Initial Impressions of the Canon G9

[Celeus]

I've spent a bit of time playing with my G9 and have been quite happy as well. I really like a few features- being able to assign a button to set whitebalance, easily getting it to auto-set exposure while in manual (so I can tweak from there), etc.

Ikelite tells me the housing will be available at the end of October, so hopefully I'll have some UW shots then so you can see what it can do in the hands of an amateur.

In the meantime, I shot some closeups of a handy critter (my cat) to get an idea of what it can do and get some practice. I also took it on a hiking trip, and got some decent stuff, thought the scenery wasn't "uber". The image stabilization is quite nice.

I haven't had a chance to clean these up in photoshop or anything.

The shots below are resized, full size are at: Faucet.net Gallery :: 09-2007 Macro with G9

and Faucet.net Gallery :: Mirror and Cottonwood lakes 09-2007

1/15, ISO 400, 3.2, Zoomed, handheld. IS is nice!

I thought there was more noise in the red chair in the background than I would expect at ISO 400, but a more knowledgeable friend says it is likely a combination of chromatic abberation, the odd texture of the fabric and it being out of focus that gives a similar effect.

The vicious housecat in it's natural element.

Cottonwood lake.

This one is at max zoom, as the rain started coming in. You can make out two mountain goats about 1/4 of the way down, right in the center. I was very surprised that when you zoom in on these you can actually make out details. This peak was quite a ways off.

More macro, at Mirror Lake.

A shot with, you know, people in it. :^) Cottonwood Lake.

 

[Zeeman]

Nice shots and nice review.. I really am re-thinking going DSLR...

But, we shall see...

 

[The Mighty Thor]

I just bought this camera yesterday and I am thoroughly impressed so far. The LCD is quite large and very bright. It is almost like looking into a computer monitor. I am also amazed at how quickly the camera starts up when you turn it on, as opposed to previous Canons. I have a 10D and I can see using this camera more, as it is much easier to carry around. I can't wait to get the housing for this.

 

[Narcd_dvr]

Bob, great write up. I own a G3 and will be upgrading it to the G9 next year, so I'm really psyched.

 

[MantaRey]

I just have to say that I'm absolutely loving this camera. I have the canon housing and it's great too. The shutter speed and aperture control takes some getting used to. Also the manual focus is tough to use I think.

Once I get a strobe in the mix I think this camera will be unbelievable. Can't beat the price.

I took these today while at work. Didn't get too many shots in today because I actually had to work. haha

 

[KARELNIJEBOER]

Hi Manta Man;

I own 2 drowned Canon S80's and am looking for the G9 now. When you say the manual controls are not so easy, do you mean you are referring to the way you have to operate them on the housing?? e.g. do you need to push 2 buttons at the same time to change aperture??

I like the pictures, simply fantatstic!

Regards from the Netherlands

 

[f3nikon]

Incredible camera!

 

[Banon]

MantaRey, thanks for posting the pics. If you have time, would you mind talking a little bit about the Canon WP-DC21 housing? I'm curious to know if all camera functionality is available, how difficult it is to get to, and your thoughts on how you will pair it up with a strobe.

 

[MantaRey]

Yeah you need to push two buttons at a time to change aperture and shutter. Basically the housing has every button available except for the wheel that you would normally use for the menu and stuff. It really isn't a big deal, it just requires both hands to operate.

I think the housing is great. You can't beat the price. It's nice and compact. I wanted a camera that I can take down with me while working so sometimes it needs to hang out of the way. The Ikelite housing would just be too huge. Plus contrary to most canon cameras the G9 seems to be exceptionally durable. It's built solid for sure. The housing seems to be very durable itself. I think with care it should last for a long time. I don't believe you can rebuild the bulkheads for the buttons though. However for less than $200 does it matter? A couple years from now I'll just buy a new housing. haha

As for a stobe the only possible way is going to be through a slave. A buddy of mine is gonne give me a great deal if I can get what he has to work with this camera. I think it's possible. I always hear some bad reviews about slaves and manual controllers. But I think they'll work just fine. Typically the people with those reviews are the ones that say you MUST have a dSLR or a 3CCD camera. Which I feel is very untrue. I come from a video background and I've worked with single CCD cameras that-with skill- compete quite well picture-wise with 3CCD cameras. I would say the same applies to the g9 vs a dSLR.

Of course the biggest difference would be the speed of the camera (meaning the write speed) Not terribly slow or anything but slower than a dSLR. I felt that was a worth the savings though.

 

[Banon]

Thanks MantaRey.

It's good to hear that all the G9 controls are accessible, with only slight pain, and that the housing seems durable.

I currently have a Sea & Sea YS-25DX slave fired strobe that I use with an Oly SP-350 in the Oly housing. There wasn't a good flat spot for the "adapter plug" for the YS-25DX optical cable, so I actually cut the plug on both sides and was able to fit it into the strobe slot on the top of the Oly housing. I can now plug the optical cable from the strobe directly into that plug, and it fires reliably slaved to the camera flash. From pictures of the Canon housing and your description, it sounds like the Canon housing could be fitted in a similar fashion. It's a little jury rigged, but very useable.

While I would definitely like to try out TTL, it only seems to be available for the G9 with the Ikelite housing and I have the same reservations as you with the larger housing size. I'm still debating with myself which I'd prefer, the larger housing and TTL or the smaller housing with a slave fired strobe.

Would you mind posting your eventual decision and how happy you are with it?