Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II (Black)

I just LOVE this camera!! Best point and shoot I've ever had.

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2019

Color: SilverStyle: Camera onlyVerified Purchase

I'm not an expert photographer by any means, but I've had a lot of cameras including several DSLRs and high-end point and shoots. My DSLRs are all Canons but I've had Canon, Nikon and Sony point and shoots. For convenience I like to have a good compact camera when I travel and to carry with me on a regular basis. The problem has been that I just couldn't find one that took decent pictures (in my opinion) until I got this camera. Either the focus was too soft, the color was off, or it didn't take decent low-light pictures.

Then I bought this Canon G9X Mark II. The picture quality is excellent and the color is superb. Because this camera has a bigger than average sensor it takes good low light pictures. It fits easily in your purse or pocket (perfect for travel). This camera has a lot of functionality - different modes and settings to choose from including auto (the auto setting takes great pictures without much fuss). It takes good quality video. And its a stylish camera too.

The biggest downside is the app/software for this camera. I never could figure out how to link it to my cell phone to record the GPS coordinates or to download pictures via WIFI to my computer. I think its just as easy to plug the card into the computer and download the files that way. The app/software for my Sony point and shoot was way easier to use. To be fair, I didn't spend a whole lot of time on this so you might have better luck than I did. Plus, they might update the app/software to make it easier to use. Battery life isn't great, but extra batteries aren't that expensive - its a good idea to carry a spare.

To summarize, if you are looking for a good compact camera that takes great pictures (sharp focus, great color, good in low-light) this is an excellent choice. It has a lot of functionality and features - but the plain vanilla auto mode takes very good pictures too. The size is very handy and fits easily in your pocket or purse. If you shoot a lot of pictures or are going on a trip you should probably get a spare battery. I highly recommend this camera.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

R. Angeloni

A Solid Premium Compact that Produces Great Photos

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2017

Color: BlackStyle: Camera onlyVerified Purchase

The Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II is the updated version of Canon’s G9 X “entry level” premium compact camera. I was looking for a small camera to take along with me when I did not want to lug around a DSLR camera and lenses. After much research, I settled on the PowerShot G9 X Mark II and so far, I am very pleased with the results.

The premium compact cameras give the user the option to manually control settings (shutter speed, aperture, ISO), while also offering the traditional “Auto” point and shoot mode, as well as other creative settings typically found on a point and shoot. These cameras also feature a 1” CMOS sensor, which produces better images than a typical cell phone camera.

Updates to the Mark II version include the Digic VII image processor, which means faster processing and continuous shooting times for JPEG and RAW photos (a maximum continuous shooting speed of 8.2 fps in RAW shooting mode). The Mark II also features dual sensing image stabilization, a quicker autofocus feature and improved subject tracking, auto shooting mode, and a slight improvement in battery life.
The Mark II also is Bluetooth compatible, a new feature (the camera also has Wi-Fi and NFC capabilities). Transferring photos from the camera to your phone is easy with the Canon Camera Connect app.

I have used the camera for a few weeks and I like it. The camera is small (it can literally fit in my front pocket) and the large 3” touchscreen is relatively intuitive (the camera has a limited amount of buttons). The user can control mostly everything via the touchscreen, and I have found that visibility of the screen is still very good for daylight shooting.

The lens range itself is limited, but what you lose in zoom you make up for in quality photos and compactness. The focal length in the lens of the Canon G9X II is 28mm-84mm, with a 3X optical zoom and a 12x digital zoo, which will produce grainy photos. Maximum aperture is F/2 at 28mm and F4.9 at 84mm. I have attached photos that show what is captured at 28mm, 50mm, 84mm and at maximum zoom. The zoom on this camera will not give you close ups of the moon. The lens barrel also has a ring, which can be used to control a variety of settings. There is no viewfinder.

Overall, I am very pleased with this camera. The only negative at this point has been battery life, but the battery life I have experienced may have been comprised since I have been setting up the camera and using its various features. Still, it probably makes sense to buy and carry a spare battery if you are going to be out all day shooting. Highly recommended!

