Canon Powershot G10 14.7MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
by Canon
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon Powershot G10 14.7MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Customer Review: Fantastic Camera, Perfect Size
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had this camera for about one week which is why this review will be short for now until I've had more time to add to it. So far, I LOVE this camera.
I previously had a Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TZ3 model and I really liked the quality of pictures. I even convinced my mother to buy one too. But after a number of years, I was frustrated with the quality of indoor shots and the inability to capture movement well.
So I began my research. I went to many camera review sites, consumer reports, a recent NPR review and about 10 other comparison reviews.
I was looking for a great point and shoot with capabilities to override most settings. I needed a camera that I could pack away and take on family trips and also take artistic shots.
I also needed something fairly durable since I can be rough on cameras.
I went to a local camera shop with my list in hand and tried out the Canon Powershot SX10IS. This is a great camera with a ton of capabilities and telephoto power but it was way too big for me to carry it around on family excursions and also had a removable lens cap. I also looked at the Canon PowerShot SX200IS which was also a terrific camera. The drawback to that model was the lack of some features and the fact that you had to tell the flash to pop up (although the camera would prompt you).
I really wanted the power of the SX10 with the convenience of the SX200. Then I saw the G10. WOW. It is a beautifully designed exterior, a little retro in appearance. I have to admit that as usual, Amazon has the best price but since this local camera shop spent so much time talking to me about all the cameras will give me tutorials on this model for as long as I need them, I ended up paying the higher price and keeping my local economy going.
It has a tough case with a rough grip in many places. The buttons are in convenient places and easy to read.
The things I really liked: the lens has its own retractable cap so there is no lens cap to worry about popping off. The flash is automatic but has an override. The LCD display is huge and beautifully clear, allowing you to see clearly whether you missed the shot and need to take another one. There is a flash hot shoe for adding light. The wide angle is a must on any camera I have these days and the zoom is perfect.
The most amazing thing (that is obviously the selling point to any camera) is the quality of photos. I can take an indoor shot of someone, with low light from about 8 feet away and zoom in to see every hair on their head. The detail is incredible, the colors are accurate and the shadow detail is fantastic.
I have so much to learn about this camera but for now, I'm very happy just doing point and shoot. This is a phenomenal camera for a terrific price.
Customer Review: The feature-packed G10 may seem daunting at first.
Summary: 5 Stars
Face it: when one buys a camera these days, one buys a computer, and it has to be learned. Don't let that stop you because you can set the G10 to AUTO(ISO)-AUTO(mode) and "grow from there." Once I read pages 47 and 49 of the 300-page manual I really felt that I "had a grip" and the rest quickly fell into place. I would suggest exploring the seventeen scene modes, which are sometimes ironically called "amateur modes" --those are devised by people with expertise not only in photography but in this camera as well. (The "night snapshot" mode is neat!) Tip for newbies: no features can substitute for a basic photography course. :-)
For the serious: it can shoot in raw mode, has a hot shoe and tripod mount, and does AWB. One has several choices for how to auto-focus and where to meter light. To pick an example of the internal processing capabilities: you can show one color and have the rest of the shot in black and white.
This is a mature product with well thought-out controls. It's a rugged little unit that I just pack without its own case. It has taken an immoderate amount of jostling and bumping against hard surfaces without a glitch. My only beef was that the power switch on mine requires a hard press, but now I'm glad because that may be keeping it from coming on inside my suitcase.
One feature that makes my life easier: when I get to my destination I can just change the time zone instead of the date & time.
Since I don't need a case to carry any sundries, I just use the included strap. I can sling the strap over a shoulder and then pull a polo-style shirt on over it. The shirt keeps the camera from bouncing around too much, and the strap is long enough to allow me to pull the camera out of the neck and shoot a picture. It also conceals the camera.
Battery life is astounding, especially for a camera with a CCD (as opposed to CMOS) sensor! I just got back from a two-week trip and never used the charger. I only shot a couple hundred photos (but mostly with flash) and one-minute movies, but I did plenty of viewing. The power indicator still shows full.
The G10 software will not install on my tiny "netbook" computer due to the netbook's limited resolution (1024x600 maximum). But the netbook will still read images, either from the camera or directly from the SD card. Canon's software is not without its aggravations but there is a toll-free support line with helpful, native-english-speaking technicians answering it.
I set out to find the best compact for times I don't want to lug SLR equipment, and I am convinced that I found it. I am an inveterate Nikon chauvinist but readily chose this over Nikon's new p6000.
Customer Review: Extensive use on a 4-day ski trip
Summary: 5 Stars
I used this camera on a recent skiing trip to Telluride, Colorado (New Year's Eve 2009.) The camera's battery proved sufficiently sturdy enough to last all day even though photos and videos were taken almost constantly in below-freezing conditions.
The only gripe I have with the camera is with the placement of the 'on' button. You simply cannot press that button with gloves on and taking off your gloves in sub-freezing temperatures was uncomfortable to say the least.
