G7–> G15?

When the G6 was announced in 2004, I already had a G3 and, although tempted, decided not to upgrade to the G6. After a while, it seemed that the G6 was the end of the line for the G series but then the G7 was a surprise announcement in 2006. The G7 has been followed by a new G series every year from 2007 through 2010 when, once again, there was a two year gap and rumors of the G series coming to an end. Those rumors ended with the announcement of the G15 a few weeks ago.

(As a side note, the G4 and G8 model names were skipped in the past just as the G13 and G14 names have been skipped most recently. That is, there was no G4 or G8. Amusingly, the G4 and G8 are sometimes praised on Internet discussion forums for their quality and features. I expect the same praise to eventually be awarded to the G13 and G14.)

The G7 was a nice looking compact camera but did not have the articulated display screen featured in previous G series models. To my further disappointment, the G7 did not produce RAW image files.  To many people, these shortcomings meant that the G7 was not a “real G”.  All G models after the G7 have included RAW image capability but the articulated display screen did not return until the G11. I passed on the G7 but bought a G9, then a G12 and most recently a G1X.

My point (and yes, there is one) is that there was a two year gap between the G6 (which had an articulated display screen) and the G7 (which did not). There was also a two year gap between the G12 (which had an articulated display screen) and the new G15 (which does not). The G7 was viewed as a test of the compact camera enthusiast market. Is the G15 also a test of the market?

Fortunately, the G15 can produce RAW image files. In fact, the G15 seems to be more like a G12 that has been made more compact (by eliminating the articulated display) than it does an updated G7.

Will there be a G16? Who knows? My thinking is that Canon currently offers too many enthusiast compact cameras (G1X, G15, S110, EOS-M and an advanced EOS-M essentially announced). I expect that, depending on sales volume (of course), either the G1X or G15 will be dropped. But, as Canon has shown in the past, “dropping” a product may really mean a two year gap until the next model is announced.

Oh yes, I eventually bought a used G6 just to complete the “set” (G3, G6, G9, G12). Does that mean I’ll someday have a G15?

Index to G9 Posts

LightDescription probably has more posts featuring or mentioning the Canon G9 than any other topic.  The blog labels (left hand side) are helpful but this Index might be more useful – plus this particular post will serve as a handy reference and link.   

 

1 Second in Av Mode

Adapters, wide angle: Indoors, Outdoors

Batteries

Blurring the background

Cable release

Compare to G3, G6, G12

• General
• Resolution
• Noise
• telephoto
• zoom

Face detection

File size

Filters

• Polarizing
• Graduated
• Bright sky variation 1, variation 2

Flash

• Display screen
• Balancing outdoor
• Cactus wireless trigger
• Yongnuo wireless trigger
• compensation in Av mode

Focus

• Introduction to G9 focusing
• Focusing outdoors
• Focusing indoors
• Face detection
  G9 use of hyperfocal focus
• G9 hyperfocal chart
• Problems focusing on low contrast subjects
• Beeps when focused
• Polarizing filter
• Conclusions

Franiec accessories

Hyperfocal distance, G9 Chart

ISO: 400, 800,1600

Kit

Lens adapters

Macro

Movies

Noise

• Sky at ISO 800
• Compare to G12
• Compare to 7D at ISO 1600

Polarizing filter: Sky; focusing

Resolution

Shooting speed

Shutter lag

Sweet spot

Wide angle converter: Indoors, outdoors, stitching

Features: G9 vs G12 vs G1X

I own and use the PowerShot G9 and G12 and plan to get the G1X.  Below is a rather quick comparison of the specifications and features available in the G9, G12 and G1X.  I did not attempt to list all specifications and features, especially those that were essentially the same or those that I felt were relatively insignificant.  Cells colored green indicate a specification or feature that I felt was significantly desirable or improved in comparison to the other cameras.

G12 Gallery

I’ve added a Canon G12 portfolio to my SmugMug galleries to complement the existing G9 and G3 portfolios.  The G12 portfolio contains 20 pictures (so far).  Interestingly, 28 of the 52 pictures designated “Picture A Week” were made with the G12 and many of these also were selected for the G12 portfolio.

