Hands-on Experiences of an advanced user
Written: Sep 09 '02 (Updated Sep 10 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Battery Life: |
|
|
| Photo Quality: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Excellent, low-noise images; compatibility with Canon external flash units; user interface is easy
Cons: Same problems as all non-pro digital cameras: shutter lag and startup time
The Bottom Line: Great image quality for those that can't afford a digital SLR like the D60. Shutter lag and boot up time can be worked around once you get used to it.
|
|
|
| collin_ong's Full Review: Canon PowerShot G2 (Black) Digital Camera |
I'm a serious amateur photographer that generally only uses interchangeable lenses SLR type cameras, but I got tired of waiting for Canon to release a digital SLR that I could afford, and I had a need in my business for a high-resolution digital camera for copy stand work, and since all of the rest of my camera equipment is from Canon, I decided to get the G2. This way, I could reuse my high end Canon flash unit on the G2 as well. I will not reiterate all of the specifications and features of the unit because there are many other places on the Web where you can find that information. I will restrict my comments to my experiences with the camera.
When I first got the camera, I hated it. No, there's nothing wrong with the image quality or user interface or build quality, but I just couldn't get good photographs (subjectively, as opposed to technical image quality) with it that met the same high level of expectations that I was accustomed to with my 35mm SLR. The main problem is the shutter lag, which it is the length of time delay between when you push down the shutter button all the way to when the camera actually takes the picture. However, this is not exclusively a problem with the G2, it is a problem with nearly all non-SLR digital cameras on the market today. I kept missing all of these great shots that I saw, because by the time the camera took the picture the great expression or that crucial moment was already gone past.
However, the camera has definitely grown on me, and I have taken many good pictures with it. It has spoiled me to the point that I only use my film SLR when I need critical quality or timing. I found that I needed to change my shooting technique to accommodate the limitations of the digital camera. The first thing that I did was to obsessively pre focus on the subject. This means that you point the focus sensor at your intended subject and pressed the shutter release button half way down. This is something that I did before with film as well, but the digital shutter lag, you really have to be prepared for the shot before it happens. The other change in my technique was to simply take lots and lots of pictures. Because it is a digital camera, there really isn't any penalty to doing this, because you can always delete them later. Nowadays, when I'm shooting any event with the G2, I might come back with hundreds or thousands of pictures rather than the few rolls that would shoot with a film camera. Afterwards, I sort through them on the computer for the best focus, lighting and capture of the moment. In some ways, I think this is a better technique for capturing moments then using the split-second timing on a film SLR, but it definitely gives you a disadvantage at capturing the exact moment that you choose; instead, it gives you a better chance to capture a moment that may or may not be satisfactory to you artistic wise.
One thing that I have found is that the cameras meter during tends to be a bit bright, especially when using external flash units, leading to slight overexposure. I have set my exposure compensation to underexpose by 1/3 stop which I feel it gives a more accurate exposure that does not burn out highlights consistently.
The other big annoyance with this camera is at the start up time, which again is a very common problem with today's digital cameras below the professional level. It takes about four seconds to start up this camera, which doesn't sound like a lot of time unless an incredible photo opportunity is unfolding in front of your eyes and there you are waiting for the camera to start up. The specific annoyance with the G2 is the lens cap. Instead of providing up built in lens cover or other retractable protective device for the lens, there is a removable lens cover that you have to remove by hand. If you do not remove the lens cover before the camera starts trying to extend the lens, the camera will beep and give an error message. When this happens, even if you have since remove the lens cap, the startup process must be restarted by switching to off and then back to camera mode. I've learned to live with this issue and now, when the right hand is flipping the on switch, the left hand is automatically flicking off the stupid cover.
One huge benefit of having this camera over a film camera is the flip out and twist screen. The screen's flexibility allows you to get any shots that you would otherwise never get with the film camera. In particular, I've grown fond of overhead shots taken with a camera fully extended above my head and the screen tilted down. The screen also allows you to get great shots of children by lowering the camera down to their level and turning the screen upwards.
The camera's ability to use external flash units from Canon's pro line is also very helpful. With the digital camera's instead shot review, you can tell whether your flash positioning or bouncing looked good or not, and then maybe reposition the flash to improve it. I found myself experimenting with more unusual flash positions and bounces because of this ability.
