What is the front dial on the new canon G12 used for?

[Jesse11]

I keep hearing about the new front dial on the soon to be released Canon G12. Just what is it for and what does it do? How is the G12 different from the G11?

 

[2WheelPhoto]

You can get the manual here for all the functions and controls: Canon U.S.A. : Professional Imaging Products : PowerShot G12

 

[Johnboy2978]

I just got one of these on Saturday. What a cool new toy. The front dial is similar to that of DSLRs. In the case of the g12, it allows you to make adjustments to the shutter speed in Manual mode, but it is also used to make adjustments to other settings in other modes as well. I think it can also be assigned to certain functions too. I'm fairly impressed w/ this camera. It does a nice job right out of the box and I imagine I'll have it more often than my DSLR for snapshots. I bought it to have more readily available (in the car) and for times when you don't want to look like the ass with the "big" camera all the time. It seems to have really great IQ though so far. It would be nice if you could see your settings while using the viewfinder though like a DSLR. I miss that. I hate having to look at the screen to get them. I caught mine on sell for $379. I couldn't justify the full price of $499.