The G12 is a better and more versatile camera than the G9 just as the G9 is an improvement over the G3; however, little technical improvement can be noted by flipping through those portfolios – especially at the viewing resolution.  If anything, the G3, G9 and G12 portfolios are more of an indication of my own interests and skills than the particular camera that was used. 

YN565EX and the G12

The G12 and any large flash become an ungainly, but sometimes useful, combination.  In my introductory remarks about the YN565EX, I noted that it was not purchased for use on the G12 and implied that there were problems. Indeed, the YN565EX should be considered as incompatible with the G12; however, it does work on the G12 in certain modes. Let’s get the bad news out of the way first.

The YN565EX does not work at all – that is, does not even flash – when the G12 is in manual flash mode. This was completely unexpected. I expected some kind of odd ball behavior but it never crossed my mind that the YN565EX would not fire at all when mounted on the G12. Curious, I tried the YN565EX on my G9 only to find the same behavior (after changing batteries in the G9). Next, I tried the YN565EX on the G6 and G3 and discovered that the YN565EX is completely incompatible with those older G series cameras.

On the positive side, the YN565EX does work on the G12 when the G12 is in P, Tv or Av mode. The YN565EX zooms with the G12 zoom and Flash Exposure Compensation can be controlled either by the YN565EX or by the G12. The YN565EX seems to work in either direct or bounce orientation (I say “seems” to work because I did not attempt to check the accuracy of the flash exposure). Again, I’ll comment that the YN565EX is noticeably louder than the 580EX II when flashing. Also, to my eye, the YN565EX produces a more noticeable pre-flash when used on the G12. I would not be confident in using the YN565EX mounted on the G12.

But I didn’t get the YN565EX for direct mounting on the G12; I got it for use in the Canon wireless system. The G12 does not have its own internal wireless controller as does the 7D but the 580EX II can act as the master, or controlling, flash. My first attempts to set the 580EX II as the master flash were unsuccessful and I was beginning to think that the 580EX II was itself incompatible with the G12. Then I discovered that the G12 requires a menu setting to enable the Canon wireless system. As soon as the wireless system was enabled in the G12 menu, the 580EX II immediately became the master flash. Alas, the YN565EX did not respond to the 580EX II as a master when the 580EX II was mounted on the G12.

In my frustration, I got out a Canon 420EX and set it to slave flash mode using the same settings as the YN565EX. Side-by-side with the YN565EX, the 420EX responded to the 580EX II as expected but the YN565EX did not. More frustrated, I removed the 580EX II from the G12 and placed it on the 7D, noting that the settings did not change. When triggered by the 7D, both the YN565EX and the 420EX fired as expected -- end of compatibility tests.

Well, almost the end of compatibility tests. In optical slave flash mode, the YN565EX does respond to the G12 internal flash and also to the 580EX II when mounted on the G12.  The YN565EX also responds to the simple Yongnuo RF-602 wireless trigger. These are very useful features.

My conclusion is that although the YN565EX is not totally incompatible with the G12, it is best to declare the YN565EX as being incompatible and therefore avoid the frustration of attempting to remember which settings and modes work and which do not. I won’t be using the YN565EX with my G series cameras except as an optical slave flash or with the RF-602 trigger.

… but I’m still OK with having purchased the YN565EX.

Clone Batteries Kaput!

My G9 became a (mostly) unused spare camera when I got my G12 even though the G9 is used on occasion to photograph the G12 and its accessories. As part of testing the compatibility of the YN565EX flash, I put it on the G9 only to discover that the G9 battery was dead. No problem, I had spares. Whoops, that spare was usable but weak so I tried yet another spare battery and this one was usable. Then I noticed that the weak batteries were both clones whereas the usable battery was the original Canon battery.

For camera batteries, I follow a philosophy of one in the camera, one in the pocket and one on the charger. As this practice is both debatable and expensive, I usually use inexpensive cloned batteries. Most of the time I get those clones from Sterlingtek.com (I have no affiliation with Sterlingtek except as a customer).

The next step, of course, was to recharge the weak cloned batteries; however, the charger changed from “charging” to “charged” all too quickly for both batteries so something was not quite right. After only a few shots and screen displays the G9 again indicated that the batteries were weak.

