The Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II is a compact zoom camera. It's comfortable to hold, highly portable, and delivers very good image quality out-of-the-box. It features a fairly useful pop-up viewfinder as well as an ND filter built into the lens, which gives you a bit of added flexibility in your choice of shutter speed or aperture when shooting in bright conditions, though we don't currently test this feature. However, its autofocus performance isn't particularly impressive in photography or video, and video quality in FHD and 4k is middling overall. Depending on your choice of settings and usage patterns, it also has short battery life.
Our Verdict
The Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II is good for travel photography. It offers very good image quality and has a fairly wide shutter speed range that lets you capture both quick moments as well as long-exposure shots. It's also comfortable to hold, and its compact, lightweight construction makes it very easy to carry around for extended periods. While we don't test this feature, its lens' built-in ND filter gives you a bit of extra leeway in adjusting aperture or shutter speed in bright environments. Its pop-up viewfinder could also make it easier to line up your shots. Depending on your usage patterns and choice of settings, its battery life is short, which means it might be best to carry around a second battery. Its autofocus system also has a hard time tracking faces. The camera can also overheat in high-heat environments.
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Compact size.
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Comfortable to use.
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Relatively good image quality.
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Poor battery life.
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Mediocre autofocus performance in photography and video.
The Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II is decent for landscape photography. It delivers good image quality out-of-the-box, with a relatively wide dynamic range and adequate noise handling capability for its class. You can use the pop-up viewfinder to line up your shots more easily while the camera is mounted on a tripod, rather than framing your shots with the screen. Its lens' built-in ND filter allows you to use a wider aperture or a slower shutter speed in brightly lit environments. The camera's compact size and comfortable-to-use design also make it easy to bring with you to remote shooting locations, and the screen should be bright enough to see under direct sunlight. Unfortunately, the camera isn't rated as being weather-sealed.
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Compact size.
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Comfortable to use.
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Relatively good image quality.
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Tilting and flipping touchscreen is bright and sharp.
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Poor battery life.
The Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II is decent for sports and wildlife photography. Its JPEG burst mode and decently rapid max shutter speed should be sufficient for capturing clear stills of fast-moving subjects. If you're comfortable with working with RAW images, you can use its separate RAW Burst feature to capture RAW images at up to 30fps. Out-of-the-box image quality is very good, and the camera is comfortable to hold. Unfortunately, its autofocus performance in photography is mediocre, and the max focal length of its built-in lens might not be enough to capture clear images of far-away subjects, like athletes in a stadium. It also lacks a silent continuous shooting mode, making it a little harder to capture photos of fast-moving, easily spooked wildlife.
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Relatively good image quality.
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Fast continuous shooting speed.
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Poor battery life.
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Mediocre autofocus performance in photography and video.
The Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II captures decent RAW image quality. While it isn't the best option for low light, with mediocre noise handling, it does capture images with a good level of fine detail, thanks to its relatively high-resolution sensor. It also has decent dynamic range, although you'll still lose out on highlight or shadow detail in very high-contrast scenes.
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Relatively high-resolution sensor.
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Mediocre low light noise handling.
The Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II is good for vlogging. Its tilting, flipping screen allows you to see yourself when the camera is pointed at you, and you can tap on it to quickly adjust settings on the fly. The camera's lightweight design makes it comfortable to hold for extended periods. It also does an impressive job of smoothing out camera shake in 4k and FHD, though its digital stabilization feature does incur a somewhat noticeable 1.3x crop in its most powerful mode. Unfortunately, it can overheat easily when recording video, leading to frequent interruptions in your recording sessions. Video quality is also mediocre in 4k and poor in FHD, while the camera's autofocus system struggles to maintain focus on subjects' faces.
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Compact size.
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Great video stabilization performance.
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Intuitive menu system.
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Tilting and flipping touchscreen is bright and sharp.
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Poor battery life.
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Mediocre video quality in 4k and bad video quality in FHD.
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Severe overheating issues.
The Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II is a mediocre option for studio video. Video in 4k is somewhat grainy, while footage recorded in FHD is soft and noisy, particularly in dark environments. Its autofocus system can also struggle to maintain focus on moving subjects, and the camera overheats easily during extended recording sessions. It lacks a microphone jack to bolster the quality of the audio in your recording too. Still, the camera's menu system is easy to use, and you can easily pair your phone with the camera to control it remotely.