422 people found this helpful

Helpful

John Christiansen

Great camera, slips in pocket

Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2022

Color: SilverStyle: Camera onlyVerified Purchase

This is a very easy camera to use. The image quality is great if it focuses on the right object. I use for nature photos and usually only the “auto” setting. Pictures usually look amazing. I dropped my first one a few times and it stopped working and I couldn’t imagine using another type or brand so I bought another, exact same model.
Love how it easily fits in my pocket. Battery last long enough to take multiple days worth of photos.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

S. Vogt

Great little camera

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2017

Color: BlackStyle: Camera onlyVerified Purchase

This is a great little camera. Honestly if you want the highest image quality in the smallest profile possible, this camera is it.

Is it worth upgrading from the original though? I guess it depends on what's important to you. If you feel that you would use the in camera raw processing and more in depth adjustments for picture styles then its worth considering. While it's JPEGS are slightly sharper due to the newer processor, overall image quality is about the same. The photos look great with excellent color reproduction and the auto white balance has improved a bit over its predecessor. Video quality is also very good.

The overall layout of the camera is essentially the same at its predecessor. You only get one control dial and have to rely on the touch screen for the rest of setting adjustments. But as with other cameras, the touch screen works great so this might not be as big of a deal as it seems. Ergonomics are pretty good for such a small camera. With a nice textured surface up front for a more secure grip.

Autofocus performance has improved over the original G9X, mainly in the form of being less sluggish and more accurate in low light conditions. Movie AF has improved a bit too with less back and forth motion while focusing over the original.

Battery life has also improved like it did on the G7X Mark II. Although if you're taking this out for a long day of shooting, you still might pack an extra one. Enthusiast compacts in general don't have the greatest battery life.

Overall, this is a likeable little camera that does photos and videos very well and is slim enough to fit in most pockets. Some may find the lens too restrictive as far as focal length is concerned but that's one of the tradeoffs you have to make when you stuff a larger sensor in a small camera body. If you have the original G9X, this is not the no-brainer upgrade. But if you're a new buyer to this series, it's worthwhile to spend the extra money to get the Mark II for the extra features and slight bump in overall performance it provides.

189 people found this helpful

Helpful

just another engineer

GREAT little compact camera

Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2020

Color: BlackStyle: Camera onlyVerified Purchase

i've had this camera for a little over three years now. I bought it because I wanted something that would easily fit in a pocket, that I could travel with, but that takes better pictures than my phone. Essentially, what this camera was designed for- a good tradeoff of image quality, including low light performance, and overall size. I think it takes really nice photos. Sure, not as good as a full-frame. But being so small, I actually grab this and carry it with me. It's been to Africa, all over the US, all over Europe, on several backpacking trips. I especially like the night photo capabilities (using a little tripod). We also own a Sony RX10mk4, which is a far more capable machine (especially with the optical zoom), but I still find myself using this little Canon quite a lot. Looking back 3 years, really glad I bought this when I did (before a big trip), and that I've had it for all of the adventures. It's held up relatively well. At one point the lens cover stopped opening and closing all the way, but the grit that was causing it to bind eventually worked its way out. Great little machine. Very capable. And I think it was a bargain back in 2017, and even moreso now in 2020. Sure, an RX100 is a "better" camera for everything you're trying to accomplish here (compact, good photo quality). They share the same sensor size, but the RX100 has a faster brain and a longer zoom. But is it *twice* as good? I don't know.. for my money, i'd buy this camera again if I lost it tomorrow.

21 people found this helpful

Helpful

John Austin

Great lightweight and compact shooter loaded with features and flexability

Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2018

Color: SilverStyle: Camera onlyVerified Purchase

Excellent photo quality for such a compact camera. Loads of features and tons of flexibility. I'm not much of a video shooter so can't coment on those capabilities, but I bought this to replace an aging Fujitsu compact that I carried everwhere. It took no time to get familiar with the camera's excellent control layout/structure (In fairness, I do have a couple of regularly used Canon DSLs, so that may have helped get me up to speed on the G9 X mkII). I found the G9 focusing to be quick and spot on, and the metering scheme to be mostly accurate. The LCD display is bright enough with very good resolution. The flash has a limited range, but works ok out to about 12 or so feet. Plenty of ISO range.

