Canon Powershot G9 opinions

Mizu_Ger

I currently have a compact digital camera (Fuji Finepix F10) which is a bit old and I have recently being looking for something with more manual control. I was interested in the Nikon Coolpix P80 when it was announced, but reviews don't seem to be great (all Nikon compacts seem to be affected by image noise?). I don't want a DSLR as they are too bulky for me. The Canon Powershot G9 looks like a good option and gets good reviews. However, some reviews do point out that the Dynamic Range and noise at high ISO's are lacking compared to DSLR's.

Are these differences really noticeable in everyday conditions or are they more noticeable to more serious photographers? I feel that the more reviews I read, the more I pick up on the negative aspects of cameras!! Any opinions appreciated.


G9 review at camera labs (DR and ISO comparisons in the RESULTS tab)

Dragan

A guy i know spent the last month of a ship, sailing around South America i believe. He had his G9 with him and his EOS.

The EOS never came out of the bag. He seemed very, very happy with the G9.

PaulieC

Dragan wrote: »

A guy i know spent the last month of a ship, sailing around South America i believe. He had his G9 with him and his EOS.

The EOS never came out of the bag. He seemed very, very happy with the G9.

I love mine. Obviously the quality will never match that of an SLR, but it more than matches it for convenience. Noise is not it's strong point, but if you're shooting in good light, then you've no problems. It's also great for macro, given the small sensor (meaning bigger/longer DOF) and IS

Mizu_Ger

Thanks lads.

It seems that image noise is going to be there on any non DSLR camera. The features on the G9 fit what I intend doing with the camera (with a little more flexibility on top), so I'll probably get one.

PaulieC

make sure you shop around - the prices seems to vary wildly. I think rgos may have it for quite low price - less than 400 IIRC

BanzaiBk

I've had my G9 since it launched and I love it. I've taken it on a studenty RTW and more comfortable trips to southern Africa and across Asia. It's stood my really well and the build quality is excellent. I use it more than my dslr truth be told.

mervifwdc

If your into off camera flash, this thing is just mad! Its got a hot shoe, so can run any of the canon flashes in ETTL, but if you go off camera using radio controllers for example, you can easily hit sync speeds of 1/1000 meaning you can beat sunlight.

Saved my bacon at a wedding recently.

ISO over 400 is crap though.

Merv.

Mizu_Ger

cambo_gueno wrote: »

make sure you shop around - the prices seems to vary wildly. I think rgos may have it for quite low price - less than 400 IIRC

Argos has it for €439 on their website. I will check in store to see if they have any offers on it, but otherwise I was going to get my sister to buy it in the U.S. for about $470. She's going there soon.

Hrududu

I like the OP went from compact to the G9. Its the business. I find the only thing for me is that compared to the compact it feels a bit big and clunky. As a result of that I probably havent used it as much as I thought I would. For instance I went away on holidays a month ago and took the compact instead.

FinoBlad

Favoring film I decided to get rid of my Canon 5D, 24-105mm L, 16-35mm 2.8 L, 70-200 2.8 L, 50 1.4, 85 1.8, 100mm macro.

I know you are going to laugh but I replaced all this with a G9, its a seriously good camera. 330 euro from the USA, cant go wrong with that....

PaulieC

FinoBlad wrote: »

Favoring film I decided to get rid of my Canon 5D, 24-105mm L, 16-35mm 2.8 L, 70-200 2.8 L, 50 1.4, 85 1.8, 100mm macro.

I know you are going to laugh but I replaced all this with a G9, its a seriously good camera. 330 euro from the USA, cant go wrong with that....

have you already got rid of the gear? If not, can we pick over the bones???

FinoBlad

cambo_gueno wrote: »

have you already got rid of the gear? If not, can we pick over the bones???

all gone, sorry.

Mizu_Ger

FinoBlad wrote: »

Favoring film I decided to get rid of my Canon 5D, 24-105mm L, 16-35mm 2.8 L, 70-200 2.8 L, 50 1.4, 85 1.8, 100mm macro.

