Yesterday’s announcements from Canon included one for the new G-series flagship, the Powershot G10. This 15 megapixels digital camera (well 14.7 mp, but who’s counting), features a 5X wide-angle optical zoom equivalent to 28-140mm, a 3″ LCD with 460k pixels, plus most features from its predecessor, the Powershot G9. Notably absent from the G10 is an outstanding movie-mode. Although I personally prefer the new wide-angle lens, some will argue that it is a step back from the 6X, 35-210mm, optical zoom of the G9. Neither is truly better, it only depends on your subjects.
The G-series Powershot cameras represent advanced compact models with added external controls and above-average build quality with a few less common features added for good measure. Particularly, the presence of a hot-shoe and RAW capture are directed at advanced photographers. At the same time, the most recent G-series models were always released with the top marketing numbers in their class. The G10 continues this tradition with the most megapixels and widest zoom among Canon fixed-lens cameras. Arguably the higher megapixels count is a double-edged sword and, until a thorough review gets published, we will not know if Canon has managed to counteract the effects of small pixels using advancements in sensor design and noise reduction.
Since the G-series targets a relatively small market, it finds itself with little competition, allowing Canon to set a high-price for technology which is not really advanced. For example, the G9 and the lower-cost A650 share the same senor and lens. The A650 even had superior battery life, the advantage of using standard AA batteries and better ergonomics. The G9 was basically left with a larger more sturdy LCD, higher resolution movie mode, a few more external controls and a hot-shoe. Some users even prefer the A650’s LCD because it is movable. This time, Canon shared the same sensor with the ultra-compact Powershot SD990 IS which does not compete in terms of features with the G10. The 5X wide-angle optical zoom lens is still unique among Canon cameras.
Competition from other manufacturers is quite interesting. The G10 faces the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3, the Nikon Coolpix P6000, the Sigma DP1and some models from Ricoh, like the Caplio GX200. The Panasonic and Ricoh cameras are characterized by wider lenses, both starting at 24mm. The LX3’s lens is also a full stop brighter at its widest and more at its maximum zoom. The Sigma DP1 is unique in its use of a relatively large and low-resolution Foveon sensor which delivers full-color at each pixel. As a consequence, the DP1 features a fixed 28mm F4 lens. This provides superior image quality among compact digital camera at the expense of framing flexibility. The Nikon P6000 actually has the most similar feature set with a 28-112mm lens, 13.5 megapixels sensor, hot-shoe and RAW mode. Its unique trick however is a built-in GPS for automatic geo-tagging of images.
Today, Canon introduced the world’s first full-frame DSLR with movie-mode, the EOS 5D Mark II. This 21 megapixels DSLR is a relatively compact full-frame to replace the aging 5D and compete with this year’s full-frame models from Nikon and Sony, the D700 and A900 respectively. Note that because the 5D Mark II features a full-frame sensor, it does not compete directly with the recently announced Nikon D90 which is the only other DSLR to record movies.
SD-HC is now the cheapest form of flash memory card. It stands for Secure Digital High Capacity because it has exactly the same form factor as Secure Digital (SD) but enables higher capacities. While nearly all SD cards are limited to 2 GB of capacity, SD-HC currently go to 32 GB. Since the cost-per-gig of flash memory is so low now, most stores stock much more SD-HC memory cards than SD cards. Knowing that you can buy a 4 GB SD-HC card from a reputable brand with a lifetime warranty for under $10 USB, most buyers do not even look at lower-capacity SD cards.
or 4 SD cards to provide higher total capacity 
. Another solution to the computer-compatibility problem is to get a SD-HC Plus card from Sandisk. These cards fold to reveal a USB connector which can then be connected without a reader directly to a computer’s USB port.
Just today Sony introduced their first full-frame DSLR camera, the Sony Alpha A900. This high end camera boasts a number of outstanding features and world’s first. The Sony A900 is now the highest resolution DSLR available, full-frame or not, with a 24.6 megapixels sensor capable of sensitivities from ISO 100 to 6400 at the maximum resolution. This full-frame DSLR can shoot continuously at 5 FPS, making it also the highest throughput DSLR in terms of megapixels per seconds. The Sony Alpha A900 boats all of the following unique characteristics:
