 Jim Echols |
Canon G12 Recommendation? I'm looking for a nice high end hybrid to take kayaking and hiking, and when my full DSLR is too much. Is anyone using a Canon G12 and how do you like it? What makes it stand out for me is the movable viewfinder screen which would make low and high shots a lot easier.
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Monnie Ryan |
My husband Jack has one (I have the G10), and when I asked him for his opinion, he said he uses it almost in place of his XSi. The pictures are sharp, the color's good and the size is great. I love the macro mode on my G10, so I'm betting it's just as good or better on the G12 although I admit I haven't tried it yet. Bottom line? He'd buy it again in a heartbeat.
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Jim Echols |
Monni...thanks for the reply!
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- Carolyn M. Fletcher  Contact Carolyn M. Fletcher Carolyn M. Fletcher's Gallery |
Sony also has some nice high-end point and shoots. Some of the super zooms really come in handy when you don't have, or can't afford, a long lens for the DSLR.
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Jim Echols |
Carolyn, can you personally recommend a model? Thanks.....Jim
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Nancy de Flon |
I use the Canon G11 as a "portable" alternative to my Nikon DSLR (street photography mostly), and can certainly recommend this series for the use you propose--especially the kayaking. Good luck!
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Dan W. Dooley |
We recently bought the G12 for that very purpose. Ok, and to give my wife a camera she can be comfortable with as she's more of a point and shoot user but we wanted something with some capability beyond the usual fully auto pocket camera. The G12 fit the bill perfectly. We also bought the Canon water proof case which matches the G12. Great. All controls (that's ALL) are usable with the case on. So far we've only had the chance to try it out in the swimming pool but there it worked great and we're looking forward to using it kayaking as well as ocassional snorkeling.
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- Greg McCroskery Contact Greg McCroskery Greg McCroskery's Gallery |
Jim, Have you considered one of the Micro Four Thirds models by either Olympus or Panasonic? Specifically, the Panasonic DMC-G3 is 16MP, offers a fully articulating LCD, shoots full high def. video, and a ton of other features. Micro Fourth Thirds cameras are like miniaturized DSLR's that use high quality Electrical View Finder systems. The lenses are also miniaturized, high quality optics. Both Olympus and Panasonic offer a pretty full range of lenses that will mount onto either model. You can look at a full review of the Panasonic DMC-G3 on WWW.DPReview.com. The G3 with 14-42mm lens (28-84mm, 35mm equivalent) runs somewhere around $650. God Bless,
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sherry y. miller |
I love my Canon S95. It is truly a pocket size camera with lots of manual controls. Pictures are sharp! I had a G11 and sold it for the portability of the S95. I think the G11, G12, the Micro 4/3, or S95 are awesome choices. It really comes down to what you want to be able to control and the size you are looking for. Good Luck!
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- Janice M. LeCocq Contact Janice M. LeCocq Janice M. LeCocq's Gallery  |
I have the G10, and it's a great little camera.
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Allen W. Harry |
I have had my G12 for some time. It goes everwhere I go, even when I have my big guns on a shoot. Love the fact that it shoots RAW, close up and clear sharp images. Allen
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- Carolyn M. Fletcher Contact Carolyn M. Fletcher Carolyn M. Fletcher's Gallery |
I have both the Sony H-1 and the HX-1..The HX has panoramas added besides the super zoom. I use the H-1 with a Hoya 72 filter for Infrared photos. I don't like the batteries on the H-1.. it uses rechargable AA's. Not anywhere as good as the HX1's battery.
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Dan W. Dooley |
Going back to the original question. If the need for water proof use is important (as it was for me) then any camera selected should be checked for the availibility of a waterproof housing. That was one major reason for our selecting the G12. We don't plan on taking a dunking while kayaking but I certainly would not want my 40D SLR out there with no protection. Thus the reason we got the waterproof case for the G12.
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Jim Echols |
Dan, my thoughts exactly. I have already came close a couple of times dumping my DSLR into the river while kayaking. I like the fact too of the waterproof case. Placing a DSLR with a 300MM lens in a zip lock freezer bag isn't the best situtation. After reading about the G11, I thought it might be a better since it's an older model and I thought would be less expensive. Boy was I wrong, the G11 is about $150 more than the G12.
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Dan W. Dooley |
One of the things which sold me on the G12 (in addition to the usual "it shoots RAW" and other similar plusses) is that it has some easily accessible controls on top. In addition to Mode setting wheel knob directly under it is the larger and thus very convient ISO wheel knob. On the other side is a wheel knob for EC. Those may not seem like big deals but I like not having to dig into menus for frequently set functions. I've set it to P (for my wife's easy use) and ISO and EC are rigth there for easy changing if needed. Inside the waterproof case, ALL of those functions are easily accessible and quite visible. I even figured out how to access controls which use the back panel wheel. After I read the under water housing manual, that is. :-) I'm not saying I'll never take my 40D with the 100-400 L lens on it out on the water but I'll have to have a very secure bag to put it in first.
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- Carlton Ward Contact Carlton Ward Carlton Ward's Gallery |
Great timing for this discussion as I too am looking for a small camera when I dont want to carry my 5D2/lenses :) I love that it shoots raw and 10mp is plenty large enough. Those 21mp files from my 5D2 eat a lot of disk space quickly. How is the viewfinder on the G12 ? Cheers, Carlton
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Dan W. Dooley |
Carlton, I think the most I can say about the viewfinder is that it's respectible. The fact that the camera has a viewfinder is a plus since so many smaller cameras do not. It's not very big but for normal shooting it's big enough. It has a diopter adjustment to accomdate different eye conditions. There is no digital data display inside it (unlike what we're used to in a dSLR) even if the digital display on the back of the camera is reveresed. If the display is in the OFF mode, I'm not sure. Haven't tried that but I suspect it is not. One small curiosity which is not a big deal. At least I don't think so. In the widest lens position, the shortest focal length, a small portion of the front edge of the lens is just visible in the viewfinder. That's probably to be expected considering the size of the camera putting the viewfinder window so close to the lens. I am not sure what the percentage of view is available. I think that info is available in the manual, of course. It does not have any sort of grid or any other indicator aids. It's just an optical viewfinder in its basic function. Probably most shooting is going to be with the rear LCD screen. There's a lot of useful info present on it including the usual data and a handy level indicator. One more thing, with the camera mounted inside the waterproof housing the viewfinder is not really usable. Especially since the flash diffuser on the front of the case is in front of the viewfinder.
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Jim Echols |
I do like the fact that you can save battery life by using the viewfinder but sounds like it may be more of a hindrance since it's so basic.
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Dan W. Dooley |
Hard to say if it's much of a hindrance or not. Guess it all depends. Obviously you won't have the shooting details visible but if the camera is in one of the more automatic or program modes it will serve to view and compose the shot. Certainly handy on a bright day when seeing the LCD display may be more difficult. Of course then it gets back to one of the major advantages of digital shooting. Instant view of the shot image. If the display is turned off to save battery use, does it still show you a preview of the shot image?
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