When I get in a serious shootinng mode, I break out my Canon 5D or 6D and a few appropriate lenses for the situation. This is fine, when my focus is 100% on photography. But when traveling, at a gathering of friends and family, or just out and about town and country, having a great little pocket shooter at the ready means getting so many good shots that simply won't wait until you pull out your big ole DSL and snap on the best lens. Meanwhile, the G9 X mkII can be ready to shoot in seconds snapping off shots that are way, way better than my Google Pixel 2 cell phone snapper can deliver.

With a slightly smaller, or maybe just a slimmer, profile than my retiring Fuji, dropping this light and compact unit in a pocket is even easier. So far this mighty little shooter has 100% exceeded my expectations. I expect to get as many years of service with this new pocket gem as my trusty old Fuji pocket snapper.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

T. Wicker

This is a Great Compact Camera

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2017

Color: SilverStyle: Camera onlyVerified Purchase

This is a great camera that is: (1) small enough to fit in your pocket (the G7X is just a little too big to fit comfortably in a shirt pocket); (2) allows you to shoot in several modes including manual; (3) has a 1" sensor in a compact build; (4) shoots RAW for those occasions when you need it. In short, it is a very small camera with professional features.
It won't take the place of a full frame DSLR (such as the Canon 6D or 5D Mark IV), or even a crop frame DSLR (like the Canon 7D Mark II). It doesn't try to compete with the higher end mirrorless cameras like the Fuji XT-2 or Sony A7ii. When I know I'm going to need the resolution of one of aforementioned cameras, then that's what I'll carry. But when I am just going out to eat with friends, or when I want to have a camera handy, this is the ticket.
You can buy less expensive compact cameras. You can buy smaller compact cameras. But as of this writing, you can't buy a better compact camera than the G9 X Mark II.

UPDATE: The camera suddenly stopped working. The lens would open with the power button, but the screen was blank. The lens would not fully retract when the power button was pressed again. I called customer service and was told the lens had become misaligned. Per the instructions I was given, I removed the battery, held the power button down for 2 minutes to discharge any residual power and then re-inserted the battery and powered the camera on. Still didn't work. I was emailed a link to a page to print a repair order, given instructions on how to ship the camera and told repairs would take 5-7 days. Before I packed it up, I tried the battery removal/power button procedure again and this time the camera worked. The customer service experience was excellent, although I ended up not needing to send the unit off for repairs. This is the only problem I've had so far (knock on wood).

31 people found this helpful

Helpful

K. Pullen

It worked great at first

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2017

Color: BlackStyle: Camera onlyVerified Purchase

I bought this camera for a vacation to Panama City Beach. It worked great at first. In the middle of our stay we got hit with the tail end of a tropical storm. It rained nonstop for 30 hours. After the rain moved out it was humid and foggy. During this period my camera was useless even inside the hotel and museum. The camera stayed inside it's case and inside the condo during the storm. Either the inside of the lens or the mirror stayed fogged up for 2 days. This didn't happen to anyone Else's camera. It eventually went away and I've not used it again until last week at the state fair. The camera has never been dropped or misused in any way. It has only 300 shots taken on it. Although it seemed to do okay at the fair I am left with a camera that I don't trust to be there when I need it. I'm 47 years old and have had several cameras over the years and have never had one do this. I don't think it's normal and I don't know if it will do it again. I don't know if I should return it or just keep my fingers crossed. It cost too much money to roll the dice.

Update: Unable to return it. (it's been less than 3 months) Sent in a form to Canon from an Amazon page. Not sure where it goes now. Outerspace for all I know. There was no confirmation or anything. Guess I should have went local on this one. Or I wish I would have returned it the moment I got back. I had a 6 day window and just dropped the ball I guess.

