Canon PowerShot G9 X Digital Camera with 3X Optical Zoom, Built-in Wi-Fi and 3 inch LCD (Black)

I'm a part-time professional photographer, specializing mostly in portrait sessions (senior photos, engagement photos, kids, families, etc.). I consider myself an expert in technique and equipment. Artistically, however, I'm a decent amateur. I don't have the creative eye that many others do. But I know the rules of photography, and am familiar with all the latest technology and products from full-frame 35mm on down to inexpensive point and shoots. I believe I can give a fair and accurate review of the Canon G9x.The Canon G9x has what they call a 1-inch type sensor. That doesn't mean much other than it is a larger sensor than most point and shoot cameras. The sensor measures 13mmx8mm (rounded to the nearest whole number). This is fairly large for such a small camera. The largest benefit to having this larger sensor is that the camera will perform much better in lower light than a typical point and shoot or a cellphone.I mentioned a cell phone (such as the latest Apples, Androids, etc.) because these phones take excellent images and video. They are so good, in fact, that the point and shoot camera market is imploding. Sales are. Dropping significantly. The phone allows you to take the photo or video, edit it, and then save and share it...all from one device. What's not to love about that? I use an iPhone 6s Plus and am thrilled with it for my day-to-day needs.I also use a full-frame Canon 6D and assorted lenses for taking portraits or landscapes when I really want an incredible amount of detail, lots of color, and excellent control on depth of field (choosing which areas of the photo are in or out of focus). My 6D is a professional camera. But I don't enjoy bringing it on vacation unless I am traveling alone specifically for photography.So if my iPhone and my DSLR each cover my needs, why did I buy the Canon G9x? In simple terms: It takes good photos in a small package, like my phone, but allows me all the same control features of a DSLR. The results or which are pictures that exceed the quality of a cell phone, fall a little short of a DSLR, but brings theme both together quite nicely.Here's what you get with this camera that a phone cannot match (not yet..give it a couple more years).1. The sensor is about the size of your thumbnail, unlike a cellphone that has a sensor half thee size of your pinky nail. This enables more light to get in.2. The camera has an optical zoom that covers from 28mm to about 80mm. This is about the same range as the zoom lens that comes with most DSLRs. A typical Canon Rebel comes with a lens that is 18-55. When compared to the G9x, they both come out to pretty much 28-80mm of range. So the G9x has the width to get group shots and the reach for portraits. It's not going to help if your subject is very far away, however. This camera is for taking pictures of people and places, not birds, air shows, wildlife, etc.The camera can function automatically, like your cell phone, or you can go as manually as you want in various stages. My favorite setting is TV (time value) because I know my shots won't be blurry if I use a shutter speed that matches my subject. I let the camera choose aperture (which isn't very important on a point and shoot) and ISO.For those who want to control aperture, that feature is available as well. You can make anything manual or automatic. It's up to you.The camera can be set to automatically feed photos to your phone wirelessly while you're out and about. You can do it while you take each shot or spend a couple minutes transferring the photos to your phone or tablet while you sit down for a snack. No wifi is needed. The camera and phone communicate directly with each other. The setup process is quick, and the files transfer quickly. It can be quirky, but if you are patient with yourself and the gear you quickly learn how to undo the quirks. From my perspective, the linking of the camera to a phone seems to be monogamous. I believe you have to reset your wireless settings on the camera if you want to transfer to a different device. I found this out yesterday when my brough both my iPad and iPhone on a trip. But again, you'll get used to it and will have your pics on the phone in no time.Pocketability: This is a very small camera, much smaller than I thought it would be. I don't think anyone will be able to complain about it fitting in a pocket. It's really small. I am a 6.0 man with a very average build and average size hands. The camera is a little more than half the length of my hand. It's tiny.The thickness is more than your phone (about double the thickness of my iPhone 6splus. The lens adds another thickness similar to an iPhone, so to get an idea of how thick it is, put two iPhones in one pocket.I personally don't own any clothing that would be a problem. Skinny jeans might be an issue, but then your phone is probably only able to go in the back pocket of your skinny jeans. This would need a little bit of room. However, regular jeans are not a problem at all.It has a huge list of other features, of course, most of which a phone doesn't have or will fall short in ability: IS, flash, tripod support, sd card, zoom, zoom during video, shutter control, aperture control, iso control, and much more.Some will be disappointed that the camera doesn't have a movable screen (which helps while at concerts or anyplace you need to raise of lower the camera into odd angles). To me, I prefer NOT to have a movable screen. It keeps the camera thinner and is one less thing to break.Some will say the lens tightens up too much on the aperture when zoomed. This doesn't bother me because I'm not using it as a portrait camera and don't need a blurry background for my vacation photos.RAW: The camera can shoot in RAW mode (and jpg at the same time if you want), so that you can pull your files into photoshop or Lightroom, etc. to get the most out of your images when editing. Canon's native software (free) is also fantastic.Price: This camera is worth the price. I paid $399 and it came with a 32gb SD card. I imagine at some point the camera might be 350, but probably not until the end of summer 2016.Why the G9X, when there are other cameras that do so much more? The simple answer is that this is the least expensive of all the cameras with this size sensor. At the top end is the Sony RX100, mark 4. It's $950. It has a lot more features and can outperform the G9x in many ways, but it has the exact same size sensor. In 90% of situations the cameras will perform equally. But the Canon is 1/3 the price of the Sony, and it's incredibly small compared to the competition.If you can afford a couple hundred more, I would recommend going for the G7X or G7X mark II, but if you want a camera that won't make you feel guilt on the price, and one that you can truly put in your pocket, the G9X is a big winner.My biggest praise of this camera: It does extremely well in low light. I am thrilled with the photos I'm getting, and I'm confident I can take photos indoors and print them at 11x14 without a worry, and in good light could print poster size prints. It's a great camera, and the first point and shoot I've decided to keep. I purchased and returned several others because those tiny sensor on most point and shoots just don't get great quality photos in anything but perfect conditions.I really don't see how anyone can go wrong with this camera at the sub-400 dollar price.

