Canon G12 With HD Video Now Official

You may remember that last month, Canon?s flagship G12 compact camera was leaked in an accidentally published CNET review. Now, over three weeks later, the same camera is officially official.
One of the annoying things about Canon is the artificial hobbling of features to make its cameras fit into the product line hierarchy. The cameras all use the same processing chips (currently the DIGIC 4), but only have a subset of features switched on. All manufacturers do this, but the G-series has been a particularly bad example: After the G9, released back in 2007, Canon switched off hi-def video in its top-of-the-range compact. Why? Nobody knows.
Now it?s back, and the G12 will shoot 720p video at 24fps. The camera keeps its sensor at a sensible ten megapixels and will shoot up to ISO3200. The rear 2.8-inch LCD has a rather pedestrian 461,000 dots, then optical zoom runs from 28mm to 140mm (35mm equivalent) and the aperture ranges from a fairly wide ?2.8 to ?4.5.
Mercifully, Canon?s other additions are also useful to the serious photographer. Instead of a slew of gimmicky extras (cough Samsung NX100 cough), Canon has added an EOS SLR-style front control dial, hybrid image-stabilization (which works in multiple planes) and multiple aspect-ratios, so you can shoot wide-screen or square pictures in-camera. These come in addition to the already popular manual control knobs.
The G12 is a very solid (literally) update to the G11, although now it has some serious competition in the form of Nikon?s almost identical P7000. That is, of course, great for us buyers. The G12 costs $500.
G12 product page [Canon]
See Also:
Nikon's Stages Compact Comeback with Flash-Friendly P7000
Canon G12: G-Series Regains High-Def Video at Last
Leaked Canon G11 Specs Show Five Megapixels Less Than G10
Canon G10: More Pixels, More Processor, More Dials
Review: Canon Powershot G9 ? Small. Powerful. Perfect.
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