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To compare real-life performance we shot the same scene with the Canon PowerShot G10, Canon EOS 450D / XSi and Canon IXUS 870IS / SD 880IS within a few moments of each other using their best quality JPEG and lowest ISO settings. The lenses on each camera were adjusted to deliver the same vertical field of view. The image left was taken with the Canon PowerShot G10 at 8mm f4 and with a sensitivity of 80 ISO; the original JPEG measured 4.26MB. The crops are taken from the upper left, center, lower right and lower left portions of the originals and presented here at 100%.

Note the Canon 450D / XSi captures wider 3:2 aspect ratio images, so by matching the vertical field of view, we're effectively treating the DSLR here as a 10.8 Megapixel camera, delivering 4:3 shaped images. The Canon PowerShot G10 crops show a smaller area due to its higher resolution. .

It's clear from the crops below that the Canon PowerShot G10 is capable of capturing a high degree of fine detail under bright conditions at its lowest sensitivity of 80 ISO. Its lens is also performing well here, and despite some coloured fringing in the crop of the mountain ridge from the upper left corner, it's not suffering from the softness of the EOS 450D / XSi's kit lens towards the lower right (seen in the third row of crops).

Ultimately the G10 is recording greater detail than the 450D / XSi (with its kit lens) at their lowest sensitivities, but worth noting the G10 is applying greater sharpening to its in-camera JPEGs and that we're also effectively ignoring 2 Megapixels worth of extra detail on the sides of the DSLR image by matching the vertical field of view. It's additionally worth noting there's a very fine smattering of noise on areas of flat colour on the G10 even at 80 ISO, whereas the 450D / XSi is completely clean at its lowest sensitivity. This is serious pixel-peeping though and fair to say if you can shoot with the G10 at 80 ISO under bright conditions, you'll enjoy some superb results.

Now to see how the G10's RAW files compare to its in-camera JPEGs, scroll to the bottom this page. Alternatively if you want to skip straight to results taken in a more controlled environment, head on to our Canon PowerShot G10 Studio Resolution page.

Canon PowerShot G10		Canon EOS 450D / XSi with Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS		Canon IXUS 870IS / SD 880IS
f4, 80 ISO		f8, 100 ISO		f6.3, 80 ISO
f4, 80 ISO		f8, 100 ISO		f6.3, 80 ISO
f4, 80 ISO		f8, 100 ISO		f6.3, 80 ISO
f4, 80 ISO		f8, 100 ISO		f6.3, 80 ISO

We photographed the scene here in the PowerShot G10's RAW plus JPEG mode, allowing us to directly compare images created from exactly the same data. Below are 100% crops taken from the original JPEG file alongside the RAW version, processed with the supplied Digital Photo Professional 3.5 using its default settings.

The processed RAW file is visibly less 'cooked' than the in-camera JPEG, exhibiting slightly lower sharpening and contrast using the default settings. Indeed many may prefer the in-camera JPEG to DPP's default RAW settings, but of course shooting in RAW gives you greater flexibility to perform further adjustments and is a major selling point of the G10 - indeed it's the only non-DSLR in Canon's range with the facility. Now let's look at the PowerShot G10's resolution in a studio environment, including an additional comparison which illustrates the benefit of shooting in RAW.