This post is really not a rant or even a gripe. These particular batteries, NB2L Li-ion, were purchased as spares almost exactly four years ago (I write the purchase date on the batteries). It does seem strange for both clones to go bad at the same time. Perhaps the lack of use was a contributing factor? I know that the G9 was used on July 4th this year and also that all the G9 batteries were recharged before a vacation in mid-July.

The problem does not appear to be with the G9 or the battery charger because the original Canon battery works and charges fine. On the other hand, what if the original battery is on its last legs? Even though the G9 is not used very often, I want it to be available so after a few minutes of internal debate, I placed an order with Sterlingtek for two NB2L batteries ($30 plus shipping).

Fireworks Fiasco

Well, almost, anyway.  I wanted to photograph the neighborhood fireworks display and play with a handful of cameras in the process.  Here’s what I did:

G3 using the built-in intervalometer at 1 shot per minute for 100 shots.  ISO 50, 2 second exposure, f4, manual focus at infinity.

G6 set up the same as the G3 but pointed in a different direction.

The G9 doesn’t have an intervalometer and no external connections to use one so the G9 was set in its “HD” movie mode (1024x768 at 15 fps).

G12 connected to a cheap no-name external intervalometer (worked fine).  ISO 80, 2 second exposure, f4, 1 shot every 4 seconds, manual focus at infinity.

7D triggered manually using wired remote, ISO 400, 2 seconds at f8. 

I knew I was trusting to luck on the G3 and G6 but it never occurred to me that my luck would be so bad.  Nothing.

The G9 movies were pretty bad and had lots of noise. 

Of the 298 G12 shots, a handful were OK.  That is, when the intervalometer got lucky, the photo was OK. 

I got by far the most keepers by triggering the 7D myself.  I used the old tried and true method of watching for a rocket launch and pressing the remote button – or just taking a random guess that it was about time for another launch.

The picture above is a composite of five shots that were combined in Photoshop.  Not bad but not what I hoped for.

G12: Hot Shoe Cover –> No Flash

From time to time there are reports of the G12 internal flash absolutely refusing to work in spite of (almost) every possible corrective action – including resetting – that could be imagined. Frequently the problem is related to a small micro switch located in the hot shoe, see the above image. The purpose of the micro switch is to inform the G12 that an external flash has been attached but if the micro switch has become stuck or unintentionally depressed then the G12 is misinformed. Result: no flash.

The problem is not confined to the G12; the micro switch is used on all the G series Powershots. The photos in this post are of the Powershot G9. The image above shows the G9 hot shoe with a cover designed by Richard Franiec. Notice that Richard cleverly engraved his design with “G” for “Gordon” (although some believe there were other reasons).

Knowing that the G series hot shoe has a micro switch, the Franiec cover is relieved along one side so that the micro switch is not activated when the cover is in place. There are other hot shoe covers available but all are not compatible with the Powershot micro switch. The G series internal flash will not work if an incompatible hot shoe cover is placed in the hot shoe.

I bought my G9 hot shoe cover directly from Richard and the G12 hot shoe cover from Lensmate. The same cover is used for G7 through G12.  My G3 and G6 also have the micro switch but the Franiec cover is just a bit too wide to fit.

There have also been reports of a stuck micro switch but more often the “flash doesn’t work” problem seems to be an incompatible hot shoe cover.

Light Description in 2010

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Seems hard to believe, but this blog is about to enter its fifth year of "publication".  I initiated Light Description as a means to learn about blogging and to force myself to be more disciplined and organized in my thinking about photography.  Along the way, I found that participants in photography discussion forums often ask the same questions over and over.  This blog has become a convenient way to answer those repetitive forum questions in more detail with less typing.  Of course, Light Description is also a platform for showing the occasional good picture that I get as well as griping when things or equipment are not to my liking.  For all these reasons, I like my blog.

Light Description really picked up when I got my Canon G9; in fact, to some viewers, Light Description is the "G9 Blog".  Now that I have a G12, I suppose Light Description will become the "G12 Blog".  Actually, my best camera is the Canon 7D but I take the most pictures and have the most fun with the G9 and G12.  In fact, I bought a G6 not long ago just to see how it filled in those gaps between my G3 and G9.

