Canon G11 vs G12

Canon does upgrades to its best cameras about every year or so. Now we have a new Canon G12 release. Of course it is the upgrade from a G11, which has been an extremely well liked camera.

Outward appearances show that the G12 is about the same as its younger sibling. It is a tad bit heavier, but dimensions are identical.

Interestingly, most of the features are also the same. It has the same image sensor, the same zoom lens with identical focal length and aperture, and the same LCD with optical viewfinder thrown in.

So what is different? The two major things are video and ISO.

The major upgrade is to the video feature. It now has HD 720p capture, whereas the older model had only 640 x 480.
Second upgrade is in the number of ISO settings. The range stays the same, but there are more "in between" possibilities.

That's pretty simple. But in viewing the comments of new buyers at the Amazon website, there were some pretty outspoken customers. The ones that gave the Canon G12 only one star had something in common. They were all G11 (or older Gx) owners who were disappointed that there wasn't more.

Looking past those disgruntled folks, the others were very satisfied with their new camera.

The thing about buying one of these high level compact cameras is that they are the same cameras the pros use as "second" or "backup" cameras. This group of pros is a hard bunch to please. They have high expectations, and they sometimes compare the cameras to their pro models.

This is something that should not be done.

Truth is, a compact camera has a much smaller sensor than a digital SLR camera, and the image quality will not be the same. It just ain't gonna happen.

Final question: should you get the newer G12 or the older G11?

Probably. But that's not the answer that you wanted, right?

There are some prosumer cameras that will provide you with many images you will be proud of. What exactly are you looking for in a digital compact? Take a look at this side-by-side comparison of the top prosumer cameras available.
You can see them at http://digital-photographic-resources.com/cameras/prosumer.html