| My friend needed a good digicam and asked me to | | | | color and sharpness, a good built-in flash, continuous |
| help him buy one. So, first, I went about listing all the | | | | shooting mode, movie mode, etc. |
| factors that I consider important before deciding which | | | | An optical zoom is very important as it helps you |
| camera to buy. And finally settled on a Canon G7, as | | | | improve the camera's focus, just by manipulating the |
| the ideal buy. | | | | lens. Also, you can magnify a photo using digital zoom. |
| While build and design make a first impression, and are | | | | The 6X optical zoom of the Canon G7 makes for |
| important considerations, I also look at how portable a | | | | crisper, clearer close-ups, without too much effort. The |
| camera is, as you don't want to have to lug around a | | | | lens is equipped with SR coating, Canon's new |
| heavy package wherever you go. The camera | | | | technology. This helps eliminate ghosting. |
| weighs just 320 grams -- truly pocket-sized. Yet, it's | | | | Don't you like photos which you can make enlarged |
| not a fragile device, and has good heft, which makes it | | | | prints of? The 10 mega pixel sensor of the G7 enables |
| comfortable to handle, and use. | | | | you to do this. |
| The solid-metal and plastic build make the G7 a stylish | | | | The G7 has a 2.5 inch LCD screen and widescreen |
| camera. | | | | viewing. This allows you to see how good your photo |
| A camera buyer is concerned about the quality of | | | | is before you leave the scene. |
| pictures it takes. The G7 has a sharp lens and good | | | | You can do all this with any LCD, but the LCD should |
| focal range, with noise reduction effective up to ISO | | | | be bright enough to see, even in bright sunlight. You |
| 400. This insures excellent photos. | | | | should be able to reduce brightness to minimum, in the |
| The G7 has good auto-focus speed, so an amateur | | | | night. You can do all of this with a G7. |
| photographer (like me) never has to worry about the | | | | The G7 has a DIGIC III Image Processor, along with |
| sharpness of the pictures. The aperture speed is good, | | | | Face Detection Technology; this guarantees better |
| too. | | | | pixel count and clearer images. Processing and saving |
| And because there's good noise reduction, you can | | | | speed are also enhanced by it. Best of all, it doesn't |
| hold the G7 at waist height and hope to take good | | | | use too much battery power. |
| pictures. You don't need to worry about insufficient | | | | My only complaint about this digicam is that it doesn't |
| light, either. | | | | have raw mode. The camera processes the pictures |
| The other features of the G7 make impressive | | | | in 8-bit JPG format. |
| reading: an optical viewfinder, a large zoom with a | | | | This camera cost my friend more than most digicams. |
| good range, audio recording, image stabilization, optional | | | | But this is more than a digicam; it's almost a substitute |
| lens adapters, a wide range of parameters for image | | | | for a DSLR. That means it's great value for money. |