Getting Better With Each Version!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Enormous number of features; semi-professional camera; quality photos; best camera for the price.

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: 
If you are in the market for digital camera that is semi-professional and fairly easy to learn & use, and produces excellent photos, for a reasonable price, buy it.

Author's Review
I recently purchased the Canon G6 PowerShot Digital Camera and after owning the G2, G3, & G5, all I can say is that Canon keeps improving these PowerShot cameras with each version, albeit not very much each time.

To read a fuller review of the G6, I would direct you to first read my review of the G5 which was posted in Dec.'03.
Then you can read this review to see what upgrades were applied to the G6.

The major improvement to the G6 is of course the upgrade in megapixels from 5 to 7. This increase will allow you to blow up your photos to a larger size without degradation in quality. Another change is the camera body which was changed to silver metal from the all black version of the G5. The lens has been moved to the left side of the camera. It was in the center on the G5.

The display panel on the top of the camera can now be lighted which improves viewing under dark conditions. The mode dial has been moved from the top of the camera to the back and sits vertically. This prevents the accidental moving of the dial when the camera is inserted and removed from a case. The terminal cover has been changed to a solid cover as opposed to the flimsy rubber one on the G5.

The G6 also comes with a stand alone battery charger which is better than the system packed with the G5 where you had to charge the battery through the camera. With a stand alone charger, you can purchase an extra battery and this frees up your camera while one battery is charging.

The new software that comes with the G6 has also been upgraded. ZoomBrowser also has a newer version, which is much better that the old one packed with the G5.

There a few other subtle operating functions that have also been changed, but basically these are similar to those on the G5. To get a more in-depth review and comparison of the G5 & G6, I recommend that you visit the dpreview.com site. Here you will find professional analysis of this camera and how it compares to the G5.

If you own the G5, I would not advise an upgrade to the G6 unless you can do it the way I did. I sold my G5 on eBay for $535. and bought the G6 at Dell for $590. They also threw in a 256MB compact flash card, which is worth about $25. So, in my case, the upgrade was worth it because it only cost me $30. to acquire the G6.

Two other notes of caution:
1. Do NOT buy from the many "less than reputable" sites out there. Many of them are just rip-offs. They look like they have the lowest prices, but it is such a hassle to deal with them. And many times they are selling you a camera without the U.S.A> warranty. Some advertise as having a U.S. warranty, but this is not the same as the original Canon U.S.A. warranty.
2. If you deal with Dell, be careful when the sales person tells you that they will throw in a battery, or a USB cable etc. These come with the camera, so they are giving you nothing extra. My experience with Dell was that I pinned the sales person to agree to send me not just a battery, but an EXTRA battery. He agreed, but when the camera arrived, there was no extra battery. I called Dell and they told me that they do not sell batteries and the sales person should never have promised me one. They then agreed to send me a 256MB compact flash card instead. So if you are going to order from Dell, or any other site, read the Canon website to find out exactly what is bundled with the camera, and then negotiate from there with your vendor.

If you have never owned a Canon PowerShot G series camera, you will be amazed at the performance and versatility of this digicam. You may even get hooked like me and upgrade each time a newer version is released.