PHOTO QUALITY. This 13-megapixel advanced point-and-shoot camera captured images with excellent quality. Pictures were very sharp, which means you can see even tiny details and very subtle patterns in the image. In low-light situations without a flash, pictures were very sharp. We judged this model excellent for outdoor performance, such as shooting landscapes in the daytime; excellent for indoor performance, such as photographing a well-lit basketball game in a gym. And excellent for low-light performance without a flash, such as capturing a birthday party. Photos taken in our low-light performance tests displayed little image noise; subjects retained most of their correct detail and color.
FLASH. The PowerShot G1 X Mark II captured flash shots that were excellent. In our distance test, we found the camera's flash could illuminate subjects very well, both near and far. The flash also has excellent, very even coverage.
LENS. This camera includes a 5x zoom lens, a bit more zoom than a standard 3x. The lens also has very wide-angle (24mm) capability that's very useful for landscapes and group portraits, although you may notice a bit of distortion when you're shooting faces up close, for instance.
IMAGE STABILIZATION. This is an important feature; taking hand-held shots at the telephoto end of the zoom range can generally blur or soften images due to the slight movement of your hands. In low-light settings, it performed very well and rarely produced blurry photos. Overall, the shake reduction results from our tests were very good.
SPEED. In terms of performance, the Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II powers up very quickly.
VIDEO. The Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II takes very good video. It captures full HD video at 1920 x 1080 30p. As for sound, it captures good audio in stereo.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. Unlike most advanced point-and-shoot models, this camera does not include a viewfinder, which means you'll need to rely on the LCD to compose your photo or video.
