Do you still need a compact camera like the new Canon Powershot G9X? Is the smartphone a better alternative or do you choose the SLR right away? Until now, I always assumed that I was well equipped and when I held the CANON Powershot G9X in my hands for the first time, I thought that I would not use this camera very often. But the more often you see the camera, the more you use the compact lightweight from CANON.

Canon Powershot G9X – product review – compact premium retro camera

What is immediately noticeable, the CANON Powershot G9X is small and light and weighs just 200 grams. The dimensions of 95x58x31 millimeters are really incredibly compact and just that becomes the advantage of the camera. The camera simply fits in everywhere and is quickly taken once again in the luggage.

I was surprised, at a large event with some well-known photographers, how many only held the compact camera in their hands for the first impressions, before later for the professional pictures, the large SLR cameras were used.

If you ask the photographers afterwards why you use this compact camera, the answer is almost always the same. The camera weighs “nothing” and is “so small and handy”. So you often get a good first impression of the setting and do not need to carry 4 kilograms of equipment already with you and I also notice it with me – these are exactly serious advantages.

Canon Powershot G9X – product review – technical details

The Canon Powershot G9X has a 1-inch sensor and is therefore the most compact camera with a correspondingly large sensor and an optical triple zoom, which, as usual with Canon, can again be activated at the front via the lens. In addition, there is also again the possibility to operate the zoom via a corresponding button on the upper edge of the camera.

The zoom has reached 28 to 84 millimeters, with an aperture of f/2 at 28mm and f/4.9 at 84 millimeters. The compact 35mm camera thus has many values that are already known from the Canon Powershot-S series, but improves seriously in terms of image quality.

The sensor now has 20 megapixels and thus offers sufficient capacity even for large-area prints and detailed zooming into individual areas. The camera’s versatility, large sensor and 20-megapixel resolution give it the feel of an “always-want-to-have-it” camera. You don’t notice the camera in your luggage and yet the small compact offers everything you need quickly.

The retro-look design is very stylish, especially for bloggers, and the leather applications on the silver casing look classy and clearly put the camera back in the spotlight as a model from the “G series”. In the housing, the DIGIC-6 processor known from CANON works, which guarantees fast image processing and enables six frames per second, as well as good support for videos.

The camera is very well suited for simple fashion videos or lookbooks with the Full HD function and 60 frames per second, slow mood shots succeed absolutely perfectly with it and you often ask yourself, why should I actually take the big equipment with me. If you want to explore a city, do without luggage altogether and shoot a follow-me-around video at the same time – the Canon Powershot G9X is the perfect choice.

Almost a given with Canon is the rear control monitor with touch screen, which allows for quick focusing and access to many creativity programs. The resolution of the screen with one million pixels is again very good and allows sufficient details to be seen even in sunlight.

To that end, the CANON Powershot G9X can once again be connected to the smartphone via WiFi and NFC, immediately allowing active sharing of newly collected photos or remote control of the camera. This is a feature that I’m getting more and more used to in my long exposure shots or video clips and don’t want to do without. If you also want to add GPS to your pictures, the free CANON APP gives you the option to also add the corresponding values and coordinates to the picture.

Canon Powershot G9X – Product review – CONCLUSION

With the Powershot G9X, Canon has created a compact camera that doesn’t have to hide in terms of price or possibilities. Due to the compactness of the camera and in addition equipped with a 1 inch sensor and 20 megapixels, you can’t go wrong with this extra 200 grams (including battery and memory card).

One battery charge is enough for about 200 photos and can thus survive many travel days without any problems. In addition, there is the very good connectivity of the WiFi function, which easily reconnects with the smartphone at any time, and the special picture language.

For me, the CANON Powershot G9X complements my travel equipment and will be there as a supplement to the recently introduced CANON EOS 80D and my standard camera, the CANON EOS 5D Mark III in the future. The RRP of the camera is 595.00 EUR – but the model is currently available on Amazon at a much lower price 🙂