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To compare real-life performance we shot this scene with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, Olympus E-P1 and Canon PowerShot G11 within a few moments of each other using their best quality JPEG and base ISO settings. Both the GF1 and EP-1 were fitted with the same Lumix G 20mm f1.7 lens, set to f4 (the sharpest aperture for the lens in this test). The G11's zoom was adjusted to match the field-of-view as closely as possible.

Looking at the crops below, it’s important to remind yourself the PowerShot G11 has a considerably smaller sensor than the other two models here, and also two fewer Megapixels. We also fitted the two Micro Four Thirds models with a prime lens set to its optimum aperture, whereas the G11 was using its built-in lens with an aperture automatically selected in Program mode. As such, it’s impressive just how similar the degree of real-life detail is between the three models at their lowest sensitivities.

Indeed most of the differences you’re seeing here are down to their respective image processing strategies using the default settings. The Olympus E-P1 is clearly applying the greatest sharpening of the three cameras here, with the punchiest image as a result. In contrast, the Panasonic GF1 is taking a more laid-back approach with its default in-camera JPEGs, and Canon has also struck a good balance between applying sufficient sharpening to reveal detail without suffering from undesirable artefacts.

The mountain ridge may be lacking contrast and suffering from a little softness on the G11 sample here, but in terms of the other cropped areas, we’d say Canon’s latest compact performs very well and some may even prefer its default output here compared to the pricier cameras alongside.

Of course the larger sensors of the E-P1 and GF1 give them an advantage under lower light, but under bright conditions at the lowest sensitivity (and using their default settings), the PowerShot G11 can certainly give them a run for their money.