Canon G7x Long Term Review

The opposite of planned Obsolescence

Ten years old and only one thing I’d change.

In short, if this camera had an EVF the review would be over.

I’d recommend it with no qualms.

But it doesn’t have an EVF, or an OVF. And since we’ve identified one area for improvement, why not go all the way and do a full review of the Canon G7x?

Passengers seated on an open-air ferry deck under a sunny blue sky

In one word, portable. The smallness of the G7x is what makes its success.

Historic building facade with ornate turquoise Exit 3 doors, barred windows, stone detailing, and warm evening light

HOW AND WHY I CAME TO THE CANON G7X NINE YEARS AFTER IT RELEASED.

YouTube video listing featuring Ulysses Aoki's review of the Canon G7 X II, titled “This $200 camera shoots infinite film like photos.”

The right thumbnail and title go a long way on YouTube, and when Ulysses Aoki titled a video This $200 Camera Shoot Infinite Film Like Photos, I clicked.

And I watched it all.

His photos and praise of the G7x Mark II led me to finally accept the compromise of a point and shoot camera.

Almost fifteen years earlier, I remember the first time I clicked the shutter on a DSLR. There was no lag that I had been used to, the shutter fired right away. And I could even hear some action inside. I loved it.

That shutter was firing on what would be a terrible, forgettable photo. Regardless I felt more important than I ever had behind a camera. And I spent the next five years or so in the world of DSLR’s with Canon’s 20D, 6D, 5D, and Nikon’s d600, and even the medium format Pentax 645Z.

…then came Fuji and their mirrorless X-Pro 1.

*Gone are those days, as Fuji’s body and lens line-up is feeling as unmotivated and bloated as any other camera brand.

I fell for Fuji because of their limited choices and compact size (okay and styling, too). When I moved to Fuji, they were just building their X product line and that meant limited options, which made it easy to understand the role of each body or lens easy.

I didn’t have to labor between two or three versions of the same focal length. I didn’t have competing lens coatings and Mk I or II’s of updated lenses. At launch they had three lenses in total, and I bought one.

New York City skyline with the Chrysler Building spire framed by surrounding brick and glass buildings

The versatility of a zoom can’t be understated. But increased options can lead to indecision, or unnecessary redundancy.

People and traffic on a Chinatown street in lower Manhattan, with historic buildings and the Woolworth Building in the background

And the one thing mirrorless taught us early on was a big body is no longer required for pro resolution or image quality. And since I’ve never needed ultra-fast autofocus (though I would welcome it anytime) or an ultra-fast shutter rate, the compromises felt small.

Back to the present, I’m married with a baby and I live in NYC. If I’m out I’m strapped with a baby or at least, baby gear. So small is more important than ever.

I’m also unwilling to shoot without manual controls. I shoot Aperture Priority a huge majority of the time.

I’ll go small. I’ll see if I can make photos I like. I’ll see if the image quality is noticeably less. I’ll see if I find it harder to use. Miss more shots. And just end up leaving it home.

Thanks to Ulysses, I’m starting with the Canon G7x. Not the Mark II, but the original.

Sunset over the Catskill Mountains on the Ashokan Reservoir in upstate New York.

A blurb about how handy the camera is? Or the color options in LR?

Silhouettes of passengers seated inside a NYC Ferry with blue-tinted windows looking out at Long Island City

Red sandstone desert mesas and cliffs silhouetted against a blue-purple sky from a drive out of Moab

Abstract motion-blurred photograph of a woman in a Chinatown, Manhattan

Close-up of weathered concrete architectural columns with faded blue and beige paint

Desert trail winding through orange-tinted cholla cactus with a rocky mountain in the background

Person with long red hair waiting on a subway platform as a train speeds past

Another important point that needs to be understood is why you would grab this camera over your smartphone’s camera.

If I can’t make anything more than what my iPhone can, I don’t want it. And that’s where two important features factor in: RAW shooting for more latitude in editing (aka more fun!), and depth of field.

iPhones are wonderful, but the photos are often flat because every last molecule is in focus. The wide size is a fast 1.8 lens, and that’s just helpful when, say, I want to shoot photos of my dim house for a listing and I don’t want to bother with the tripod. If you’re thinking, “Oh boy, I can really get some separation of my subject at 1.8” well it’s not automatic. The camera has separation and falloff that I think is pretty nice. It’s immediately not a phone photo. It’s subtle most times, but felt.

A big control wheel wrap the front lens for one control, and an Exposure Compensation dial sits by my right thumb as another. A thumb wheel on the rear serves as another, if needed (which it hardly is).