New Toy!

[nobigdeal]

I went crazy today and picked up a Canon G10.
I have a Panasonic Lumix TZ5 as my pocket camera. The photographer in me was screaming for more creative control over my shots so I decided to give the G10 a try.
I’ll post a better review of this camera after I use it a bit. I am going to take it to a club tonight and shoot a band. I am not expecting miracles but I think it will perform a bit better than the TZ5

First real shot with this camera.
This is straight out of the camera JPEG with only sharpening.

[Curious]

saw your band photos on flickr. looks like it did pretty good with some tricky lighting.

[nobigdeal]

saw your band photos on flickr. looks like it did pretty good with some tricky lighting.

Yea it worked pretty good considering.

We got there when the band was starting the second set. I took a few shots standing directly in front of the stage. During the break I looked at them and played a bit with the camera settings. The third set we ended up on the other side of the stage and I kinda got muscled away from the stage by my wife and some other girls. I moved to the side of the stage and sat on the stairs

Overall I took about 750 shots. I deleted about 300 right away because they were beyond help. Out of the 450 left I converted about 200 from RAW and out of those 200 I got 80 keepers.

Most shots are at ISO 400 or 800. There was some noise, moreso in the darker shots, but nothing that really detracted from the shots or that couldn’t be cleaned up easy with Noise Ninja.

Pros:
This camera so far has shot the best photos of any P&S I have tried to use for this type of setting. The IQ is definitely acceptable and the noise is not a major factor unless you use ISO 1600.

The ability to easily change exposure & aperture is a big plus.

The flash is adequate for close to medium range shots. Second curtain flash control is a huge plus that I didn’t have on any other P&S. especially for this type of environment.

Focus was pretty quick and accurate considering the constant moving subjects and changing light conditions.

Shutter lag was there but not bad for a P&S

Small optical viewfinder is useable but not great.

The cons are small sensor = noise at high ISO so some shots are missed because of slower shutter speed (to be expected)
Very easy to move dials for exposure & aperture esp in the dark so you need to keep an eye on the settings.
Burst mode is very slow. Not like the Panosonic which fires like an Uzi, but the shots are better.
Canon RAW is not compatible with PS Elements 6. works with UFRaw and the supplied Digital Photo Proffesional 3.5 (but not older versions).

I guess I will be keeping it as it seems to be the best I have had so far. It reminds me alot of my Fuji s5000 which was probably the equivalent of this camera back in the day.

Favorite shots from Friday:

Exposure: 0.25 sec (1/4)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 6.1 mm
ISO Speed: 800

Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 12.1 mm
ISO Speed: 800

Exposure: 0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 6.1 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Full set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21629306@N00/sets/72157619752352712/

[Elsinore]

Very nice!! If/when my little Canon A620 ever bites the dust, I plan to replace it with a G10 or one of its successors. I hadn’t picked up that those band shots were with the G10. Awesome stuff!

[nobigdeal]

Thanks!
The G10 is a very very nice camera. I was torn between it and the Fuji f100 or a Panasonic LX3. Nobody had the Pano Or Fuji in stock so I grabbed the Canon at best buy. I am the worst impulse buyer you have ever met, I cannot order stuff and wait for it. When I decide I want something i have to just go get it. I am happy with the Canon, it is like a little dSLR.

I am still lusting after the Sigma DP2 though, but that’s like $300 more than I paid for the Canon.

Maybe next year.

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