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Comfortable to use.
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Intuitive menu system.
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Mediocre video quality in 4k and bad video quality in FHD.
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Mediocre autofocus performance in photography and video.
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Severe overheating issues.
The Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II isn't designed for action video. Despite being lightweight and compact, it isn't meant to be attached to a chest or helmet rig. It also lacks any kind of waterproofing or water resistance. It's limited to 30 fps in 4k, but it does have a 'High Frame Rate' mode in FHD that captures slow-motion footage at 120 fps. It also does a great job of smoothing out camera shake in either resolution.
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Compact size.
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Great video stabilization performance.
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Mediocre video quality in 4k and bad video quality in FHD.
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Limited 4k frame rate options.
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Not water-resistant.
- 7.9 Travel Photography
- 7.4 Landscape Photography
- 7.7 Sport & Wildlife Photography
- 7.0 Raw Photo Performance
- 6.7 Vlogging
- 5.7 Studio Video
- 5.0 Action Video
- Updated Jan 29, 2024: Added text to the 'Raw Photo Performance' verdict box.
- Updated Jan 29, 2024: Converted to Test Bench 0.12.1.
- Updated Apr 24, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 0.12.
- Updated Apr 12, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 0.11.
- Updated Sep 23, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 0.10.
- Updated Aug 05, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 0.9.
- Updated Jun 07, 2022: Updated 'FHD Video Frame Rate' to 'Yes' to account for this camera's 'High Frame Rate' mode, which can record 1080p video at 120 fps with slow-motion playback.
- Updated Apr 25, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 0.8.
- Updated May 19, 2021: Corrected input error in 'Microphone' field in 'Input / Outputs' section.
- Updated May 18, 2021: Review published.
- Updated May 13, 2021: Early access published.
- Updated Apr 15, 2021: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Apr 09, 2021: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II only comes in one color variant: 'Black', and you can see its label here.
Let us know in the discussions if you come across another variant, and we'll update our review.
Test Results
- Body is made of plastic and metal
- Main body is covered in rubberized plastic, though the top plate is made of hard plastic
- Flash mechanism feels somewhat flimsy
- Screen mechanism feels sturdy
- Command dials offer good physical feedback, while buttons feel good when pressed
- Lens dial feels clicky and responsive
- Input/output compartment protected by a rubberized plastic flap
- Battery and SD card slot covered by a locking hinged door
- Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II camera
- Wrist strap
- 1x Canon NB-13L battery
- Battery charger
- Getting Started guide
- Touchscreen and quick menu make it easy to make all changes directly on the screen
- Textured hand grip is fairly large by the standards of other compact cameras, making it more comfortable to use than alternatives like the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III
- Can be used one-handed with little difficulty
- Camera has a pop-up electronic viewfinder, which needs to be pulled out after being engaged, that is small and rather uncomfortable to use, but is still a useful addition
- Lens ring can be used to change the aperture by default, but this can be remapped to adjust shutter speed
- Small textured thumb rest at the back of the camera also helps to provide a secure hold
- Memory card can't be changed when the camera is mounted on a tripod
- Intuitive, simple menu system can be navigated with the physical controls or by tapping on the touchscreen
- Menu system changes depending on the current mode
- Quick menu makes it easy to access frequently-used settings
Note: This camera's lens features a built-in ND filter that effectively reduces the amount of light captured by the camera. This can be helpful if you wish to shoot at a large aperture or a slow shutter speed in a brightly lit environment without over-exposing your image. This filter is engaged by default but can be disabled through the menu system. We didn't test the performance of the camera with this filter engaged.
Note: Like the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III, this camera can frequently overheat and interrupt in-progress shooting sessions. Also, the camera doesn't include the PD-E1 power adapter that allows it to be charged over USB-C while the camera is in use.
Note: This camera also features a separate RAW Burst feature, which enables the camera to capture RAW images at up to 30fps. Unlike the camera's standard burst mode, which uses the mechanical shutter, this mode relies on the camera's electronic shutter, which can't be enabled manually otherwise.
