Testing my Canon 5D3 against my new Canon G7X

[Stu Blackpool]

Evening Folks,
This topic was prompted by a couple of discussion I have read on here recently about compact cameras so I thought that since I was in the same position I would take the time to create a topic that may be of interest.

I have been pondering the same issue of late because my landscape photography is taking me further and further away from sea level and I have started to really enjoy the hiking aspect that photography has introduced me to.

The problem is, once you start getting into hiking up high you need to start carrying a lot of safety equipment like crampons, waterproofs, spare clothes, food and drink, ice axes, poles, maps, torches, the list goes on, so my 14KG Lowepro Vertex 300AW backpack and Manfrotto Tripod and comedy weight 405 geared head has had to make way for a decent hiking rucksack which means my 5D3 and 16-35 F4 IS L lens is now only carried in a small padded camera bag, packed up safely in the bottom of the rucksack.

Suddenly, taking an image that isn't a deal breaker is now a ballache of unpacking a lot of gear and messing around to get it all out and of course my non photographer hiking buddies get a bit frustrated, and while they dont complain, you can see it in their eyes..."Oh no, not again".

Because of this I have found myself coming home with less and less images and making a conscious decision to ignore shots I would ordinarily have taken the time to try and make the best of.

I also like to make trip reports on a hiking forum I use and again, I have no "bread and butter" images for such a topic as I can't be bothered stripping the rucksack out just to take a picture illustrating "we parked here" or "lunchtime" (Example report and an Idea of the kind of trip i am talking about here)

So I've been scouring reviews for a month or so and popping in camera stores to handle stuff, looking for a pocket sized camera that can still produce decent results. I still take my SLR, thats a given, but I want to be able to leave it packed away until a serious opportunity arises.

I think I have now found my solution. The Canon G7X.
It was a dead heat between this and the comparable Sony but I went this way as:

A) I like Canon
B) I think the 100mm effective zoom is going to be useful to me.
C) The touch screen focus is a really nice feature I feel I will enjoy using.
D) It offers Canons "Custom Mode" That lets me set that part up just how I want it and remember it, so I can preset the camera for the expected usage. (ISO 200, F5.6, Single point focus, 24mm Zoom, RAW etc for example) and it just switches to that lot as soon as its turned on. This has always been one of my favourite Canon features and I am very happy its made it to their compacts.

So - I went out at weekend to a quiet spot I know where I could just chill out and enjoy the camera without being bothered and I took a few test shots side by side with my 5D3, trying to get the same composition as best as possible. I must admit that I am more than shocked at its capabilities.

Technicals of the next 4 images:
All shot raw.
The 5D3 was on tripod for both images and the G7X handheld hence the slightly higher ISO.
I've used f5.6 on the G7X as I've done a few tests and it's significantly diffraction limited at F8.
The 5D3 was set to ISO100 - f/8 and both cameras focused on the same point in the scenes.

Test 1:
Overcast day. Good light.

Test 2:
Same day near sunset. Overcast, quite low light.

Can you easily tell which Camera shot which image?


Yes, I obviously realise that blown up to A1 on a wall we are (hopefully) going to see at least a little difference, but for normal A4 printing and indeed undoubtedly for web use, this little camera really is pretty amazing and I am more than impressed by its tiny 1" sensor when compared in the real world and real UK light next to my full frame 5D MK3. Remember, we are talking £3500 Vs £450 here.

I shot an image out of the car window at 50mm zoom on the way to location 2.

And this is that same image cropped at 1:1

And finally, nothing more than a snapshot I took in a dark cave yesterday with the family.
I just left it on auto to see what it could do...

So, not the greatest or most scientific tests, nor the greatest scenes, but that wasn't the point, I wanted to see how it fared on an average day as an alternative to my SLR for "Non Money Shots" as I call them. And its an absolute winner for me.

I am certainly not selling up or anything dramatic like that and will still usually be carrying my SLR for the awesome opportunities that sometimes arise, but I think on most of my hikes, this Canon G7X is going to become my go-to camera as its so damn accessible and fits in any pocket you choose.

I made this topic purely in the hope that it might help someone looking for a small pocket sized compact, and indeed hope that it may be of some interest to others.

 

[springer]

Hi Stewart, interesting quick comparison of the different cameras , I know what you mean about having a smaller camera to hand..I've got a eos m for the same reason that it's so handy to just have in a small pouch on the rucksack straps.
Where is the farm in the 3 rd image please ? I like to see the Lakeland farms/ houses in shots dwarfed by the fells...By the way I love your Lake District photos overall- they always make me want to be there .

