Making us all feel old Canon is celebrating 30 years of its photo enthusiast targeted PowerShot compact camera range in 2026. And that’s great. Anything that keeps us all talking about it is generally a good thing. But, from what we’ve seen so far, it’s rather a muted celebration.
Why? Well, to mark the big anniversary, it’s announced a re-issue of its six, almost seven-year-old PowerShot G7 X Mark III from mid-2019 as a special edition in a new graphite colour, as opposed to regular black. And in an equally special box, it claims.
Really?
I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised. Canon has recent form for choosing to tart up past glories rather than keep innovating.
Its IXUS 285 HS A / PowerShot ELPH 360 HS A was brought back on sale late last year a decade after its original announcement – and with only the most minor of minor tweaks. Given resurgent demand for family-friendly compact digicams, its re-appearance did make some sense, although a straight re-issue seemed a little lazy. Its soft re-launch also meant it flew under the radar of some photo retailers, though we understand demand is currently exceeding supply.
As the 2026 iteration of the PowerShot G7 X Mark III is being marketed as a ‘special edition’, the inference is that supply will be limited too – and it won’t be around forever.
So, is this really the best Canon can do? The answer, looking back over its long and illustrious history, is surely not.
G-whiz or G… swizz?
A special edition PowerShot G7 X Mark III with the same 20.1MP 1-inch sensor is a product that seems to be fulfilling some imaginary collectors’ niche, rather than driving the series forward for photographers. In fact, the lack of anything tangibly new seems to indicate that Canon itself has doubts over its own relevance, as least as regards the still photo market.
Again, we shouldn’t be surprised. Of late the focus – no pun intended – of Canon and its competitors has been largely ‘video first’, with content creators, online influencers and YouTubers firmly in their sights. Witness the video centric PowerShot V1 from 2025.
That might make cold, hard, business sense, but what I’d like to see is a new, dedicated ‘stills first’ PowerShot. I don’t mind if externally it trades on past glories with a distinctly retro look, which in turn, ironically, could win it a new audience. In this regard Canon could do far worse than look to Fuji’s X100VI for inspiration.
Looking to its own range, Canon re-imagining the portable PowerShot G5 X Mark II, announced alongside the G7 X III back in 2019 – perhaps now with the same large 1.4-inch sensor as 2025’s V1 – or updating the SLR-styled APS-C sensor G1 X Mark III from 2017 with the latest tech, would be a great start.
Of course it takes time to develop a new camera, and the anniversary actually falls in May – the month the original PowerShot 600 was launched. So fingers crossed than Canon is planning on releasing a brand-new, up-to-date photographers compact around that time. That would feel like something worth celebrating, while proving a more noteworthy way of marking 30 years of Canon serving photographers via PowerShot.
Related reading
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- Canon continue to dominate DSLR market, but things are changing
- Facebook Marketplace flooded with fake Canon listings – buyer beware!
The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Amateur Photographer magazine or Kelsey Media Limited. If you have an opinion you’d like to share on this topic, or any other photography related subject, email: ap.ed@kelsey.co.uk.
