CANON G15 Review

Introduction

During 2013 I had the opportunity to test the Canon G15 during three ultra-extreme events. The first was in March at the Addo Elephant trail run in the Eastern Cape, the second was in April during the Marathon des Sables (MdS) in Morocco and the third was during October at the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon (KAEM) in the Northern Cape.

I was surprised how well the G15 coped with the heat, sand, humidity and wet conditions. As both the MdS and KAEM are multi-stage desert races my initial fear was that the sand at both these events may cause the retractable lens to malfunction, this never happened. My second concern was that the high temperatures may impact significantly upon the camera, either draining its battery, or causing some other malfunction, this also didn’t happen. From the outset, therefore, the quality of the camera and its ability to withstand an extreme environment met my first criteria more than adequately. It’s worthwhile noting that although the camera is rated to operate at a maximum temperature of 40 degree Celsius, the MdS showed that this camera can work at temperatures well above that.

Before I delve into a more detailed review, it’s worthwhile looking at the general specifications of the camera:

Camera Type	Compact digital still camera with built-in flash, 5x Optical, 4x Digital and 20x Combined Zoom with Optical Image Stabilizer
Sensor	12.1 Megapixel, 1/1.7-inch CMOS
Total Pixels	Approx. 13.3 Megapixels
Effective Pixels	Approx. 12.1 Megapixels
Focal Length	6.1 (W) – 30.5 (T) mm (35mm film equivalent: 28–140mm)
Digital Zoom	4.0x
Focusing Range	Normal:  2.0 in. (5cm) – infinity (W), 1.3 ft. (40cm) – infinity (T) Normal with Tele-converter: 2.0 in. (5cm) – infinity (W), 2.5 ft. (75cm) – infinity (T) Auto: 0.4 in. (1cm) – infinity (W), 1.3 ft. (40cm) – infinity (T) Auto with Tele-converter: 2.5 ft. (75cm) – infinity (T) Macro AF: 0.4 in. – 1.6 ft. (1–50cm) (W)
Autofocus System	TTL Autofocus, Manual Focus
Viewfinder	Real-image zoom viewfinder
LCD Monitor	3.0-inch TFT Color LCD with wide viewing angle
LCD Pixels	Approx. 922,000 dots
LCD Coverage	Approx. 100%
Maximum Aperture	f/1.8 (W), f/2.8 (T)
Shutter Speed	1–1/4000 sec. 15–1/4000 sec. (in Tv and M modes)
ISO Sensitivity	Auto, ISO 80, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200, 4000, 5000, 6400, 8000, 10000, 12800
Light Metering Method	Evaluative, Center-weighted average, Spot
Exposure Control Method	Manual Exposure, Program Shift, Safety Shift, AE Lock
Exposure Compensation	Still Images: ±3 stops in 1/3-stop increments Videos: ±3 stops in 1/3-stop increments (not available during shooting)
White Balance Control	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash, Underwater, Custom 1, Custom 2
Built-in Flash	Auto, Flash On, Slow Synchro, Flash Off
Flash Range	1.6 ft. – 23 ft. (W), 1.6 – 15 ft. (T) (50cm – 7.0m (W), (50cm – 4.5m (T))
Recycling Time	10 sec. or less (battery voltage: 7.4 V)
Flash Exposure Compensation	±2 stops in 1/3-stop increments
Hot Shoe Availability	Available
Shooting Modes	C1, C2, M, Av, Tv, P, Auto, Movie Digest, SCN, Creative Filters, Movie Portrait, Smooth Skin, Smart Shutter, High-Speed Burst HQ, Handheld NightScene, Underwater, Snow, Fireworks, Stitch Assist High Dynamic Range, Nostalgic, Fish-eye Effect, Miniature Effect, Toy Camera Effect, Soft Focus, Monochrome, Super Vivid, Poster Effect, Color Accent, Color Swap Standard, iFrame Movie, Super Slow Motion Movie Smile, Wink Self-timer, Face Self-timer
Photo Effects	My Colors Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Color
Self-Timer	Approx. 10-sec. delay/approx. 2-sec. delay/custom
Wireless Control	Not Available
Electronic Level	Dual axis
Continuous Shooting	Normal: Approx. 2.1 shots/sec. (in P mode) Approx. 10 shots/sec. (in High-Speed Burst HQ) AF: Approx. 0.9 shots/sec. (in P mode) Approx. 5.2 shots/sec. (in High-Speed Burst HQ) LV: Approx. 0.9 shots/sec. (in P mode)
Storage Media	SD Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card, SDXC Memory Card
File Format	Design rule for Camera File system, DPOF (Version 1.1) compliant
Image Compression	Superfine / Fine
JPEG Compression Mode	Still Image: Exif. 2.3 (JPEG) Video: MOV (Image: H.264; Audio: Linear PCM (Stereo)
Number of Recording Pixels	Still Images: 1) 16:9 – Large: 4000 x 2248; Medium 1: 2816 x 1584; Medium 2: 1920 x 1080; Small: 640 x 360; RAW: 4000 x 2248 2) 3:2 – Large: 4000 x 2664; Medium 1: 2816 x 1880; Medium 2: 1600 x 1064; Small: 640 x 424; RAW: 4000 x 2664 3) 4:3 – Large: 4000 x 3000; Medium 1: 2816 x 2112; Medium 2: 1600 x 1200; Small: 640 x 480; Raw: 4000 x 3000 4) 1:1 – Large: 2992 x 2992; Medium 1: 2112 x 2112; Medium 2: 1200 x 1200; Small: 480 x 480; RAW: 2992 x 2992 5) 4:5 – Large: 2400 x 3000; Medium 1: 1696 x 2112; Medium 2: 960 x 1200; Small: 384 x 480; RAW: 2400 x 3000 Videos: Full HD 1920 x 1080: 24 fps (23.976) HD 1280 x 720: 30 fps (29.97) iFrame Movie HD 1280 x 720: 30 fps (29.97) Movie Digest HD 1280 x 720: 30 fps (29.97) Miniature Effect HD 1280 x 720: 6 fps / 3 fps / 1.5 fps Miniature Effect 640 x 480: 6 fps / 3 fps / 1.5 fps Super Slow Motion Movie 640 x 480: 120 fps Super Slow Motion Movie 320 x 240: 240 fps 640 x 480: 30 fps (29.97)
Video Out	NTSC/PAL (dedicated connector (female) with unified type of digital, audio and video) Mini-HDMI connector
Audio Out	Stereo (dedicated connector (female) with unified type of digital, audio and video)
Other	SD memory card slot; direct connection to Canon SELPHY, PIXMA Photo Printers & PictBridge compatible printers
Power Source	Battery Pack NB-10L, Compact Power Adapter CA-PS700 (included with AC Adapter Kit ACK-DC80)
Shooting Capacity	Approx. 350 shots using LCD monitor Approx. 770 shots when LCD monitor is off
Playback Time	Approx. 7 hours
Operating Temperature	32–104°F/0–40°C
Operating Humidity	10–90%
Dimensions (W x H x D)	4.20 x 2.99 x 1.58" (106.6 x 75.9 x 40.1 mm)
Weight	12.4 oz. (352g)