I have also used this camera with full professional studio strobe units (the kind you see on modeling shoots) and the full hot shoe capability of this camera was able to correct trigger the studio strobes. However, current non professional digital cameras have limitations in the minimum aperture size that they support. This is because of the small size of the CCD image sensor built into these cameras. Since aperture size is calculated relative to the size of the image sensor, supporting small aperture settings would requires a level of precision that is cost prohibitive in this level of camera. In the case of the Canon G2, the minimum aperture is f8.0 (compared to at least f22 on a SLR film camera). Because with studio strobes, the aperture setting must be set to match the strobe intensity, you will find yourself turning down the stroke of brightness a whole lot in order to get the brightness down to a range usable by the G2. Due to this limitation, the G2 is not really that useful as a preview device when using studio strobes because of the aperture settings between the digital camera and a film camera will be too different.
The G2 has of macro mode which enables a closer focus range. While this work well, I found that you can't get the lens up to as close to an object as you could with the other cameras like those from Nikon. however, it does satisfy my macro needs which is mostly using the camera on the copy stand to capture images of photo prints. When using this camera on a copy stand, the flip out and twist the screen comes in immensely handy for properly framing the image. Sure beats peering through a physical viewfinder to try and line up the shot. I found that images captured in this way are close good enough in quality for use on Web sites and other non critical uses. While flatbed scans are still better, you can crank through a stack of pictures and convert them all to digital in much less time than it would take it to scan them on a flatbed scanner.
The G2 comes with software that allows the camera to be hooked up via USB to a computer and controlled for zooming and image capture direct to the computer. I thought this would be useful in copystand work but in practice, with a laptop computer right next to the copystand, it was slower, because the zoom controls and shutter release button on the camera are disable in computer-controlled mode, and the zoom buttons on the computer is very imprecise, and the shutter lag when you click the button on the computer is very long. It's faster just to use the controls on the camera itself, then transfer the images to the computer later via a card reader.
The camera's image quality is excellent with a very low noise image sensor. I rarely see any noise in images from this camera. In images of a a campfire scene with the camera on a tripod, long exposures of about 10 seconds resulted in excellent, detailed, noise-free images. In comparison, images taken with a Sony DSC-F505V at the same time, using the same tripod produced noisy, streaky images with much less color saturation. The image resolution of the G2 at 4 mega pixels is adequate for most situations.
In general, I've always disparaged digital zoom features, and while nothing beats the quality of optical zoom, I have found some use for digital zoom as implemented in the Canon G2. First off, you should only use it when in one of the lower resolution modes. In this case, I think the camera actually takes a full-res picture, then crops it down to the lower resolution before saving, rather than trying to scale up a low-res image. Thus, at times, pictures taken with digital zoon sometimes have surprising quality. The lower the resolution setting of the camera, the better pictures will look with digital zoom used.
While it fits well into your hand, the camera is quite bulky compared to many other digital cameras. The lens mount protrudes from the body of the camera, and the moulded handgrip also comes out of the body, so it is not a smooth pocketable shape. You'll definitely need a camera case for this one.
The battery is an internal, lithium ion one that provides good battery life. It lasts me several hours of shooting and has never really been a problem, although I have not really traveled with this camera. It can only be charged inside the camera unless you buy and optional external charger. I don't like the bulky power-supply unit that comes with the camera for charging. It is sized like a laptop PC power supply, and the power cord doesn't fit all the way into its socket, making it look unfinished. However, it works well. Side note: this is the exact same power supply provided with the Canon ZR-series digital camcorders. They can be used interchangeably.
In conclusion, while the Canon G2 suffers from some of the same drawbacks that most of the current crop of nonprofessional digital cameras do, once you learn how to work around them, you can produce images of excellent quality. The technical image quality is a virtually flawless, you just need to learn how to work the camera properly to capture the moment that you really want. I especially recommend this camera to owners of Canon EOS flash units, because they are totally compatible and are very useful to extend the range of the camera when using flash.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 550
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Solid Enough for a Professional
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
collin_ong
|
|
Member: Collin Ong
Location: Sacramento, California
Reviews written: 98
Trusted by: 47 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.