Telephoto lens which is longer than successors. Build quality excellent - i've used this in blizzard conditions and lands well when dropped.
RAW format is an essential for big prints.. the JPEGs are very nice but just not big enough.
HD movie mode is groundbreaking and very useful however u don't seem to be able to use macro at all or change the zoom when rolling.
Back screen is excellent and large.
Image stabilizer helps low shutter speed situations.
High ISO 'look' is nice, especially when used in band photography.
Battery life fairly good.
Custom modes useful.
Macro is probably one of the best things about the camera as the lens portion it uses in this mode makes things nice and sharp.
B/W nice.

Barrel distortion is a scandal - its only 35mm equivalent at its widest!!!
Overly contrasty scenes result in sky or scene washout. Almost unusable for landscapes unless you are willing to take EVERYTHING in RAW and then spend ages in photoshop correcting.
Skin tones awful - why the magenta cast? othwrs have talked about it and i've sent the camera back twice. Probably a result of Canon wanting warm 'leica' look photos. Only solution is to turn the red right down using custom option.

Quirky camera, good street shooter and all-rounder with two big let downs.
Has less glass lens elements than its successors thus theoretically more clarity.. but watch the extreme contrast and white-outs. Barrel distortion is horrendous. Skin colour completely inaccurate.

Fot these kind of prices, even with the successors, its probably worth getting a 4/3s system or the innovative Ricoh system.

Customer Service

brutal, in denial of the colour problem.

Similar Products Used:

Contax SLR, other Canon digi compacts, early digi Nikon compacts.
Various range finders and SLRs in past.

build quality, viewing screen. Viewfinder only used in extreme conditions. Can shoot RAW in addition to pretty good jpeg. Many manual adjustments, focus for example. Exposure compensation good, flash exposure compensation good, can set custom WB. Excellent look and feel, retro if you wish. Very easy to carry and to start up, also good post-photo review, and only two click erase mode, better than Canon DSLRs which take three. Just put this on green mode and shoot great pictures. Backup camera for DLSrs

No moveable viewscreen ala G6. also no f2.8 lense. Has feature set for beginners, but is percieved as too complicated.

When I was shooting film I used the Eos 3, and also the contax G1 and G2 series. I have used Canon G3, 5, 6, 7. G9 is best of the bunch : 12.1 meg rather than 14+ in G10. Very good to shoot with, tanklike is best description. Great for skiing, climbing, trekking and coastal pictures (no action shots please) Quite salable prints, as long as ASA 400 or less, but optimum is 100-200. IS is v. useful. Focusing screen is v. good. Zoom range also quite useful. Recently have been taking this along on rainy/snowy/windy days and (sometimes) leaving my DSLR and accompanying 3+ lenses at home. Great discreet camera, when you don't want to wander around with a lot of white lenses in your bag. Currently shooting Eos 5D, for what that's worth.

Customer Service

None needed

Similar Products Used:

G3, G5, G6, G7. In film, used Contax G1 and G2, and Contax TVS, film and digital

Good build quality. Excellent resolution for this size lens. Many, many features. Manual controls. Robust. Optical zoom.

Shutter lag may be problem in very fast situations. May over exposure faces if you don't use face detection (auto modes). Wide angle could be better.

Surprisingly good camera for most photographing purposes. Better than cheap SLR kits. Fast enough to handle. Can store your favourite setups. Excellent resolution. Nice colours. I changed my Canon Rebel XT kit to G9 and I've been very satisfied.

Similar Products Used:

Canon SX 100 IS

Marketing

Kids enjoy video capability


General convenience (but, hey there are allot of cameras which meet theses criterion at a fraction of the cost)

Poor viewfinder

Suspect metering

Shutter lag

So nothing vital then!

This is my first Digital purchase. I have stayed with my Nikon F5 (and prime lenses) and Contax G1 for some time and used good film scanners. The Canon was purchased after much research on this site and others. I am dissapointed with this camera for a number of reasons. The viewfinder is too small to be useful, and prone to flare. The metering is, to my mind, is suspect. AF is often baffled in low contrast situations. Manual focus is a joke (even by G1 standards). The quality which really renders this handbag material is that it is simply too slow. There is far too much shutter lag for a camera in this price bracket.