A few statistics:  Last year, Light Description has 46974 visits from 35407 unique visitors for an average of 129 daily visits.  Visits typically run between 100 and 200; the peak was 337 visits in one day.  Visitors average reading two posts before exiting. Most visitors are from the USA, UK, Canada and Australia but the list includes 156 countries!  Most traffic to Light Description is generated by search engines but nearly the same amount is generated by direct referrals from other sites. 

The most popular posts on Light Description are:
1.  Yongnuo Speedlite YN460-II
2.  G12 and G9 in Noise Modes
3.  G12 Lens Adapters
4.  G12:  Going Wide

Plans for the future include, well, more of the same.  I'm still learning the ins and outs of the G12 and have a few new gadgets to report on as well.  I'm anxious to learn more about video on both the G12 and 7D; frankly, video is a bit intimidating. 

Light Description is completely non-commercial and almost certain to remain so.  The various cameras, accessories and gadgets that I report on have been purchased with my own funds for my own use.  Obviously, I am not a professional photographer or blogger.

Thanks for reading Light Description.  Stay tuned in 2011 but don't forget to use the labels and search function to find useful information from previous posts.
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G Series: 1 Second Av

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The longest shutter speed available for a Powershot G in Av mode is 1 second.  There, I've said it.  OK, so I'm not 100% sure about this.  The G1 or G2 might be different but my G3, G6, G9 and G12 all have this problem -- or feature, depending on how you look at it -- and I've read enough questions and complaints to feel sure that the G5, G7, G10 and G11 are programmed with the same limit.  The 1 second limit is not a bug because all the G series have it.  Although not a particularly serious problem, the 1 second exposure limit is unexpected -- especially since I typically forget!

Perhaps the 1 second limit is Canon's attempt to save us from ourselves because, of course, we could not hand hold the camera for that duration.  But we also could not hand hold the camera for 1/2 second or, after several coffees, even 1/30 second.  Plus, the little jiggly camera icon comes on to warn us at slow shutter speeds.  Besides, the shutter speed can be set for more than 1 second in Tv or, or course, M modes.  Therefore, I suspect that the 1 second limit is an arbitrary one or perhaps a programming convenience.

The vast majority of the time that the 1 second limit in Av mode becomes a problem to me is when I'm making a High Dynamic Range (HDR) photo.   To make an HDR photo, I typically mount the camera on a tripod, set the lowest ISO, select Av mode and set a mid-range f-stop.  I then use the auto bracketing feature of the camera.  The G series auto bracking can be set for 3 shots at +/- 2 stops.  When the camera is in Av mode, the "stops" are adjusted by changing shutter speed.  As an example, if the "correct" exposure is f5 at 1/60 second then the auto bracketing process produces an underexposed shot at f5, 1/240 and an overexposed shot at f5, 1/15 second.  Most of the time, this works out fine; however, if the base case exposure is, say 1/2 second, then the overexposed shot is at 1 second instead of the expected 2 seconds.  If the base case exposure is at 1 second then the "overexposed" shot is also taken at 1 second which is not useful.

For purposes of bracketing in Tv mode, remember that the (most recent) G series really has only 4 stops of aperture exposure bracketing:  f2.8, f4, f5.6 and f8.  Not all of those apertures are available at all zoom settings.  Also, for purposes of creating an HDR image, variations in aperture produce variations in focus and depth of field.  

As a result of the 1 second exposure limit in Av mode, long exposure HDR sets must be done in manual mode.

Now I can use this post as a reference for anticipated future complaints and explanations.
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G: 3, 6, 9, 12

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Canon introduced the PowerShot G series with the G1 in September 2000. Since then, there have been ten G series cameras; the current version is the G12. For various reasons, usually said to be “bad luck”, there was no G4 or G8. This means that the G12 could have been marketed as the “Tenth Anniversary Edition”; however, it was not. Strange.

I began my G experience with the G3, still have it and use it on occasion. I learned a lot about photography in general and digital photography in particular by using the G3. This blog was begun a few years after getting the G3 but does include posts about the G3.



