Canon G9 X

A common theme in compact cameras is the tradeoff between zoom range and image quality. The very top rated Sony RX100 V (our article) has the best image quality, but a small zoom range of 24-70mm. The Canon G5 X (full review) stretches that to 24-100mm, but that’s not much of a gain. On the other extreme, the Sony RX10 III (full review) provides both an amazing zoom and great image quality, but is much larger and more expensive. Enter the Lumix ZS100. It is larger than the RX100 or Canon G series, but not by a huge amount. In exchange it offers a larger, 25-250mm, zoom range but doesn’t trade off much in image quality.

The appeal of a camera you can always have with you is obvious. For an increasing number of people that’s their smartphone. But if you want to have something with a bigger sensor and a zoom lens, a compact point-and-shoot is the way to go. That creates something of a Goldilocks problem – the cheap, small ones aren’t much better than a phone, and the high-end ones don’t fit in a pocket. Canon has done a good job over the years with its S series in finding a middle ground – reasonable sensor, good features, and Raw capability. I’ve been shooting with the newest version, rebranded as the Canon G9 X, and have been impressed by the upgrade in image quality, while learning to like, or at least live with, the new Touchscreen-centric interface…