LCD is cool on it as my very very old PRO70 (Canon first semi-SLR in 1998). I would say that I am happy to have such adjustable LCD again.

3. G11 Quick Shoot Mode, which S90 not provided, is the key feature for me to select G11. It does help a lot to catch those pictures when my son is kicking soccer or doing other excersises. Even this mode is a battery drinker because it keep the camera nonstop focus on target, I have to prepare another backup battery.

4. Shutter Speed. G11 has Auto (1 - 1/4000 sec) and S90 only has Auto (1 - 1/1600 sec). It's another key for me to choose it because my kids won't stand there for letting me to take their cute pictures. They are moving around everywhere unstoppable.

5. Closest Focus, G11 is 1cm, and S90 is 5cm. I would say G11 better on it due to my job related to electronic design. Many components are way smaller than usual.

6. G11 has optical view finder. It's not a key concern, but I just like it since I used many digital and tranditional cameras with optical view finder most of time from 8 years old and already get use into it. It's just a personal reason that my eyes don't like digital view finder.

I would say G11 is a camera with most required functions as I expected. S90 is also a good camera. It really depends on your purpose and expecting of the camera. If it's just a street camera with few club or at home indoor low light picture without flash casually, S90 is good enough for it and way better than pervious Canon S, SD, or A products. If you have a very young unstoppable kid or lovely excersise child, G11 can provide better solutions for you.

 A mini SLR camera - Aug 27, 2010

I've been looking for an SLR camera for ages..but wasn't willing to spend the big bucks. I settled for a Canon G11 based on the reviews and recommendations from friends. I love this camera and am so happy that I purchased it. It's easy to use and I love how there are settings to help me decide which features to use when taking pictures in different atmospheres. This camera is pretty easy to use, but you need to study some of the advanced capabilities such as aperture and ISO speed. I'd recommend this camera to people who do not want to carry a huge SLR with them, aren't willing to spend the big bucks, and want to be an amateur photographer!

 This is the camera for me! - Aug 27, 2010

I have been into photography for over 30 years. I have shot with an Argus C3 35mm to start, Nikkormats, Nikon F, Pentax ME Super, Compact 110 cameras, polaroids, etc. I got into digital maybe 10 years ago with a Nikon Coolpix 950, Coolpix 995, then a Nikon D70. I enjoy shooting Macro and I love the outdoors. I sold my Ultra Wide Angle lens on Ebay and used the proceeds to buy this camera. It was the best investment I have made. So, it doesn't have all the features of my D70, but its got me out there taking pictures. This camera is the perfect size to take hiking, day trips etc. I highly recommend this camera. I have had it a little over a month and it seems to be excellent quality, durable, easy to use. I still have some things to learn, but I am to the point that I shoot primarily in RAW mode and Manual. I am involved in a greeting card company, so I shoot a lot of stock photos for the cards that I send. The prints I have made come out great! If you are on the fence with this camera, I would say buy it and you will not regret it!

 Buyer Beware! - Aug 26, 2010

I purchased my G11 in December of 2009, and it immediately broke (the shutter wont open/close anymore). CANON repaired the camera under its 1-year warranty. 6 months later, still within the 1-year warranty period, the camera broke down again. CANON now refused to repair the camera for free, which is contrary to CANONs warranty terms. CANON asked me to pay $150 for the repair. 2 weeks later, yesterday, I received the still broken camera, with a notice that the value of the repair is too high, and that the camera was not repaired. No solution was offered by CANON, and I am not sure what I should do with my $500 broken G11.

I find the G11 an unreliable camera, and I am disappointed about CANON's failure to stand by its 1-year warranty.

 remember to pack battery charger! - Aug 20, 2010

we love our new camera and won't elaborate on it's details because everyone else has already done that. we're just 2 old people trying to find the easiest camera around. this was our choice and it was the right one. the kicker comes if you forget your charger because these batteries are not easy to find. during our 50th high school reunion party our batteries went dead and NO PLACE in the entire cith had one to replace. we had forgotten our charger. pack that sucker or suffer the consequences. we had to use a disposable. too bad so sad.

 Excelent! - Aug 18, 2010

I reccomend it for amateur users who want a bit higher level photography. Congrats to Canon!

 Great camera! - Aug 02, 2010

Easy to use, great features ans not too bulky to carry around. Absolutely love this camera and the photos it takes!

