*UPDATE 3* Canon PowerShot G1X Revealed

[Noink Fanb0i]

Wow, that's awesome news if it's indeed a 1.5" diagonal and not 1/1.5" sensor. Why would they say:

offers a large 1.5-inch 14.3-mega-pixel CMOS image sensor and a 4x (28-112mm) optical zoom lens.

It is said to have a shallow depth of field and an aperture range of F/2.5-16 affording better low-light capability.

Shallow DOF from a 1/1.5" sensor? Only slightly larger than the sensor on a Panny LX3/5 (1/1.63"). So the only other alternative is: 1.5" diagonal sensor.

[Yerry]

Wow, that's awesome news if it's indeed a 1.5" diagonal and not 1/1.5" sensor. Why would they say:

offers a large 1.5-inch 14.3-mega-pixel CMOS image sensor and a 4x (28-112mm) optical zoom lens.

It is said to have a shallow depth of field and an aperture range of F/2.5-16 affording better low-light capability.

Shallow DOF from a 1/1.5" sensor? Only slightly larger than the sensor on a Panny LX3/5 (1/1.63"). So the only other alternative is: 1.5" diagonal sensor.

Maybe it is not the only alternative, look at http://www.avcemporium.com/image-sensor-sizes/

1/1.5 is 24x16

[Noink Fanb0i]

Still good even at that. 24mm x 16mm is APS-C 1.5x. Read: larger than Canon APS-C 1.6x and same as the other APS-C 1.5x croppers.

[5D Freak]

Yerry - just checked that link. Wow - 1/1.5" is pretty close to APS-C size (at 1.5 crop)! Digic 5 and 14 bit RAW - I think I will look at this one. Like one of the posters before me, I do wish the lens was a bit wider, say 24mm. Is constant apeture of F2.5 required on a camera that doesn't use telecoverters, etc. So variable apeture starting at F2.0 would have been a bonus.

[Noink Fanb0i]

Nikon/Sony APS-C 1.5x = 23.6 x 15.7mm
Canon APS-C 1.6x = 22.2 x 14.8mm

So if we follow the logic of Table 3: 1/1.5 = 24 x 16mm -> larger than any APS-C DSLR.   

[Lee Jay]

1/1.5" is 2/3" - same as the Pro 1.

1.5" is slightly larger than 4/3 (4/3" = 1.33").

These sizes (including 1/2.5", 1/1.7", etc.) all date back to the vacuum tube era.

http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Camera_System/sensor_sizes_01.htm

[grog13]

It can't possibly be 1.5".  The lens would be bigger and 3x as heavy as the current camera.  1/1.5" (hmmm...a lot like 2/3" isn't it is more like it.  A teeeeny bit bigger than the current 1/1.7", but probably not enough to really make room for 14 mp without giving up some ISO / DR performance.  Canon seems to be content with the low light & DR performance of all its subframe cameras, and just tries to maintain that level while adding pixels.  This is not what I want in either a compact or a crop-frame DSLR............

[stavreski]

Ok, about sensor sizes.

According to the next article on dpreview:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2002/10/7/sensorsizes

When some company says we have made x" sensor, they are actually saying that the sensor diagonal is roughly two thirds of that number x in inches. (It's an old '50s tv standard. The number x is the size of the tv tube, not the sensor itself).

Accordingly, Nikon 1 system has a 1" sensor, which is NOT a 25.4mm diagonal, but two thirds of that number, or roughly 17mm which is roughly true (16mm is closer).

So, using the above math, a 1.5 inch sensor has a diagonal of 25.4mm, or a sensor a bit larger than 4/3" (22.5mm)

Hope this helps,

Stavreski

[swblackwood]

  I think we need to wait for something official. If it is 1/1,5, that would make it the same size as the Fuji x10 but still smaller than the Nikon V1. If it is 1.5", that that would make it quite a large sensor and something to celebrate, even without interchangeable lenses.

One thing I haven't noticed mentioned: does it have IS??

[Meeklo]

No viewfinder listed in specs...

[samthefish]

It drives me crazy the different ways sensor sizes are described.  for me I wish they would just say "x"mm by "y"mm.

I'm planning on getting a Fuji X10 shortly.  I doubt the G1X will make a difference in my decision as I like the Fuji for build quality / size / good enough photo quality.  Also is a few hundred less it looks like.

SamTheFish

[Caps18]

It sounds like a great camera for travelers and lightweight packers.  If my iPhone can't take good enough photos in certain situations, this would be a good choice for when I can't bring the 5Dm2.

[nicke]

Is this a CR3 rumor?

[neuroanatomist]

Maybe it is not the only alternative, look at http://www.avcemporium.com/image-sensor-sizes/

1/1.5 is 24x16

Yes, did you actually look at that?  What they're calling 1/1.5 in that table (Raster Sizes for Various Focal Length Multipliers) is the focal length multiplier, i.e. a 1.5x crop factor which is Nikon's APS-C format. 

Note that 1/1.5 ≠ 1/1.5".  1/1.5" = 2/3" which is much smaller than APS-C, and also smaller than the CX sensor in the Nikon 1 (which is approximately a 1" sensor). 

[shorthand]

I am going to reverse myself and say that upon further reading:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2002/10/7/sensorsizes


That I think that the G1X sensor is more-or-less APS-C sized with a 4:3 aspect ratio[/i].

That makes sense with the price point and is a very interesting value proposition.