The Canon G7X Mark II Is Impossible to Buy. Here's What's Actually Close.

The last time I almost pulled the trigger on a Canon G7X Mark II, I was on the phone with my friend, hyping up my new purchase. Then they asked the one question I ignored: “Did you check the seller's ratings?” It's embarrassing to admit I missed such an obvious red flag, but I was too caught up in the excitement to look at the fine print. And omg — the profile had zero ratings.

I've been hunting for this camera for a couple of months now. But honestly, at some point you stop calling it a hobby and realize it's a problem.

The article you're reading is just me trying to figure out what to do next.

Why the G7X Mark II became the camera of 2024–2026

There's an actual reason everyone wants the Mark II instead of the newer Mark III.

It honestly just comes down to the colors. The Mark II shoots warm. That is exactly why I got so obsessed with it in the first place — those soft, warm tones are perfect for vacations or parties. The way it handles skin tones is crazy, too. It flatters you just enough, but you still actually look like yourself. That makes it so easy to just grab for everyday stuff.

The Mark III might be better on paper, but the photos come out so clean that they just look boring.

Sometime around 2023, this whole debate hit TikTok. I remember seeing a side-by-side video where the Mark II completely swept the comments section. The internet made its choice.

The whole thing is pretty arbitrary. You can point out exactly what makes the Mark II output different. But you can't really explain why this specific warm, soft look beat out hundreds of other digital cameras to become the aesthetic. The honest truth? Someone decided this was the vibe, enough people agreed, and now we all just live with it.

And so, predictably, I started trying to buy one.

Two months of trying to buy one

I literally have a bookmark folder on my laptop called “G7X listings to check.” There are probably twenty tabs saved in there. Every single one is a dead link now.

The closest I actually got was an eBay auction that ended $40 over my max bid in the final thirty seconds. I just watched it happen. I was sitting at my kitchen counter eating cold lo mein, watching a stranger's auto-bid crush mine in real time. Apparently there is a specific type of person who waits until the last thirty seconds to drop a bid exactly forty bucks higher than the top offer. I do not have that kind of energy. I also can't stop thinking about them.

Honestly, the worst part isn't even losing the bids. It's the routine of it all. Refreshing Mercari is basically part of my bedtime routine now, even though I never find anything good.

I know how stupid this is. But I really want a G7X.

The math, honestly

The Canon G7X Mark II originally dropped in 2017 for $749. Now a used one in decent condition sells for $850 to $1,000. It is an eight-year-old, discontinued camera that costs more today than it did brand new. That is honestly so crazy to me.

Logically, I know it is just basic supply and demand. But the part of me that has been refreshing Mercari every night for two months does not care. Constantly missing out on these cameras and watching the prices get jacked up just makes me feel scammed. It feels like a personal attack at this point.

The most annoying part is knowing I am part of the problem. Every time I place a bid and lose, I am helping push the prices up. I can sit here and complain about how stupid the market is, but I'm still actively participating in it.

The first few weeks of hunting were actually fun. Now, typing “Canon G7X Mark II” into a search bar just makes me tired.

What I tried instead

Here's what I've tested while still hunting. (Yes, simultaneously. I am aware.)

VSCO can get you close. You can build a preset that mimics the Mark II color science — warm highlights, slight green shift in fluorescents, soft contrast. The problem is that you have to do this for every single photo. You build the preset once, then you adjust it per shot. It works. It takes time. Some of us don't have an hour to edit a photo of a friend laughing at brunch.

Dazz Cam has a filter labeled “Vintage Digital” that's clearly trying to be the G7X. It looks pretty close in still life, especially in good light. The problem comes when the lighting changes. The filter applies the same way to a sunset balcony as to a fluorescent kitchen, which a real digicam never would have done. After three or four parties, every Dazz Cam photo starts looking like the same room.

Mood.camera is doing something else entirely. It's beautiful, but it's calibrated for soft daylight film — a slower, more meditative aesthetic that has nothing to do with the harsh-flash digicam look. It's not what we're talking about.

WayShot's DigiCam setting is in a different category from the above three. It's not applying a filter on top of an iPhone photo. It's rendering the photo differently from the start, based on what's actually in the frame. The same setting handles a fluorescent kitchen one way and a golden-hour terrace another, which is closer to how a real Mark II would have handled them than to how any of the filter apps do.

Which brings us to the comparison that actually matters.

How DigiCam compares to an actual G7X

I've done direct A/B tests with photos shot on a friend's Mark II. Here's what WayShot's DigiCam setting gets right, and what it doesn't.

• Color cast. The DigiCam setting reads ambient color the way a real Mark II would. Fluorescent kitchens come out slightly green. Bar lighting comes out warm. Outdoor afternoon light comes out neutral. The white balance isn't fighting the room, which is the entire point.
• Flash output. This is where the app actually beats the camera. A real Mark II has one fixed flash strength, which is bright. DigiCam reads the scene before deciding how to render the flash, so a small dim room and a large bright room both get appropriate exposures. A real Mark II would have nuked the small room.
• Grain pattern. Close, but not identical. The Mark II's grain has a specific structure — small, somewhat warm, slightly clustered in shadows. DigiCam approximates this. In an A/B you can sometimes tell them apart if you zoom in. In a feed, on a phone, scrolling — no one can.
• The “warm highlights” signature. Close. The thing the Mark II does to bright skin tones — that slightly forgiving, creamy quality — is present in DigiCam output. Not identical. Comparable.

What WayShot can't do, and probably never will: the physical experience. The weight of the camera in your hand. The click of the shutter. The way pulling a camera out of your bag at a party changes the energy of the table. None of that translates to an app, because none of it is about the image.

Why I'm still looking

If you can find a G7X Mark II at a price that doesn't make you angry — buy it. The camera and the app aren't competing for the same role.

When I'm being honest with myself, the reason I want the camera isn't really about the photos. The photos I'm getting from the DigiCam setting are, by every objective measure I can muster, close enough. They post the same. They feel the same on a phone screen.

What I want from the camera is the gesture of it. The weight in my hand. The motion of pulling it out at dinner. The way a real camera changes the energy at the table — people slow down, sit straighter, perform the smallest version of themselves for it. The app can't do that. Nothing can. The camera isn't really a tool in that scenario. It's a small, deliberate event.

That's a separate thing from what gets posted. And it's why I'm still looking, even though I have a perfectly good answer in my phone. I'm also aware that this is a feeling, not a need. I'm not making a financial case. I'm describing a want.

Tab still open

There's still a tab open in my browser titled “G7X Mark II listings under $700.” I open it sometimes. I haven't refreshed it in two weeks. I also haven't closed it. Make of that what you will.

My camera roll, in the meantime, has gotten quietly better. I'm choosing not to dwell on it.