Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a professional photographer who shoots with many different cameras. My SLRs are Canon. I also shoot digital and film with Leicas. I bought the G10 in the hopes that Canon's use of the Digic IV processor would yield low noise images. I was wrong. The noise starts to ruin the photos at levels of ISO 200 and above. That's not acceptable in today's camera market. Unless you plan to shoot outdoors in bright conditions all the time, don't bother with this camera. The ergonomics are good and the build quality is top notch, but the imager is just not up to the job. Perhaps someday the megapixel race will end and manufacturers will go back to 6 or 7 megapixels with super-low noise at high ISO. They would do us all a favor if they moved in this direction. I did not own a G9 so I can't compare them. I returned the camera the same day it arrived after shooting test images in RAW format, giving the camera the best possible chance of pleasing. It is possible to have great image quality in a pocket camera. Just look at the Sigma DP-1. Since first writing this review, I did similar tests on the new Leica D-Lux4 (similar to the Panasonic LX3) and the performance of this camera was great up to and including ISO800. The Leica is more expensive ($849) but the Panasonic is about the same price as the Canon G10.