Wow, Christiane, what an incredible resource you are! I'll be printing this out and taking it with me to B&H. The lag time on the shutter will take some getting used to, but it sounds like that's almost impossible to avoid with digital unless you're willing to spend 2 grand. The extreme depth of field is my other big concern. Is there no way around this? Do digital cameras take multiple lenses the way film cameras do? Forgive my ignorance if this is a silly question - I really have no experience in digital (which I'm sure is obvious). Again, thank you so much! You really went above and beyond and I appreciate it. Christy -----Original Message----- From: Christiane Roh [mailto:rohcris@vtx.ch] Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2002 7:25 PM To: List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students Subject: Re: digital camera question Le 2.10.2002 1:36, « Bright, Christy [IBD] » <christy.bright@citigroup.com> a écrit : > I'm considering buying the Canon Powershot G2. Anyone have any experience with > it or any thoughts on its quality? Is it suitable for professional use? It > comes highly recommended from a photographer whose work with it I adore, but I > was hoping to get a few other opinions before I lay down the cash. Hi Christy, I've got one of these little cameras one year ago and I do really love it. I was so convinced by it.. That six months later I got the Canon D60. What I love with the G2 : 1) the ease of digital : no more scanning 2) the lovely swiveling display screen which allow you to shoot with new angle of view and unseen. 3) the image quality : as stated by Rob, it's the best you can get from a digital point and shoot. 4) the complete control you can get on almost every settings including manual modes. 5) the ability to make great pictures with a very small and light camera (like a notebook you can always keep with yourself). 6) the ability to check the picture taken for correct exposure with the mean of an histogram (sharpness is more difficult to check however). 7) the well designed user interface (I found it was easier than on the Nikon Coolpix). 8) the very long life of the battery. 9) the possibility to use IBM Microdrives (especially if you shoot a lot). What bothered me : 1) the somewhat buggy Canon software and slow conversion of raw image to tif (but if you are using a PC then there are many good alternatives which we don't have with a Mac. 2) a little noise at 400 ASA.. What can bother some : 1) the extreme depth of field : it is almost impossible to get blurred background, even at F2.8 and using the tele at its max length (102mm equivalent in 35mm). 2) the problem that you don't get a really wide angle equivalent, but only approximately 32mm (go for the Nikon 5000 if you want a 28mm wide, but the zoom will then be shorter); you can add an adapter and a special lens if you want to get a larger angle of view on the G2, but it adds very cumbersome gear to a small camera. 3) some complained about the flash overexposing in automode (but I tend to use available light) and if I get some overexposure I tend to think I was too near of the subject. 4) a very very poor optical viewfinder : I ended up using the display screen only (but I love it, provided you are more careful with camera shakes, you won't regret it). The main reason why I got the D60 is : SHUTTERLAG SHUTTERLAG SHUTTERLAG SHUTTERLAG.. Some pretend one can drive it down to less than a second by cutting the display screen off, setting the camera in pano/landscape mode (the program adjusts for the max DOF and thus takes benefits from the loooong DOF and skip the Autofocus step), memorizing the exposure in advance. But I don't want to work for ever using the auto everything mode. So I got the D60.. But on the D60 I regret : 1) a more cumbersome piece of equipment 2) a more obtrusive piece of equipment 3) you get 6 meg instead of 4, which is often, but not always, a good thing, because it comes at a price : it takes more time to convert and much more space on your HDD and CDs when converted. You don't always need all these pixels, but you can't get raw pictures at lower size, so unless you accept JPG, you are condemned to use the max resolution. 4) no swiveling display screen, no live preview of the image in the display screen. 5) the fixed display screen can only be used to check the pictures after you have taken it, but the way you can only enlarge the picture twice instead of three times with the G2. You can't move through the enlarged picture as easily as with the G2 and you realize soon that this is not a feature you can really use. Conclusion : 1) the G2 is really the best of cameras in order to get a feel of what digital is. It will allow you to take pictures which you can enlarge at letter size, or even to A3 with the help of Genuine Fractal. Compared to the D60, it has some more noise already at 200 ISO and clearly more at 400 ISO. 2) it's the camera that months after months gets the more hits on the best www site about digital cameras : http://www.dpreview.com 3) check there for a very complete review concerning the Canon G2 : http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong2/ 4) Canon has just released the CanonG3 which is said to have a better AF system (called a flexizone compared to the G2 three selectable zone method). http://www.dpreview.com/news/0209/02091605canong3.asp It is still a 4meg model however and it comes with the same sensor and same lens as the G2. Depending on your budget, it may be a good moment to get an interesting price on the G2, be it second hand or new. 5) I'd also seriously consider a second hand D30 if I was a pro on a budget. Although it has just a little less pixels than the G2, the quality of the picture is so much better that you won't notice the difference. A friend of mine, who has both a D30 and a D60 for his studio, told me that the D30 was sharper than the D60. So, in case you have already Canon lenses, a second hand D30 could be a valuable alternative to a G2 or G3, especially if you are a professional (clients may think that your G2 doesn't look pro enough (even if it takes very good pictures). I hope this will help you and wish you good luck with your purchase. Christiane