 

[Stu Blackpool]

Hi Stewart, interesting quick comparison of the different cameras , I know what you mean about having a smaller camera to hand..I've got a eos m for the same reason that it's so handy to just have in a small pouch on the rucksack straps. Where is the farm in the 3 rd image please ? I like to see the Lakeland farms/ houses in shots dwarfed by the fells...By the way I love your Lake District photos overall- they always make me want to be there .

Thanks mate.
If you know the location of Blea Tarn in the langdales then this farm is on the approach, just before you go over the cattle grid. I will edit this post in a moment with a Google earth location.

Edit - here you go. Please forgive the horrible paint editing. im awful with such things. LOL

View attachment 31938

 

[Stu Blackpool]

Im pretty sure the one in the very distance slightly off centre here is the same farm.
This is Little langdale tarn, the tarn at the bottom of the above map.

 

[Lemaildetom]

Great post stuart thanks for taking the effort to write it up. I'm very impressed with the results which are not even comparing cheap dlsr / expensive compact but real top of the league full frame/ expensive compact. The comparative exemple are very similar indeed. Only the first one in each case seems a tad sharpest, and the contrast a tad strongest but then i guess it all depend how much post process is done on the raw files too.

Dslr will still have an edge for speed and accuracy autofocus, high iso noise, shorter depth of field, long focal range,... But it's intriguing to see that in normal situation a pocket camera will produce such good results (the exemple in the cave is pretty good too to be honnest)

 

[jockwav]

Can i ask if it has any shutter lag.

 

[Stu Blackpool]

Only the first one in each case seems a tad sharpest, and the contrast a tad strongest but then i guess it all depend how much post process is done on the raw files too.

Indeed the first two are the 5D3 and new 16-35 F4 L IS combo.

Dslr will still have an edge for speed and accuracy autofocus, high iso noise, shorter depth of field, long focal range

No arguments there, and the simple fact is, I dont like handling these tiny things at all.
I feel at one with a DSLR and find these little things awkward to use, but needs must and I cant very well buy a pocket camera and then complain its small can I? LOL

But it's intriguing to see that in normal situation a pocket camera will produce such good results (the exemple in the cave is pretty good too to be honnest)

Im quite shocked to be honest... it really is a lot better than I thought, even up to around ISO 3200. After that the noise is clearly evident.
All things considered, for a little 1" sensor i think its quite incredible what it can produce and it really will give my 5D3 a run for its money in normel well lit situations.

I cant wait to take it on a pre dawn shoot and try it out on my travel tripod with long exposures and low ISO to see how it fares with that situation.
That "Should" be where my 5D3 wipes the floor with it... but will it be?

 

[Stu Blackpool]

Can i ask if it has any shutter lag.

Non perceptible to me. That said, I have read a review somewhere where they said it was bad. But most reviews say not.
Perhaps an earlier version? No idea, but mines good.

 

[springer]

Thanks mate.
If you know the location of Blea Tarn in the langdales then this farm is on the approach, just before you go over the cattle grid. I will edit this post in a moment with a Google earth location.

Edit - here you go. Please forgive the horrible paint editing. im awful with such things. LOL

View attachment 31938

Thanks for that info Stewart, will look it up when I'm next in the area.

 

[jockwav]

Cheers for that,i bought the G1X when it first came out & the shutter lag was terrible that,s why i was asking,so i kind of went off canon compacts after that.

 

[arad85]

Nice set of images and nice to see someone going into this with an open mind .

Im quite shocked to be honest... it really is a lot better than I thought, even up to around ISO 3200. After that the noise is clearly evident.
All things considered, for a little 1" sensor i think its quite incredible what it can produce and it really will give my 5D3 a run for its money in normel well lit situations.

I've been saying this for a while - for most people, under most circumstances, they'd be very hard pressed to tell the difference between a full frame and smaller sensor - even one considerably smaller! It's why I settled on micro 4/3rds - small enough to be portable and with a large enough lens collection to be useful (note, due to crop factor of x2, the longer length zooms are way smaller on micro 4/3rds than on APS-C or FF).

 

[Stu Blackpool]

Thanks for that info Stewart, will look it up when I'm next in the area.

Its a great area if you havent shot it mate, plenty to shoot within that Google map.

Blea Tarn:

Slaters Bridge:

Cathedral Cave.

If you (or anyone) wants any help with locations in the lake District, just shout, its like my back garden nowadays, im up there three times a week when I can, although I prefer to be up high nowadays.

