PowerShot
“G” Series
The Point-and-Shoot meets
serious Photography
Most people take pictures to remeber a person or event or to show others what they have been doing. They used to buy Point-and-Shoot’s but they seem to have switched to cell phones and tablets. Then there is the smaller group that either want to make a serious hobby of photography or even a living. They buy the DSLR’s and heavy weight (literally) lenses.
However the first group often want to move up to more serious picture taking or the later are tired carrying all of that equipment but still don’t want to be without a serious camera. It’s a market that Canon identified in the 1990’s and at the Photokina show in 2000 they announced the first of the G series, the PowerShot G1.
The G Series became Canon’s top line compact camera with advanced features not found in other small cameras (until the arrival of Sony mirrorless models, and Fuji’s and others). To this day they are impressive cameras and capable of great pictures.
The Cameras in the “G” Series
This is a list of the “G” series cameras. It may not be complete, especially with respect to the more recent models. but it’s close. The ones I have are indicated in blue . I don’t have the later ones because they are expensive and there is a still a good market for them as useable cameras. This supports the prices. As the new ones come out the newer ones will become the older ones and drop in value. For this reason they are not the best investment at the moment (and I can’t afford them anyway).
| Model | Intro | MP | Media | Battery |
| PowerShot G1 | Oct 2000 | 3.34 | CF | BP-511 |
| PowerShot G2 | Sep 2001 | 4 | CF | BP-511 |
| PowerShot G2 (Black) | Mar 2002 | 4 | CF | BP-511 |
| PowerShot G3 | Nov 2002 | 4 | CF | BP-511 |
| no G4 produced | ||||
| PowerShot G5 | Jun 2003 | 5 | CF | BP-512 |
| PowerShot G6 | Sep 2004 | 7.1 | Cf | BP-511A |
| PowerShot G7 | Oct 2006 | 10 | SD | NB-2L |
| no G8 produced | ||||
| PowerShot G9 | Sep 2007 | 12.1 | SD | NB-2L |
| PowerShot G10 | Oct 2008 | 14.7 | SD | NB-7L |
| PowerShot G11 | Oct 2009 | 10 | SD | NB-7L |
| PowerShot G12 | Oct 2010 | 10 | SD | NB-7L |
| PowerShot G1 X | Mar 2012 | 14.3 | SD | NB-10L |
| PowerShot G15 | Oct 2012 | 12.1 | SD | NB-10L |
| PowerShot G16 | Sep 2013 | 12.1 | SD | NB-10L |
| PowerShot G1 X Mk II | Mar 2014 | 12.8 | SD | NB-12L |
| PowerShot G7 X | Oct 2014 | 20.2 | SD | NB-13L |
| PowerShot G3 X | Jun 2015 | 20.2 | SD | NB-10L |
| PowerShot G5 X | Oct 2015 | 20.2 | SD | NB-13L |
| PowerShot G9 X | Oct 2015 | 20.2 | SD | NB-13L |
| PowerShot G7 X Mk II | Apr 2016 | 20.1 | SD | NB-13L |
| PowerShot G9 X Mk II | Feb 2017 | 20.1 | SD | NB-13L |
This series of cameras has evolved with time. The original G1 coming in the year 2000 is one of the early digital cameras. Remember that the first consumer level digital camera, the Apple Quicktake (a rebranded Kodak DC40), was introduced in 1994. The G1 appeared a short six years later so the line is an early entrant in the digital market.
The cameras matured and changed with the years and Canon made some mistakes and had to backtrack (an example is the dropping of RAW format in the G7 and its reappearance in subsequent models). Fortunately there is lots of technical information on each model on the internet today. My favourite is dpReview and I will link to their reviews rather than get overly technical about each camera.
Some of the Cameras I have in my Collection
The cameras below I have in my collection. Not all of my comments on each are done, and are not likely to be done any time soon, so if you click the picture and only get a larger picture you will have to wait till some future date to read what I think of the model.
PowerShot G1 (Silver)
C-229 Ser. #AB2006873
PowerShot G2 (Silver)
C-188 Ser. #193102844
PowerShot G2 (Black)
C-189 Ser. #4824600042
PowerShot G3
C-191 Ser. #6111402916
PowerShot G5
C-192 Ser. #6751000998
PowerShot G6
C-193 Ser. #9051100667
PowerShot G7
C-158 Ser. #4151201310
PowerShot G9 (Black)
C-332 Ser. # 6751400121
PowerShot G10
C-165 (cannot read serial number)
PowerShot G11
C-156 Ser. #9055004108
PowerShot G12
C-164 (Cannot read Serial Number)
I am not in any way connected to or supported by Canon. I chose their camera line and have stayed with it. I cannot recall why. But a Nikon camera is fine technology and takes a wonderful picture. So too with Sony and the others. But I have been happy with Canon and so I have begun my collection here. One day I may add other brands to my range interest. But that is for another day.