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not buying the G2 , here's why

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take polls done on the internet with many grains of salt. it's too easy to have them skewed so badly they are meaningless.

Most of the posts I have seen indicate that the crack -- as undisireable as it is -- doesn't affect the unit's picture-taking ability. There are many good things about the G2 that outweigh the relatively small risk of having one develop a crack. Especially since Canon has fessed up to the problem and will gladly fix it.

I have owned one for more than two months. No cracks, terrific pix.
ZéDasCouves said:
now... I've also found something that made my decision clear... a
poll with questions that I really wanted answered :

"Do you have a crack or hole in your G2?" so we can have a
statistic about how many cracks there are among ALL G2 cameras, so
even those guys that whose cameras didn't had any cracks have
answered do this question. THE RESULTS ARE REALLY BAD !

the poll is here :
http://pub39.bravenet.com/vote/vote.php?usernum=3327235335&cpv=1

the results from the poll is here :
http://pub39.bravenet.com/vote/stats.php?usernum=3327235335

I mean... cmon... if 54% of all G2's have cracks, my chances of
having one are really huge
Click to expand...
--
joel albert
[email protected]
 
Since I posted on this topic a few minutes ago, I decided to take a look at the "poll".

First, it's flawed because it begs people to vote only once. It's pretty well established that disgruntled buyers -- perhaps crack victims -- want to vent and are likely to vote multiple times. You sort of can't blame them , but that wrecks the validity of the poll nevertheless.

Next... look at the first question:

Question #1
Have you returned or not bought a G2 because of this crack-hole issue ?
Yes
No

Question #2
Do you have a crack or hole in your G2?
Yes
No

Question #3
Do you think Canon should make a statement about this problem?
Yes
No

Question #4
Do you believe this problem to be an engineering/manufacturing problem?
Yes
No
=================

1- First question is a two parter and begs for separate questions. One for people who returned, the other for non-buyers. They are really different issues & categories.
2-This one is OK...but still subject to repeat votes

3- Canon HAS made a statement (see their web site) and says it'll fix any camera with cracks.

4-Bad question. Most buyers/poll takers have no idea whether it's engineering or manufacturing and an opinion here is without value. The response is a "so-what" matter. Who cares. They break, Canon fixes.
==========

Again, cracks are not nice. And , I hope mine or yours doesn't develop one.

===============================
jralbert said:
Most of the posts I have seen indicate that the crack -- as
undisireable as it is -- doesn't affect the unit's picture-taking
ability. There are many good things about the G2 that outweigh the
relatively small risk of having one develop a crack. Especially
since Canon has fessed up to the problem and will gladly fix it.

I have owned one for more than two months. No cracks, terrific pix.
ZéDasCouves said:
now... I've also found something that made my decision clear... a
poll with questions that I really wanted answered :

"Do you have a crack or hole in your G2?" so we can have a
statistic about how many cracks there are among ALL G2 cameras, so
even those guys that whose cameras didn't had any cracks have
answered do this question. THE RESULTS ARE REALLY BAD !

the poll is here :
http://pub39.bravenet.com/vote/vote.php?usernum=3327235335&cpv=1

the results from the poll is here :
http://pub39.bravenet.com/vote/stats.php?usernum=3327235335

I mean... cmon... if 54% of all G2's have cracks, my chances of
having one are really huge
Click to expand...
--
joel albert
[email protected]
Click to expand...
--
joel albert
[email protected]
 
Richard P. said:
Richard P.86467 said:
Okay which is it I am supposed to look for the first digit being a
"1" or something to do with the fifth digit???
Click to expand...
Steve,

Several forum members reported that they were informed by Canon
that newer G2 cameras with 10-digit (instead of 9) serial numbers
with the 5th digit a 5 or higher have redesigned backs that should
not crack.
--
Richard P.
Keep an eye open!
Click to expand...
--

Gee I feel a bit more confident my G2 will last the week out now - My serial No. starts with a 4, fifth digit is a 5 and the whole serial number is divisible by both 9 and 3

I LOVE MY G2. I mean I LOVE it!

Cheers
Juan

Juan
Thorngate SA
 
ZéDasCouves has posted 21 times on this thread as of 12.00 PM BST
Friday 28th. Is that a record?

The point has been made. Just buy the camera that best for you.
You are missing out on taking photos all the time you wait.

J.

Ps. I don't have a G2, I have an S30. I made the choice and got on with
my life.
 
