G7 Thoughts

Well they have a G7 not like someone wishing they had one. Right JIM?

well it replaced my trusted G5 and I am very happy with it.

Jim said:

Jim wrote:

milehog said:

Its a G7 therefore it must be a G camera no matter what it's
feature set is. I don't see a label on the camera calling it a A7,
B7, D7, E7, and so on. It's a G7.

Click to expand...

Do you see a swivel LCD? Do you see a 2.0 lens? Do you see RAW
support? What? No to all of these? Then the only thing that's a G
on the G7 is the label. It's an A series with a hot shoe...and a
big price tag, of course.

Jim

Click to expand...

So by that logic, the new Leica M8 is not a real Leica because it doesn't shoot film and everyone know that film IS better than a ccd ;-)

--
Stephane

You can't compare to 2 cameras; are you going to buy both? How can you mix features when you cannot use those features together? The G7 has 10 mp, 35-140 and IS. No single A-series has that and that sets it apart from the A-series.

I choose the A640 to compare with because it was 10 mp and 1/1.8. Also, I have used an A700 and did not like it. It felt vey plastic, the flash recycled slowly and it was hard for me to handle (even though I have small hands for a man). In short, I didn't like how it handled. I hope I didn't insult the A7x0 guys; that is just my preference.

Compared to the A710IS, the G7 has 42% more pixels. That really isn't that significant (see the dpreview of the G5 for their opinion of how much increase makes a big difference) 42% is closer to "not worth" an upgrade than "average". ( http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong5/ )

Compared to the A640, it has IS and a 35-210 eq zoom lens.

However, the G7 and A640 are similar in size (G7 is slightly smaller, about 5% in volume).

Would you use your A710IS or your A640 with twist swivel LCD to take an available light close up? Which feature is more important?

You can buy a ND filter for your A-series which adds cost and carry it around, take the time to put on the adapter and the filter or you can hit a button a few times. When you need it, is that subtle?

How many times have you really used your IR remote? I've used mine 2 times in 29 months & 10,000+ images on my G5. I would call that subtle.

Everytime I go on vacation, I take at least 1 AEB shot (usually more). Is that subtle (may/maybe not, your call)?

Are the new lens coatings incorporated in the G7 subtle? (I don't know)

Even some DSLR RAW users say RAW is not important in a P&S. Maybe that is a subtle thing also. Hey, I have never used it - just quoting the opinion of others who have used it (more than one person on this forum).

I stick by my original statement; the G7 is a different animal, not like the A-series or the traditional G-series. Maybe if they had called it an AG1 or a GA1 everyone would be happier, but I doubt it.

I know it's feature set is significantly better than either the A710IS or the A640. If you magically combine several cameras you could match all the features in the G7, but unfortuntely that camera doesn't exist.

Also, people tend to forget the Usability factor of the camera, I might change my S3 for a G7 today (if I can find a good price in Canada, it's freaking expensive here).

To my point, I will miss the swivel screen but I will be more happy with the resolution and size of the new one, it makes manual focus useable on a P&S.

I will miss the EVF with all the setting information but I might use more the control dial to change the actual settings.

I might miss the 12x zoom... but I'll have my camera with me all the time and will make great picture with or without a 12x zoom.

Would I wanted to have RAW ? Maybe but seeing how large files are in RAW, I don't think it would be really good when traveling, I prefer JPEG for that.

Would I wanted to have F2.0 ? Probably but it's not a deal breaker either since not having it won't keep me from doing great photos.

So is it a good camera ? Yes, from what I seen, it is a great camera.

Is it a G camera ? Well the only people that can answer that are from Canon and I think the did when they named it G7.

Are people who complain about a camera they have no intention of buying need to get a life ? I would say yes.

You don't like the G7 ? Good for you, in my opinion it is a great camera and I'll gladly buy it and stuff it in my pocket and laugh at people owning a G6 that can't fin in anything.