Look & Feel

The G15 has a solid look and feel; it sits well within your hand which helps with stabilization of the camera when taking photos. It has a sturdy design with easy access to its selector dials and buttons. I found the ‘exposure compensation dial’ to be somewhat in the way which means that I would, on occasion, make adjustments which was not intended.

When using two hands to stabilise the camera during low-light shooting my left hand index finger always seems to be in the way, preventing the ‘popup flash’ from ‘popping-up”. For the rest of the dials and buttons, I had no problem, reaching or using any of them. To be fair, however, one must realise that the G15 is still a point and shoot camera although it has a range of manual features which makes it a highly versatile camera. To pack this manual capability into a point and shoot body is no small feat with body real-estate being very limited. As with most point and shoot, and even armature DSLR’s the popup flash is limited and one could rather make use of a stand-alone flash for which the G15 has a hot-shoe.

Features

The G15 has a host of shooting modes and photo effects that delivers some additional capability to a well-designed camera. It is capable of taking up to 10 frames per second in High-Speed Burst HQ mode, which is really great for outdoor-adventure sport. Some of the shooting modes (such as HDR requires the use of a tri-pod which, in self-sufficiency races are in short supply). In essence not all of the capability will be accessible to photographers that don’t have supporting aids. There are, however, enough features that can be used while on the run. The optical zoom is excellent and provides sufficient zooming capability for close-up shooting to the user, but as with all cameras the digital zoom element has very little value, particularly as it pertains to image quality. For the adventure racer who would like to snap wildlife or fellow runners that may be some distance off, the optical zoom is somewhat limiting.


During KAEM 2012, I tested the Nikon V1, and was able to capture excellent photos of distant subject matter. However, to do so I had carried the V1 body and three lenses with a total weight of nearly three times that of the Canon G15. There are always trade-offs where weight is concerned and for the typical adventure racer the G15 is that balance. It finds the sweet-spot between quality, features, and weight, delivering sufficient capability for most circumstances. 

      

  

Using the G15

Still Images

The quality and sharpness of the G15 provides excellent scope for a range of photographic experiences. The following images were taken during the 2013 MdS and are intended to demonstrate image quality, clarity, sharpness etc. 

In this photo I attempted to convey some information about the intensity of the sun, even early in the morning. The G15 provided the capability for me to frame the picture with the sun as central image without losing the blue of the surrounding sky.

Sunsets in the desert are always uniquely beautiful. In this image the variation in color emanating from a bright whit center, to a yellow and eventually orange spectrum combined with a solid black lower half demonstrates how the G15 is capable of capturing the finest detail without compromising on color or quality.   

The next photo captures a sun-rise about 30-minutes before I completed the MdS long-stage which saw me run through the night. I wanted to show the beauty of the new rising sun, but at the same time convey the message of the desolation, the loneliness, that is found in the desert. Again the G15 was able to deliver. The space, the sun and the variation in colour said exactly what I intended and the G15 delivered image sharpness, colour accuracy and image quality.

In this the final MdS image, I was trying to capture what the Sahara desert is all about, the romantic image of sand dune upon sand dune, the size, the scale and the lack of forgiveness that this environment without trees and shade throws at anyone who enters her. Again the G15 captured in crisp intensity what I was trying to say.

Tanya and I came across this berg adder while running the Addo Elephant in March this year. The G15 did a great job capturing the detail of this beautiful reptile who was somewhat stressed by the time we reached him.

Video

The G15 allows you to take really great videos; the lens provides high quality images. This feature is great for video diarising; however, the battery life of the G15 is greatly diminished when using the camera in video mode. This is an important consideration for adventure racers for whom weight is an important issue.   

Conclusion

The Canon G15 is a lightweight, high quality camera with many automatic and manual features to appeal to all photographers, from amateur to professional. However, its real appeal for the ultra-adventure racer is the balance between the G15’s weight and quality. Here the Canon is in a class of its own; it is robust, easy to use, and compact and produces both high quality stills and video. The few negatives that I mentioned are peripheral and do not detract from the great features of the camera. I can strongly recommend the G15 to ultra-endurance, adventure and self-sufficiency racers who place a high premium on light-weight items.