Initial Impressions of the Canon G9

[driftin' by]

On the Fogging Up topic... It was my understanding that it has nothing to do with the housing or the camera. I doesn't even have anything to do with heat generated by the camera. It has to do with humidity of the air that is inside the housing when you seal it. If that air is dry, I won't fog. I remedy this by letting the AC blow cold (therefore dry) air into the housing and onto the camera before closing the housing. Works every time except when your batteries die and you change them on the boat. YMMV

Congrats on the new rig. The G9 is sweet.... I got mine a couple weeks ago and now just have to play nice to get the Ike housing.

 

[dhaas]

samuri_k,

Email me as you seem to have numerous settings off which is why from reading your post your are washing out your macro shots.....Too much to go into here........

Have numerous customers and friends using the Canon G7 and G9 on Av mode, TTL to a DS125 and getting wonderful pics.

dhaas

davidhaas@sbcglobal.net

David Haas Underwater Photography

 

[Kydonia]

On the Fogging Up topic... It was my understanding that it has nothing to do with the housing or the camera. I doesn't even have anything to do with heat generated by the camera. It has to do with humidity of the air that is inside the housing when you seal it. If that air is dry, I won't fog. I remedy this by letting the AC blow cold (therefore dry) air into the housing and onto the camera before closing the housing. Works every time except when your batteries die and you change them on the boat. YMMV

Congrats on the new rig. The G9 is sweet.... I got mine a couple weeks ago and now just have to play nice to get the Ike housing.

Makes total sense.
More words of wisdom, thanks

I just got the G9 delivered, but company screwed me- "sold" me the housing online, but didn't mention the Canon housing wasn't in stock (I hate that) so I cancelled the order and will get it somewhere else.
So far, the camera looks great, will play with it today and post some pics.
Is it ok to post in this thread? I don't want to hijack OP's thread.

 

[pmecucci]

Thanks for all the info. I just got back from Cozumel and for the first time shot underwater with the G9 and the simple canon housing. I purchased both just before my trip, so I'm glad that they both worked. Although I will say that I'm dissapointed in the quality of the LCD on the G9. Mine had two stuck pixels straight out of the box, and also had some strange light spots on the lcd toward the top and the bottom. Needless to say, I used it on my trip because I was out of time, and just shipped it back to amazon for a replacement until. Other than poor LCD quality out of the box, the camera operated just fine.

Being new to underwater photography and new to diving, figured out would go simple by just purchasing the simple canon underwater case, and the justification for purchasing the G9 itself, is its a great backup to my DSLR. Great fun, out of 8 dives the camera fogged up on me one dive. Thats it. I stuffed silica gel in where I could, and made sure to gulp the air blowing out of my air conditioner when I closed the case. The one time it did fog up it was extra humid, even in my room, I think a combination of the camera heating up, and the moisture in the case is what causes the fogging. After it fogged it would go away after no use for about 30min. then come back during use again. I'm happy with the overall performance of the combination. No question you need a strobe to make things easier on your when it comes to evenly lighting your subject, but as with all photography, it makes you work a little harder and be a bit more creative when you have a gear limitation. I posted a few of my pics on my site here

mecucci.com/into the blue

Paul

 

[driftin' by]

Excellent shots pmecucci! I can't wait to get my G9 wet.

 

[rrjc5488]

So, I just bought a G9 and I'm waiting for it in the mail.
Excitement has already set in.

I bought with it, the telescopic lense, as well as the wide angle lens.

I obviously wont be needing the telescopic lens underwater, but I'd love to get some WA shots.

I plan on buying the ikelite housing. Will I be able to use the WA lens from canon in the housing, or would I have to buy the 300 dollar lens from ikelite?

Also, I have the sealife SL960 External Flash from my old DC500. Would I be able to use this? I'm not going to be taking professional shots, so for the level of shooting I'm on, it would suffice.

If not, would I be able to use their digital strobe?

I'm all for having a strobe, but with my upcoming trip to Thailand I'd rather spend 250 bucks instead of [at least] 400 from ikelite.

Thanks.

 

[octoeight]

How does the G9's shutter lag compare to your wife's TSi? Is there a noticable difference?

 

[PapaBob]

Being new to underwater photography and new to diving, figured out would go simple by just purchasing the simple canon underwater case, and the justification for purchasing the G9 itself, is its a great backup to my DSLR.

mecucci.com/into the blue

Paul

Paul: I agree with driftin, great shots for the G9 in a Canon housing without external strobe. Santa got me the WP-DC21 (Canon) housing but I have not had a chance to get it wet. I am amazed at the light spread you got from the internal flash and the external diffusion plate. Can you let me know your settings and any tips you might want to share?

---Bob

 

[Ozzie Andrew]

I plan on buying the ikelite housing. Will I be able to use the WA lens from canon in the housing, or would I have to buy the 300 dollar lens from ikelite?

Also, I have the sealife SL960 External Flash from my old DC500. Would I be able to use this? I'm not going to be taking professional shots, so for the level of shooting I'm on, it would suffice.

If not, would I be able to use their digital strobe?

I'm all for having a strobe, but with my upcoming trip to Thailand I'd rather spend 250 bucks instead of [at least] 400 from ikelite.

Thanks.

Hi,

Unfortunately, if you are going to want to take WA shots, then you are going to need to fork out for a "wet" lens (one that is designed for water use and can be put on and taken off underwater). This for a couple of reasons, not least of which is that the Canon lens would not be manufactured for underwater use so could start to corrode very quickly in salt water, plus may not stand up to pressure at depth.

Not sure how the Ikelite housing goes, but you cant use the Inon or Epoque WA lenses with the Canon housing due to the lens sitting too far away from the camera lens which causes serious vignetting ... the only lens that I have been told will work, is the Dyron (Dryon ??) which is comparable in price to the other two.

The other thing is that the Canon lens would be a 58mm mounting thread, whilst the Ikelite housing would have a 67mm lens port. You can sometimes use larger lenses on smaller ports, but not smaller lenses on larger ports ... you'd probably end up with photos that look like they have been taken thru binoculars or a telescope (you know, small round picture in the centre of a black surround).

As for the strobe, you probably wont be able to effectively use the internal flash as due to the position of it on the camera, the lens port will block the light from getting to the bottom right quadrant of your photos, and in fact could be totally blocked if you are using any accessory lenses (WA or macro).

Im not sure about the Sealife flash however unless it can be fired as a slave via fibre optic it will depend on whether it then has a hot shoe and if so if it is compatible with the Canon connections. Even if it is, dont scrimp just to save a couple of bucks as you will forever regret it. If need be, wait/dsbr a bit longer and get yourself an Inon D2000, Z240 or one of the Ikelite models with related paraphanalia ... it will be worth the wait, and you will much prefer the end results.

 

[ClamBake]

I posted a few of my pics on my site here

mecucci.com/into the blue

Paul

Paul,

Great shots!! I'm headed back down to Coz in four weeks and will be doing the happy dance if I come away with a couple of the shots you captrued.

FYI - your turtle shot is of a hawksbill, not a green sea turtle. The jagged serrations at the back end of the carapace is a sure way to ID a hawksbill.

- Rob