Canon G10 or G11?

[bladephotog]

Yeah, what they said. Our Chief Photographer at the paper I work for has been using his G11 on assignment and we've been having a hard time distinguishing the difference between the shots taken with a G11 and those with a Canon 1DMKII.

 

[dhaas]

Andy makes a very useful point......

It's the cook, not the pan

For fast action sports and a few other shooting situations a dSLR is the way to go. But for many photographers a G11 would likely serve very, very well....

I have the Canon S90 (same sensor but slightly different lens range) and am thinking of getting a G11 for surface shooting before getting a new dSLR.

Check out my posts shot with the Canon S90 a couple of weeks ago in the Canon forum.

The sensor on the Canon S90 and G11 is a pretty big leap in technology as far as I can tell in P&S cameras.

YMMV

dhaas

 

[Jorgy]

Which housing are you considering?

The S90 Ikelite housing is only $300 but the G11 housing is $650......

The Canon housings are less but adding external lens can be more challenging....

Also, the S90 is much smaller so easier to carry and use top-side......

I just went from a G9/Canon housing to a S90/Ikelite housing and wide angle lens...

M

 

[gert7to3]

Here's a website with image comparisons for most current camera models. I use full size images of the macro shot and the "still life" shots at their lowest ISO rating (usually 64, 80 or 100). Pick your camera, click "compare" then scroll down and click on the images for comparison. If you click a second time on any image a full resolution file will upload.

Imaging Resource "Comparometer" ™ Digital Camera Image Comparison Page

Based upon the images I thought the S-90 was a bit better (much to my surprise). The only fault I can find with the S-90 vs the G-11 is lack of a hotshoe. For topside use, a hotshoe mounted strobe is really great.

I went through this decision before either the S-90 or the G-11 were out. At that time I chose Nikon's P-6000 over the G10. IMHO, if TTL isn't on your list of must have features, the S-90 has the edge over either the P-6000 or the G-11.

 

[M_Bipartitus]

While I agree that the S90 is an excellent option, I'll toss into consideration this review Canon PowerShot G11 Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review . That includes the G10 and G11, unfortunately they not include the S90 in the comparisons.

My take: G10 is better for macro with good strobes. Since the G10 has slightly better resolution at ISO 80 & large aperature, you can get some better macro shots if you are using a powerful light source (strobes UW or sun on land). If you are into wide angle or general shooting the resolution advantage is less UW as you will likely need to use a higher ISO, where the G11 is better.

Since the S90 has the same sensor and processing engine as the G11, they should have very similar image quality. The f2 aperture of the S90 is likely an advantage, but it really depends on the lens if the IQ is any better as a result. (the G10 & G11 have the same lens, so the IQ comparisons are mostly about the sensor). The main differences of S90 to G11 lie in the external stuff on the camera.

For me, topside I like the G11's articulating LCD to help get photos from high or low angles and the hot shoe for flash since I have a number of canon flashes. The S90 is much more compact. If I were looking at these they would be backup cameras for my dSLRs, so I would take the G11 if I were looking more for topside stuff since I could use an external flash. If I were looking for a backup UW camera I think I would choose the S90 as It compact and should give just as good images. It would also be easier to take on dives where I'm not as concerned about the photos. I don't always want a huge dSLR & multiple strobes on a fun dive.

 

[Nemrod]

Some may find this link useful. It seems the fellow is trying to be unbiased.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=33322174

I would think if you have a dSLR you would got with the S90. If you were more interested in a single all around camera then the G11. The S90 has such a compact size it is the perfect compliment to a camera on a rope around your neck type dSLR.

The S90 in the end may prove more versatile underwater, depending upon which housing is used because it can (possibly) use multiple wet mount lenses, both macro and various wide angle.

Since, thanks to the latest terrorist action, we may be down to carrying fewer items than ever thus emphasizing the necessity for small cameras with good capability as being very important. The S90 in the FIX housing is as small as the G11 itself. This plus two S2000 mini strobes, UCLS tray and Loc Line arms could make a very small, extremely portable and very capable camera rig.

N

 

[Chocoholic]

Can anyone comment on the shutter lag of either of these cameras? I really hate watching the fish turn away as my camera is deciding to take the picture (even when prefocused).

 

[dhaas]

Chocoholic,

The Canon S90 I've had for a month ain't a dSLR but who would expect it to be if you're realistic?

I have used many P&S cameras and the S90 has pretty fast AF. I learn about the AF choices when I get a new camera and practice, practice practice.

Center point focus is usually best but I have used AiAF (which is called Face Detect in my S90 too) and in good light it's pretty effective for people's faces.

The key with any AF choice is to "see" something with contrast enough for the camera's AF to lock in on quickly.

For UW animals I "cheat". When fish are swimming around some reef outcropping or whatever, I lock my AF in on that then pull the trigger when the fish or critter is parallel to the focussed point

I think the Canon S90 and G11 are likely equal in speed and should both produce good photos once you practice above water...

Good shooting.....

David Haas

 

[M_Bipartitus]

For the G11, there is timing data available from

Canon PowerShot G11 Review: 5. Performance: Digital Photography Review

They haven't finished the S90 review, but it should be up within a few weeks.

 

[Nemrod]

From a web site:

Autofocus: So far so good; I haven’t used so many P&Ss that I can compare AF speed, so all I can say is it’s slower than my DSLR, but faster than a tortoise, and certainly adequate for my needs. Cool feature: You can set AF to face recognition and it will try to find a face anywhere in the frame in order to focus on it; if it doesn’t find it, it focuses on something else and shows a green square (or more) around that area. I can see this feature appealing to mums and dads trying to get their kids’ faces sharp. Combine this with servo focusing (Canon-speak for continuous focus) and you can at least stand a chance against any 5-year old.

and:

Shutter lag is one of the most important properties for a P&S, because historically we’ve been given P&Ss that allow us to make coffee during the time it takes them to take the shot after pressing the shutter release. Not so with the S90, not even The Flash could get away with making coffee. There is clearly some lag when using autofocus, which is no worse than other P&Ss I have tried (not that many, to be honest) and is due to the focusing action, but when shooting in manual focus there is no perceptible lag.

In order to prove to myself that there really was no lag, I set a stopwatch running and took a photograph of it every 10s for 100s, measuring the delay between me pressing the button as the stopwatch hit 10s, 20s, 30s, and the time shown in each photo. The lag I measured is 160ms, which is in the same league as some DSLRs (high end DSLRs are in the 50ms range, while middle tier models are around 100ms). In real life, 160ms is just as good as instantaneous. Another gold star for Canon.

From:

Review – Canon S90, Part 2: Using the Camera Enticing the Light

Head to head with my 570 the S90 is faster on the shutter but when recording RAW plus JPEG slower to the next shot unless I am using the hack with the 570 an then the 570 is much slower. But then, I have decided RAW is possibly much fuss over very little with small sensor cameras.

Really, this cycle time is faster than with my Nikonos III or a housed SLR, shot to shot, unless I kept my finger on the winder lever and was prefocused (I am talking film, manual cameras) so possibly some people are spoiled, maybe.

N