 Poor Sensor Quality - Jul 31, 2010

I will never buy Canon again. The "G" series is not as good as you think. My G9 sensor failed within 18 months. I sent it in to Canon for repair $169. Worked fine for 11 months, then the new sensor failed, with multiple dead pixels, and a phantom "line" vertically across my photos. For the price of these cameras, this is not acceptable.
Canon failed to make ANY sort of concession, they suggested I buy a NEW Canon. Right. A casual user might not notice the dead pixels cropping up, if they don't do large prints. I suggest previous owners who have given good reviews take a "pixel-eye" view of their latest photos to see what I mean. They may be changing their ratings.

 Great Camera!!!! - Jul 29, 2010

I love photography- I have been snapping and developing my own film for years. However, it is a pain to always lug my professional camera with me; especially if I just want a night on the town with my girlfriends. Plus, sometimes I would want someone to take a picture for me and unfortunately unless someone knew about professional SLR cameras no one could work mine! So I had been looking for a professional quality point and shoot with convenience and ease that even an amateur photographer could grasp. And this was it!!!! It take gorgeous high quality shots, yet is simple to use and the rotating screen is excellent for self timed pictures or hard to see areas! I highly recommend this camera to both first time buyers and long standing photographers!

 Huge disappointment after loving the G9 - all pictures are washed out - poor color quality1 - Jul 28, 2010

I had the previous version, the Canon Powershot G9, and LOVED IT. It finally stopped working so I immediately ordered the most updated version, the G11. This camera was HORRIBLE. The color is completely washed out in every picture I took on my recent trip to Alaska, and is a huge disappointment. I even adjusted many different things along the way to try and remedy the color, but nothing worked. I will now spend much time "adjusting" the color using computer programs; which should not be required, but is the unfortunate situation. Positive features are the size, and a great battery life; however, if you are interested in a camera that will portray even a fraction of the vibrant colors and landscapes that you may encounter in amazing places like Alaska, look elsewhere. In addition, I am not sure why Canon chose to both reduce the megapixel size from previous versions (G9 was 12.0; G11 is 10.0) AND reduce the zoom range!

 Canon G11 SDHC Memory Recommendation and Features - Jul 26, 2010

I'll get around to the memory recommendation in a minute. I purchased the Canon G11 and a Canon underwater housing (130' rated) for scuba diving. The combo works very well together. The camera has an underwater preset mode which produces exceptional scuba diving photos. The G11 was a little intimidating at first but after a few hours of punching buttons and reading the manual, it was clear that the camera has many advanced features and wasn't all that difficult to use. It includes numerous preset modes, (underwater,snow,portrait,action,foliage,etc,etc,etc)to make taking great pictures easy. I was truly inpressed with the possibilities. I have taken numerous stills (with and without enhancements)and videos. The photos and video have been impressive. It can do color swap, and color enhancements, like taking a picture of a child holding a red rose and only the red rose has color, the child can remain black and white. Very cool stuff.

Back to the memory thing....
I wanted to know what Size (GB) and Class (2,4,6,10) of SDHC card Canon recommended to optimize the cameras performance. The new SDHC cards have a Size in gigabytes and a Class. (Some cards show a Multiplier like 100x, 133x or even 400x). The Class and the Multiplier are essentially the same thing, transfer speeds. The bigger the number the faster the transfer rate.

The camera doesn't come with a memory card and the manual doesn't tell you what to buy. So, I sent a note to Canon and they responded within 24 hours and answered me on a Sunday. "Thumbs up" on Canon Customer Service.

Here is there response:
Thank you for writing to us regarding Memory card choices for your PowerShot G11.
While we don't publish the internal transfer rates for our cameras, the following information may assist you in deciding on memory cards:

Some memory cards rate their speeds by a "class." Canon cameras are recommended to be used with cards rated are class 4 for SD (Standard Definition movies) and class 6 for HD (High Definition Movies) or higher because of the large amount of data being written to the card. As long as the card adheres to the following card standards, the memory card should be compatible regardless of the class or speed rating.

The PowerShot G11 will accept SDHC memory cards with a capacity of up to 32GB.

My Comments:
The cost for the SDHC cards vary all over the place. I have used a Class 2 card and it seemed to work fine. However, I wanted to see if bigger and faster was better so I ordered a Verbatim 16GB, Class 6 ($52). I got a "memory card error" with two of my cameras and now have to return it. (It was big, fast and cheap, but didn't work). I have two other Sandisk Class 4 cards that work fine. So go with Sandisk. A little more money, but they work. I picked up a Sandisk SDHC 8GB Class 10 for around $58, shipped. The 8GB card gives you around 2990 photos or 240 minutes of video. The larger capacity cards seem to be exponentially more expensive. The Class 10 is fast enough for good recovery time between shots and high quality video. The Canon manual lists several different type of compatible memory, but go with the SDHC card.

