The Canon Powershot G9

Though there are many good reviews Canon’s latest Powershot line of cameras, the Powershot G9 , I’d thought I’d write my own personal review and share why I think having a compact or point-and-shoot camera is almost essential for both professional and amateur photographers.

I started taking digital photos back in 2001 with an Olympus compact camera. It was a great camera but it didn’t last long. The zoom drive died out, and so for almost two years, I didn’t invest in another camera until the Canon XT came out in, I think, 2003. Since then, I’ve been working to build a professional wedding and event photography business using whatever I equipment I could get my hands on. After shooting two weddings with the XT, I quickly realized I would need another camera. So I upgraded to the Canon 30D and kept the XT for backup. It’s been both fun and challenging learning to shoot with two 35mm Canon cameras, plus five different lenses of various focal lengths. I’ve purchased all the equipment I need to support my business goals.

But what I realized overtime is that too much equipment can sometimes become an obstacle to taking photos. Unless, you’re lucky enough to make your paycheck as a travel photographer there’s no reason why you want to haul around a 35mm camera, plus a couple of lenses in order to take photos.

I’ve discovered that a good compact camera can take just as good photos as a more expensive 35mm shooters. Photographer Ken Rockwell would also agree, your camera doesn’t matter—well, at least in many cases.

So for a Christmas present to myself, I decided get the Powershot G9 mainly because I’ve been wanting a camera that I take with me where ever I go. When I’m not shooting weddings, I find it a sheer hassle to keep my Canon 30D and the bag lenses out with just some candid shots I may come across while driving or when I want to capture my children at play. Now with the G9, all that has changed.

The Powershot G9, in my view has a stylish, retro feel to it. It’s the type of camera for professionals and serious amateurs that doesn’t look or feel like a simple point-and-shoot camera. But if all you wanted to do with the camera is point and shoot it, the G9 can easily do the job.

Feature Highlights.
The G9 does come with a price tag of about $150-$200 more than the average point-and-shoot camera. It’s lowest price tag is about $439.00 which means for about $75 more, you can buy a 35mm Canon XTi. So it’s not an affordable camera, relatively speaking. But it does offer some features that are worth the extra bucks.

1. RAW mode capability. Being able to shoot photos in RAW mode can provide you a way to make much more adjustments to a photo than when shooting in JPEG format. This feature was missing in the Canon G7, but it’s now brought back in the G9.

2. A nice 3.5 LCD screen with exposure preview. When I first got this camera, I thought sure I’d simply use the traditional viewfinder that you find on all 35mm cameras. But the LCD preview of the G9 simply helps get better exposures than looking through the viewfinder. The LCD screen offers all the information you need for taking pictures. You have the option of seeing a composition guide, the exposure and flash settings, and the camera’s histogram. Plus, as you adjust the camera’s exposure, you can actually see if the photo will be too light or too dark.

3. The G9 provides you the ability to save two sets of custom settings that you can dial up to when you want. This is really nice. If for example you’re going to do night photography for a while, you can save settings for that type of shooting and then simply retrieve them with a simple click of the mode dial. So one setting could be for your night photography, while the other might be for candid family photos in JPEG mode.

4. Auto white balance is also another really nice feature of the G9. So far, I’ve kept most of my shooting on auto white balance mainly because I forget to change it anyway. The is auto feature has worked well for me, but even it were off in color, I can see the color of the light in the LCD preview.

5. The ISO speeds are set using dial on top of the camera’s body. Some of us can remember this type of set up with traditional film cameras. You don’t have to go into the menu to change ISO.

6. Another good feature about the G9 is it’s speed. The camera will power up in about 1.5 seconds. The lens slides out and you’re ready to shoot. I have experienced some shutter lag with shots, but not enough that I’m bothered. I don’t plan on using this camera for grabbing a bunch of shots in one setting. But it can do continuous shooting of approximately 1.5 frames per second. Not super fast, but a lot faster than many point-and-shoots on the market.

