Canon G12 and digital zoom

[Roger Alexander]

I am going to buy a top end compact, either the Nikon P7000 or Canon G12. Each has its own advantage. The Nikon has a X7.1 zoom against the Canon's X5 zoom, but the Canon has the advantage of a flip out LCD screen. Both have a larger CCD 1/1.7, for higher quality, so can I get away with using the digital zoom on the Canon to make it comparable with the Nikon. I believe that the digital zoom does X7 at 4MP and X11 at 2MP. So does anyone have any experience of this on say the Canon G11?

[Markulous]

Have the G11 and whilst I'll use the optical zoom I've never used the digital zoom as I'll use photo editing software to crop in if necessary (effectively the same thing but more control and I haven't 'thrown away' the remainder of the image) - only use RAW

I guess if I absolutely had to process everything in-camera I'd be happy enough to use the digital zoom

Here's a shot of my "new" dog taken with the G11 a couple of days ago - a rescue who'd been abandoned on the moor (the dog not the camera! )