Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II Review | 108 Data compared

The Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II is a premium compact camera featuring a large 1.5-inch sensor that delivers excellent low-noise image quality and dynamic range. It is praised for its bright 24-120mm equivalent f/2.0-3.9 lens, dual customizable control rings, and a 180-degree tilting touchscreen. However, the camera lacks a built-in viewfinder, requiring an expensive external accessory, and its body is quite bulky for a compact. Performance drawbacks include sluggish low-light autofocus tracking, a limited 1/2000 second shutter speed, and soft edge sharpness at wide apertures.

The Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II features a fast 5x zoom lens (24-120mm eq.) with an f/2.0-3.9 aperture, paired with a large 1.5-inch sensor that delivers excellent image quality and low noise. It is highly praised for its fast autofocus, dual customizable lens rings, and a 180-degree tilting touchscreen, making it a powerful tool for versatile photography. However, the camera suffers from slow continuous shooting in RAW modes, plummeting to 1.4 frames per second, which limits its action photography capabilities. Additionally, the body is bulky and heavy, it lacks a built-in viewfinder, and features relatively weak battery life, making it less portable than traditional compact cameras.

The Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II is a highly capable yet bulky compact camera that addresses most flaws of its predecessor, though it struggles with its hefty build and high price point. On the positive side, the camera features a significantly upgraded 24-120mm lens with an impressive f/2.0-3.9 aperture, offering excellent low-light performance, a 5cm macro distance, and beautiful bokeh. It delivers sharp, detailed 12.8-megapixel images with natural colours and respectable high-ISO noise handling up to 1,600. Users will also appreciate the flexible triple-control-ring setup for custom modes, a fast 1-million-pixel tilting touchscreen, built-in Wi-Fi and NFC, and an improved continuous shooting speed of 5.2 fps for JPEGs. However, the camera comes with several notable disadvantages, starting with its substantial weight of 558 grams and thick dimensions that make it entirely unsuitable for standard pockets. Battery life is also weak at just 240 shots per charge, falling short of competitors like the Sony RX100 II. Furthermore, the camera completely lacks a built-in viewfinder, forcing users to buy an expensive €300 external electronic viewfinder (EVF-DC1) that suffers from minor image...

The Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II is a high-end compact camera targeted at demanding users, featuring a large 1.5-inch sensor, a 5x optical zoom lens (24-120mm equivalent) with a bright f/2.0-3.9 aperture, and a highly responsive 31-point autofocus system with manual focus peaking. It provides excellent creative control through full manual exposure settings and dual control rings on the lens for adjusting image parameters, though the ring mechanism felt slightly stiff during testing. The camera excels in operational speed and physical handling, housing well-accessible controls on an uncluttered body that weighs 554 grams. For framing and self-portraits, it utilizes a sharp, high-resolution 3-inch touchscreen display that tilts 180 degrees upward and 45 degrees downward, though it completely lacks a built-in viewfinder, forcing users to buy an expensive optional electronic viewfinder for roughly €300. In terms of performance, the camera delivers a strong dynamic range that preserves details in high-contrast scenes, alongside high effective resolution across light and dark areas. However, its overall image quality is heavily compromised by aggressive internal sharpening at low light sensitivities (ISO 100 and 200),...

The Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II is a high-performing, professional compact camera designed to offer DSLR-like image quality in roughly a quarter of the physical size. It features a large 1.5-inch, 13.1-megapixel CMOS sensor that closely approaches APS-C dimensions, enabling excellent subject separation with smooth background blur. The camera is equipped with a versatile, bright 5x zoom lens (24-120mm equivalent) sporting an open aperture of f/2 to f/3.9, which keeps shutter speeds fast even in low-light conditions. For framing and navigation, it relies on a 3-inch tiltable touchscreen display that can rotate 180 degrees forward for easy self-portraits. Additional creative and functional utilities include 21 scene modes, Full HD video recording at 30 frames per second, RAW format support for flexible post-processing, and wireless data transfer via Wi-Fi and NFC. Pros & Cons Pros: Outstanding image sharpness and overall quality up to ISO 3,200. Highly responsive, snapshot-ready autofocus performance. Steady burst shooting capability reaching 5 frames per second. 180-degree tilt screen ideal for selfies and flexible viewing angles. Built-in Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity for instant smartphone pairing. Cons: Noticeable...

The Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II is a compact camera featuring a large 1.5-inch CMOS sensor and a versatile 24-120mm f/2.0-3.9 lens, offering DSLR-like image quality, robust build, and excellent high-ISO performance. Key features include dual customizable control rings, a 180-degree tilting touchscreen, and effective macro focusing to 5cm. YouTube · However, the camera is relatively heavy and bulky for its class, lacking a built-in viewfinder while limiting battery life to approximately 200-250 shots. Performance drawbacks include slow burst shooting in RAW, contrast-AF that struggles in low light, and limited 1080p/30fps video capabilities without an external microphone input. YouTube ·

Key Highlights and Pros The guest review by Andreas Koch highlights the Canon G1X Mark II as a highly capable, niche "always-with-you" camera designed primarily as a mobile, high-quality companion for DSLR users who want to avoid carrying a second interchangeable lens system. Built with a solid, premium metal chassis and equipped with a serial extended handgrip, it houses a large 1.5-inch sensor that delivers near-DSLR image quality with impressive high-ISO performance and strong background isolation (bokeh). Significant improvements over its predecessor include an expanded, everyday-usable 24-120mm equivalent focal range with a relatively bright f/2.0-3.9 variable aperture, a snappy general operational speed, and a highly practical 5 cm minimum focusing distance for macro photography. Additionally, its 3-inch tilting touchscreen allows for fast operation, and the optional EVF-DC1 electronic viewfinder delivers an exceptional, crystal-clear 2.36 million-dot performance that rivals top competitors. Primary Limitations and Cons Despite its strengths, the camera exhibits several notable ergonomic and technical drawbacks. Performance at wide-open apertures (f/2.0) in macro mode is heavily criticised for being extremely soft with heavy halo artifacts, requiring the user to stop...

The COMPUTER BILD review awards the Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II a "good" rating of 2.2, praising its impressive blend of high-end image quality, rapid performance, and robust build quality. A major standout feature is its massive 14x18.7 mm sensor—which is larger than many system cameras and yields beautiful, color-accurate, and highly detailed 12-megapixel images even at high ISO settings like 3,200. The camera offers excellent low-light usability thanks to a fast f/2.0–3.9, 4.7x zoom lens, dual control rings on the lens for advanced customization (such as step-zooming), and a highly practical tilting screen for flexible shooting angles. Additionally, its autofocus system is remarkably snappy, capturing subjects in just 0.28 seconds in normal conditions and only 0.32 seconds in low-light environments. However, the review highlights several distinct drawbacks, notably its steep premium price tag of nearly €800 and the frustrating absence of a built-in viewfinder. Users wanting an electronic viewfinder must purchase an external one for an additional €300, which mounts to the hot shoe. The camera is also somewhat slow to start up, taking about 1.5 seconds to...