32 people found this helpful

Helpful

tech_enthusiast

Great Features, But Poor Functionality & Horrible App

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2017

Color: BlackStyle: Camera onlyVerified Purchase

This camera has lots of great features, but many of them are not fully implemented. One defining feature of this camera is that it has built-in bluetooth. However, the Canon Android & iOS apps have poorly implemented bluetooth functions, which do exactly what the WiFi functions do except the bluetooth is much slower. So what's the point of having bluetooth? Well, it's low power, which allows the camera to continuously or regularly connect to your smartphone and retrieve GPS coordinates. Unfortunately, the app is not capable of doing this with this camera. So having the bluetooth chip is completely useless until Canon implements this feature in the app for the G9X. Another annoying feature is that the camera takes 1-2 secs to save each photo, unless you're shooting in continuous mode, which takes several photos per second but takes even longer to save them. The third disappointment is that the G9X does not shoot panoramas. OMG, Really? All smartphones shoot panoramas! It's annoying that I have to whip out my phone anytime I shoot panoramas, which takes them with a much smaller sensor than the 1" on the G9X. Those are the 3 main negatives of the G9X, but it does have 3 advantages. 1st is the touchscreen works really well & smoothly, making touch focusing easy and changing settings fast. 2nd is the size and weight of the camera make it really portable; I can easily slip the phone into my pocket and it weighs like your phone + keys. That's amazing considering the G9X has a 1" sensor and 3X zoom. 3rd advantage is the cost; only $429 as of June 2017. I'll compare the G9X with 2 of its competitor: Canon G7X markII and Sony RX100M2, which both have 1" sensor and image stabilization like the G9X.

The Canon camera app is absolutely the worst camera app I've ever used. As stated above, you cannot get GPS coordinates for the photos by bluetooth, which defeats the purpose of having it! The settings are hard to find in different pages, and the defaults are set to really stupid values. For instance, by default when you're transferring photos by wifi, the default is to transfer reduced quality/ size photos instead of the original image. Also, by default when transferring photos by wifi, the GPS coordinates will not be transferred (even though Canon makes you manually save & set the GPS). To keep the GPS coordinates with the photos, you must take out the SD card, insert it into your computer, and manually transfer the photos. OMG, Really?!

Canon G9X markII, Pro's: smallest size & weight with a 1" sensor, smooth & useful touchscreen, $429 (as of June 2017)
Con's: useless bluetooth (unless Canon fixes its app), takes 1-2 secs to save each photo, no panorama mode

Canon G7X markII, Pro's: more zoom (4.2X), tiltable screen, 3X brighter lens at zoomed range (same at wide range)
Con's: same as G9X camera, also $250 more; does not have bluetooth so it can never be upgraded for auto GPS

Sony RX100M2, Pro's: more zoom (3.6X), tiltable screen, faster photo saving & better object tracking
Con's: no touchscreen, no bluetooth, no built-in ND filter (which Canon has), also $150 more

Although the G9X has several faults, its pro's slightly outweighs its con's, so I kept the camera because of its relatively low cost and small size & weight. Hopefully, Canon will update its app so the camera can automatically get GPS coordinates for the photos.

101 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Not much better than a smartphone?

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2021

Color: SilverStyle: Camera onlyVerified Purchase

I'm new to using dedicated cameras and maybe I'm using it wrong, but I'm not impressed. Without a frame of reference, I decided to give it three stars. My intent was to replace my smartphone with it for recording and taking pictures, especially at night. This is my experience so far:

Pros:
>The larger image sensor allows me to take brighter and cleaner night recordings and photos (when the camera is working properly).
>The storage is larger than my phone since it accepts SD cards.

Cons:
>The camera sometimes shuts off randomly around 5-10 minutes of recording.
>The camera overheats if it manages to record 20 minutes in one go.
>The camera runs out of battery after about half an hour.
>The recording blurs/lags/pixelates when you move the camera.
>The recording ocassionally goes out of focus and doesn't recover until you end the recording.
>The audio quality is grainy.
>The audio volume is low on playback even with the volume up, so it's hard to review videos in the field.
>There's no left-side hand hold because the touch-screen goes to the edge and touching the screen during recording refocuses the image where you tap (would be useful if I had a camera person, but annoying when trying to hold it).

Overall, besides the higher quality images at night, I don't think this is much better than my $200 smartphone. My roommate has a $500 smartphone that can manage just as well at night *and* has better audio/playback, plus all the functions of a smartphone .-.

I'm so confused. Are there dedicated cameras that are better than smartphones or are dedicated cameras just a fashion thing? Admittedly, it is a really pretty camera ^-^

I think it'd be more reasonably priced at like $250. The zoom looks nice though and it has a macro setting!

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II (Black)

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II (Black)

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II (Black) › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II (Black)

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II (Black)

›

Customer reviews