I know you are going to laugh but I replaced all this with a G9, its a seriously good camera. 330 euro from the USA, cant go wrong with that....

I've found it slightly cheaper ($450) in another place in New York, so I'll defintely get it. Just have to wait for my sister to get there now!

FinoBlad

yea it was just over $500 in Dec last year when I got it. $450 is a superb price.

Mizu_Ger

Does anyone know what speed SDHC card is best for the G9? Is a class 6 card "too fast"? I don't know what speed the camera can write to the card at.

scubabeth

I've always had great results with Canon and overall their cameras seem to be more user friendly than Nikon.

Monasette

Yep - G9 is great, though the high ISO is a little ropey (but only compared to a DSLR)

I got mine for just over $500 in Adorama, NY in Feb and that included 2 4GB SD cards and an extended warranty.

Mizu_Ger

Monasette wrote: »

Yep - G9 is great, though the high ISO is a little ropey (but only compared to a DSLR)

I got mine for just over $500 in Adorama, NY in Feb and that included 2 4GB SD cards and an extended warranty.

My sister is going to NY today and is getting me the camera. I just don't know what speed SDHC card to get with it. Is a Class 6 card faster than the camera or is a Class 4 enough? I've asked her to get a Class 6 just in case, but the Class 4s are cheaper!

leinsterman

I bought a G9 from Gunns about two weeks ago ... it is really a back up camera and for circumstances where my 1D and 20D are not a good option (e.g. high probability mugger environments) ...

I love it ... especially the time lapse feature ... I can watch my 3hr Dublin to Galway rail journey whizz by in 5 minutes ... or clouds zoom across the sky ... or people milling across the Ha'penny bridge ...

I also love the RAW support ... the face tracker feature ... the wide range of manual features ... the quality of images is generally superb but as you say it does not match a DSLR at high ISO ... main reason for this is the preoccupation of most people with mega-pixels ... it forces camera makers to launch products with a high pixel count where a lower resolution (e.g 8MPIX) sensor of the same size with bigger pixels would be a better option (bigger pixels = better ISO performance, usually) ...

All point and shoot cameras have their flaws ... in the case of the G9 AF is not always great in certain low light condition ... the wide end of the zoom could be wider (I ended up purchasing the wide zoom adaptor, which is enormous) ...

But I'd recommend it to any start up amateur as a first camera or indeed any pro or advanced amateur looking for a P&S second or third digital camera option.

feileacan

agree with leinsterman.

ive had mine a couple of months and am fairly happy with it.

its a back up camera when the 5d isnt suitable.

build quality is fabulous but noise is an issue.

for me, the raw was the buying point.

ScabbyLeg

Hi all,
I'm looking for something with a wider lens and a good zoom to replace my old IXUS. I'm comparing the G9 and the S5 IS at the moment.

The G9 is obviously a great camera, but in looking for a longer zoom, I found the S5. It's a cheaper camera than the G9 but I reckon 8.0 MP is really sufficient... pity about the lack of RAW support though, as it would have nice to experiment with.

Can anyone offer any experience with the S5 or is the G9 the hands-down camera to go for?

Mizu_Ger

Well I have my G9 now and so far am pretty happy with it, although I haven't had the chance to do anything other than just mess about with it! I do have a couple of questions for anyone who owns the camera:

1. In Manual mode the LCD screen is blank (apart from shot settings display) until either the aperture is opened up or the shutter speed decreased. I am not sure why this is. At "normal" settings it's impossible to frame a scene with the LCD alone. Is there a way around this?

2. When controlling the camera through a computer (in my case a MacBook) is is possible to shoot at intervals (every few seconds etc.)? I read that it is possible, but can't figure out how.

Thanks.

Borderfox

I bought one in Argos yesterday and I was looking for something to take shots when I am not working and as nice as it is to take shots with a DSLR its nice to have something smaller to carry around. On another note the 1024x768 video is fantastic quality and the time lapse is another bonus. Many thanks to leinsterman, it was your recommendation that made me decide to get it.

