Canon's G1 X Mark II was almost a great camera. It had a solid, wide aperture zoom lens, paired with a bigger sensor than competing models. But there was no built-in EVF, and its 13MP image sensor didn't offer as much resolution as competitors like the Sony RX100 III. Its replacement, the G1 X Mark III ($1,299), ups the sensor size to APS-C, the same as you get in an SLR, while at the same time sizing down the body. But it comes at the cost of zoom range—the Mark II's 24-120mm f/2-3.9 zoom has been replaced by a shorter 24-70mm f/2.8-5.6 lens. Image quality is strong, but I question its value and place in the Canon line, especially when the G5 X delivers a longer zoom range with a brighter lens for a lot less money, albeit it with a smaller image sensor.
Design and Features
The big selling point of the the G1 X Mark III ($999.00 at Amazon) is its size. It's just a little bit bit bigger all around than the G5 X, which has a smaller 1-inch sensor and boasts an almost identical design. That makes the Mark III somewhat pocketable—it measures 3.1 by 4.5 by 2.0 inches (HWD) and weighs 14.1 ounces. Compare that with the G1 Mark Mark II, a bulky (2.9 by 4.6 by 2.6 inches), heavy (1.2 pounds) compact.
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The size comes at a cost—zoom range. The G1 X Mark II had some issues that kept it from getting our top endorsement, but zoom range was not one of them. Its lens covered a 5x (24-120mm) range, with a bright f/2-3.9 variable aperture. The Mark III's image sensor is bigger, so you need a bigger lens to cover the same range with the same brightness throughout.
Instead Canon has chosen to shorten the range. The 15-45mm (24-72mm in full-frame terms) zoom matches the range you get with other premium 1-inch compacts like the aforementioned RX100 III. Its f-stop is narrower, but the sensor is larger. It's a proven design, the same used by the EOS 80D, with solid performance at higher ISOs. So while you're going to have to push the sensitivity higher in dim conditions than you would with a brighter lens, the larger sensor does make up for it.
There's a control ring around the lens. It adjusts the zoom by default, but can be reassigned as an aperture or shutter control, ISO dial, white balance adjustment, or manual focus ring. On top, to the left of the EVF, is the Mode dial. It's a locking design, the type that makes you press its center button down to turn it. I like the idea of a locking dial—it prevents inadvertent mode changes—but prefer the design that locks and unlocks with a button press.
You get a standard hot shoe, centered behind the lens on the top of the EVF. You can add an external flash if you want, although doing so will negate the G1 X's size advantage. There is a pop-up flash just above the lens on the EVF hump. There's no flash release button—just lift up on the hinge to open or push down to close.
To the right of the EVF you get the On/Off button, EV compensation dial, zoom rocker, and shutter release. The main control dial is just ahead of the shutter, flat on the front plate. It sits right at the top of the handgrip. The grip is bigger than you get on many compacts, and makes the G1 X Mark III quite comfortable to hold.
Rear controls all sit to the right of the LCD. The Record button is at the top, just next to the thumb rest, with AE Lock (*), focus area, Play, and Menu buttons below it. There's also a flat command dial with Q/Set at its center and four directional presses—Drive/Self-Timer, Flash, Info, and Macro. The Macro option doesn't let the camera focus any closer—it can lock on to subjects as close as 3.9 inches from the lens at its widest angle—but it does speed up close focus by not allowing the camera to focus on distant subjects. Think of it as a limiter switch.
The 3-inch LCD is a vari-angle design, so it swings out from the body and can face forward, up, or down. You can tap to set focus, and it supports what Canon calls Touch and Drag AF. Other companies have different names for the system, which allows you to change the focus point by moving your finger across the display while you've got the EVF to your eye.
LCD resolution is 1,040k dots and it's quite bright. It's easy to use outdoors under sunlight, especially since you can tilt the screen to avoid direct glare. There's also the EVF, which is adequately large and sharp (2,359k dots). An eye sensor automatically switches between the rear LCD and viewfinder. It works well for the most part, but has one big problem: If you've got the LCD swung out to the side for shooting at askew angles the sensor remains active, so your hand can trigger it with ease and black out the view on the LCD. I'd expect a camera at this price point to turn off the eye sensor automatically when the display is out to the side.
Connectivity and Power
It's almost a given at this point, so it's no surprise that the Mark III includes Wi-Fi, along with Bluetooth and NFC, for communication with a smartphone. As with other Canon models, you can use an Android or iOS device as a remote control, and transfer images from camera to phone using the Canon Camera Connect app.
The G1 X is powered by the same NB-13L battery used by other cameras in the G series, including the G7 X Mark II. But while it can drive the less power-hungry G7 for 265 images (per CIPA standards), the G1 X Mark III's larger sensor requires more power and cuts the expected battery life to 200 images or 85 minutes of video. You'll definitely want to carry a spare battery (or two) if you use the G1 X as a travel camera.
A compact wall charger is included. It has an integrated plug that folds in for storage and transport. You can also charge the battery in-camera via micro USB. The only other ports are micro HDMI and a 2.5mm remote control interface—there's no microphone input.
The memory card slot is located in the battery compartment, accessible via the bottom plate. You can use SD, SDHC, or SDXC memory cards. Speed tops out at UHS-I, so you can't take advantage of the faster write times offered by UHS-II media.
Performance and Autofocus
The camera powers on, focuses, and captures an image in about 2.2 seconds. Its autofocus locks on to a target in about 0.1-second in bright light, but slows to about 0.8-second in very dim conditions, even with the aid of a bright orange autofocus assist beam. A slowdown in dim light is expected, although 0.8-second is a bit more lag that we like to see.
