Hello Everyone, Hope you had a good holiday weekend. As some of you may know I got a Canon G9 as soon as it became available at retail stores, and wrote a comment about it. However I returned it after 1 week, after much frustration with low-light focusing issues and the light leak from the LCD. So, I decided to wait until the assembly line "matures" a bit before I get another G9. Now after about 3 months I picked up a new one. I didn't trust buying one from the web, I wanted to open the box and see the camera and check out the serial number and so forth before I bought it.
To see my first post on the G9 please visit here:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1010&thread=25032050
Now my journey of buying my 2nd G9 was not smooth. First I was hoping that someone would top the G9 so I wouldn't have to buy another one, as I want a digicam even superior, more like a DSLR sub, but there is no chance of that. Some new cams will be revealed this Jan/Feb, possibly the new Panny LX3, but as we all know the G10 is about a year away and quite frankly it seems to me that most brands are into going after the average consumer with cheaper cams or DSLRs, than a serious enthusiast/pro with more expensive digicams.
So I gave up on looking for a substitute. My next aim was to buy the cam at the cheapest possible retail price and I soon gave up on that too.
Here's a scenario:
Circuit city sells the G9 at a low 429 or so price. I go to the store to get one, which was a real zoo by the way. Really disappointing shopping experience. They have the G9 for 499. So I say can i get this cam at your online price. They say I have to have a printout of their own web site to make this happen. I say, you must be kidding me, you want me to go home and get you a print out of your own web site? She said, go to the comp dept and have them give you a print out. Needless to say, I wasted a good 3 hours there overall, finally I am ready to get the cam, she gives me a new, factory fresh, I check it out and about to pay and I show the print out. Their reply, oh no we can't honor that, a few questions later, she sends to me to a manager who says I should go to customer service. There was a line about 40 people deep at the CS, so I just walked out of the store. You know there is a good chance I won't go back in there again.
Next, I notice that B&H (a local store) is selling the G9 at almost 450, but J&R has it for 436. I call B&H and the CS says of course we'll honor J&R's price come on in. So, in I go and of course they decide not to honor it and I wasted a good 1.5 hours there. For whatever reason, and I could have pressed them because they have a store policy to match reputable pricing, but I said to myself, don't waste your money here, they don't deserve it. Even though I like B&H, they have an excellent selection.
So I went to J&R, got a new G9 at 436, checked it out before I paid for it, plus a secondary battery and Canon case for the G9. Had an amazingly a civilized experience as I know most of the guys there. And left the store with a smile on my face. Good going J&R, without doubt my favorite electronics store in the NYC.
Needless to say, I am a happy camper again, as I do like this camera very much.
So, those of you who remember, with my G9 1.0 I decided to use a Pelican 1040 case, to use as a solid, weatherproof case. A few of you liked the idea and followed suit. But I noticed that the Pelican 1040 was actually too thin for the G9 and it was putting too much pressure on the camera when closed. Also the 1040 series is not waterproof, it's just water resistant.
So, for the G9 2.0, I am going even more serious. Here it is with Pelican 1120, small but totally waterproof genuine Pelican case. This is some serious case. These Pelican cases actually float if dropped in a body of water and they are basiclaly bulletproof. I am a motorcycle journalist and photographer, so I needed a small, water, shock proof case for the G9 to throw it on the bike as I travel.
Here it is:
Considering the lack of competition I'd say the G9 is currently the king of the hill and I am very happy to have gotten a 2nd one.
Cheers, S
--
***
http://www.shahramshiva.com
To see my first post on the G9 please visit here:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1010&thread=25032050
Now my journey of buying my 2nd G9 was not smooth. First I was hoping that someone would top the G9 so I wouldn't have to buy another one, as I want a digicam even superior, more like a DSLR sub, but there is no chance of that. Some new cams will be revealed this Jan/Feb, possibly the new Panny LX3, but as we all know the G10 is about a year away and quite frankly it seems to me that most brands are into going after the average consumer with cheaper cams or DSLRs, than a serious enthusiast/pro with more expensive digicams.
So I gave up on looking for a substitute. My next aim was to buy the cam at the cheapest possible retail price and I soon gave up on that too.
Here's a scenario:
Circuit city sells the G9 at a low 429 or so price. I go to the store to get one, which was a real zoo by the way. Really disappointing shopping experience. They have the G9 for 499. So I say can i get this cam at your online price. They say I have to have a printout of their own web site to make this happen. I say, you must be kidding me, you want me to go home and get you a print out of your own web site? She said, go to the comp dept and have them give you a print out. Needless to say, I wasted a good 3 hours there overall, finally I am ready to get the cam, she gives me a new, factory fresh, I check it out and about to pay and I show the print out. Their reply, oh no we can't honor that, a few questions later, she sends to me to a manager who says I should go to customer service. There was a line about 40 people deep at the CS, so I just walked out of the store. You know there is a good chance I won't go back in there again.
Next, I notice that B&H (a local store) is selling the G9 at almost 450, but J&R has it for 436. I call B&H and the CS says of course we'll honor J&R's price come on in. So, in I go and of course they decide not to honor it and I wasted a good 1.5 hours there. For whatever reason, and I could have pressed them because they have a store policy to match reputable pricing, but I said to myself, don't waste your money here, they don't deserve it. Even though I like B&H, they have an excellent selection.
So I went to J&R, got a new G9 at 436, checked it out before I paid for it, plus a secondary battery and Canon case for the G9. Had an amazingly a civilized experience as I know most of the guys there. And left the store with a smile on my face. Good going J&R, without doubt my favorite electronics store in the NYC.
Needless to say, I am a happy camper again, as I do like this camera very much.
So, those of you who remember, with my G9 1.0 I decided to use a Pelican 1040 case, to use as a solid, weatherproof case. A few of you liked the idea and followed suit. But I noticed that the Pelican 1040 was actually too thin for the G9 and it was putting too much pressure on the camera when closed. Also the 1040 series is not waterproof, it's just water resistant.
So, for the G9 2.0, I am going even more serious. Here it is with Pelican 1120, small but totally waterproof genuine Pelican case. This is some serious case. These Pelican cases actually float if dropped in a body of water and they are basiclaly bulletproof. I am a motorcycle journalist and photographer, so I needed a small, water, shock proof case for the G9 to throw it on the bike as I travel.
Here it is:
Considering the lack of competition I'd say the G9 is currently the king of the hill and I am very happy to have gotten a 2nd one.
Cheers, S
--
***
http://www.shahramshiva.com