Mec-a-nic

I picked up a G9 in the US last year for $525 and I'm slowly working my way around the dial from AUTO -> P but haven't the skill to do full M (manual) yet.

Having already shelled out for the camera, it's difficult to recommend other cameras in the market, but it does nearly everything I want to. RAW, Image Stabilisation (IS) and nearly Full control were the points that decided it for me.
My only 'gripes' are noise at higher ISO, AF can be slow, no remote control for hands-off bracketing shots.

Mizu_Ger - Manual mode, just press display button to toggle the LCD display on/off/etc
SDHC - pay the extra bucks for the Cat 6 card because you will start shooting RAW and don't want to be waiting too long for each 22Mb file to get written.

Finally, New York is great for cameras, but only if you're buying in person. Get a full International Guarantee there, and a US/UK plug here for the battery charger. New York based camera Websites are just bait-and-switch traps...

Good luck chosing

leinsterman

Borderfox wrote: »

Many thanks to leinsterman, it was your recommendation that made me decide to get it.

Any time ...

Mizu_Ger wrote: »

1. In Manual mode the LCD screen is blank (apart from shot settings display) until either the aperture is opened up or the shutter speed decreased. I am not sure why this is. At "normal" settings it's impossible to frame a scene with the LCD alone. Is there a way around this?

2. When controlling the camera through a computer (in my case a MacBook) is is possible to shoot at intervals (every few seconds etc.)? I read that it is possible, but can't figure out how.

1. It could simply be that the display is turned off as the other poster says ... but in your case it is also possible that in manual mode that the camera similates exposure on the display screen ... hence it looks blank (white or black) until you get the exposure into the right ball park by adjusting either the aperture, shutter speed or ISO.

2. Not sure but it sounds like you are referring to timelapse mode ?? ... Not sure about needing to control to control from a computer for this ... you can set it from movie mode for either 1 or 2 second intervals ... it is one of my favorite features on the camera ...

Mizu_Ger

leinsterman wrote: »

1. It could simply be that the display is turned off as the other poster says ... but in your case it is also possible that in manual mode that the camera similates exposure on the display screen ... hence it looks blank (white or black) until you get the exposure into the right ball park by adjusting either the aperture, shutter speed or ISO.

2. Not sure but it sounds like you are referring to timelapse mode ?? ... Not sure about needing to control to control from a computer for this ... you can set it from movie mode for either 1 or 2 second intervals ... it is one of my favorite features on the camera ...

Thanks Leinsterman. I thought that that was how the Manual mode worked, but wanted to check!

Borderfox

I had the camera on the dashboard going home today and then watched it and it is such a cool feature, I am thinking of so many different uses for this. I am very impressed with the hi res video and I will be using this for web footage of some projects that I am involved in.

Dink

I brought mine on a hen weekend and was well impressed with the evidence I collected!!! The battery survived the taking of video and pics all weekend and was subjected to a lot of repeated reviewing!!!

Mizu_Ger

Typical! Just after I get my G9 I read this:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/g9/discuss/72157604696974052

Basically, it says that the G series cameras have a flaw, where the lens movement causes a build up of static charge, which in turn can lead to dust build up on the sensor over time (ie. with repeated use).

Has anyone else come across this? It's the first I have seen about it.
:mad:

Monasette

Mizu_Ger wrote: »

Typical! Just after I get my G9 I read this:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/g9/discuss/72157604696974052

Basically, it says that the G series cameras have a flaw, where the lens movement causes a build up of static charge, which in turn can lead to dust build up on the sensor over time (ie. with repeated use).

Has anyone else come across this? It's the first I have seen about it.
:mad:

First I've heard of that. I only have my G9 since February so it's too early to tell. But I have my G3 since 2003 and it still works fine.

Mizu_Ger

Monasette wrote: »

First I've heard of that. I only have my G9 since February so it's too early to tell. But I have my G3 since 2003 and it still works fine.

The article says that it's only a problem with the G7 and G9. I still can't find mention of it anywhere else though!