Canon made a choice when they set the feature of the G7, why the choose what they did, we might never know. Maybe they did it simply to make more profit, maybe they did it because the previous G-series never sold well, maybe they simply made a great little camera and didn't want to introduce another letter in their lines. I don't know and frankly don't care.

Just don't call people who want to buy this camera stupid, the price could be lower but I'm not stupid because I want to buy one. I'm making an informed choice here and yes I wish it would only cost 300 $ or even less but I'm not waiting for that.

Sorry for the rant, it was getting too much to read all the bu#$%?&.

--
Stephane

I got sucked into this argument a few hours ago - look up the page.

I wish I had said what you just did.

Thanks.

Maybe after the DPReview review comes out, some of this will die down, but I doubt it.

Hi,

did you test the face recognition feature?

Is this really useful?

Could it be disabled if one finds it annoying?

Regards,

Dario

...just ignorant. There's a difference.

stephaneonline said:

Just don't call people who want to buy this camera stupid

Click to expand...

Previous G cameras have easily beaten their contemporary A's (the entire series combined not just 2 cameras and many substantial points as I described in the G6 vs A95 comparison).

The G7 does not beat the current entire A-series except in the hotshoe point. And in fact it is beaten by many A-models in the flip&twist point.

It is nice that it has combined many of the best features of the A640/710IS but unfortunately it missed a very important one which is flip&twist it also missed the very important two points of f2 and RAW. The philosophy of the G-series was based on the fast lens they had (on that they had adv. even over the Pro-series). Flip&twist was introduced to the G before the A-series and now it's the other way round. RAW is essential to many enthusiasts and professional just like an unofficial manual control. There maybe some how don't care about RAW but if u remove from a camera then it becomes more basic then pro or semi-pro camera. Therefore I stand by what I said before this is an A and not a G camera it is just the first A with hotshoe.

It always amazes that people have a tendency to try and force their opinions of things on others. I see it here in arguments over cameras, in other places online in arguments about videogame consoles, TV shows, computer processors, mixed martial arts organizations, supercharger reduction pulleys and even what colors someone should choose to paint their living room in. The need to be "right" about matters of opinion is very strong, and so is the need to evangelize to others concerning the "right" opinion. But even with 13 years experience on the internet, I still get surprised about what the points of contention end up being.

The bottomline is, no one gets to vote on how I spend my money. What always gets me is that it matters so much to other people what I do with it.

Now where cameras are concerned, I am of the impression that there aren't that many bad cameras being made these days. For the most part, they all do a reasonable job of taking pictures, which is entirely the point of having a camera in the first place. They are all different in terms of capabilities, battery life, ergonomics, etc. If a particular camera works for you, great, have fun with it. If it doesn't, that's fine, I am sure you will find one that does, even it is a different camera than what I would prefer.

4-8-4-Northern said:

wrote:

4-8-4-Northern said:

Just don't call people who want to buy this camera stupid

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Who are you to call someone else ignorant !!

Do you know me ? do you know my baggage ? Do you know what I do and why I do it ?

I just wish people would be more civilized, I come here to hear about actual experience or good information on a camera, calling someone ignorant is a little low and insulting !

--
Stephane

PixelMinded said:

The G7 does not beat the current entire A-series except in the
hotshoe point. And in fact it is beaten by many A-models in the
flip&twist point.

Click to expand...

Have you seen the G7 in real life ?

Having played with it I can tell you that I won't miss a flip screen because now I CAN focus manually with the increase resolution of the screen !
Have you played with the control dial ?
Have you hold it in your hand and feel how much solid it felt ??
It's more than the hotshoe.

True about the batteries though, I will miss the AA.