7. The G9’s preset control feature is also handy. There’s a C1 and C2 dial which you can use to save and retrieve two sets of camera settings. You might have one setting for JPGS shots, and another one for RAW.

I’ve highlighted a small portion of features that I like, but there’s plenty more that will be welcomed by the average camera user. The camera is not quite small enough to fit in your pocket, but you’ll probably at least want to keep it in a small bag with a few other accessories like a mini-tripod, an external flash unit, or a lens converter.

The Noise Sucks.
Some potential customers will be drawn to the 12 megapixel size resolution of the G9, but personally I don’t think that size should be the decision to buy the G9. I could do with a smaller resolution size and better sensor that doesn’t produce so much noise at ISO speeds over 200. I gotta tell you, the camera sucks when it comes to noise. So far I have tried to stay away from taking photos at above ISO 200. While there are image adjustments programs (iPhoto included) that can help correct noise in images I still try to avoid this problem like a plague. This problem is and will be turn to many shooters, especially those who don’t understand why the noise exist.

No Aperture or iPhoto RAW support.
This is not a fault of the G9, but if you shoot RAW with this camera, you currently can’t process RAW photos in Apple’s Aperture or iPhoto image editing programs. I’m sure Apple will get around to a Leopard update that will support the G9, but until then you’ll need to process your RAW photos either in the image editor that comes with the camera, or in the RAW converter that comes with Photoshop. Adobe Lightroom also can process G9 RAW photos.

A Few Other Suggestions.
I would suggest though if you’re a new user to the camera, or any camera that matter, that you really learn and take advantage of many of the camera’s setting options and preferences. Once you get confident with shooting in automatic and program mode where the camera basically sets the exposure settings for you, I would suggest learning to use the camera in the aperture and shutter priority modes and even full manual modes so that you can have more control over the settings, especially in difficult, mixed lighting situations.

The G9 does come with over a dozen shooting modes for shooting in different type of scenes. These “Creative” modes include portrait, landscape, sports, night, beach and firework modes. In selecting one of these presets, the camera automatically adjust exposure settings for optimal shooting. You can not shoot in RAW mode using these Creative zones, but they can often be useful in some situations like shooting in snow scenes. You can also make adjustments to the exposure compensation when shooting in one of the zones. Exposure compensation assist in making an image lighter or darker, and often more contrasty. Good contrast is one of the keys to good photography.

If you plan on using this camera for lots of travel photography, I would definitely get a second battery and a couple of 2 gig size media cards. Also, be sure to keep a piece of cloth for cleaning the LCD screen. I think the camera comes with one, but I keep several in my bag.

Finally, I would say simply have fun with this or any other type of compact camera. You will take more shots and experiment with it a lot more. And if you trust your kids with your gadgets, you might even turn them on to photography.

First Night Shots with the Canon G9.

For a while I’ve been meaning to try out some night photography. The G9 has made it very easy to do so. To keep things light, I purchased sturdy mini-tripod for thirteen bucks, and on my way home one night I simply took an exit downtown and shot my first night shots.

With the tripod, I could the G9’s lowest ISO speed and set an equally low shutter speed for the night photos. The Night creative zone also did very well for this type of photography. Using the 2 second preset timer, I had no problem getting shots like the ones below. I sat the camera and the tripod either on the hood of my car or on a flat surface. If need be, I securely held down the tripod while the timer set off the shutter. Because the G9 has a zoom lens, I didn’t have to changes lenses in order to get wide angle and close range shots. The G9’s zoom lens is like having three different size lenses in one.

If you decide to get a G9, I invite you to become a member of one of Flickr.com five Canon G9 groups. There’s always good discussions and tips in the groups, plus you get to see just what can be done with this camera.

The Powershot G9 is not a perfect camera. But if you’re an avid picture taker, you certainly will want it and a similar camera like it as part of your image making gear.