Although greatly tempted by the G6, my next G was the G9 and I've written about it extensively. In fact, counting the labels, there are 132 posts in this blog that are labeled G9. I still have my G9 (as you might guess, I tend to keep cameras!). It is a fun camera and my goal – nearly achieved – was to squeeze every bit of performance from it that I possibly could. I've now transferred that goal to the G12.




I've not regretted skipping the G5 and, without RAW, did not consider the G7. But that skipped G6 remained a missing link until last week when I was able to find a good one. Now that I have a working G6, I'll play with it alongside the G12 for a few weeks. Meanwhile, here's a summary comparison of the main features of the G3, G6, G9, G12.

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G12: Going Wide

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Whereas my G9 was obviously designed for both wide angle and telephoto add-on converter lenses, the G12 apparently is not designed for wide angle converter lenses.  I say this simply because the G9 menu included a setting for wide angle converter but the G12 menu does not.  In addition, the G12 instruction manual includes the Canon TC-DC58D telephoto converter but not the wide angle converter and Canon does not list wide angle converters as accessories for the G12.

On the other hand, Canon does not say "Don't never, ever use a wide angle converter lens with the G12!" and I happen to already have the Canon wide angle converter lens WC-DC58B which is a 0.75x converter.  When used with my G9, the WC-DC58B produced a focal length of 26mm (in comparison to full frame 35mm film cameras).  With the G12, the same converter lens would produce a focal length of 21mm -- if it worked.

Of course, the WC-DC58B does work with the G12.  As shown in the above photo, the 21mme view is quite wider than the natural 28mme of the G12.   The inside view is from previous photos of the ski lake and the wider view is with the 21mme attached.  (Photo made by superimposing pictures and drawing an outline around the 28mme picture.)  The trick to getting the wide angle converter to work is proper mounting on the camera.

Vignetting can be a problem in mounting wide angle converters to the G12.  To mount auxiliary lenses and filters to my G12, I use the Lensmate adapter system.  In the Lensmate system, the "A" adapter is shorter than simple one piece adapters but is long enough to mount the WC-DC58B wide angle converter lens and also has the proper 58mm threads.  To get the above photo, I carefully screwed the converter lens into the adapter while continuously chanting "DO NOT ZOOM!  DO NOT ZOOM!".  It seems to me that this combination works.

To test the reports of vignetting, I next tried the WC-DC58B on the full Lensmate adapter (A+B components).  Yes, vignetting is a problem because the converter lens is not close to the camera lens.  With a little zooming, the vignetting disappears but so does the advantage of the wide angle. 

Although I've read reports of difficulty in focusing the G12 when the wide angle lens is attached, I've not found focusing to be a problem -- perhaps because I use the small Flexizone frame with my G12 just as I used it with the G9.  Of course, depth of field is really deep at 21mme!

On the other hand, reports of focus problems might actually be a result of reduced image quality.   The convenience and price is great but, just as in the days of film, these simple screw-on converters have adverse effects on image quality.

My conclusion is that I'll occasionally use the WC-DC58B with the Lensmate "A" adapter on my G12  (DO NOT ZOOM!) for convenience but my preference is to stitch multiple images when the goal is an enlarged print. 
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G12: Lens Adapters

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The flexibility of the G12 is greatly enhanced by using a lens adapter. With the right lens adapter, the G12 can be fitted with filters, close-up lenses, wide angle converter lenses and telephoto converter lenses. Although Canon makes its own adapter, the LA-DC58K, I decided to use the Lensmate adapter, Canon G12/G11/G10 Adapter, which comes in three sections: A, B, C (see above photo, left-to-right). Lensmate developed their system in response to vignetting complaints about the Canon system and answers some questions in a FAQ page. I decided on the Lensmate system based on my favorable experience with Lensmate adapters on my G9.

In the Lensmate system, Part A is the base and is always used as the connection to the camera body. Part B terminates in a 58mm filter thread and is the same outside diameter as Part A. Part C flares to a diameter larger than Part A and terminates in a 72mm filter thread adapter. The basic idea is that Part B is used to mount telephoto adapters and close-up or macro lenses whereas Part C is used to avoid vignetting at wide angle focal lengths. Part A can actually be used alone to mount filters or wide angle converters; however, care must be taken to avoid zooming the lens into the filter or conversion lens. I bought the full set of A, B, C adapters.

