Review Canon G9 review

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Ruth
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As some of you may know i recently got a G9 to take out and about for when the 350d isn't practical.

Having taken only the G9 to the bluebell railway meet i thought i would let you know what i thought of it.

On the plus side:

its small, but feels heavy enough and strong enough that you know you have it and you don't feel like it will break at any moment.

The screen is massive, has a rule of thirds grid and live histogram.

The fully manual settings work just like the DSLR.

The menus are easy to navigate through.

The shutter makes a cool noise:D

The colours look good and the pictures are nice and sharp.

It has IS.

On the down side:

It eats battery power.

You can only get 280 pics on a 4gb memory card if you shoot RAW.

The Lens obstructs the view finder when fully extended.

The built in ND filter isn't graduated.

I found a lot of my pictures were over exposed although this may be a result of user error although when i was shooting in P mode i found i got slight better results if i moved the EV down a bit.

Pics can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/toothie/sets/72157605386325686/

over all i would recommend it as a very useful P+S.
 
280 RAW / 4Gb - Thats the problem with 12mp images compared to 8mp images. If its DIGIC 3 its probably 14 bit as opposted to 12 bit.

well memory cards are cheep as chips now days so not a big problem. Did laugh as it was supplied with a 32mb card though!
 
Pretty good images I reckon from the G9. Love mine. :love:
 
I can too vouch for the G9. I don't have one, but they are spiffing cameras.
The only problem with it being a 'compact' is that it isn't exactly compact.

I would buy a G9 to compliment my 350D, and a Samsung NV8 to compliment my G9. Its just not practical to take with you to gigs/parties because it is too chunky.

Thats my only gripe.
 
I can too vouch for the G9. I don't have one, but they are spiffing cameras.
The only problem with it being a 'compact' is that it isn't exactly compact.

I would buy a G9 to compliment my 350D, and a Samsung NV8 to compliment my G9. Its just not practical to take with you to gigs/parties because it is too chunky.

Thats my only gripe.

Too chunky? now small do you want your camera?
 
Love mine, I now more or less ignore the viewfinder.

The lack of a case and the very small memory card supplied is a bit pathetic but nothing that can't be solved, although I seem to have spent a load on 'presents' for it : extra SD card, grip, lensmate, flash cover, wrist strap, LCD protection, case, - it's got more add ons than my 40D and I haven't even started on auxiliary lenses yet !
 
Just how big is the G9 when compared to say a 450 with 50mm lens? The weights imply that the 450/50 combo are roughly twice the weight.
 
I'm going to be getting a G9 within the next few months or so, looks awesome.

My friend just bought one and I used it, really nicely built. Heavier than I was expecting aswel.
 
Whats the shutter lag like on these?

I'd have to say there is none to speak of Joe. There's a nice digital shutter sound which you can turn off making it virtually silent, so in many ways it's an ideal street/candid tool as it doesn't attract the attention which a DSLR does. I agree it's chunkier and heavier than most compacts, but it's a very capable camera, and much easier to cart around than a DSLR.
 
I see the June issue of Digital Photo has given the G9 its Gold Award, the Sigma DP1 and the Rich GR Digital II were also reviewed

(y)
 
post removed. MJUK will now read the rules.
 
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Another vote in favour of a G9. Really pleased with it and it can take great 'art' photos too.
 
Another great thing with the G9 is that you can get 1/2500 sec with off-camera flash, oh and it takes pretty decent video too
 
G9 rocks played with my Dad's one recently and loved it
 
ive cleaned up after the rule breaks, please read the rules folks, they are not complicated
 
A bit puzzled about the lens blocking the viewfinder... doesn't the viewfinder zoom with the lens? Does the lens still appear in the viewfinder at full zoom? A bit of a silly design fault if so.

Not the end of the world as I'd be using the LCD to compose pics.

A.
 
You can just see the lens in the viewfinder at the wide angle end although it's hardly intrusive. The viewfinder does zoom with the lens and it disappears altogether with just a moderate amount of zoom applied.
 
I rarely use the viewfinder on the G9 - my failing eyesight means I can't adjust the dioptre setting enough to compensate, (although it's OK on my 40D) so the the image is never sharp in the viewfinder. I find myself using the LCD, and, actually being more comfortable with that than I thought I would be - in the past I've always sneered at P&S without a viewfinder.

Anyway, if you fit a Lensmate the viewfinder is pretty unusable anyway, as this blocks about half the view.
 
Do people just use these as their point and shoots or as their back up cameras.......just with all this high end gear that people have I was wondering when you all have time to use the G9.

Simon
 
Do people just use these as their point and shoots or as their back up cameras.......just with all this high end gear that people have I was wondering when you all have time to use the G9.

Simon

i take it out and about when i don't want to carry the SLR and parties and stuff like that for snaps:)
 
Certainly takes some good pictures Ruth.

I'm curious to know what all these edited posts are on this thread. I miss all the fun!
 
Wife was given one of these by my ultra nice camera dealer. I love the G-series compacts

i made her jump in the deep end as its her first camera. She is not allowed to use Auto ! And never to use auto white balance

Ok..she gets it wrong from time to time. But now she takes a quick shot and takes a look to check the WB settings are correct. For the moment she is using AP mode . And learning about not sticking the subject right in the middle of the frame

Its bloody amazing!! Really well built . I heard its not worth getting a G10/11 as the 9 seems to be the best.

The other main advantage is the good video. Ok..you wont be shooting TV stuff, but it did very very well in the bright lights of Hawaii

I think they "Rock":nuts:
 
I've been fooling around with a G9 for a few weeks now and never noticed any noise from the lens until this thread brought it to my attention. I doubt that it can be heard at all unless you are very close to the camera.
 
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