--
Stephane

I got my G7 yesterday and made a few pix and like what I saw for a P&S. I have a Nikon Coolpix 5200 (2 or 3 years old) and I'm replacing it with the G7. I use it for a pocket camera for celebrations and when you don't want to be so conspicuous with a larger camera. I also have a Rebel XT and a 5D with several L lenses. I compared the 5D with several of my L lenses and a Tamron 28-300 lens on the 5D. When you blow up the pix to 300- 400%, the L lenses win out, but at 100% there's little, if any, difference to the eye.

I chose the G7 after reading several forums and opinions. I'm sure that the G7 will not be on par with the 5D or XT, but I'm willing to compromise with a camera I can put in my pocket. Like someone else pointed out, it's a point & shoot for God's sake. My advise to the G7 nitpickers is to get a life. Buy another camera instead of whinning and nitpicking. Life is full of trade-offs.

Kent, thank you !
--
Life is not a dress rehearsal !
See Cuba & NYC at http://www.jonrp.smugmug.com

KENTGA said:

I got my G7 yesterday and made a few pix and like what I saw for a
P&S. I have a Nikon Coolpix 5200 (2 or 3 years old) and I'm
replacing it with the G7. I use it for a pocket camera for
celebrations and when you don't want to be so conspicuous with a
larger camera. I also have a Rebel XT and a 5D with several L
lenses. I compared the 5D with several of my L lenses and a Tamron
28-300 lens on the 5D. When you blow up the pix to 300- 400%, the L
lenses win out, but at 100% there's little, if any, difference to
the eye.

I chose the G7 after reading several forums and opinions. I'm sure
that the G7 will not be on par with the 5D or XT, but I'm willing
to compromise with a camera I can put in my pocket. Like someone
else pointed out, it's a point & shoot for God's sake. My advise to
the G7 nitpickers is to get a life. Buy another camera instead of
whinning and nitpicking. Life is full of trade-offs.

Click to expand...

DITTO. I just got my G7 this afternoon after an associate picked it up for me while in NY on business yesterday. My local dealer was SOLD OUT and has a waiting list. I've had short play time with the G7 in the past 2 weeks and, although impressive, planned on waiting until my S70 gave up the ghost. I didn't need a G7 in other words.

After all the G7 bashing I read and my continual defense if it, I put my money where my mouth is and bought one to complement my DSLRs (2x 1DmkII, a 1DsmkII and a 10D I keep solely for its quiet shutter). The G7 is an excellent P&S in every aspect, and I'll employ it alongside my DSLRs to "test" and prove my positive opinion of it.

P.S. For those who care, I HATED the large size of the previous G-series cameras because I needed a full-featured P&S that I could slide in a pocket. The swivel screen is just something else to break. The G6, G5, G3, G2 while great P&S cameras, did NOT fit in my pocket. FWIW, even though my S70 has RAW capability, I rarely used it and when I did, it didn't improve the images to a great enough degree to warrant the time screwing with it on C1, CS2 or Rawshooter. P&S cameras have noisy higher-iso images that even RAW can't fix.

It can be disabled, actually I think it is disabled by default.

--
Stephane

stephaneonline said:

Just don't call people who want to buy this camera stupid, the
price could be lower but I'm not stupid because I want to buy one.
I'm making an informed choice here and yes I wish it would only
cost 300 $ or even less but I'm not waiting for that.

Sorry for the rant, it was getting too much to read all the bu#$%?&.

Click to expand...

Well said! The same people that rip on the G7 buyers would probably rip on the 1DsmkII buyers because the 5D is available at less than 1/2 the price. The naysayers just "don't get it" while they measurbate feature sets and ignore the quick, functional useability of the G7 (and probably the 1DsmkII vs the 5D).

tygirwulf said:

Now where cameras are concerned, I am of the impression that there
aren't that many bad cameras being made these days. For the most
part, they all do a reasonable job of taking pictures, which is
entirely the point of having a camera in the first place. They are
all different in terms of capabilities, battery life, ergonomics,
etc. If a particular camera works for you, great, have fun with
it. If it doesn't, that's fine, I am sure you will find one that
does, even it is a different camera than what I would prefer.

