John Warkentin is joined by Mark Goodwin from Canon Australia and they take a closer look at the brand new Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark III.
(John Warkentin)
John Warkentin here from Michael's Camera.
I'm joined by Mark Goodman from Canon Australia and we've got your new compact camera.
It's the new G1X Mark III.
It's in the Powershot series, correct, Mark?
(Mark Goodman)
That is correct, yes.
(John)
Now, this thing is... it's just crammed with features and it's got a big sensor in it, right?
(Mark)
It's got an APS-C sized sensor in this tiny little body here.
(John)
And it's got a basic 24-70 mm effective lens?
(Mark)
Yeah, effectively 24-70-ish. Three times optical zoom.
(John)
Yeah, and it's fast (at the) wide 2.8, right?
(Mark)
2.8 to 5.6, yes.
(John)
Yes, so that's really good.
But here's what's really amazing about this: Look how thin the lens is!
[John holds the little camera up to show how flat the lens is to the body]
This camera is pocket-able.
And I've had a quick look through the electronic view finder: It's incredible.
You're not seeing pixels in this electronic viewfinder.
It's a beautiful view.
We've got flip out screen on the back here, so very similar to so many of the Canon cameras that everybody loves.
They flip out to the side and they tilt, so they're not that flip down variety - Canon's got a great system here.
What are the other key features that people are going to like about this camera?
(Mark)
It comes down to size, essentially.
So, you've got all the power, I suppose, the resolving power, packed into a small little body.
I picked it up probably about two hours ago?
Came straight here...
(John)
As you do!
(Mark)
Because I knew you'd make a video of it!
[John laughs]
(Mark)
So, I'm super impressed with this.
After, this is my first time seeing it essentially, as well.
So, it's all very, very new to me - seeing it wise.
(John)
Yeah.
(Mark)
I'm super impressed. It's got nice lines.
(John)
It's a tough little build. It's not plasticy at all.
It really feels like it has got some weight to it.
(Mark)
No, that's right. Yeah, yeah, you'll definitely get what you pay for.
(John)
Yeah, yeah. It's got a little flip up flash as well, so you're not lost if you don't have a bit of light at the wide end.
But keep in mind, this is a big sensor in here - it's got good ISO performance.
(Mark)
Yes, very good low light performance.
(John)
And at the wide-end, which is 24 mm, you've got 2.8, so you're going to gather a lot of light through the lens as well.
(Mark)
Exactly!
And you've got a hot shoe on the top here as well, so if you want to throw on a 270, 430, any Canon flash.
(John)
You can put any Canon flash on here!
(Mark)
Yeah.
(John)
Yeah, yeah, that's great!
And you've got every mode under the sun.
You've got all the manual modes.
You've got exposure compensation right here on the front dial.
(Mark)
Yup.
(John)
But, of course, when it comes to video, you've got the dual pixel engine as well.
(Mark)
The dual pixel engine. Yeah, yes.
The touch and drag IF; we've got...
(John)
We've been using it for years!
It works like a charm.
(Mark)
Yeah.
(John)
It's a known commodity.
I don't think anybody has managed to make a system that works as well, with just touch interactions for focus, as Canon.
You do these focus pulls on... it just plain works!
(Mark)
Yes!
Couple of other neat things: You've got first time, well, first time back for a Canon compact, is the panoramic shooting.
(John)
Oh, yes! How does that work? Have you tried it?
(Mark)
So, it works just... I've seen a video!
[Laughter]
(John)
We'll test that out.
(Mark)
It works just like it would on an iPhone.
You hold the button down...
(John)
So, a sweep panorama mode finally comes to Canon!
People have been asking for this for years!
(Mark)
Yeah, it'll be a big feature on this one.
(John)
It's got a nice framerate as well. So, this will do... it's a 7 frames per second?
(Mark)
A 7 frames per second, yeah.
(John)
So, that's great!
(Mark)
Time lapse movie mode.
So, all the bells and whistles you're getting with your other high-end compacts that are the G series cameras.
