Canon PowerShot G5X Mark II Reviews, New Features & Specs

On paper, the new PowerShot G5 X Mark II isn’t just a pocket-sized powerhouse of a camera, it’s both more powerful and more practical than its predecessor, the original G5 X. It’s smaller, it has a longer 5x zoom lens and adds 4K video capture with no crop factor. But has Canon paid too much attention to power and portability at the expense of everything else?

The Canon PowerShot G5 X II manages to blend its capable core with some useful features, great handing, a fine build and a strong level of control. It’s an enjoyable camera to use, but it can’t be said to stand out against key competitors. Should its price fall, however, it will be far more appealing for the enthusiast looking to travel light.

It’s a little pricey, but the G5X Mark II is one of the best compact cameras you can buy and a genuine step up from your smartphone camera. Its handling, electronic viewfinder, optical zoom, burst shooting and all-round image quality are impressive, even if it does lack the video-centric features of its G7X Mark III cousin. The lack of phase-detect autofocus does puts it behind the latest Sony RX100 models, and it’s a shame there’s no microphone input or fully articulating touchscreen. However, if you’re looking for a mini version of your Canon DSLR or mirrorless camera to take out on day trips, then the G5X Mark II’s versatility and image quality make it one of the best options around.

The Canon Powershot G5 X Mark II offers an updated high-speed 20mp 1inch sensor, with up to 30/20fps depending on whether you are shooting raw or JPEG, and 4K video recording. There’s a new 5x optical zoom lens, with an f/1.8 to f/2.8 aperture, and the lens is equivalent to 24-120mm in 35mm equivalent terms giving a good zoom range. Image quality is very good, with great colour reproduction, and the camera has great noise performance. The new design is more compact than the previous version, with a built-in pop-up electronic viewfinder (EVF).

A reinvention of the series, with its eyes firmly set on the prize: take-on the Sony RX100. In many respects the Canon succeeds, with a robust feature set and decent image quality in this newly designed form. However, its fairly simplistic autofocus system isn’t the best going.

Overall, the Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II might not set the world alight with class-leading technology, but it is solid, dependable and very good as a pocketable travel-friendly camera.

The bottom line is the G5X II may not be as powerful as the recent Sony’s in terms of bursts and autofocus, but its capabilities remain sufficient for most of its target audience, the images and controls look and feel better to me personally, and crucially, it’s cheaper, staying comfortably in three figures. In contrast, the top Sony RX100 VII may boast an even longer zoom, but has become sufficiently expensive for you to question whether you should buy an interchangeable lens camera instead.