G1 X Mark II

I found this camera used in Amazon Warehouse. I'm pleased with myself that I thought to look there, because this camera takes really good photos. It's built well, take good low-light pics, and the battery life is pretty good. It also takes video, which my last camera didn't do.My mother was ill and dying and I needed to go home. I wanted to take some last photos, and of course I wanted a reasonably good camera. My budget was quite low (as it always is with me). I was hoping to find a decent camera for about £200-£250. Dream on. I did a lot of research and realised that I was doomed, because I was going to have to pay more like £600-£800 for a decent mid-range camera.Then I came across this camera for £385. Ok, it was used, which made be a bit hesitant, and that price was already more than I could afford to spend, but it was sold and distributed by Amazon, so I took my chances. And I'm glad I did! Even just point-and-shoot snapshots turn out brilliantly. Very sharp and clear, with rich colours. They look like the results of a much more expensive camera.I'm not a camera or photography expert, but I do know quality photos when I see them, and I love this camera. I know people like to talk on and on about features, settings, sensors, handle-ability, etc, but the bottom line for any camera is 'Does it take excellent photos?' and yes, this one does.

It is a good quality camera, but the controls are fiddly and not at all intuitive. I bought it as a smaller alternative to my Canon EOS7D, and I suppose I expected some commonality between them, but they are so different. It produces good images, but the lack of a viewfinder and those fiddly controls mean that it's a problem to use it in cold weather, bright sunshine or on anything other than full auto mode.

Great quality piece of kit as you'd expect from Canon.Have taken quite a few shots in different conditions and the results are very good - not quite as good as my full frame Canon but that's what you'd expect.Controls are a little fiddly to get used if you want to shoot in manual mode and have very large hands like myself.Battery life is poor and nowhere near as good as my other Canon cameras.All in all I'm very pleased with the G1X and am looking forward to really getting to grips with it.Have scored only 4 stars because of battery life.

Bought the G1X Ii just over two years ago and have been very happy with performance and features. Picked it up to use a week ago and when I moved the reticulate do screen to a horizontal position, the camera shut down, leaving the lense extended out of the body. I cannot believe that this camera has only lasted two years. I have had canon cameras for nearly 50 years now but it seems that manufacturing standards or design have slipped. Maybe it's time I tried another brand ! Very disappointed.

Excellent piece of kit which has travelled around the world with me for 12 months without fault. With a 64 GB SD card the 128 GB combo carries more than enough entertainment to keep me occupied on long flights. The Android App and interface are adequately fast couldn't be easier to use; battery life is good for many hours between charges, the wifi signal is good over several metre, video streams without stuttering and it weighs next to nothing so fits in a shirt pocket imperceptibly.Very happy customer

The only problem I have with this camera is that the internal mic is low quality and there is no input for an external one.

I got this camera this morning and initial impressions are very good. The thing you notice first is the massive lens. This is to serve a large sensor inside the camera. The reason to have a large sensor is to be able to keep objects in the foreground sharp while blurring the background. This is to place the emphasis on the foreground. The first of my sample images shows this effect.However, it would be unfortunate to not be able to get rid of the background blur when you don't want it. Unfortunately, the Program and Auto modes tend towards setting a fast shutter speed and a large aperture, which would lead to background blur. So for my next three sample images, I selected the Aperture Priority mode and set the Aperture to f/16 (which is the smallest aperture on this camera). In these, the background is sharp.Another noticeable feature of the camera is the tilt view screen. This allows you to tilt the view screen up through 180 degrees, in this position you can take selfies (the camera turns the image the right way up). You could also tilt the screen up through 90 degrees which would be handy for shooting from a low angle. You can also tilt the view screen down 45 degrees, which would be handy at a rock concert, to hold the camera above the heads of the crowd.One of the best features of the G1X mark II is that it can store the photos it takes in RAW format. It would be sensible to use this as the JPEG format loses detail each time you save it. RAW doesn't. In addition, you can adjust the exposure of a RAW image by +/- 3 stops without losing detail. Once you have done all the things that can only be done in RAW, you can convert the image to TIFF format for editing in layers.I was a bit surprised that I didn't get a software disc or an AV or data cable in the box. Luckily, I had previously bought another Canon camera so I had the leads and software already. But it would be a bit hard luck on a first-time buyer. I had to upgrade Canon Digital Photo Professional to the latest version to get it to read the RAW files, this is free if you have an older version. Again, hard luck on a first-time buyer.04/04/2016 I took a photo of a couple with a mural about 10m behind them, and the background blur is there but slight. I had to set the zoom to 85mm for a portrait so the aperture went down to f/3.9. In any case if I had chosen a shorter focal length that would have reduced the background blur. I can get much more background blur using a DSLR with a 50mm f/1.4 lens wide open.04/06/2016 Two months of happy use have passed by, but I have just had to charge the battery for at least the third time. And I have not been using the camera very heavily. So I would recommend carrying a spare battery. Personally I would not use a 'compatible' battery, even though the genuine one costs the best part of £50. Also I am trying ECO mode.