I received my Canon G9X from Amazon and I have some initial thoughts after using it about 4 days.I have owned the Canon S120 and the Canon G7X. I don't currently have either one, so I can't directly compare them side by side. However it does seem like a good cross between the two. the S120's "pocket-ability" with G7X quality in low light.1. The G9X is slim, but does seem "slightly" thicker than the S120. The textured grip is very comfortable. I like the overall feel in the hand. It also seems VERY light. It feels so light, that it almost feels cheaper made, but I think that's just an impression you get because of the weight. I always use a hand strap and have no plans of dropping the camera anyway, so I would always prefer the lighter weight. The lighter weight is much better when carrying in the pocket. They can make some very good good high quality plastics these days, so I'm not really worried about build quality.2. The lack of a back control dial/ring takes some getting used to. It seems very strange at first just navigating around the menus. You have to change your thinking and use it more like an iPhone or other smartphone. I really wished it had a back control dial. However... on to point three...3. Canon has done a really good job with the new interface making it much more touch screen friendly. There are several "one" touch buttons on the screen to change functions with a single press. It really is easy to change Aperture/shutter, exposure comp, ISO, lock exposure, and more. The more I use this touch screen interface, the more I really like it. For example...4. With one touch on the back screen, you can switch the dial around the lens to exposure comp. One more touch and it's back to your preferred setting for the dial. You can also just tap the exposure comp or ISO on the screen and then it brings up a larger graphic and you can then change it with the dial around the lens. All in all, it takes getting used to, but it's really not that bad. After I have used for a few days, I am starting to really enjoy it.5. You can use both the dial around the lens and the zoom rocker to navigate around the menus. There is still a "set" button. So you can actually navigate around menus without touching the screen if you want.6. The Movie button has a ring or "lip" around it which makes it slightly harder to press than the other buttons. I assume this is to make it harder to accidentally press. It's still not as hard to press as my Sony A6000. I would just prefer to leave it alone without the lip around it, but this is a personal preference.7. The video quality seems good and I don't hear strange auto focusing noises like I always heard with the G7X. Also, the audio quality seems very good. Maybe even better than G7X? But then again, I can't really compare them side by side, it might just be my imagination, Because of the size and great low light capability, I would think this would make a great vlogger camera for those that do Youtube videos. I plan on using it for short family videos myself.8. The image quality is also plenty good for me. I think it's better than the S120, which I am assuming this is replacing, so it's a win-win. I'm not much of a pixel peeper, but I would assume that most people would be happy with the image quality compared to other compact cameras.I haven't had it but a few days, but I am happy with the image and video quality. I think it fulfills my goals of having G7X/RX100 quality, but in a smaller body. This is my backup camera to carry in my pocket and I will use it for both stils and short videos. I liked the S120, but was never happy with the image quality (especially in low light). The only thing I will have to get used to is the lack of a back dial. But with the changes Canon made to the touch screen menu, I think I will be able to handle it fine. I would rather have the small size than the control ring in the back (if I had to choose between the two)

The camera cost too much money compared to a second hand one. The camera arrived scratched and with peeling paint, missing a part that covers the camera that is simply broken and did not come with the camera. Overall the camera looks very bad. The camera did not come with anything else, even though it was written that it would come with additional things like a wrist strap, battery pack, warranty card and more.