Canon PowerShot G9

Opinion: i give this camera top marks even though i don't give it all 5s. but it *is* to this day my favorite digital camera, and i have not replaced it with the G11.
i *love* the combination of ease of use and manual features that allow for lots of creativity. i have bought the wide converter lens and also a Speedlite 430ex flash to overcome the limitations of the lens/built-in flash combo, and could not be happier with the results.
in standard setting, it makes a fantastic take-everywhere camera for the amateur - it provides consistently *great* pics in good lighting; with room for a lot of creative input.
inddors, where the downfall of P&S mostly loom, the flash and lens combo i have overcomes them very effectively. it becomes a fantastic event camera with those attachments, mind you, the total package then grows into lower end DSLR territory, but i think comeptes with those on both results and convenience.
oh, and as a scuba diver, a great case that allows me to take it down to 140ft, and take great pictures. what could be better?
this camera is my best buddy, i have learned its strengths and limitations, and love to appreciate its versatility: portable when you need it, extensible when situations demand it, and submersible to boot. :-)
this is the camera i have taken the best pictures with, ever.

Opinion: I've had my G9 Since October of 2007 and have been very pleased with the photos it has produced. Great images within the 80 to 200 ISO range.

Opinion: As a Canon XTi user (w/a Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS as my main lens), my G9 has a high bar to meet for image sharpness, and stopping down is part of my recipe for usable shots with the G9. I've found by trial and error that shooting wide open produces a rather soft image.

I've had my G9 for 2 years. I've found it to be easily carried - and even forgotten about - in a front pants pocket.

I put away the straps that came with it and replaced them with a pair of split rings: a tiny one to go through the right-hand strap mount and a larger one to step it up to something I can put my index finger through while shooting. Put a keyring clip on your belt and you can clip the larger split ring to it and slip the camera into your front pocket.

I shoot RAW exclusively and use an EV -1 to -2 setting indoors (boost the LCD's brightness for a better idea of what you're getting), and a top ISO of 200 to 400. I generally set the thing to Av (aperture priority), and I dial it down to a stop or so less than wide open. I find this gets me the most usable shots in low light, even though I may have to do some work in Photoshop.

Opinion: I have been using this camera for 18 months and it has produced some really good results. It is very well constructed,better made i think than most cameras in this category. It was a bit expensive,but you have to pay for quality in my opinion.

Opinion: Uma camera de excelente qualidade. Muito util para ser usada como camera de estepe; isto é, uma segunda camera. Ao fotografar com esta belezinha, as vezes me surpreendo, pois, acabo fazendo capturas melhores do que com minha DSLR Canon EOS 5D; em iso 80 à 200.
Uma vez que o sistema digital tornou a fotografia "eletronica", não se pode esperar e nem mesmo comparar com os resultados do filme. Contudo, usando os softwares Phptpshop entre outros, é possivel conseguir excelentes resultados com esta pequena compacta. Se voce estiver a capturar com a G9, ninguem notará que esta sendo fotografado.
Uma coisa interessante para quem esta entrando para o mundo da fotografia digital: A G9 é um verdadeiro curso para quem vai posteriormente adquirir uma DSLR.

