CanonPowerShot Digital Camera [G7 X Mark II] with Wi-Fi & NFC, LCD Screen, and 1-inch Sensor - Black, 100-1066C001

I delayed writing this review for 4 months, just to be sure my opinion doesn't change. It hasn't, I really like this camera! It takes great quality pictures. It has a zoom lens at a great range (24mm - 105mm), it has all of the automatic features you could ask for (focus, aperture, film speed, shutter speed). Or, you can select manual shutter speed or aperture and the camera will set everything else. Or, you can select all-manual, if you want to set everything yourself. It has a high pixel count (24 megapixel), and it can even be set to shoot in RAW so you can do lots of darkroom magic, if you want.I shot with a manual SLR (a Canon FTb) from the early 70's to the late 90's, then I lost interest. I had purchased a 35mm lens and a 135mm lens to compliment the 50mm supplied with the SLR. I also had lots of peripherals; flashes, macro tubes, remote releases, yada, yada, yada. I felt like a pack mule every time I left the house. I found out a few things about a manual SLR: they're heavy; I took 80% of my pictures with the stock 50mm lens; and the picture quality was only good when I had plenty of time to set up the shot. Mostly, the pictures I got were just on the edge of over- or under-exposed, and were often barely in focus.So, when I decided to get back into photography, I decided to buy a new camera and I wanted that camera to offer: point and shoot for simplest use; good quality pictures so it had to offer a high megapixel rating; a zoom lens that was about the range of my old manual lenses; and light weight so it would be easy to carry around all day.This camera hit all of these requirements and at a reasonable price. The pictures I'm getting with this point and shoot are far superior to those I got from my old SLR. I just couldn't be happier, though I will admit that a modern dSLR will probably also show a similarly dramatic improvement over the old manual SLR's, but at a much higher price.Some cautions:1) Buy a high speed memory card, at least 90 MB/sec. Dumping 30 MB of a picture into a memory card takes time, so a fast memory card is a must to get the fastest possible shot rate.2) Look into the Lensmate filter adapter. This device enables you to attach a UV filter to protect the zoom lens from dirt and water.3) Buy a spare battery, preferably a Canon (a bit expensive, but worth it). Digital cameras live and die by their batteries, so it makes sense to have a good quality spare when you're out for extended shooting.4) Buy a decent strap, the wrist strap supplied with the camera really isn't enough. Look at the Peak Design Camera Leash; rugged, flexible, and easy to remove when storing the camera.If you want the ability to change out lenses, this camera is not for you. But, if you want to take lots of great pictures easily and without the hassle of lugging a lot of equipment around, look into this camera!

Just received the camera today, so these are really just first impressions:1. The photos are beautiful, bright, crisp and sharp; 5-stars for photo quality.2. Windows 10 cannot display the RAW files (it can't do the 7D2 RAW files, either).3. Adobe RAW 9.5 cannot convert the G7X2 RAW files (it can do the 7D2 files). The Canon software I have can't do it either. How long before an Adobe update?4. There is no setting that I can find to shoot RAW + JPEG.UPDATE: You can set RAW + JPEG, but it's not intuitive.5. On its own, the camera doesn't play well with Windows 10. Download the Camera Window software from Canon. This will give you complete control for transferring images to the computer. UPDATED 6/12/20166. The manual implies that the Camera Window software is for WiFi transfer of images to a computer. That's true, but it is also used for downloading via direct USB connection which is lightning fast, and in my opinion, preferable. Once the download is complete, the USB battery charging function will commence. UPDATED 6/12/20167. As usual, the User's Manual is sketchy and not very useful. It's difficult to find something specific in it. There is a more complete .pdf version that can be downloaded from the Canon website. UPDATED 6/12/2016Again, these are just first impressions. I'll update this review was I get more experience with it.UPDATE 6/10/2016:After a morning on the internet, I have solved the RAW file problem. In order to use PS or LR, Adobe Camera RAW v. 9.6 is required. Earlier versions won't work with the G7X2. You can download the zip file and install it from the Adobe website. Then, depending on which editing software you are using, CC, PSE or LR, it may not install in the correct folder. You'll have to move it. In the Adobe community forum, search on G7X Mark II and you will find a post with instructions on how to do that. I would have posted the links here, but I think Amazon strips them out.Now, I can actually use the images from the camera in my normal workflow. That's huge, and for that I am adding two more stars.I am pleased with the photos it takes. I have posted two images I took last night at sunset. I wanted to see how it performed in low light. I did no color editing at all. I only adjusted exposure and lighting, added a little bit of sharpening and resized them. There is some noise in the shots, but the finished images are not bad. There is also some lens distortion, apparent when there are straight verticals near the edges. It's correctable in editing, but since that crops the image, you will want to add a little extra in the framing.UPDATE 6/12/2016:Now that I have the camera/computer environment functioning, I took it downtown with me this morning on a real shakedown cruise. I have added several photos from the Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes, Washington. I usually shoot aperture priority, but all of these were taken on "Auto" to see how it would do. I am tickled to death with the photos the camera is producing. There is one thing I am noticing. My 7D2 (I think it uses dual Digic 6 processors) tends to over-saturate reds and magentas. This camera is not doing that. On Auto, it is also balancing the highlights and shadows very nicely without blowing out the skies. Again I got some lens distortion, but it was easily corrected in editing. Someone here asked about focus speed. I have no complaints in that regard. One thing that is a little slow is the recovery time after shooting compared to the 7D2. With that camera, I can take several shots in rapid succession. Shooting Raw + JPEG with the G7X2, there is a noticeable lag before it can fire again which is sometimes annoying. For a pocket camera, however, that's really not a big deal. Overall, I am delighted with this camera. I debated between getting the Sony or waiting for this one. I chose this one primarily for the longer tele range and because I am already in the Canon ecosystem. Now that I have actually used it, and seen the photos it produces, I am glad I did.