Which of course is directly the reason this topic even exists.

 

[springer]

Wow just stunning, love that slaters bridge, ! I haven't been to the lakes as much as would like recently but am planning to explore it more this year.

 

[Stu Blackpool]

Thanks, it's a great area to spend a day.

 

[crazylady]

Really like those images of slaters bridge etc, this is definitely a location we will visit when we are next up there

Out of interest were those also shot with the g7x too?

 

[Stu Blackpool]

Out of interest were those also shot with the g7x too?

No, those are 5D3. The images above are literally the only images I've taken with the G7X but it's coming up either High Street or Skiddaw with me on Sunday.

 

[Stu Blackpool]

Very impressed by the G7X. Can you please let us know what settings you used? Did you change anything from factory defaults? For example: in camera noise reduction, contrast, sharpening and if these were processed as JPEG out of camera or RAW, etc.

Settings are all in the first post, just above the images mate.

 

[Nod]

blown up to A1 on a wall we are (hopefully) going to see at least a little difference, but for normal A4 printing and indeed undoubtedly for web use

You might even get away with it even bigger! Modern compacts are quite simply amazing when compared to early DSLRs and in terms of bang for buck are hard to beat in the real world. It's purely their envelope that's smaller than a DSLR's - if you need the extra high ISO performance a modern DSLR offers, it's unlikely that a current compact will deliver such quietness. Someone brought up shutter lag and I suspect that compared to a DSLR it's quite high but for landscapes that's not a real problem - mountains don't move that fast (usually...)

 

[Stu Blackpool]

Hi Stu,

Thanks for the clarification. I see that RAW was used. Can you share what application you used to process the RAW for the G7X? Did you use default settings or did you customize? Interested to see if you had to bump up sharpness, contrast, etc for these results. Thanks!

I only use Adobe Lightroom.
I have created a preset for each camera and lens I use and just hit it on import. Generally in a scene like this that's all I have to do. I didn't go mad and spend more than a minute on each image as it was just a demonstration - the images are far from keepers as you can see. Lol.

From memory my raw conversion is something like contrast, shadows and clarity +20, highlights - 40, sharpness +50 and medium contrast curve.

 

[Buck]

Hi Stu @Stu Blackpool

How are finding the G7X? I have a Canon S95 which I really like but am fancying getting the G7X...

Cheers
Adrian

 

[Buzzpod]

Thanks Stu, that's really helpful. I'm surprised at how well the G7X held up but you can definitely notice the difference between it and the 5D3

 

[SLRUser]

My take on this is that a good quality compact/mirror-less/bridge/etc. can be as good as and sometimes better for certain types of photography for various reasons.

In some other categories they can't compete.

Best is to choose what works best for you. The camera is just a tool and some jobs need the right tool for the job.

 

[Stu Blackpool]

Hi Stu @Stu Blackpool

How are finding the G7X? I have a Canon S95 which I really like but am fancying getting the G7X...

Cheers
Adrian

Love it mate - I never carry the 5D3 on long hikes anymore. The G7X is excellent, even in crap light.
Judge for yourself.

http://www.stewartsandersonphotogra...r-hike---seven-wainwrights-and-an-awesome-day

That was my first full day with it. The report covers early morning, right through the day and into late afternoon light shadowed by mountains and then later, full on pitch dark star lit shots (handheld) and then 2 shot with a tripod at the end of the day in full darkness.

This was last weekend, again a full days hiking so all light conditions.
http://www.stewartsandersonphotogra...rip-report-high-cragg---high-stile---red-pike

 

[Buck]

Love it mate - I never carry the 5D3 on long hikes anymore. The G7X is excellent, even in crap light.
Judge for yourself.

http://www.stewartsandersonphotogra...r-hike---seven-wainwrights-and-an-awesome-day

That was my first full day with it. The report covers early morning, right through the day and into late afternoon light shadowed by mountains and then later, full on pitch dark star lit shots (handheld) and then 2 shot with a tripod at the end of the day in full darkness.

This was last weekend, again a full days hiking so all light conditions.
http://www.stewartsandersonphotogra...rip-report-high-cragg---high-stile---red-pike

thanks Stewart.

Fantastic photos and the blog was interesting read over lunch so, thank you for sharing that.

Right, off to count my pennies

 

[Stu Blackpool]

thanks Stewart.

Anytime mate.

 

[LBJNBA]

Thats pretty impressive, off to see where I can get one now

 

[woollyback]

That's a great advert for the camera and what lovely writing and images