Some Canon Powershots including the G1X.3 offer in-camera auto panorama function. I was not overly impressed with this function in my first G1X.3 three years ago. But recent testing with my second copy over the last two weeks has produced some very decent results.
I also note that EVF color accuracy and overall tonal balance seems to have improved on the second copy.
These improvements have moved me to wonder if Canon has quietly improved some functions without announcing a firmware update.
Anyway whether that is the case or not the G1X.3 makes a pretty good job of auto panoramas.
The panorama function is one of the [Scn.] modes on the Mode Dial. Menu resume applies so if you bring up pano mode it will come up first next time the dial is turned to [Scn].
I find the easiest way to use pano is hand held with the lens at the widest setting and the camera held in portrait orientation, handle up, sweeping from left to right. The on-screen prompts for setting this up are all clear enough as are the instructions on page 60 of the User Guide.
The maximum sweep angle is about 220 degrees with the lens at 15mm, less if longer focal lengths are used.
Some practice is required to keep the camera level and sweep at the optimal speed. The camera will prompt with a message to pan faster or slower if required.
I usually lock in focus and exposure by placing the AF box over a main part of the scene somewhere in the middle of the final frame and half pressing the shutter button. I fully press the shutter button at the beginning of the sweep and hold it down while panning across the scene.
The camera produces a JPG file in about 2 seconds after the sweep is finished.
Results are decently good with good subject detail, mostly very good stitching and good highlight and shadow rendition.
As usual architectural diagonal lines are not rendered very well, with frequent jaggies. These can require work in post processing. Also any subject elements very close to the camera can be rendered incorrectly in panorama.
For this post I chose subjects which would stress test the camera's pano ability, with very large subject brightness range, complex architectural and natural subjects and mixed and and low light. The camera managed it all with no major problems.
