Unfortunately, I purchased a Canon G10 just before the release of the G11 and for reasons explained below I've now bought a G11... which gives me the unusual and unexpected "privilege" of being able to compare the two side-by-side.

So what was so wrong with the G10 that I bought a G11? Not much, other than its noise levels at higher ISO settings. Is this a serious problem? Well, if like me, you want a camera that's a portable alternative to your DSLR and which operates very close to your DSLR's performance, then it probably is. How much so? Here's two examples that made me invest in the G11. The first was when using the G10 on a bright blue sky day to shoot sports events using its "Sports" program - the camera, correctly, chose shutter speeds of 1/1250 and, as a result, set ISO ratings at around 400 but, noise was evident at 50% magnification and very marked at 100% magnification. The second was when "snap-shotting" my children indoors in reasonably good late afternoon light without a flash - on the "Auto" program the ISO was, again correctly, bumped up to over 200 and, again, noise was evident at 100% magnification - so much so, that I was forced to manually set ISO to under 200 with the resulting problems of moving subjects and slower shutter speeds.

You could say that I'm being overly "picky" here, but I don't think so... while these noise levels are perfectly acceptable in cheaper point & shoot cameras, they're really not acceptable in a camera priced at this level and, more importantly, they mean that it can't be used with confidence as a point & shoot alternative to my DSLR which was one of the main reasons for buying it. Sure you can overcome some of the ISO issues by using the camera's huge number of manual over-ride options but you shouldn't have to.

The problem, of course, is the mega-pixel count in the G10 which, while good for "marketing" purposes, is just too high for a camera this small and which therefore precipitates additional noise at even relatively modest ISO levels. Set the camera to under ISO 200 and you get the resolution advantage of 14.7 million mega-pixels but your shooting options are reduced; let the camera do the work and, in anything other than "normal" situations, noise could become a serious issue.

Time to assess how my newly acquired 10 megapixel G11 performs in similar situations... the answer?... brilliantly. My test shot comparisons between the two show noticeably reduced noise levels for the G11 at anything over ISO 200, with noise down to a level that, while not quite as good as my DSLR, is as close as you'd expect or hope for from this type of camera. And, while there's a slight resolution loss compared to the G10, it's so tiny that it's unnoticeable other than in a slow ISO rated shot (i.e. 80 or 100) blown-up to extremely high magnification levels but... am I really going to use the G11 rather than my DSLR for huge prints or professional quality studio or field work? Unlikely. Also, there seems to be a marginally better "feel" to the G11's shots at below ISO 200 which could well be the result of its claimed improvements in image processing or just my own perception. Whatever, the bottom line is that the G11 produces the same or better quality photos than the G10 in virtually all "real life" situations that I'm likely to use it for and, equally importantly, allows me to use it with the confidence that its end results will be extremely close to those that my DSLR would have produced if I'd had it with me.

Other than that, the two cameras are pretty much identical: the G11's fold out screen can be argued either way (it has obvious advantages in certain situations but it makes the camera feel a bit bulkier and reduces the size of the screen's viewing area), there are a couple more menu options in the G11 which most people will never use, the G10's on/off button is slightly easier to use, the rotating dial on the rear of the G10 feels a little more solid, and the G11 has additional "low light" and "quick shot" programs on the main dial, which are of limited practical value. In other words, unless you really do need a fold out screen, nothing worth writing home about.

Oh, and the price... the G11 is, at present, about £100 more than the G10 in the UK, which is a pretty big difference. Is a £100 price hike worth it for improved performance in certain situations? Well, that's your decision: the G10 is a perfectly acceptable and usable camera once you know its limitations but, if you don't want these limitations, or if you just want the confidence that the camera will perform at close to DSLR levels in virtually all situations you throw at it, then the G11 is definitely worth the extra money. Anyone want to buy a G10?... it'll be on eBay soon.Get more detail about Canon PowerShot G11 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Stabilized Zoom and 2.8-inch articulating LCD.