(John)
Yeah!
No, that sounds like a really impressive package.
I just cannot believe the thickness of it.
We were taking a look and comparing it to the, what was it? The 7? The GX...
(Mark)
The G7 X.
(John)
The G7 X, exactly.
This is dramatically smaller!
Let's just power up here.
You can see, obviously the lens collapses.
Let's just get this...
(Mark)
Someone told me it's like the G5 X on steroids.
[John laughs]
[John opens the lens cap and powers up the little camera]
(John)
So, we power it up and then it comes out.
So, we're really getting a lot of lens hidden in a very small package.
(Mark)
Yes.
(John)
And of course, our zoom ring on the front here for zoom control.
So, that's great.
(Mark)
Zoom control, you can change it to aperture control if you like.
Whatever you want it for.
(John)
So, it's a custom function.
(Mark)
Yeah.
(John)
Yes, yeah, great!
And we've got a control dial on the front here.
And then, around the ring of the shutter again, we've got zoom control as well.
(Mark)
Which is great.
(John)
And then over here we've got all our modes that are just standard: Your aperture control; P mode; you've got your movie mode; it's custom... it's got a couple of custom functions as well, which is nice.
(Mark)
Yup.
(John)
So, it's a very well-equipped camera.
(Mark)
Very well equipped. All run through a shiny new digi-seven processor as well, so very powerful little unit.
(John)
And like all Canon cameras, we've got full tripod socket on the bottom there as well.
So, we can mount it up and we can take our night shots. We can do everything that we need to do.
(Mark)
Yes!
Ah, and no battery change either!
(John)
Oh yes! That's right!
(Mark)
The battery, NB13 now.
(John)
And that was the same as... what unit was that?
(Mark)
That was the same as the G7 X.
(John)
The G7 X, that's right.
So, that's good!
I'm trying to think what else.
When can customers expect to see these things?
(Mark)
November-ish?
(John)
Okay, yeah.
I think there might be a chance you will have... will you have this one at the photo show? Just in case?
(Mark)
Geez, I hope so!
(John)
Yeah! well, that's good!
(Mark)
I'm trying to keep this for the extra week and keep it around for the photo show.
(John)
Okay! Well, hopefully, if you come to Melbourne's photo show on Saturday October the 28th at Michael's Camera, you'll have chance to see this in the flesh, along with some really exciting new products from Canon as well.
Three new tilt-shift lenses are coming in for that.
We've got a florist coming in!
(Mark)
It's going to be very busy.
(John)
Very, very busy.
Plus, we've got that new flash coming in as well.
The twin light.
(Mark)
Oh, the .. yes... I hope so.
(John)
Yeah. Well, it's good!
Well, we've got lots of things to flash with it.
(Mark)
I'm trying to think of the name. I'm still trying to get it.
(John)
Okay. So, as always we're excited when Mark comes to visit us with a new toy here.
And this is your next compact camera!
Oh, I guess the other thing we didn't even say is that this has got a large sensor but it's a sealed system!
So you're not going to get any dust in this thing!
(Mark)
No!
(John)
This is an all in one camera with a great set of specifications.
So it's not interchangeable, so you don't have to worry about dust getting in there.
Sealed system.
(Mark)
Nope. No dust.
(John)
Oh, and there's an underwater body as for it! There's a case!
(Mark)
There is a case coming out for that.
(John)
We will love to see that.
(Mark)
Once we get a hold of one of those we'll bring it in.
(John)
This would be a nice little diving camera.
(Mark)
Oh, it'd be perfect.
(John)
It's got a great spec. It's got the big sensor for low ISO, or high ISO performance; you've got a good zoom range in it.
And you can't beat a manufacturer's waterproof case.
(Mark)
That's right.
(John)
They're just...
(Mark)
Good for 40 meters or something.
(John)
And good value.
They're always good value.
Anyway! Exciting camera!
It's the brand new Powershot G1 X Mark III.
Brought to us from Mark.
[Mark gives a thumbs up]
Alright, take care.
We'll see you next time.
