Is the G12 much more better than the P7000?

[95lsteg]

I have a $350 gift card from Walmart and from their selection of cameras I had narrowed it down to the G12 or the P7000. After searching here and in other sites, I can see that the G12 is very popular. The only problem is that I want wide angle and as I read the G12 is not a very good candidate for that. 10 Bar makes a housing for the G12 that can use their w/a, but the case + the lens is almost $1500 (w/o the camera). I can buy the P7000 + Fantasea FP7000 case + their w/a for less than $1000.

Is the G12 worth the extra money?

Opinions are more than welcome

 

[Puffer Fish]

First off, I don't think there is anything wrong with the P7000. On land it is a bit dated in size, but that should not be an issue underwater.

The Fantasea case seems nice, but it is a non-round port case, so add on lens will be an issue. But if you are taking images that don't need an add on lens, then what difference does it make?

Canon is so successful in underwater camera's, because they make a line of housings that are very affordable (not the depth rating of the Fantasea, but similar in shape.) Ikelite also makes housing (next step up) and then there are the expensive cases (but nice).

Once someone starts with a camera line, they tend to stay with that line.

Image quality wise, they should be very similar.

Having a threaded front is nice because you can add macro and wide angle, but they cost, and good wide angle costs a lot.

While the P7000 has the same wide angle capabilites as the G12, so there is no advantage there.

The Fantasea does have the "big eye" for wide angle, but my experience with that has not been that good.

The canon, with say the Ikelite case, can use any of half a dozen or so wideangle/fisheye add on lens.

If you like shooting the type of images that the flat port can provide...I would call it "object shooting" (they have some very nice examples on their website). The choice would seem to be the canon and the canon housing versus the P7000 and the Fantasea... I believe the canon is way cheaper in that case.

Plan to add lens, then the canon with any of the cases that take 67mm theads would be a good idea.

Want to dive deep, then the canon housing is out.

I am sure there will be no shortage of viewpoints on this.

Note: If you dive a lot, and do it fairly deep (say 100 ft), the canon case button springs will wear out and the camera will not work...it does not leak, you just cannot take a picture until one is up around 90 ft. Ok, that took 3 or 4 hundred dives, but I still hold that against them.

 

[slowhands]

Unfortunately The P7000 is a mediocre camera (coming from a Nikon diehard fan). Picture quality is below that of the G12 and it is terribly slow. Wait for the P7100 model and maybe they will fix it. Read the reviews on DP Review website:
P7000
Enthusiast Compact Camera Group Test (Q4 2010) Review: 18. Conclusions and ratings: Digital Photography Review
G12
Canon Powershot G12 Review: 9. Conclusion: Digital Photography Review

Because of the way the lens moves back for widest angle, the G12 is not easy to adapt to wide angle wet lenses. The S95 lens moves less, and forward at the widest angle, so is much easier to adapt to a wide angle wet lens. So if you like wide angle, it's a better candidate. Housings are smaller and less expensive too.

 

[95lsteg]

Puffer:
Can you elaborate more on the Fantasea "big eye"?
If I buy the Ikelite case... Can I add w/a lenses other than the WD-4?
w/a is a must for me...

Slow:
Yep, I read that the s95 is better for adding w/a lenses, but Walmart doesnt carry it and I wanted to use the $350 gift card, so I'm kind of stuck with the G12 and the P7000.

 

[Puffer Fish]

Slowhands, if you reread the dpreview, they liked the image quality of the P7000, and the slow part was changing modes...and they really did not like the size and optical viewfinder.

I don't know about lens travel with that camera, except to say that looking at the port, would guess it also has a lot.