With the A and B parts, filter size is the same as for the other G series cameras so I already have the polarizing and graduated neutral density filters. The 72mm filter for part C is quite large but I have 77mm filters used with DSLR lenses. I could get adapter rings but am considering a Cokin system with adjustable graduated neutral density filters. It seems to me that polarizing filters do not create even effects for wide angle lenses.

The above photo is the G12 as fitted with A and C adapters.  There are handling, protection and perception advantages when the adapter is mounted on the G series and some users prefer to use an adapter all the time. I normally use the adapter only when necessary.
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G Series Resolution

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In a previous post, I showed that my G12 has less noise at high ISO than does my G9. DxOMark shows this comparison more scientifically and in more detail. Some credit for this improvement in noise should go to the reduction in pixel density and, I assume, some credit goes to noise reduction software (in-camera in this case). I'd also like to think that some credit would go to true improvements in sensor technology. Whatever the real case, the first explanation is usually that an increase in megapixels means an increase in noise.

The ultimate in noise performance would be, I suppose, a single but very large pixel; however, that design would not be very useful to photographers. We can feel intuitively that there must be an advantage to having many pixels. That advantage is resolution.

Dpreview includes resolution testing as part of its intensive camera reviews and reports. I've summarized the Dpreview resolution test results for the G series cameras below.

In the above comparisons, “Resolution” is the horizontal “Absolute Resolution”in lines per picture height as measured and reported by Dpreview. Dpreview includes a vertical resolution in their test reports but as that number is similar to the horizontal resolution, I've omitted it in favor of brevity. Remember that G series sensors have been essentially (but not exactly) the same physical size. The G12 has not been tested by Dpreview at this date.

Interestingly and as expected, G series resolution has generally increased with pixel count but there also appears to be an effect of time, or more likely, improved technology. The 10MP G11 has better resolution that does the 10MP G7 and even better resolution that my 12MP G9. I expect that the resolution of the G12 is likely to be about the same as the G11.
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G12 and G9 in Noise Modes

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This attractive scene was especially arranged for purposes of testing G9 and G12 at high ISO. The G9 and G12 were tripod mounted and set for 2 second shutter delay to minimize camera shake. Cameras were set in Av mode at f4 and zoomed to produce roughly the same composition. The picture above was taken at ISO 80 with the G12 at 0.6 second exposure. The picture below is at ISO 3200 with the G12 at 1/60 second. All images in this post are from the in-camera JPEGs.

At first glance, the G12 ISO 3200 shot is nearly indistinguishable from the ISO 80 shot – especially for these reduced and compressed images. (Click on the images for an enlarged but not full size view.) The image below is from the G9 at ISO 1600 and 1/40 second.

As noted by DxOMark, the actual and indicated ISO are different for the G9 and G12. For purposes of testing, I decided to first use the G9 at ISO 800 and 1600 and then adjust the ISO of the G12 to produce the same exposure as the G9. The corresponding G12 ISOs were 1000 and 2000 but this turned out to have a relatively minor effect.

Yielding to the temptation to pixel peep, the image below is 100% crops at ISO 800 for the G9 and 1000 for the G12, click for a larger image.

Even though we know not to pixel peek, doing so shows that higher ISO produces noisy images. The noise is even worse at ISO 1600 for the G9 and ISO 2000 for the G12 as shown below.

From the 100% crops of high ISO images, one would think that prints would be terrible but I printed a full frame 8x10 of each shot and they were all surprisingly better than expected.  I made a game out of guessing the camera and ISO for each print and included ISO 800 and 1600 for the G12. Although I sometimes confused G12 ISO 800 vs 1000 and G12 ISO 1600 vs 2000, I usually got the ISO order approximately correct and could always sort out the G9 prints from the G12 prints with careful examination. What I'm trying to say is that at first glance all the prints looked OK but there are differences. I suspect that a casual observer would not readily detect the difference between a G9 ISO 800, G9 ISO 1600, G12 ISO 1000 and G12 ISO 2000 print but I'd like to think that the ISO 80 and ISO 3200 prints would be noticed by most people.