Click to expand...

Another very well said statement. But, off I go to try taking a picture of a moving subject with a G7 in a dark room lit by two 100watt bulbs while I'm wearing roller blades. If the G7 can't take a sharp, noise-free image under those conditions, then I can agree it's a bad camera according to the pundits of negaitivity on this forum....but I'll have fun doing it!

Member said:

Have you seen the G7 in real life ?

Click to expand...

I haven't seen it in the local stores yet but I did investigate it online as thoroughly as possible just as I did with the A610 and Pro1 before buying them (have not touch any of them before receiving mine and was not surprised when I receive any of them, they were both pretty much in accordance with what I had known). Recently I came across a local store where they don't lock their cameras behind glass. There it is easier to try a camera. So I look forward to trying the G7 --out of curiousity-- when I find it there. But I am sure am not going to buy it, it breaks three NO's that I have decided long b4 its announcement:
No to no RAW---------------------------> most important
No to a sensor smaller than 2/3"
No to no flip&twist

If I find a new model that just breaks one of these 3 No's and otherwise almost perfect, I would give it a second thought (eg FZ50), R1 doesn't break any but not perfect at all, so I stick to my Pro1.

I wish all those who bought/buy the G7 good time with it, but I would also like to put the truth as I see it concerning this camera here on this forum. And I read with curiousity any true criticism of the Pro1 or A610. I ought to know the weak points of my cameras so that I can deal with them better.

PixelMinded said:

No to no RAW---------------------------> most important

Click to expand...

I could understand that

PixelMinded said:

No to a sensor smaller than 2/3"

Click to expand...

No point & shoot have a big sensor as far as I know except the R1 and maybe the Ricoh GR ?

PixelMinded said:

No to no flip&twist

Click to expand...

Debatable, do you prefer to be able to flip the screen or actually see a difference when trying to focus manually ? On that last part the only small camera that I saw it was possible was the G7 and FZ50, but the FZ50 is as big as a Rebel so why would someone buy that ?

Also, your king of going way farther than your assessment of a balanced comparison between G6 and A95 v.s. G7 and A640.

I would love to have everything in one camera, all the manual control of a Leica Digilux 3 in the size of a G7 but I'll take what I can. Right now, the G7 have a bad press from people owning previous G-series camera pointing out only the missing feature THEY like, what about the feature it HAS that they don't ?

• 10 MP v.s. 7 MP (like it or not, it can be useful to have more)
• Shutter speed 1: 2500 vs 1/2000
• ISO : 1600 vs 400
• Zoom : 6x vs 4x
• Macro : 1 or 2cm vs 5cm (not sure about that one, I tested it but I can't tell if it was 1cm or 2)
• Digic III vs Digic (the speed difference is incredible)
• Movie mode : 1024 x 768 15fps or 640 x 480 30fps v.s. for as long as your card can take it vs 640 x 480 15fps for 30 seconds
• Image stabilization v.s. NO image stabilization
• Continuous shooting : 2fps unlimited vs 2fps for 14 shot !!
• SD v.s. Compact Flash (that one is indecisive IMO, I prefer SD, smaller and getting cheaper by the second)
• LCD : 2.5 inch 207,000 pixels v.s. 2 inch 118,000 pixels (almost double of resolution to REALLY be able to see what your focusing on !)
• USB 2 v.s USB 1 (almost 4 time the speed in transfer)
• Easy access to MORE parameter with Rotating Dial v.s. Standard menu and Four-way controller (I know there is the command dial but from what I've read it's not for everything but I might be wrong)
• New coated lens
• Almost NO CA
• More Diopter adjustment
• ISO Dial
• Better built quality ?
• Smaller, lighter AND Better looking ;-)

Did I forget something ?

You can compare the A640 and A710 and I'm sure you could find a lot of small difference with the G7, it's true that the smaller camera are getting better but there IS a difference with the G7.

--
Stephane