Search For Canon G12 10mp Digital Camera With 5x at Amazon
1685 of 1752 people found the following review helpful. I only give this camera 4 stars instead of 5 for the following reasons. 2. The screen is only 460K resolution. The Nikon mentioned above is 960K. The Samsung TL500 I mentioned above sports a beautiful AMOLED screen that knocks this one out of the park. 3. The pathetic optical viewfinder. You are catering to those people that say a camera MUST have one of these – stop it. You are wasting space with something so awful that even a disposable camera does better. I would rather have a higher resolution bigger screen (or a smaller camera) than this awful piece of warped tunnel-vision. 4. The rear control wheel is too small – enlarge it so it feels more like one of your DSLRs. 5. While the lens is gorgeously sharp (I mean competing with some of my L-lenses sharp) – f/2.8 to f/4.5 is slow. 6. The lens needs to be wider – 24mm f/2 (or even f/1.8 in the Samsung) equiv is the primary reason I tried the LX5 and TL500 before going back to Canon. 7. No microphone input for video recording. 8. Just too big and bulky – slim it down (but do NOT remove the articulating display). So 8 knocks like that might sound like a big deal – but believe me when I say this – the camera is phenomenal. Image quality is outstanding – I have had to process my RAW files with their converter (typically use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 – but even with their converter image quality is second to none in the compact world. I actually prefer to do product shots with a G-Series than my usual 5D2 kit due to the flexibility and increased depth of field. The lens is magnificently sharp. HD video results look pretty good – but not stellar. It’ll do in a pinch – but its no camcorder replacement. Operation speed is very very good. I have read a few posts saying that focusing speed is vastly improved from the G11 – I haven’t found that to be the case but none-the-less its pretty good. Construction quality is pretty good – but I don’t like the rough textured finish as much as the smooth finish on the G11 – it somehow makes it feel cheaper. Controls are absolutely second to none. Dedicated EV and ISO dials are wonderful. The new front control dial is great. The rear dial however could use a bit of an extension – hard to operate quickly with my fat thumb. The whole camera is a little fat – slim it down and kill the awful optical viewfinder. Would like a dedicated movie button like pretty much all of its competitors. The articulating display is fantastic – PLEASE include this whenever you update the 5D. Value for the money is mostly good – but if you are like me and need on-camera control of external flashes add a whopping $200+ for the ST-E2. All in all a fantastic camera – even if it is a minimal update to the G11. Why I picked it over LX5 > See my LX5 review – but I didn’t particularly like that camera. Biggest reason would the articulating display followed by the awful screen resolution when composing on the LX5. Why I picked it over the TL500 > I couldn’t get the TL500 to trigger external strobes using radio triggers – that plus the lens is MUCH sharper on the Canon. I must have a bad copy of the TL500 as finding a sharp photo in my 50+ test shots is pretty hard. Why I picked it over the S95 > Hotshoe and articulating display. If the S95 had those it would win hands down. Why I picked it over the P7000 > Articulating display is about it here if you don’t take into account I already own several Canon Speedlites. Why I picked it over the GF1 or EP1 > Size + Nikon P7000 comments. Hope you found my review helpful – if so please click the link below! Edit 30 days in: I would add one more negative – once you lock focus in video to start recording – that focus cannot be changed after the fact – disappointed in that. Also – I dropped mine this morning =( from 4ft onto concrete. Surprised that everything still works great and as expected it got marred up and one corner’s metal is a little bent – but it still works which is impressive. 160 of 163 people found the following review helpful. I’d love to have a higher-end DSLR, but flying these days really doesn’t lend itself to lugging a big camera bag with a couple of lenses, flash, etc. I gripe just taking my shoes off at the security checkpoint. And I am avoiding paying checked bag fees as much as I possibly can! Last April, I finally decided to get something a bit nicer, and after weeks of searching through review after review, I finally settled on a Fuji HS10. At first, I loved that camera. Then, I discovered that particular unit was eating batteries with the voracity of John Pinette at a Vegas buffet. So, back it went. And I waited and continued to research. Then, along comes Canon with this G12. Remember, I’m an old film guy, so I like some controls. But after 5 minutes playing with this camera, I was most impressed. Startup – it’s ready to go in a