Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Updated 9/25/13 The first thing I noticed when I took the G15 out of its box for the first time was its impressive build quality. Everything is tightly constructed and what feels like a tough mag alloy body. It's not necessarily pocketable but is slightly smaller and thinner than the G12. One minor complaint, however, is that the handgrip up front seems shallower than on the G12 so at first it doesn't feel as comfortable to grip. The battery is of a good size and the camera gets excellent battery life. The control layout on the back of the camera is the same as the G12 and G1X, generally straight-forward and logically placed. The menu system has not changed at all from previous models... so if you're coming from the G12, you should be able to locate where everything is rather quickly. You have the function button for the most commonly accessed settings and the menu button for all other settings. The LCD on back, while sadly, not articulated like on the G12 is gorgeous...very bright and clear. The viewfinder is the same small one found in the G1X and G12..but it works okay when you can't use the LCD. Canon promised improved AF performance over the G12 and it is most certainly quicker. It isn't the fastest in its class but it does have reliable AF and no problems even in low light locking on. Most folks will find it perfectly satisfactory. Lens performance is quite snappy though, and you can zoom in and out relatively quickly. The camera also has some of the most rock solid image stabilization on any camera I have seen. The image quality that this camera produces is excellent considering its sensor size. You can of course wring out more detail out of your photos if you shoot RAW. But the JEPGS are excellent as well. Color performance is excellent. It produces punchy but accurate colors and the lens is decently sharp at all focal lengths. Noise is well controlled through ISO400 but you can still get decent results up through ISO1600, especially if you shoot RAW and don't blow the photos up to huge sizes. However, with the fast lens, you may never need to go that high. My one minor gripe with this camera is that it overexposes at times. You can correct that problem very quickly though by dialing in some negative exposure compensation. But overall, I think most people will find the photos that this camera produces very nice. I have not messed much with the movie mode but it has a few manual controls. One feature that stuck out to me is the 1280x720 HD iframe recording, which can be imported right into Apple video editing software without losing any of its quality. If this feature is important to you...the new G16 does not have this feature so it might be worth sticking with the G15. Judged by image quality alone, the Sony RX100 models are at the top of the enthusiast point and shoot heap. But if you're not interested in plunking down $650-$750, this camera offers a well-rounded shooting experience and will probably give you many years of dependable operation and great photos. This camera is soon to be replaced by the G16, which will command a $100 price premium over this model. The G16 is an overall much faster camera with about the same photo quality (maybe slightly improved high ISO performance), but if you're fine with slower AF and don't need the high burst rate of the G16, I would save your money and get the G15.