I occasionally get asked why a “point & shoot” camera like the G10 or G11 is so good for landscape work and the answer is really simple: depth of field. One key to a good landscape shot is keeping the entire scene in perfect focus and with G10/G11’s small sensor, this is a snap (no pun intended).
I’m no sensor engineer but I can tell you this, the smaller the sensor, the “larger” the depth of field. That’s why a full-frame sensor like that used in my 5D2 can so easily throw the background out of focus, even at smaller apertures like f/8. That’s also why a crop-body sensor like that found in the Canon 50D, 7D or Rebel series will never be able to match the bokeh produced by a full frame camera.
It’s also why a point & shoot can take such wonderful landscape images where every detail is in perfect focus. That small sensor may produce noise at higher ISO setting but at ISO 80 and shot at f/5.6 you’ll have almost unlimited DOF and near perfect focus. So for inexpensive landscape shooting, nothing could be finer…
Bastrop State Park, Texas
Copyright © 2010 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon Powershot G10 set on aperture priority (Av) using a circular polarizer. The exposure was taken at 30mm, f/5.6 for 1/50th of a second at ISO 80. All post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3 Beta. Click on the image above for a larger version.
Texas Landscape Photography 
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Simple and to the point explanation. Particularly useful as I am ordering a 5D2 next week.
Congrats Ed.
You’ll love the 5D2.
Jeff
I have been enjoying your and Darrin Wigget’s G series shots. I have been eying the Canon S90 with it’s good low light capabilities and controls. That one looks like a winner, too.