For serious photographers, whenever we turn our attention toward small cameras, we want to know if we are able to do serious work with them. We all know that even a plastic toy camera can produce stunning art, but that is not what we mean. We want a camera that is responsive, flexible and has sufficient image quality—so that small size is an advantage, not a compromise.
I have been using a Canon G9 (12 megapixels) for some time, and I think that, for me, it has been the best choice as an “all around” point and shoot camera. The G9 is responsive enough and compact enough. The photos from the G9 are detailed and technically quite good, but its image quality paled in comparison to that of my DSLRs. The quality problem seems to be at the pixel level and can easily be seen on screen.