I hope you find this helpful.....it's a great camera, packed with features, and if you're into scuba diving...even better.

 CANON G11 - Jul 23, 2010

GREAT CAMERA, GREAT PICTURES, A LOT OF OPTIONS..... A LITTLE COMPLICATED, I NEED MORE PRACTICE

 Great little camera - Jul 22, 2010

The Canon PowerShot GS 11 is a great little camera. The pictures so far (most of which have been underwater with the compatible underwater housing) have been very impressive. The camera can function as a point and shoot or has the capabilty of functioning like a SLR with manual controls of many settings. It is recent buy so I have not learned all the features which gets to the cons and they are are few: The camera has many features, so it can be a bit complex. I am still figuring out how to manage the RAW data aspect of it. It is also heavy for a digital compact camera, so it does not fit into a shirt pocket. As I get more familar with it, the "complexity factor" will become less of an issue. It has durable straps and I bought a belt pouch for it, so carrying it around will not be a problem.

 Obsolete At Birth - Jul 20, 2010

The G7 was the camera that started the revolution against big bulky DSLR's, and ate into their marketspace by attracting the prosumer photographers. Canon had a real HIT!

So what did Canon do? They released three more generations of G series with NO HD VIDEO!

That's why I bought a Lumix fz-35, and then I found out that Lumix is a better match for the manual shooter like me, because all the manual controls are right up front, and Canon wants you to use their Digic chip, that's why they took raw out of the G7, but had to put it back in due to customer uproar.

Canon wants their camera (Digic Chip) to get the credit for great shots, not the photographers. They're very haughty and arrogant now. It feels like they're trying to dictate the photography market instead of making cameras that customers really want.

 High quality camera with automatic and manual capabilities - Jul 13, 2010

I do portraiture and my former camera, my best, most favorite camera of all times, had become inadequate. Often when I was photographing children, the lagtime on the photo being taken was so long that a child would change expressions, talk to another person in the room, turn around and move out of the picture before the photograph was done. Yes, in spite of my love for my Sony Cybershot with the Carl Zeiss lens, it was time to replace the camera. The G11 has changed my photographs dramatically. Certainly, in low light situations, there will still be some lagtime but nothing like most cameras. This camera takes photographs to a whole new level.

My husband, who is an artist and photographer, has been insisting for years that my abilities were higher than the camera I have been using (albeit not so high that I need to use his Hasselblad) and he finally made an argument that made it worth my while to change cameras. We would not use my Carl Weiss has a hand-me-down, but instead I could keep it.

Suffice it to say that after a few weeks of using this camera and seeing the beauty of raw files and the gorgeous detail, I handed down my old camera voluntarily. I still use film cameras for some pictures and situations but there is almost no reason to anymore for my purposes. Film and the process of making photographs in the old way still have a certain beauty to them if one enjoys darkroom work.

This camera can be used as a manual camera for those who still prefer to make their own decisions about what is happening in the picture. So many times, you have to work to trick automatic point and shoot cameras to avoid automatic settings. This camera allows you to make choices to be in control of the picture.

There are a lot of interesting technical details to this camera that a lot of people more qualified than I have talked about.

One of the most significant improvements in this camera is its capacity for raw capture. Raw files can be processed outside the camera with software programs without altering the information that was in the original capture. All cameras have some kind of compression or processing algorhythms, which permanently alter the image content. Raw file capability allows images to be processed by special purpose software, like Photoshop and others, without altering the information of the original capture. The raw file is essentially your negative.

One of the paradoxical improvements over its predecessor is that Canon reduced the resolution of the sensor and improved image quality. They have enhanced performance at higher ISOs. Canon has managed to fit a lot of capability into a tool that is lightweight, easy to handle, and easy to carry.

