Canon PowerShot G9

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.

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.

Canon SX 100 IS

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

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!

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

Not testrd

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.

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.

Minolta Diamage
Olympus C2100UZ
Olympus C5050UZ
Panasonic Lumix various.

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

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.

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.

Minolta Dimage A2

Nothing so far...

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.

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

To many to list

Always great