Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a great little camera. My big camera is a 5D Mark III, but often it's too large and heavy to carry around. This is the perfect size to slip into my pants when I want something discreet. I'll compare this to the RX100 (I and IV) and the G7X; my family have owned these so I'm pretty familiar with them. To start, compact cameras are all about tradeoffs. Different photographers value features like view finder, tilting LCDs, lens reach and brightness differently. You have to figure out which tradeoffs you want to make, and there's really never been a better time with so many great options in cameras to suit your needs. Personally I want the smallest camera that has a 1" sensor. The smaller it is the more likely I'll take it to events instead of leaving it in a drawer. Size: This is significantly thinner than both the RX100 (especially the IV) and G7X. It makes it much easier to carry around. It's also quite a bit lighter, but that's not as big of an issue for me. Although the camera seems well built, it's not as sturdy as the solid RX100. It doesn't seem like it'll survive falls as well as the RX100 or G7X. Handling: the touch display is really well done (finally Canon!). Of course, the RX100s don't have touch screen. Once you get used to it, it makes changing the options much faster and intuitive. Selecting the focus area is also very useful and fast. At first I thought I would miss the wheel, but it seems like a good decision to remove it to make more room for the LCD. I do wish that the LCD had smaller frame so that it's an extra half inch larger. Other than that, the front dial is a pleasure to use with its ticks, and the other buttons seem solid and are well placed. Misc: there's a flash, but you can't move the angle. I wish Canon would have used the same one that's on the G7X so that we can bounce it off the ceiling. It seems unfortunate that they skimped on this; it's the biggest thing I miss. There's no electronic viewfinder or tilting screen; both features I find not very important and make the camera unnecessarily bigger. Picture quality: this is the most important thing of course, so I've saved it for last. To start, the lens is bright when it's wide, but zooming in takes it to 4.9. This is a tradeoff for size; if you want a brighter lens when zoomed in, the G7X is a better option. Personally, I find that most pictures I take with a compact are not zoomed in, so this size tradeoff is better for me. The 1" sensor combined with f2.0 lens and image stabilization means I can take pictures at ISO 3200 in dimly lit restaurants without flash that come out bright (much more than what we see with our eyes) and also contain a lot of detail. The pictures come out great when looking at the laptop, even at 100%. However, if you're a pixel peeper, there's no way to deny that the RX100 IV will take sharper pictures, as I've noticed in a few test comparisons. If you want the absolute best quality, you'll have to spend double the price of the G9X for that, and end up with a bigger camera (although it does include EVF and brighter lens). So which camera should you get? If money is of no concern and you want the highest quality pictures, and don't mind a camera that's 1/3 deeper, get the RX100 IV. If you want only one camera and you'll use it often when zoomed in, then probably the G7X will be better. However if this is a secondary camera that you use when your DSLR is too bulky, then the G9X represents the best tradeoffs in terms of size, quality, and price.