Questions on G9 from an Olympus user

[WOODMAN]

Hello folks! I am an Olympus C5050 user who has found himself growing drawn to the advantages of a newer technology camera, and I am considering a G9 in particular. I know that my old trusty 5050 used to be one of the benchmarks for quality (in this camera grouping, anyway), and it still puts out one hell of an image when I do my job correctly, but it's dated features are starting to get to me. I have been trying to compare the two cameras, and thought who better to ask than the people who use them? I got the opinions of the Oly people on their forum, and now come with my hat in my hand to ask for wisdom from you guys. I am particularly interested in camera speed. Is the lock time any faster with the G9? I do not mind much the write time, as this is so dependent on so many variables anyway, but that shutter lag on the 5050 seems to go on forever before it actually snaps the image. I have also been attracted to the increased telephoto on the G9, although others have told me that the increased telephoto is not needed and not used much underwater. Now, I wonder about that. I do a lot of close-up work, and it seems to me that I almost always have my telephoto stretched out to the max for the majority of my shots. Having twice the telephoto range would be a huge benefit, I would think. Am I missing something here? Oh, and by the way, I plan on using the Ikelite housing (like my current one for the 5050), and I know about the problem with the lens port not being able to take a wide angle lens without switching to a shorter flat port, and thereby losing some of the telephoto capability. Well, I never much cared for wide angle, and I suppose I could move to the short port later if I needed it, but for now- gimme that telephoto! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Woody

 

[bigfrog23]

i just got one for my dad for X-mass. as far as overall image quality the camera is superb. the colors are great and the images are sharp. it focuses fast and shutter lag is minimal for a P&S. and non when you shoot in manual focus. there are many thing that will impress you about this camera. One thing the stands out with this camera was the little wheel on the back that allows you to change thing shutter speed/ aperture quickly and easily in manual mode and AV and TV modes. In manual mode it is as easy as pressing one button to go back and forth between shutter and aperture and you do not have to hold it down this little wheel will also allow you to manually focus the camera. one other thing that i was impressed with was that it has three different review modes. one of the review modes shows you the entire picture as well as a 100% crop of a part of the image to see if it is sharp this is very helpful in my mind. the camera also has raw which is nice. the load time is about 2 seconds with a older 2gig card which is a far cry from my DSLR at 6.5 frames a second but is still fast enough that you can use the feature. As far as P&S's go i think it is top notch.

I also got hem the ike light housing and small port with the wide angle lens the bit of zoom the is lost is minimal and is not really missed at least that is what my dad has said about it. it still zooms enough to give you a good working distance for macro stuff.

 

[gert7to3]

Here's a specification page from a review of the G9 at imaging-resource.com:

Canon PowerShot G9 Digital Camera Perform - Review - The Imaging Resource!

and here's the similar specs they observed on your C5050:

Olympus C-5050 Zoom Digital Camera Review: Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests

It looks like the TIFF file upload on your C5050 is about the same as RAW file upload on the G9. Sure beats the SP-350 with 7-9 sec. upload times for RAW images.

If you want to stay with the compactness of a P&S then Canon's G9 is probably the best currently available.

 

[ejg62]

I am an old C-5060 and C-7070 user. I loved my 5060 until my oly housing broke underwater and flooded, while I hated the C-7070 as it requires alot of light to focus.

I received a G9 for xmas. While I do not yet used it underwater I am using it on land to get used to it. It is much better than the 5060 (therefore better than 7070). Here are the benefits:
1. shutter lag is close to none existence, so I assume it will be quicker than the 5060/7070 underwater as well.
2. Saving RAW file - time is no comparison. The 5060 took 7-10 seconds to save. The G9 is about 2 seconds dispite the G9 is for 12mp shot vs 5.1 for the 5060.
3. Stabilization - this was not much of an issue for me with the 5060, but I used the manual modes. If I used presets including underwater for the 7070 the shot was too slow and I would get blur
4. Camera is smaller more compact than the 5060/7070/5050
5. Picture size is much greater. This means I can crops closer/smaller than with the 5060 and still get a nice printable photo.

These are the big benefits as I see them.