G11 Review by the Strobist

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The Strobist, David Hobby, has been a fan of the G Series Powershots since the G7 in spite of his otherwise devotion to Nikon DSLRs. Now he has replaced his G10 with a G11 and writes about it here. He also explains the concept of overpowering the sun and tricking the G11 into high speed sync with non-Canon flashes. I learned to do this with my G9 by following his examples (and am missing that ability with my new 7D).
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Comparison of all Powershot G Cameras

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In this very interesting article, the author conducted tests of every Powershot G camera: G1, G2, G3, G5, G6, G7, G9, G10. Cropped versions of both uprezzed and downrezzed images are shown for all ISO sensitivities. Prints were made and three people evaluated and ranked those prints. Very interesting!
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Lensmate and Canon Adapters for the G9

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The Canon G9 has a non-interchangeable zoom lens without threads for attaching filters. What? I thought … Yes, there are accessory lens and filters for the G9. These accessories are attached to a simple tubular adapter that fits over the lens as shown here. The G7 and G9 use the same adapter, Canon LA-DC58H. To attach the adapter, first remove the decorative ring which covers and protects the connection at the camera. The adapter has standard 58mm filter threads so anything that has 58mm threads can be attached (even a reversed lens!). Popular accessories are filters, especially polarizing filters , and lenses. Canon makes wide angle, telephoto and macro accessory lenses.

In addition to Canon, there are third party manufacturers for adapters, lenses and other accessories. One of the most popular is Lensmate. A U.S. company, Lensmate makes adapters for many different Canon cameras and also sells compatible lenses and filters to match its adapters. The Lensmate web site is an excellent source of information including comparisons of many different attachment lenses and filters: wide angle, telephoto and macro.




Shown above are the Canon and Lensmate adapters for the Canon G7/G9. The adapters are very similar except that the Canon adapter is made of hard plastic and the Lensmate adapter is made of anodized aluminium.

The Lensmate adapter comes with a protective end cap and can be ordered with a cover as shown here. Both the Canon and Lensmate adapters work very well and protect the lens while making the G9 even more versatile. I first used the Canon but now keep the Lensmate version in my bag after a filter got stuck on the Canon version. (The filter probably became stuck because of thermal expansion. Later, it unscrewed easily with no damage to filter or adapter.)

There is a wealth of information on the Lensmate website, including Richard Franiec’s line of accessories. Well worth checking out!

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G9 Wiki!

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The G9 has a Wiki! In fact, the entire Powershot G series of cameras has a Wiki.

A Wiki is a collaborative informative article. You’ve probably heard of “Wikipedia” – the free, online encyclopedia. Well, Wikipedia now includes a Powershot G article. Check it out; in fact, contribute to it!
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MyCanonG7.com – R.I.P

Siegfried Seierlein, founder of the notable website MyCanonG7.com and author of “Photography with the Canon PowerShot G7” (available from Lulu.com) has closed down MyCanonG7.com and the sister site PowerShotValley.com. Better said, Siegfried is reorganizing his site to better represent his own expanding photographic interests and not be limited to the Canon Powershot series. If you check MyCanonG7.com, you can read his announcement. Meanwhile, let’s be patient while we wait to see Siegfried’s new site.

Update: Siegfried's new site is available under the old address. It has changed overnight. Looks like we'll be able to observe his progress. Stay tuned to MyCanonG7.com.

DPReview Tests the G9

Digital Photography Review has today posted an extensive review and report on the Canon G9. They also made comparisons to their previous tests of the Canon G7.

Canon G9

Only a few months ago, I realized that, with the possible exception of flash, my equipment was not the limiting factor in my photographic efforts. I do have quite a bit of equipment and although much of it is old and none of it is “high end”, equipment is not my problem. I resolved to study lighting, especially with small strobe flashes, and to somehow become more creative.

The Strobist is helping me a lot with lighting and flash; he’s even helped with creativity in the process. I’ve added some flash equipment and it’s fun to experiment with lighting. The camera doesn’t particularly matter as long as it can shoot in manual mode and link somehow with a couple of external flashes. I’ve used both a Canon 20D and G3 to study and experiment with lighting.

On the other hand, my Canon G3 was a bit long in the tooth. In the five years since I got it, Canon’s G Series of cameras had progressed from the G3 (there was also a G1 and G2) to the G5, G6 and G7. The G7 was completely unexpected because Canon was said to have dropped the G Series entirely. When the G7 came along, I was interested but then discovered that the G7 did not have RAW capture. The G7 is a very nice looking camera with many devotees (see MyCanonG7.com) but omitting RAW capture actually caused an uproar within the Internet crowd. I was among those who signed petitions of complaint.

Canon responded with the G9. (There are various stories about why Canon skipped G4 and G8 but who really knows?) The G9 has RAW! My bluff was called and I responded. I’ve had a G9 for about a week now and am really enjoying learning to use it. Much of the logic and use are somewhat familiar to me from my experience with the G3 and 20D. The G9 is very similar in appearance to the G7 and has essentially the same features.

So for the next several weeks I plan to tinker with and write about my G9.

My Canon G3

My Canon G3 has been a wonderful tool for learning digital photography. I bought my G3 in December of 2002, shortly after it was introduced, and continue to be very pleased with it.

I've written a short article about the G3 that is posted on another website featuring the Canon G7 -- the latest of the Canon G series. I've also added a page of pictures taken with my G3 to our HornerBuck website.

In 2002, except for the lack of interchangeable lenses, the Canon G3 seemed similar to a DSLR. It had external flash, could use filters and had a wireless remote. The G3 even had the ability to make “RAW” files – whatever that was. It also had the cute flip-out and rotatable LCD screen which I certainly did not need (but have used extensively ever since I first tried it!).

The G3 has helped me to learn digital photography: exposures, exposure combinations, histograms, external flash, multiple flash, flash syncronization, stitching, RAW mode, exposure blending, and High Dynamic Range processing. Could I have learned these techniques without the G3? Sure, but the G3 really helped the process.

In my opinion, the Canon “G” series is an introductory camera to the full featured digital single lens reflex (DSLR). That’s certainly the way I’ve used my G3. There is a saying that “The best camera is the one you have with you.” and the Canon G3 is almost always with me.