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It’s hard to deny that in the world of Canon, at the moment, the spotlight is held by the 7D MKII, and if you’re at PhotoPlus, it’s essentially the first thing you’re bombarded with as you walk through the main gates. Interestingly enough, according to some of the Canon guys, it’s not the camera that’s being picked up most often. That title, here on day one, goes to the G7X, Canon’s new powerful compact.

It’s a powerhouse of a small package with its 1 inch sensor with large individual cells, the DIGIC 6 Processor, 24-100 1..8-2.8 lens, and full 1080p at 60fps. Announced at Photokina last month, the G7X really came out of the gates with the Canon’s intentions blatantly obvious – make this a Sony RX100 killer. Speaking with some folks at Canon, I asked them specifically what the competition was meant to be, to which they replied, “We don’t discuss what our competition is….but it’s the Sony RX100.” Well, no surprises there, and I happened to be walking around with my Sony RX100 at the time and did a few tests for comparison.

[REWIND: Canon G7x vs Sony Rx100 M3, Who Is the King of Compacts?]

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Unfortunately the test images weren’t able to be transferred from the G7X, but unsurprisingly, they were very good, especially pleasing with the 24-100mm f/1.8-2.8 lens racked out. This, mechanically, is an advantage that Canon has over even the most current Sony RX100 MKIII. The latest RX100 opted for the 24-70 2.8 equivalent, so at 100mm f/2.8, the Canon really delivers some nice compression for portraits on the go, and not what you might expect from a pocketable camera. The 9 blade iris diaphragm lends well to nice defocused blur also.

Another advantage over its main rival, for some anyway, would be Canon’s mobile app to pair with the wireless capability of the camera. It just seems more intuitive, and recognizable. The ease of navigation with the Sony seems more well thought through, and the optical viewfinder with the Sony is something the Canon lacks. The autofocus on the Canon, however, seems much peppier, and the menu navigation will be familiar to all Canon shooters. They both have 1 inch sensors, though I wonder if Canon is using a real 1 inch sensor, or doing what Sony did and sort of deceptively use an ‘equivalent.’ Really, what this comes down to is how well you like the feel of either. More interesting than comparing this to the Rx100 is where the G7X sits in the Canon line-up now, and what this means for the well established S line.

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Well, according to the Canon rep I spoke to – the S Line is dead. I was told that the G7X was sort of the nail in the coffin for the S line, as Canon wants to move toward powerful compacts that are going to be the sort of shooter for DSLR users who want total control and portability. Interestingly, this is what the S Line was supposed to be for, but the RX100 came along and it seems THAT was actually the nail in the coffin for the S line. I’ll hopefully be doing a proper comparison of these two in the near future, but from what you know so far, which direction would you go when buying a powerful point and shoot?

If you are in the market for a small, truly pocketable, powerful point and shoot, I think finally it’s time to bring Canon back into the equation.

We’d like to give a special thanks to B&H for making this trip possible, allowing us to bring you the freshest and best from PhotoPlus 2014.