I am looking forward to hear reviews of the new Sigma. However I suspect that my money should have been applied to an Xpan, D700, or when Leica fesses up, to their full frame M8 replacement, one of those

Customer Service

Not testrd

Similar Products Used:

Fed 3, Zorki 4K, Zenith EM,Nikkormat Ftn, Nikon FE, Nikon F50, Nikon F5,Contax G1.

Top quality.
Easy to handle.
Superior feel.
Lens cover is self contained.
Viewfinder.
Large image monitor.
Software and electronics are second to none.
Substantial in feel.
Good value for a professional quality camera.
Excellent composition traits.
Autofocus is fast and very accurate.
Colors are superior.
Easy to hold.
Hot shoe plud built in flash.

Slow to ready from boot up.
Moderately difficult to learn for the novice.
Usual flash limitations.
Not many weaknesses noted.

I have spent much of my career looking for the affordable old style journalist camera which could be brought up to the face to snap a shot without drawing attention or spooking the subject. The Leica of yesteryear was perfect but too expensive. Over the years I have abandoned the search and gradually become a digital photographer. I have carried all sorts of cameras, but still sought a pro quality, small rangefinder which would not limit me technically or artistically and would not be so expensive that I couldnt afford to replace it if dropped or soaked. The G9 is my champion. It is retro in styling, similar to the old rangefinders, small, unobtrusive, and very fast. The quality of the photographs are excellent and there are essentially no creative limitations. It has a super zoom, is easy to learn, and most people of caught off guard by the beauty of the prints I produce. It is substantial in feel, easy to hide, quiet and smooth, and is not intimidating to even my most timid models. Overall, this is the most useful gerneral purpose fine art and nude travel camera I have ever used. I take mostly candid nudes of my wife and her friends, and for this genre it is more than able to meet the need.

Customer Service

I have had no issues with this camera yet.
Cannot comment.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta Diamage
Olympus C2100UZ
Olympus C5050UZ
Panasonic Lumix various.

12 megs, 6x optical zoom with digital hyper zoom.

The G9 can be set to shoot the same shot in Fine JPEG compression as well as recording a RAW image at the same time.

TV, AV, Manual, Program, auto, SCN, Stitch, Movie, and two custom settable modes. 16:9 format.

Manual focus, and a tight macro mode.

Flash level control, and works with my Canon Speedlight.

Wonderful retro look and feel. Not at all out of place in the best of company.

Big bright LCD and an optical view finder with Doppler adjustment.

Designed with the advanced photographer in mind, but simple enough for the person who wants more than a simple point and shoot digital camera.

The G9 is a quick, intuitive, strong, sleek, powerful, and beautiful, camera.

Keeping my LCD protector film from peeling off while sliding the camera back in its pouch bag. No frame around the LCD to protect the film's edges.

I picked out this delight the day after Christmas as a present for me. A recent photo trip to Kauai disabled my casio ex-850 point and shoot pocket camera (I sat on it 1 too many times) it won't zoom out now without shutting down. I was looking for a replacement to fall in between my trusty old Dimage A2 and the pocket cameras. While also raising the mega-pixel level to 12. This camera takes me back to my range finder carrying days. Around my neck the Canon G9 has the approximate feel of carrying my Yashica Electro 35 GTN. Too big for my back pocket, but the G9 fits well in a jacket pocket. A bit retro looking and very solid. No plastic here.
Having a view finder is a must for me. I don't like standing around looking at the LCD instead of concentrating on the subject. Although it is a great LCD. Bright even in strong light as well as adjustable brightness. My photos have been very sharp even at long focal lengths. The G9's stabilizer seems to work better than than the Dimage A2's.
Working with the G9 is a joy. The menu is intuitive and setting the last shot replay to 4 seconds or more gives me a chance to push the picture dump button and keep shooting. Pushing the on button to the first shot is less than 1 second (fast!). The camera is shoot oriented and will change quickly back to shoot mode even in review, or menu.
This camera is a joy to carry and is well priced for the features, shooting modes, easy of use, and quality of the photos. I have already Ebayed the LA-DC58H extension for filters along with a 58mm IR filter.
I just wish I had found the G9 sooner.