Unfortunately The P7000 is a mediocre camera (coming from a Nikon diehard fan). Picture quality is below that of the G12 and it is terribly slow. Wait for the P7100 model and maybe they will fix it. Read the reviews on DP Review website:
P7000
Enthusiast Compact Camera Group Test (Q4 2010) Review: 18. Conclusions and ratings: Digital Photography Review
G12
Canon Powershot G12 Review: 9. Conclusion: Digital Photography Review

Because of the way the lens moves back for widest angle, the G12 is not easy to adapt to wide angle wet lenses. The S95 lens moves less, and forward at the widest angle, so is much easier to adapt to a wide angle wet lens. So if you like wide angle, it's a better candidate. Housings are smaller and less expensive too.

 

[Puffer Fish]

If look at accessories for the P7000 case, you will see a big eye wide angle lens.

This is not coated glass (at least the one I had was not), and would have a concern with lens travel (what slowhands commented on).

You can go look at the camera and go thru the zoom range, if the front of the lens moves out a lot as you zoom, then expect to have difficulty geeting a good image with any wide angle add on.

Some lens move in very strange ways...so you need to actually check out the camera...it is not uncommon for a lens to actually move out as it goes wider angle...then in and then back out (the LX-5 does that for example).

With the Ikelite, you have a threaded front and anything with that thread will fit.. how well it works is a different issue. Compare lens travel for both camera's and see which is better (better being the total movement and how far back the wide angle is versus the max telephoto.

For all I know, the P7000 is better.

Puffer:
Can you elaborate more on the Fantasea "big eye"?
If I buy the Ikelite case... Can I add w/a lenses other than the WD-4?
w/a is a must for me...

Slow:
Yep, I read that the s95 is better for adding w/a lenses, but Walmart doesnt carry it and I wanted to use the $350 gift card, so I'm kind of stuck with the G12 and the P7000.

 

[slowhands]

Slowhands, if you reread the dpreview, they liked the image quality of the P7000, and the slow part was changing modes...and they really did not like the size and optical viewfinder.

I don't know about lens travel with that camera, except to say that looking at the port, would guess it also has a lot.

I really wanted to like the camera, honest. I have the Nikon P6000 in Fix housing and like it because it's tiny for travel. But it has flaws. I turn off the GPS on the P6000 because it just drains the battery (even after the firmware update), and it is fairly slow in operation too. I suspect it is almost the same as the P7000.

My main concern was the time to write a RAW file, 5 seconds. A couple of years ago that might have been OK. Today the cameras are faster and they need to speed it up. I truly expect a P7100 in a year or so with better speed and other enhancements.

 

[diver 85]

Puffer:
Can you elaborate more on the Fantasea "big eye"?
If I buy the Ikelite case... Can I add w/a lenses other than the WD-4?
w/a is a must for me...

Slow:
Yep, I read that the s95 is better for adding w/a lenses, but Walmart doesnt carry it and I wanted to use the $350 gift card, so I'm kind of stuck with the G12 and the P7000.

Use your gift card to buy some groceries & TP, or possibly a lawn mower-------get what you need in a camera some place else....

 

[bladephotog]

I bought the G12 over the Nikon for above water use for a couple of reasons. First, I like that Canon has a swivel LCD screen, that's important to me. Two, I have heard first hand accounts of the Nikon being buggy, ie., it will lock up and so forth. And even though I like that you can plug an external mic into the P7000, the rest of the camera pales in comparison to the G12 in my opinion. The image quality of the G12 is simply outstanding. The only other camera I own that has gotten me this excited in recent memory is my Canon 1DMKIV. I really love my G12 that much.

 

[dhaas]

Ditto what Andy says and I've seen pics he's created with the Canon G12.

If people aren't going with a smaller point and shoot (even S90 and now S95) and won't house an SLR this is the best choice.....

While I have some great pics from my own S90 (don't have it any more) if I was to pick up something other than my SLR this would be the choice.

Everyone whines about housing size differences.

By the time you add even a simple small strobe, tray and arm this housing isn't going to be much bigger. Especially compared to even the most compact SLR sized rig......

Go to FlickR.com and type in Canon G12 and cruise the galleries. Or just Google Canon G12 Galleries....

The stuff you see will blow you away

dhaas