Touch shutter
The Touch Shutter feature is an extremely simple idea that is made possible by the camera’s touchscreen. It makes focusing easier by allowing you to simply touch the part of the on-screen image that you wish to focus on. The camera then focuses the lens on the area and takes a photograph. The whole process takes place so quickly that at first I questioned whether the camera had actually focused, or whether it had just taken the picture. The fact that the G2 had done both so quickly is a credit to the AF system.
Although Touch Shutter doesn’t go so far as to revolutionise the way that images are taken, it does offer an alternative that I found particularly useful in a few situations. For example, if you wish to focus on a point in the scene that is off-centre, it is far easier to use the Touch Shutter than to adjust the size and position of the focus point using the camera’s buttons.
It also has a physical advantage. When using the articulated screen to shoot from a low, high or otherwise awkward angle, the feature means that you don’t have to hold the camera conventionally, as you no longer have to press the shutter release button. I found this to be particularly useful when shooting at very low angles, with the camera just a few inches above the ground.
However, all that said the Touch Shutter does have it faults. A couple of times I forgot to turn the feature off, resulting in me taking numerous shots due to the screen being knocked whilst I was walking along.
