I'd wanted to get a decent camera for some time, but upon visiting a large electrical goods store I found that there was quite simply far more choice than I could have anticipated. It left me feeling a little lost but I kept my aim in mind – acquiring a camera able to take very high quality pictures without too much fuss that I could use to build up a picture library of stock photos – and plodded on.

Whilst high quality was of paramount importance I wasn't on a limitless budget. Top of the line digital cameras can fetch many thousands of dollars, but I didn't have that much to spend. So as well as being good quality I was keeping my eye on price too. Now it was down to the cameras to get me interested. With so many choices the one that I chose would need to be able to offer up something special. As I'd been reading up on digital cameras in anticipation of my purchase I'd heard that the Powershot G9 was getting quite a few semi-professional and professional users interested. I'd heard a lot about Canon anyway, and this coupled with the opinions of some pros gave me a good feeling. As such I decided to find out more.

When I asked to take a look at a Powershot G9 the store attendant handed me a compact kind of camera which I found pleasing. The large cameras can be a nuisance to haul around everywhere so I was hoping to get something I could take with me easily. The camera felt robust with a pleasing weightiness that reassured me of its quality. I also liked the cameras visual design which had hints of old-style cameras – the retro stylings were certainly funky.

Having taken in the visible aspects of the G9 I inquired more into its technological features. Featuring a 12.1MP camera and a 6X zoom built-in I was feeling pretty enthused already. Furthermore, the files are stored in raw format which makes for higher quality images, although they do take up a lot of space on a memory card.

The cameras ISO is 400 which meant it could take decent pictures in poor lighting, although when the pictures are viewed at large sizes the quality isn't perfect which is a slight downside.

However, one of the most important features to me was the camera's automatic functions. Handling focus, flash, and exposure on its own meant I didn't have to worry about any complicated controls. This allowed me to focus on the fun of taking pictures rather than worrying about whether I'd managed to get all the settings right. Beyond this the camera had lots of scene modes to cover all eventualities and can even record video. This is a fantastic camera which I'm truly impressed with.