Canon PowerShot G7 X announced as Sony RX100 III’s competitor

Canon has unveiled the PowerShot G7 X compact camera, which features a 1-inch-type image sensor and is ready to take on the Sony RX100 III.

The battle of the high-end compact cameras began this summer with the introduction of the Sony RX100 III. Fujifilm has followed the same path with the X30, while many others companies should release their own models soon.

The first of the pack is Canon, which has announced the PowerShot G7 X, a compact shooter with a 1-inch-type sensor and plenty of other enticing features.

Canon PowerShot G7 X is a new high-end compact camera announced at Photokina 2014.

Canon launches PowerShot G7 X compact camera to compete against the Sony RX100 III

Canon PowerShot G7 X is the first 1-inch-type sensor compact camera in the Japanese company’s history. The camera shoots 20.2-megapixel photos with an ISO range between 125 and 12,800.

The shooter is powered by a DIGIC 6 processing engine, which supports a continuous shooting mode of up to 6.5fps. Its autofocus system is said to be very quick and it consists of 31 AF points.

A 4.2x optical zoom lens will be at users’ disposal, offering a 35mm focal length equivalent of 24-100mm. The lens features a maximum aperture range of f/1.8-2.8 and offers optical image stabilization, making sure that blur will not show up in your photos.

Sony’s RX100 III comes with an identical aperture, but its zoom range is more limited, as it stands between 24mm and 70mm (35mm equivalent).

Canon PowerShot G7 X features a tilting touchscreen, but no viewfinder

One of the main disadvantages of the Canon PowerShot G7 X is its lack of a built-in viewfinder. Both the RX100 III and the X30 come with this feature, but this new competitor employs only a 3-inch tilting 1,040K-dot LCD touchscreen on the back.

The compact camera also features a shutter speed range between 1/2000th of a second and 40 seconds. Its minimum focusing distance stands at 5cm, which will be useful at macro photos.

A built-in flash is available and photographers will have to make use of it in low-light conditions, as they cannot attach an external flash because there is no hot-shoe.

Taking photos in broad daylight at the maximum aperture will not be a problem as the G7 X features a built-in neutral density (ND) filter.

WiFi-ready Canon G7 X to be released in October

Just like the current trend in the digital camera industry, the Canon PowerShot G7 X features built-in WiFi and NFC. This way, users can transfer files to a smartphone or tablet in an instant.

The shooter supports full HD videos at up to 60fps, but if you want to get creative, then you can even capture time-lapse videos, Star Trails, or add miniature effect to your shots.

The G7 X measures 103 x 60 x 40mm / 4.06 x 2.36 x 1.57-inches and weighs 304 grams. It will be released on the market in October 2014 for a price of $699.99, but you can secure your unit right now at Amazon.