UPDATE 3: Canon PowerShot G1X Coming Soon? (“Mirrorless” option?) – Leak Removed from site

January 5, 2012

Announcements, Cameras, PowerShot, RUMORS

– UPDATE #3 – January 9, 2012: The new Canon PowerShot G1X has been announced and indeed it features a very big 1.5″ sensor, which is very close to APS-C size, larger than Micro Four Thirds (4/3″) and much larger than Nikon CX mirrorless system. It is also available for pre-order!

CHECK THIS ARTICLE to read the official press release and additional information about the G1X sensor size and its capabilities.

– UPDATE #2: The article at MacroWorld was removed. It was originally dated “Tuesday, January 10, 2012 12:01 AM” and included many news of upcoming releases from: Samsung, Canon, Casio, GE Cameras, Kodak, Olympus, Panasonic and Vivitar. This was a BIG leak!

It was probably a mistake in the schedule system making it visible before “January 10”. We contacted the website but received no answer. Below you can read the quoted text related to Canon that appeared before being removed.

– UPDATE #1: As everyone can see when checking the link below, the original URL is from mworld.com and not wellsfargoadvisors.com. We’re digging into it.

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According to Wells Fargo Advisors [via 1001 Noisy Cameras], Canon would be announcing “two PowerShot Elph-series point-and-shoot cameras and a new flagship Power-Shot G-series model” in few days at CES:

Canon U.S.A. is unveiling two PowerShot Elph-series point-and-shoot cameras and a new flagship Power-Shot G-series model. The G1X (shipping in February at a $799 suggested retail) will be positioned for advanced amateurs and professionals looking for a walk-around point-and-shoot model and offers a large 1.5-inch 14.3-mega-pixel CMOS image sensor and a 4x (28-112mm) optical zoom lens.

It is said to have a shallow depth of field and an aperture range of F/2.5-16 affording better low-light capability.

Other new features include 14-bit RAW file support, a new DIGIC 5 image processor with improved low-light support, high-speed burst HQ shooting of up to 6fps/4.5 fps at full resolution, multi-area white balance adjustment, expanded Smart Auto settings, child-weighted face detection system, handheld night scene and HDR mode. It will shoot up to FullHD 1080 video and includes a 720p Movie Digest mode to automatically compile a video log of all still shots.

The new Elph models both offer improved low-light shooting and the new DIGIC 5 image processor. The Elph 520HS (shipping in March at a $299 suggested retail) offers a compact form factor, MicroSD card slot, 12x zoom lens starting at a 28mm wide angle, 10.1 -megapixel CMOS image sensor and ISO range to 3,200. Also included is a 3-inch LCD, 58 scene Smart Auto settings, Intelligent Image Stabilization, burst shooting speeds of up to 6.8 fps at 4-megapixel resolution, and body color options of silver, blue, green and red.

The Elph 110HS (shipping in February at $249) offers a 16.1-megapixel high-sensitivity CMOS sensor, DIGIC 5 image processing to 3,200 ISO, FullHD 1080p video recording, 5x (24-120mm) zoom, intelligent image stabilization, 3-inch 461,000-dot LCD, 58-scene Smart Auto settings, high-speed burst shooting of 5.8fps at 4-megapixel resolution, full-size SD card slot and Movie Digest mode up to 720p HD resolution.

There is probably a typographical error on that article since a sensor of 1.5″ ~~would be even larger than APS-C sensor~~. So it probably refers to a sensor of 1/1.5″ (0.66″), ~~which is still bigger than the Nikon CX sensor~~ (0.62″) (* see below).

14.3MP CMOS sensor
4x (28-112mm) optical zoom lens
Aperture range: f/2.5-16
14-bit RAW file support
New DIGIC 5 image processor
Up to 6fps/4.5 fps at full resolution
HDR mode
Full HD video
720p Movie Digest Mode (automatically compile a video from stills)
Shipping in February
Suggested Retail Price: $799

This news is according to what we’ve been expecting from Canon related to a new high-end compact cameras line, since they could enter the mirrorless cameras segment with a sophisticated fixed lens compact camera, at a lower price than other options. We already wrote about this alternative some months ago in this article, when talking about the new Nikon mirrorless system and the possibilities for Canon to enter the mirrorless segment.

Canon PowerShot G12: If you don’t need (or want to wait for) the PowerShot G1X, you can still get the PowerShot G12, which is a GREAT compact camera with LOT of sophisticated features (full manual control over stills exposure, built-in ND filter, electronic virtual horizon, etc) for less than half the price of the upcoming G1X (it is currently at a promotional price).

Tip: besides the great IQ of the G12 and its really useful features, if you do Time-Lapse and don’t want to worry about shooting literally thousands of pictures with an expensive camera, then the G12 may be a great solution since it CAN be connected to a remote release (unlike most other compact cameras). We use it, and can recommend it with confidence.

Note about sensor size: Just for reference, according to Pythagoras theorem the calculation of the hypotenuse (c) of a right-angled triangle is c^2=a^2+b^2, where a and b are the sides of the triangle. Nikon CX sensor is actually 13.2mm x 8.8mm, which means it is 15.86mm diagonally (0.62″, not 1″). (* see below)

(*) UPDATE: The inch rating of sensors has no standardization nor direct correlation with the physical dimension of the sensor (amazing but true). So the real size of the PowerShot G1X sensor is still unknown. We’ll know it very soon.

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