flash. Focus – spot on for 99% of the photos I’ve shot (nothing’s perfect), and that 1% I can peg on me for focus issues. Low light? Simply amazing! This camera’s ability to compensate for low light is borderline spooky. Combined with the lens image stabilization, I’ve taken shots that would have required a tripod, cable release, and good old-fashioned luck with a film camera. Sports mode is very good. While the ‘rapid-fire’ shots aren’t blazing fast, they are sharp, clean, and quick to save. In fact, the camera is fast with saves in most every mode I’ve tried. And speaking of modes, I discovered one that I’ve fallen in love with – Nostalgia mode. With a quick click of the front-mounted scroll-wheel, one can age a photo making it appear a bit washed out and grainy. For artistic shots, this mode just made me feel like I was working darkroom magic without the darkroom! Some folks have complained that it’s too big for a pocket. I didn’t really have any issues with that. In fact, I think that for everything this camera can do, it’s size is one of the biggest selling points. I just returned from a quick trip to Jamaica where I took all sorts of shots. The ones that got the most compliments were the low-light shots. And everyone that asked and showed this camera were amazed at what it was able to do. As I mentioned – I’m incredibly impressed with this camera. 275 of 289 people found the following review helpful. Build quality is also as you would come to expect from a Canon high end compact camera that costs $500. It is excellent just like the G10 and G11. They all feel and look pretty similar. There is an extra rubber grip on the back for your thumb which is kind of nice. Overall, and I have smallish hands, I find the G12 the easiest of these 3 cameras I have been comparing, to hold. Probably the most important new feature is employment of Canon’s HS (high sensitivity) system (combination of sensor and processing engine) which migrates from the EOS line. Does it deliver on its promise to improve image quality and allow shooting at higher ISO? I think the answer is yes it does, but not very much. The camera maxes out at 3200 ISO marked on the dial and you can bump it up to 12,800 albeit at lower resolution using the Low Light mode. Again, this is how it looks to my not professional rapidly aging, eyes. Whether it is worth running out an upgrading from a G11 is totally subjective and I cannot answer this for anyone. The camera also has the Hybrid IS system a la the updated 100mm Canon macro lens which compensates for a greater range of camera shake type. It looked to me like the camera did a more effective job at obtaining sharper photos at the same speeds as my G11. This is important to me as my hands do shake and I enjoy macro and cannot always use a tripod. Nor would I expect people buying a carry along point and shoot camera to carry a tripod with them. There are additional new shooting modes like HDR that takes several photos then combines them for greater detail, better exposure. FYI, this feature was available in Ricoh cameras for sometime already, so Canon and Nikon are just catching up here. But I think it works a bit better on the Canon than it does in my Ricoh. The photos do look a bit richer, more detailed to me. Canon offers a level adjuster with this camera so you can keep your photos looking, well more level. Another feature that has been available elsewhere for years. There are other niceties about this camera. Like you can pre-set the maximum ISO level (I like because a lot of cameras seem to default to a higher ISO than I would set for myself), there is a front dial to control settings (another inheritance from the EOS line), you can control the dynamic range (just like on Sony cameras from the past) for improved highlight clipping control, and you can shoot in a 1:1 aspect ratio (square which I personally like however, you guessed it, Canon is late to the party on this feature too) to name a few. I will not comment on the video. I never use it and if I were able to trade video capability for say, a slightly bigger or better sensor, or a faster lens, I would do so in a heartbeat. But I have no idea if such a thing is even possible or practical. This is only my opinion and reflects my personal set of priorities. If it were up to me, I would dispense with most of the shooting scenes and the video if it meant a lower price or a camera with better image quality. I share the findings of many that this is an incremental upgrade of the G11 as Canon’s own literature seems to suggest. Higher expectations than this may be met with disappointment. But in my opinion, the G12 raises the bar, if only a little, of one of the best compact cameras available. I think as long as you keep what the G12 is, (an upgrade) in perspective with what it is not (evolutionary) you will not find yourself regretting your purchase. |
Fantastic tool for serious photographers – but not perfect.
Most impressive!