Opinion: I have the camera for almost a year now. What can I say about it - comparing it to other compact and ultra-zoom cameras that I have played with (Sony H9, Panasonic FZ18, different Olympus, Nikon, Fuji and Canon older models) - and I can definitely say that this is the most pleasant camera to take pictures with which makes the picture-taking process exciting and involving experience. The build quality is a different league; every other compact camera seems like a plastic toy compared to it; the software is very nice, fast and responsive; the menu is smart and logical; shutter lag and record times are impressive; the focus is the most accurate auto-focus on a non-DSLR that I have seen. It can focus at a low light (artificial light) at a zoom levels that I haven't seen other cameras to achieve.; the build-in flash is the best of it’s kind that I have seen. The 3-inch display is bright enough even for the sunniest afternoon and sharp enough to tell you if the photo is on focus or not. The control over the system you have in some ways is even bigger compared to some entry-level DSLR-s:
- You have 3 light – metering modes (including spot metering); you can move the focus point almost anywhere on the frame, there are Av, Tv, full Manual mode; RAW; very good and useful only 2-3 cm (1 inch) Macro mode; 1 programmable button, dedicated ISO button; Manual focus; Flash, exposure and focus bracketing; Exposure lock; and so many other things, which, aside from being able to help you in a situation where other camera would fail to take the picture, ARE ALSO FUN TO PLAY WITH!
Video-capture at 640/480 at 30fps is good also, movements are smooth and the bigger-than-average sensor records video with a less noise than average compact camera. The sound is mono, but realistic. Aside from being an pretty impressive image-taking tool, it performs as a very good sound recorder as well (only audio - without video) - the sound it captures has surprisingly good clarity and high sound levels, with very few parasite (hissing) noise; the microphone seems to be pretty sensitive and the sound is very loud and with pretty good dynamics ( I was surprised how good it records music as well as human voice).
The IQ (image quality) is very good for a compact camera as well. If they didn't stick so many pixels at this small sensor probably the G9-s high ISO performance would have been much better. Now I think is pretty good for a compact (I have seen some pretty terrifying results from most other compacts at everything over ISO 100), but not outstanding (everything above ISO 200 will show some noise even if you resize the image to a tiny size). Post-processing nose-cleaning software can reduce some noise at the expense of some fine detail. Anyways the high ISO capabilities are nowhere near a DSLR but are superior compared to other compact cameras (aside from some Fuji models and as read - the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3). At good light and ISO 80 or 100 the results G9 produces are pretty impressive for a compact. I have compared side-by side the sharpness of the images to a super-zoom Canon model (S5 IS) and believe that the lenses of the G9 are sharper and more accurate than the ones on the S5 IS. It seems that the dynamic range is not so impressive, the camera is a bit prone to clip highlights; one must check the histogram and play with the exposure compensation all the time. It’s not that it’s poor or worse by any means compared to the other compacts I have seen; I just think that this is one of the ‘’not so impressive’’ things about this camera.
All in one ( and this is not only my opinion) – an expensive, powerful and accurate little tool that is pleasure to play with! Probably could have been the perfect tool if they decided to stick 7- 8 instead of 12 MP in it, but…

Opinion: Like many of you professionals I was looking for the best to buy "have-it-always-with-you"-camera to fit into a normal pocket (which makes it necessary for the lens to retreat completely into the housing).
Since portability for me is a major issue (owing 12kg of L lenses and dslr cameras) the camera has to fullfill the following requirements:
-raw ability with good dynamic range
-good low iso performance
-reasonably low distortions, color fringing, vignetting
-compact & tough body, reliable operating, low power consumption
-manual control over all major settings

What seems less important to me (because you can't have it all - hey it's not a dslr!):
-high iso performance (honestly, how many low light shots do you take on travel/away compared to daylight shots)
-high framerate (I have to admit, the g9 is too slow)
-broad focal length range (even though the new 28mm of the g10 is a welcome feature, a wideangle lens is useless if it comes at the cost of high distortions. Better take multiple shots and stitch your wide angle panorama with ptgui and hereby get rid of lens distortions and keystoning at the same time)
-shallow DOF (depth of field) which would require bigger sensors which would require bigger lenses etc., etc. (It's not meant to be a portrait camera!)

Canons seems to have listened to its customers when designing the g10 which has improved optical performance over the g9. The G9 still serves me well, I would buy a future G11 (or even a Pro 2) which will hopefully feature:
- LESS MEGAPIXELS!!
- INCREASED DYNAMIC RANGE
- L-Quality lens (I would even go with a fixed 35mm prime)
- reduced shutter lag
- EOS 1 like body quality
- 1080p video (h264 coded; with optional 60fps for slomo scenes)

There are people out there pledging for bullshit feature like 24mm-210mm focal range; 2.0 aperture; aps-c sensor, 4fps, swing LCD. Do you really think that can be all squeezed into a camera to fit your pockets? Dream on...

Opinion: VERY SLOW but Well built Brick of a camera!

Quality of images is good though not amazing.

Painfully SLOW this is no SLR if you are expecting speedy performance then do not bother with a G9 it is as slow as any other compact.

Opinion: Good as back up camera, easy to use.