Nikon developing a Canon G11 rival?

The Canon PowerShot G series have always been one of the best compact shooters available. See that pic above? I shot that back in 2003 with a G3. Beautiful, isn’t? That’s Camp Tapico in Northern Michigan, where I spent every summer of my teenage life. Anyway, word on the street is that Nikon wants some of the action that the G series has enjoyed all by itself for so long. Better late then never, Nikon.

Actually it’s probably a great time for Nikon to out a G rival. The Micro Four Third format isn’t taking off and Sony is developing a rival, which will help no one. Plus a good amount of amateur photographers were born over the last few years as DSLRs dropped in price. Those same folks are probably satisfied with their new cams, but long for something a bit smaller that offers a lot of the same quality and features. That’s where the G series has always thrived and Nikon could stop its loyal customers from defecting to the Canon camp with a cam of their own.

Nikon’s UK senior product manager Kevin Egan recently raved about the G11 in Amateur Photographer, calling it a benchmark for high-end prosumer compacts and that Nikon has something similar in the works. This compact will borrow technology from Nikon’s DSLR line, but be built like a high-end Coolpix camera.

Combine a high ISO sensor with good low-light capabilities with a fast lens and Nikon will have a winner on its hands. That’s all we need. It doesn’t have to have an HD video mode, face detection, or any of that consumer nonsense. Nikon-loyal prosumers just want a smaller camera to tout around town when it’s inconvenient to bring the DSLR.