So, what to make of all this? It is obvious to me that the G12 produces better high ISO images than does the G9; in fact, I'd say that the G12 is about one “stop” better than the G9. That is, if ISO 400 is OK on the G9 then ISO 800 is OK on the G12, etc. I'll try to stay at ISO 800 or less on the G12 but for casual snapshots even ISO 1600 is probably OK.

With the release of Adobe Camera Raw for the G12, I hope to make further reductions in noise by shooting in RAW – more later.
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Compare G Series in DxOMark

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DxO Labs has a website, DxOMark, that can be used to make various comparisons of cameras, lenses and sensors.  To compare the various G series sensors, go to the menu on the left hand side, click "Camera Sensor" and then "Compare Sensors".  Up to three sensors can be compared. 

I first chose to compare the G12 and G11 sensors.  These are essentially the same so I then compared the G12, G10 and G9.  (I've linked my comparisons but the link doesn't seem to work for everyone.) The G12 has an overall score of 47, the G10 scores 37 and the G9 35 but it is more useful and interesting to examine the charts that compare the ISO sensitivity, signal to noise ratio, dynamic range, tonal range and color sensitivity.  The charts are accessed by clicking on the rectangles just above the pictures of the cameras. 

On the ISO Sensitivity chart, notice that the measured ISO of the G12 and G10 are relativity close to Canon's rating but the measured ISO of the G9 is noticeably higher than Canon's rating.  For example, when the G9 is set for ISO 800, the real ISO is 1068.  Taking another example, when making noise comparisons between the G9 and G12, if the G9 is set at ISO 1600, it is really working at 2281; the G12 set at ISO 1600 is really working at ISO 1378.  To account for these differences, the remainder of the DxO charts are based on measured ISO.

To my way of viewing the charts, the G12 sensor turns out better in every way than the G9 and G10.  The charts do not show image resolution because resolution would be a function of sensor and lens combined. 
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G12 vs G9 Images: Sky, Grass, Telephoto

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This is a sort of "for what it's worth" comparison -- and it may not be worth much but was easy to do.   The important aspect of these comparisons is they are probably representative of photos, settings and actions that a photographer might do with either the G9 or G12.  I made these shots while shooting the lake scene in the previous post.

In the photo above, I simply took a shot of the sky with the G12 in Av mode at f4.5, ISO 80 and zoomed all the way to telephoto.  The G12 selected a shutter speed of 1/640 second.  I did the same for the G9 but backed off the telephoto to somewhat duplicate the G12 focal length.  (Turns out I missed it.  The G12 shot is at 30.5mm, the G9 at 36.8mm.)  The G9 also selected 1/640 second.  I then cropped a 400 pixel x 400 pixel sample from the center of each of the in-camera JPEGs and pasted them side by side.  In addition to the G9 shot being slightly darker, it seems to me to have a "texture".  OK, so we're pixel peeping here but, still, I prefer the G12 sample.

Next, I repeated the experiment by photographing the grass.  The G9 was zoomed to its widest focal length of 7.4mm and set for f4 in Av mode; exposure was 1/320 second.  Although the G12 will go even wider (6.1mm), I tried to guess at 7.4mm (missed that one also -- actual setting was 8.1mm).  When set for f4, the G12 selected an exposure of 1/250 second.  The picture below shows the 100% crops side by side.  I thought the G9 might be a bit soft but it seems fine to me.  I'd accept either shot.

Next, I wanted to uprez the G12 telephoto to the same image size produced by the G9.  Recall that the G9 is has 12MP and 44.4mm telephoto as compared to the 10MP and 30.5mm telephoto of the G12.  I uprezzed the G12 telephoto shot from the previous post until the tree in the center of the G12 photo was the same size on my computer screen at 100% pixel view as was the G9 telephoto shot of the tree.  Then I cropped those 100% views and pasted them side by side as shown below.

The G12 does not come out so well in this comparison and I did not expect it to.  After all, "uprezzing" is a process of creating pixels where none existed previously.  If I'd thought to do so, I'd have used the digital zoom of the G12; however, the process I used is about the same (I think).  This side-by-side comparison shows that true optical zoom is better than digital zoom.  For scenes needing focal lengths longer than that of the G12, I'll be using the G9.

