Canon PowerShot G10?

[graphixboy]

May 21st, 2009, 11:14 am

The camera finally arrived on Monday and SDHC cards from amazon showed up yesterday so now I've had a few hours to play with the Canon G10.

First impressions: I'm very very impressed with this camera.

Overall the camera is really quick for both turn on and writing shots to the card (SDHC class 6). There is very little lag for either action. This was a big worry for me coming from the SLR camp but its almost a no issue.

For the most part the controls are very easy to access and similar to my expectations from an SLR or rangefinder. There are external dials for both exposure compensation and ISO ratings (buried several menus deep in my SLR) making quick image quality adjustments very simple.

Image quality is probably the best I've ever seen from a small sensor camera. Anything shot ISO 200 and less is extremely sharp with very very little noise. However, like all small sensor cameras if you shoot in low light or ISO 400+ the noise does become quite noticeable but probably no worse than it was on my 7 year old DSLR under similar conditions. The RAW images read and write very quickly despite being 30mb. Also when shooting in RAW Adobe Lightroom was able to remove almost all the color noise with its default settings. I would assume that under decent lighting conditions 8x10 prints from this camera would rival most DSLRs.

The camera has a hotshoe mount that readily accepted the trigger for the studio strobes we have at the office. Also since the camera has a great macro focus range (1cm) the hotshoe and tripod mount make this an extremely capable studio/product camera.

The only real disappointments I have coming from a DSLR is that the camera's size (while nice and portable) makes it difficult to grip without covering the focus assist lamp with a finger. I miss the solid SLR body grips for different shooting conditions. I'm also struggling to get used to the manual focus being adjusted with the command dial instead of a lens mounted ring.

I'll post some images tonight when I get a chance. But I think its safe to say that I'm going to like and hopefully use this camera quite a bit.

[UPSGuy]

May 26th, 2009, 2:37 pm

Thanks for the review. Sounds like it's a good investment for a secondary carry that I wanted for occassions where the full body just doesn't cut it.

[graphixboy]

June 12th, 2009, 12:00 pm

Ok its been a while and I've neglected to post images from the Canon G10 so here they are. All of these are completely unmodified. The process was import to Adobe Lightroom 2 (the only thing I have that will open the new Canon Raw Files and allowing only the default sharpening) and export to jpegs. This entire set was shot hand held and allowed the camera to set white balance and focus.

Suffice it to say this is probably the best image quality I've ever seen from a small sensor camera and after a month or so of use I've yet to find anything that really bugs me with the G10.

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100% This shows the amount of low light noise.

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100% Showing the color and auto focus ability even on distant subjects.

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In camera white balance settings.

All in all I have to say I'm super impressed. Especially for a camera that I can carry around with me...

[SB]

June 12th, 2009, 5:14 pm

Yeah, actually agree with you here. Quality is good here, and considering it's a point ant shoot you really cannot ask for much more.

(doesn't beat a SLR though)

[graphixboy]

June 12th, 2009, 5:41 pm

SB wrote:

(doesn't beat a SLR though)

That's very true. Although I have an art school minor in photography that I learned on an old film SLR and I have to say the only thing I really miss from an SLR, digital or otherwise, (other than the sensor size) is the interchangeable lenses. However, when I'm honest with myself, I never really saw much need for my other lenses. I'm one of those people who always shot with a fixed 35mm and moved around to get the shots so even the lack of other optics isn't really hurting me. The camera actually has all the other features (full manual control, exposure compensation, DOF preview, hot shoe, remote trigger, etc) that I've come to expect in a good photography tool. Combine that with its portability and I'm very happy with my purchase.

[SB]

July 7th, 2009, 10:15 am

Would you believe a month after my last post in this thread i am actually just about to do the same as you Graphixboy.

As soon as i figure out a good valuation, i am going to put my Canon EOS 40D up for sale. Thinking i could get around £600 ($968USD) for it with the lens. By selling that i would use the money i got from it to purchase the G10 which having looked at online reviews seems to be just as good as the EOS 40D only i don't have the use of changing lens. Also more practical which is cool when you consider i don't use my DSLR the way i should anyway when i am out with it.

[graphixboy]

July 12th, 2009, 12:28 pm

Well I just got back from Australia and I think we averaged 150+ shots a day on the G10. Gotta say I'm still really happy with the camera. The only issue I had is that it would be nice to have the ability to use filters. Bright sun on water gave the camera some exposure issues, but other than that it was able to do just about everything I expected and it was really nice to travel with that smaller size.

I was a bit freaked out when selling my SLR but after a few months I'm not really missing it all that much now. Before you do make the decision SB I would recommend going to your local camera store and playing with the G10 and the Panasonic LX3. See which one fits your shooting style better.

[SB]

July 12th, 2009, 12:33 pm

Sold my 40D the other day, not made the purchase on camera yet. Heard that aparently the lens scratches when it turns off sometimes, a common fault with the G10 aparently so may look at an alternative.

Got to look at the cest too, i wonder if there is a good camera that can do most of the stuff the G10 does that is maybe a bit cheaper. I love taking photographs and def want a camera but at the moment not overly fussed if it does everything a DSLR did.

If i do miss my DSLR though then i can still shoot on my Canon SLR film camera which is always fun.