We had some issues with the G1 X Mark II's autofocus system. While it was solid for the most part, there were times when the camera had a hard time locking focus. The Mark III uses on-sensor phase detection (Canon calls it Dual Pixel AF), which is generally acccurate and reliable in our field tests. I still got the occasional failure to focus—the camera will show a yellow box with an exclamation point rather than a green box when it can't lock on—but it's not a frequent occurence, and only seemed to happen when I was using a single point of focus rather than a wide area.
I clocked continous shooting at 9.4fps with locked focus, but the shooting buffer isn't huge—you can get 17 Raw or Raw+JPG shots, or 23 JPGs, before it slows down significantly. Switching to AI Servo focus, which tracks moving targets, drops the speed to 6.5fps. The G1 X Mark III dis quite well on our moving target focus test, tracking effectively and delivering consistent, in-focus results.
Image and Video Quality
The G1 X Mark III is, for all intents and purposes, a Canon SLR with a fixed lens and a pocket form factor. It uses the same 24MP sensor we've seen in recent models starting with the 80D—Canon has put it in almost every SLR and mirrorless camera its released since then.
When shooting JPGs noise is curbed to 1.5 percent or less through ISO 3200. A close look at shots from our ISO test scene shows that detail remains strong through this setting. Pushing to ISO 6400 increases noise a little bit (to 1.6 percent), but image quality takes a step back—there's some noise reduction going on behind the scenes that smudges fine detail. The blur intensifies at ISO 12800 and the top ISO 25600 setting.
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You can push the camera further by shooting in Raw format. While there is strong grain at ISO 6400, details hold up much better than they do in JPG format. At ISO 12800 and 25600 grain is heavier, but images aren't blurry like the corresponding JPG output.
The APS-C sensor does have an advantage at high ISOs when compared with a 1-inch sensor like the one used by the G5 X. At the wide angle the G1's lens is a bit more than one stop dimmer than the G5's, but even with that differential the G1 X Mark III captures clearer photos in dim light.
The lens itself is a short zoom, 24-72mm equivalent, but with 24MP of resolution you have some room to crop. At the 24mm f/2.8 position we see 2,538 lines of resolution using a standard center-weighted Imatest evaluation. Quality is strong through most of the frame, but there's a drop to 1,891 lines at the periphery. That's less fine detail than at the center, but still acceptably sharp, better than the 1,800 lines we want to see at a minimum.
Stopping down to f/4 improves the overall score to 2,746 lines, and edge quality improves to a crisp 2,227 lines. Image quality doesn't waver at f/5.6 (2,778 lines) and f/8 (2,659 lines), but does drop off at f/11 (2,501 lines) and f/16 (2,055 lines). It's an expected result; diffraction scatters light at very narrow apertures and cuts into image quality.
At the 45mm equivalent the maximum aperture is f/4.5. Image quality is very strong, 2,798 lines on average with edges that top 2,100 lines. Narrowing the iris to f/5.6 bumps the average resolution to 2,890 lines and edges are crisp, approaching 2,400 lines. At f/8 we see 2,831 lines, before performance starts to drop at f/11 (2,672 line) and f/16 (2,297 lines).
Zoomed all the way in to 72mm the lens shows 3,104 lines at f/5.6, with edges that approach 2,800 lines. Images are still crisp at f/8 (3,088 lines) and f/11 (2,807 lines), and we see the expected drop at f/16 (2,398 lines).
The G1 X Mark III's 1080p video capture seems a bit dated. You'd think a $1,300 camera would support 4K. Despite the limited resolution, video is crisp and steady, thanks to in-lens stabilization, and you can opt for cinematic 24fps, traditional 30fps, or action-oriented 60fps frame rates. The Dual Pixel AF system delivers smooth, pleasing changes in focus.
Conclusions
The Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark III is a camera that leaves me with very mixed feelings. It puts an APS-C sensor and zoom lens into a form factor we haven't seen before—one that's pocketable—and both the lens and sensor are quite good. Canon's Dual Pixel AF system is just as solid and versatile here as it is in the company's SLR and mirrorless line. It's not a focus system that's class-leading, but it gets the job done for most situations; certainly almost anything you'd capture with a 24-72mm zoom.
But then there's the lingering feeling that, if Canon had stuck a bit closer to the design of the Mark II, this could have been an absolutely killer camera. I miss the bright lens and extended zoom range offered by the Mark III's predecessor. If the company had simply added an EVF and improved the sensor resolution and autofocus, it would have been drawn a much clearer delineation between the G1 X and G5 X models.
Instead the G1 X Mark III is more of a premium version of the G5 X than anything else. Its zoom range is a little shorter, but the extra 4MP of resolution gives you some room to crop. Its lens is dimmer, but the sensor does a better job at the upper end of its ISO range, more than making up the difference. But despite its premium position, there are some things missing. We'd have liked to have seen 4K video at this price point, as well as a microphone input.
Many photographers will be perfectly happy by choosing a the G5 X at $800—it's tough to justify spending an extra $500 given how similar the form and function of the two models are. But if you do a lot of photography in low light, or simply have the money to spend and want the benefits of a larger image sensor, the G1 X Mark III won't disappoint. You're paying for miniaturization, but that's nothing new for photographers shopping for premium compacts. Our Editors' Choice premium compact is still the Sony RX100 III, which has a 24-70mm f/1.8-2.8 zoom lens and 1-inch sensor, and a more attractive $750 price point.
The Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark III is the smallest zooming APS-C camera we've seen, but it feels like a step back from the Mark II.
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