Customer Service

Nothing so far...

Similar Products Used:

Minolta Dimage A2

12 megapixels!
Shoots RAW!
Underwater!
TTL Wireless Flash!
RUGGED
Image stabilization
HD Video

Needs wider zoom
Could use faster shutter response
Would be nice to see faster FPS
I would like to see an index finger wheel

This little guy does not leave much to be desired, I started digital with a 20D and this has better image quality, and file size. I have all ready had 3 images accepted into Stock from it. I have always wanted a point and shoot that was around 10 megapixels and could shoot raw, but this goes above and beyond, the flash shoe that can handle off camera TTL flash is awesome, it can shoot underwater with a inexpensive housing, it is compact and has a good zoom range. Another great thing about is it how rugged it is, I shoot while riding or running and the camera tends to end up on the ground sometimes but it has held up. O yeah the image stabilization is good for riding too! Another great thing is the HD video, this camera is like a swiss army knife, or a leathermen.

The only things I would would like to see is a faster shutter response, maybe a 16 or 24-210mm zoom, a 3-4 FPS, and a index finger wheel so the controls are like my EOS, but they have a amazing product here.

Customer Service

Always great

Similar Products Used:

To many to list

Good pictures
Flexibility
Capabilities

Menu system combined with function buttons and combinations of the two - hard to learn and remember. Not intuitive

I've had my G9 for approximately 3 weeks now and I like it a lot. This is my first Canon camera but I have Sony point-and-shoots and a Nikon DSLR.
My wish list for a small camera was -
1.) take good pictures
2.) have an optical viewfinder
3.) have RAW capability
4.) be black (seriously - I wanted a black camera)
When the Canon announcement came out I studied the specifications and preview information and decided that this was a good choice for me. I was a little concerned about the 12 mg on such a small chip but I finally decided that if anybody could handle that many pixels Canon could.
So - how do I like it? Well, it's a pretty good little camera. Things I like -
1.) it takes good pictures - not as good as an SLR but very good photos
2.) it is just the right size for me - not too little and not heavy to carry around. I find that I take it everywhere and shoot a lot!
3.) It is pretty easy to use. The scene modes work very well as does the panorama and the macro. I haven't tried the movies yet.
4.) It offers an incredible amount of flexibility even including a neutral density filter (setting). I'm still learning to use some of the DSLR like functions on this camera but I'm pretty happy with the results.
5.) the three inch LCD is fantastic.
And - what do I not like...
1.) the camera's on/off button is little and fumbly ( couldn't be my fingers!)
2.) the menu/function system was hard to figure out and is hard to remember. I'm still having to think hard to get to certain functions that involve pushing special buttons etc. Part of this may be because it's my first Canon camera but I didn't have this much trouble with my Sony's or my Nikon. Too me, the layout is not intuitive.
3.) the little flash works like little flashes do but you must turn it off every time you turn the camera on. It would be nice to have the ablity to leave it off until you want it.
4.) the optical viewfinder shows you the extended lens and you have to just imagine that it isn't there. This is really a moot point because after making a big deal about having to have this functionality, I find I don't use it. I bought a Delkin LCD screen protector (yeah, I know Canon says you don't need one because the screen is 'protected' but I don't believe 'em. I'm pretty sure I'd get it scratched)
Sooo, all in all, I love this my little black brick. I'm still learning how to use it but I really do like it.

Customer Service

I did ask Canon how to do something (couldn't figure it out from the manual) and they got right back to me via e-mail with the clue I needed.

Similar Products Used:

2 Sony Point and Shoots

Nice feature laden camera (no surprise!), but I found color accuracy to be poor w/ it's inability to accurately render the deep green of a shirt (it turned bluish/green w/ gray tones). Purples became dark blues, and lighter purples were pink. WB was on auto, and then I tried florescent. Both yielded the same off color results. We ran a print to verify the accuracy of the LCD and the print matched the LCD - unfortunately. It also has difficulty in low light.