Canon Powershot G7X & Sony RX100 MKII/III

Jim Decker · Issue 83, Mar/Apr 2015 · pp. 35–38

Products mentioned: Canon Powershot G7X, Sony RX100 Mark II, Sony RX100 Mark III, Nauticam CMC (Compact Macro Lens), Canon S120, Nauticam G7X housing, Fisheye FIX NEO 2000 DX SWR Underwater Video lights

The Canon G7X is Canon’s first 1 inch sensor compact camera. However there’s a lot more to it than just taking a G series Powershot camera and slapping in a larger sensor. The large 1 inch sensor concept has proven to be a hit as we have seen with the Sony RX 100 series. The sensor is reported to be the same as Sony’s sensor in the Sony RX 100 Mark II, and has a top ISO performance of 12,800. A larger 1” sensor allows for better low light performance and image quality over smaller sensors, but is still small enough to make the camera fit in your pocket when out on the town. It also keeps the housing size small so you can get a fully outfitted camera system into a carry on backpack. The G7X has a 24-100mm equivalent lens, compared to a 28- 100 for the Sony RX 100 Mark II and a 24-70mm for the Sony RX100 MKIII. While this extended range topside may be good, it does create some issues under…