 Canon G11 Appraisal - Jul 12, 2010

I graduated to a G11 after several years of owning a G7. I read all the reviews of the G11 carefully, although I eventually "had" to buy the G11 because I dropped and broke the G7. I have had the G11 for about two months now. Use has included time on a vacation trip. I agree that quality and feel of the body is a step down from the earlier metal bodies, but it is serviceable. I had reservations about the rotating viewing screen. It adds bulk and is potentially a weak point as regards durability. However, it works well and overall the screen versatility is a plus. I entirely agree with others that the picture quality is superb, particularly in low light conditions. My biggest disappointment is the reduced options available for Photostitch as compared to the G7. The Photostitch option is now bundled into the SCN program, instead of having a stand alone slot on the dial. I particularly miss the the option to stitch a panorama in the vertical format. Also, when operating the camera, it is all too easy to touch buttons inadvertently, creating an unwanted option. It would be nice to have a feature that locks the selected settings to prevent such occurrences. If there is such a feature, I have not discovered it. I am still learning the bells and whistles.

 The perfect camera for travel. - Jul 11, 2010

I now own three cameras: a Canon Powershot SD600 (very small), a Nikon D70 (very big), and now the Canon G11 .... the perfect mid-size camera for travel. It may not offer all the features of the D70 but it provides me with complete control of aperture and shutter and focus settings ..... all in a very compact package. It bridges the gap between the tiny SD600 and the heavy Nikon SLR. I just returned from a one week vacation trip during which I took over 500 photos with the G11. The picture quality results just blew me away! I found my pictures needed very little "tweaking" (editing) and that they permitted cropping and enlarging with no problems. Most shots were taken at ISO 200 or less, so I have not yet put the camera into low light situations and cannot comment on its high ISO performance. The menu system offers an amazing array of options and choices. I recommend studying it and learning all its features before starting to use the camera. I also found that I can use my SLR's external flash units on the G11 (in manual mode). Bottom line here is that the G11 has surprised me with how well it performed. It is a perfect supplement to my SLR because it is so portable and because it allows me all the controls, settings, and adjustments I need.

 a great back up camera - Jun 29, 2010

The g11 works as my daily carry camera I usually shoot with a Nikon 300 and my camera pack weighs 35 pounds.
The camera has two minor faults 1. the view finder does not show a full image of what will be taken. 2. the buttons are to close and you can press the wrong one.
Good points 1. an easy to use manual mode.
2. a wonderful close up setting.
3. a real raw that works fairly fast. Raw works well but tough to install in photo shop cs4. Also you have to import files directly not from Bridge. Get your help from Adobe as the Canon people told me it can not be used,
4. good noise to ISO ratio for a small camera 800 can be used if needed.

 Great fir beginner or serious photographer - Jun 16, 2010

Thie camera is easy to use and has an automatic feature that makes acceptable pictures. It also has a host of controls useful to the advanced photographer. The dials are easy to use and the displays give an accurate description of the settings. The viewfinder is a welcome feature that allows one to compose shots in bright light. I am very please with this caCanon PowerShot G11 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Stabilized Zoom and 2.8-inch articulating LCDmera and recommend it

 Impressive Product - Jun 13, 2010

Great camera with impressive set of features and functions. Easy to use, good amount of manual options.

 G 11 Canon Digital Camera - Jun 10, 2010

It is the first camera that I've seen that has the ISO setting on top with a selection wheel so one can set the camera and get great photos indoors with no flash using the light of the room. ISO goes up to 3200. I wish that it had more than 5 X zoom, but for most shots I take, it is adequate. The LCD is not only moveable, but has a very bright resolution. The image can be easily seen outdoors as well as inside.

 Canon PowerShot G11 - Jun 09, 2010

Very happy with my new Canon. Picture quality is terrific! Only complaint (thus far) is that the camera isn't designed to shoot one handed. If you try to hold the camer and shoot with one hand..your palm tends to press against the menu buttons. Apparently while shooting one handed, I inadvertently changed the color swap in the video mode and I haven't figured out how to set it back to normal (yet).

Overall, I am very happy with this camera and picture quality.

 mom likes it more the more she figures out how to use it - Jun 07, 2010

Easy enough for a novice, but has the capability to grow more with the user as you learn more about the camera and its technical abilities. Great quality pictures!

 As good as it gets! - Jun 06, 2010

The Canon G11 is a GREAT camera. To say anything less would be an understatement. What makes it great is the thoughtfulness that went into the design. It's like the engineers were always one step ahead of you. I'm thinking, Okay, I like that, but I also want this...and there it is! The combination of new technology and the courage to reach back and include certain traditional designs--like knobs for some things instead of always having to access the menu--this is what makes the camera so effective. The engineering team on this project deserves really high marks.