The extreme cold did not affect the camera's function, though. Some snow got on the extended lens and melted into water, but the camera still works great. Photo quality is excellent, even when compared to photos taken with my Canon EOS 10d SLR...not the best, but still an SLR. The image stabilized lens is a big help in low-light conditions and the extreme-white background (all snow, all the time) was no match for the Automatic White Balance setting on the G10. I left most of the settings alone and all of my photos came out wonderfully. Hand-held self-portrait shots were easy to do because the lens is wide and the red-eye reduction beam is a highly visible green light which allows you to use it as a kind of laser aiming device...I never missed a hand-held shot like that even though I couldn't see the display on the back of the camera. And what a display! Big, clear, and it has several different settings depending on how much information you want to be displayed with your photo. The built-in flash is quite powerful...too powerful in fact, but turning it down a few notches was easy after reading a few pages of the instruction manual (if you've ever owned a Canon PowerShot camera, the controls should be very intuitive to you.) Facial recognition works great, I haven't experimented with it very much, but it's fun to watch the display show each person's face and track each person as they move around while you wait for the perfect shot.
Videos are not HD, if that's what you're looking for you will be disappointed. I consider myself more of a photographer than a videographer so that's really not an issue for me. I did notice that the camera could not autofocus while a video was in progress. For instance, I was filming my step-son up close, then tried to film some skiers far away in the distance while zooming in on them and the camera did not even attempt to re-focus on the distant skiers.
If you are a dedicated SLR person like I was, looking for a good point-and-shoot camera to take on vacations that you wouldn't need a seperate backpack for, I highly recommend the Canon G10.
Customer Review: Here's the deal.
Summary: 5 Stars
Here is a no-nonsense review of an "advanced" POINT AND SHOOT.
I've seen lots of back and forth arguments of good and bad and this and that. Canon states that this camera is for the "advanced amateur". (It's usually the Pros that complain the most.) Its a very sexy looking camera that has a lot of cool features that can make some beautiful images if you have a good understanding of photography. It can go full automatic for those of you who don't (yet). The camera feels like quality, from weight (13 oz.) to the clicks of the knobs, to the smoothness of the lens movements. The battery lasts a good 400 shots if you don't do the on camera slide shows or forget to shut it off (it has power saving feature as well). If you ask me, it's about as good as a $400 - $500 camera can get. The rest of this review is for the ones who are worried about the negative reviews still.
It's not going to stand up to a DSLR but it will give you very high quality vacation, wedding guest, birthday and family event type pictures. I am told you can get a very acceptable 11 X 14 print from it. I use it to find interesting locations for pro shoots and shutter bugging or if I just want to give my shoulder a rest from carrying around a DSLR. If you shoot a lot of night scenes, this camera may NOT be for you (there aren't too many affordable DSLR's that can't pull this off either) you will see noise (red, green and blue colored digital grain). Here's why, in the simplest terms I can think of: Think of the sensor as a very smart solar panel (smart because it sees colors too). It generates electricity when light hits it telling the brain of the camera that there is a certain amount of light intensity there. If there is no light, you get blackness, no electricity. If you try to force detail into an area of a picture that is absent of light, by using a long shutter time, you get noise. It could be a stray signal from the camera's system or other heavily scientific stuff going on to cause these dots. AND IF YOUR SHOOTING BELOW A 1/4 OF SECOND, EVEN WITH A HIGH ISO, YOU WILL GET SOME DEGREE OF NOISE. It's the nature of of the digital format. Use a flash.
Raw Format, although very impressive with it's "oops!" correction abilities, will not save every image. It should not be used as a crutch or a cheat. It still needs to be exposed within a reasonable exposure latitude or "in the ball park".
OK. I'm down off my soap box. Great little camera. Bottom line.
Customer Review: Maybe the perfect backup camera - don't leave home without it
Summary: 5 Stars
I started shooting digital with a 2 MP Canon digital Elph. It cost nearly as much as the G10 with 1/7th the megapixels and has a much smaller zoom range. Over the years, I have added a G5 and a couple of EOS digitals, both used for my magazine work. However, as with my film days (daze?), I kinda always like to have a camera with me. That "always with me" camera was a Leica M - simply as good a picture taking tool as money could buy (in the film days). But in the digital age, the G10 has become that camera and (alas) the Leicas are in a camera bag in the closet.
The camera has few vices. It has minimal shutter lag (as long as you are not shooting a lot of flash pictures since it takes a few seconds to charge things up), sports a useful zoom range (I like the fact that it's about a 28MM on the wide end) and the image quality is really quite wonderful. Good, sharp lens, images with excellent color.
A fully charged battery easily lasts through a whole day of shooting - longer if you use an external flash. I also love the fact that the lens retracts and has a built in lens cover (unlike the G5 which has the patented "easy to lose" lens cap).
I have not had to crack the manual very often which means it is quite simple to operate (although it has so many features, I'm probably missing something cool).
I use it mostly as a backup - just in case camera - and for pictures at car club events where it really shines since it sits in my "Think Tank" hip case ready for anything. The pictures look great in the club magazine.
Also, because it produces huge RAW files, I plan to use it for more professional assignments - should be interesting to see if the art director sees any difference from my SLR shots.
I think the G10 is the current sweet spot for point and shoot cameras and given the small size of the chip in a these portable camera, this may be the high water mark for megapixel count too. I highly recommend the G10 to anyone who wants to own one "good" camera or to a pro who likes to always have a camera handy or a good back-up in the bag.
One caution, at high ISO settings, the "noise" makes itself known - especially in scenes with a lot of sky. I tend to shoot under ISO 200 so I seldom have a noise problem.
Be aware, Canon has come out with a new G11 with better noise results.