(I hope the differences show up as described after the posting process.  The JPEGs were saved at the highest setting in Photoshop.  You should be able to click on an image to see it full size.)
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G12: Comparison to G9 Landscape and Zoom Range

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Just as I often go to the Rural Life Museum to test photo gear, I also shoot this scene routinely. For the above shot, I put the G12 in Av mode at f4.5, ISO 80, small Flexizone focus rectangle and widest zoom setting (28mme). The matching shutter speed was 1/1000 second. The matching G9 shot is below (except that somehow the f-stop was set to f4 on the G9). These are the untouched JPEGs straight from the cameras except for downsizing.

There isn't a lot of overall difference between the G12 and the G9 images except that the G12 image includes slightly more of the overall scene because of the wide angle lens (28mme vs 35mme). What about zooming in?

The picture above is from the G12 at maximum zoom and f4.5, 1/400 second.  The 140mme telephoto of the G12 produces a bit wider view than does the 210mme of the G9 (f4.8, 1/250) shown below.  The G9 choose to slightly increase exposure as compared to the G12.  The G9 exposure is probably a result of the tighter zoom.

Not so apparent here, but it seemed to me that the G12 produced a slightly better image than the G9 when the focal lengths were forced to be the same; however, this may well be self-justification on my part.  I do think that the shadow areas in G12 images showed slightly better detail.

I suspect that RAW images (which I also obtained) from the G9 and G12 might well be processed  to have even fewer differences than these in-camera JPEGs.   I'll give those RAW images a try after Adobe releases the necessary update to Camera Raw.

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G12: Returned -- NOT

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Although I really thought I'd return the G12, as I was on my way to Best Buy with re-packaged G12 and receipt in hand, I realized that I was hoping my copy would be defective.  If the store demo worked with the wireless trigger in my pocket then my G12 could be exchanged.  The firmware version could be checked afterward to satisfy my curiosity.  To my dismay, the store demo G12 suffered the same firmware bug (I claim) as my own copy.  Showing my great faith in Canon, I decided to keep the G12 anyway -- I'm having a good time with it.

Within the past two days, there have been reports or confirmations on Internet discussion forums regarding this issue with the G12.  I think (hope!) that this is a firmware bug and that Canon will quickly make it right.  In the meantime, I'll continue to work and play with my G12 and write about it in this blog.  I'm currently replacing the G9 and its accessories with the G12 and have some G12 accessories on the way.

Now, come on Canon -- fix my G12!
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G12: Flash compatibility problem

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Just when I was beginning to really like the G12, I stumbled across a problem while quickly trying various accessories with it.

One of the most viewed posts on this blog has been the list of compatible flashes that work with the G9. Actually, almost anything seems to work with the G9 although you do have to be careful about high voltage with older flash units.

I regularly use non-Canon flashes (I have Canon flashes also) because the G9 will sync at very high shutter speeds to non-Canon flashes. I've also used the Cactus wireless trigger and, more recently, the Yongnuo wireless triggers. The operating mode for high speed sync is manual exposure and manual flash. All these non-Canon accessories work fine on the G9. Unfortunately, they do not work on the G12.

Correction: My non-Canon flashes and accessories do "work" on the G12 but the G12 display screen blanks out as soon as it acquires focus (using half pressed shutter button). The screen doesn't really go blank, it shows the exposure without the effect of flash -- typically very dark. That is, the non-Canon flashes and accessories work but the G12 does not work very well. I may have a setting wrong but, if so, can't find it.

After email and telephone correspondence with Canon tech services, it appears that I'm the only one (first one?) to complain about the screen blanking problem when using non-Canon accessories (wireless and flash). Basically, the Canon position is that they are not responsible for performance with non-Canon accessories.

Although I understand the Canon position, the G3 and G9 actually work fine with the very same accessories. From what I've read, the G10 and G11 also work fine with non-Canon flash accessories. Using G series with non-Canon flash is a popular technique for getting high speed sync. I think this is a bug in the G12 firmware and will be corrected; however, the Canon emails and representative gave no hope of a firmware update. Therefore, after waiting a few more days while hoping for an encouraging email, I'll be returning the G12.

Too bad, I was really beginning to like it.
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