"I refuse to buy something that I know I'll have to send for repair for a problem that already comes with the camera from the store"

It seems we went from 54% to 100%. ;-)

--Jay
ZéDasCouves said:
because.. yes... digital cameras for me it's like buy and sell in a
couple of yers or something like that... at least for now... the
time will come when I get my hands on a dslr with lets say 12mp, I
don't think I'll never need more resolution than that... ate least
for the prints that I do...
I a whole lot more concerned with thing like shutther lag and
quality of lens, zoom, etc... than with resolution, I said 12mp,
but that's maybe to high, I would be very satisfied with 4 ou 6mp
as long as all the other things were good...lag, zoom, flash...
etc....

my point is... I refuse to buy something that I know I'll have to
send for repair for a problem that already comes with the camera
from the store... this is against the law, it's selling a faulty
camera for a camera that's supposed to be free of these defects.
Jason Hutchinson said:
However, anything that affects final image quality to me a real
defect.

Jason
ZéDasCouves said:
Jason Hutchinson said:
You say for that price you don't want defects. Every digital
camera at any price has defects. $5000 Canon 1Ds and Nikon D1X's
have lots of defects. Your job is to get the camera with the
defects you can live with.

Your Fuji 602 and Oly 4040 have plenty of defects as well. I bet
you'll be happy with either one anyway.

Jason
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I purchased my G2 in December. Since then I have taken beautiful pictures of my family in France. I have also taken 70 pictures for publication in my product catalog. . .pictures which turned out better than my previously scanned 35mm pictures taken with a Nikon F100. (The 35mm slides were fine. It is just that scanning them with my Microtek scanner resulted in lost quality.) In fact the pictures published in the catalog never saw film because it was printed "direct to plate."

So if today my G2, crack and all, were to disappear in a puff of smoke, I would still consider it a good purchse.
 
ZéDasCouves

Just read this quote from DPreview Fuji 602 review, it says it all.

"Approaching the comparison from a colour and tonal balance basis both cameras do well. Tone and colour saturation is similar for both cameras, although the S602Z does exhibit its "Orange Reds" syndrome on the Martini label. Obviously the G2 images will look sharper because they haven't been "processed" up in resolution in the same way as the S602Z images have (in camera). Having said that it's clear that the S602Z can't compete with the G2 on a resolution basis, the G2 is cleaner, sharper and carries more resolution."

--
JC
http://www.pbase.com/jclay75028/jcs_pbase
 
I've had my G2 since February and have taken over 3000 or so photos. A lot of them are stunning, some are average and some are poor. I think that i am responsible for the poor ones more than the camera is.

I'm gonna use it till it quits. the only thing I want to do is get a digital SLR. because I have a lot invested in lenses and want the ability to use them in the digital world. Til then, the G2 performs well for me and fits my needs.

But keep waitning, that perfect camera is always around the corner, coming soon, on the drawing board or at least rumored to be .

Smiles
john campbell said:
I purchased my G2 in December. Since then I have taken beautiful
pictures of my family in France. I have also taken 70 pictures for
publication in my product catalog. . .pictures which turned out
better than my previously scanned 35mm pictures taken with a Nikon
F100. (The 35mm slides were fine. It is just that scanning them
with my Microtek scanner resulted in lost quality.) In fact the
pictures published in the catalog never saw film because it was
printed "direct to plate."

So if today my G2, crack and all, were to disappear in a puff of
smoke, I would still consider it a good purchse.
Click to expand...
 
NNS said:
I've had my G2 since February and have taken over 3000 or so
photos. A lot of them are stunning, some are average and some are
poor. I think that i am responsible for the poor ones more than
the camera is.

I'm gonna use it till it quits. the only thing I want to do is get
a digital SLR. because I have a lot invested in lenses and want
the ability to use them in the digital world. Til then, the G2
performs well for me and fits my needs.

But keep waitning, that perfect camera is always around the corner,
coming soon, on the drawing board or at least rumored to be .
Click to expand...
Yeah, keep waiting for that perfect camera. That guy would be waiting for the perfect camera for years and still not being able to buy any, just like the other guy who waited for the perfect laptop computer and never bought one for five years straight.

By the way, a MAJOR risk of polls is that they are subjected to biases. If someone like the thread starter hates Canon stuff, he could recruit hundreds to vote Canon down in all the polls. Take the results (as well as "Which political party is more popular" ones) with a grain of salt.
--
http://printerboyweb.net/G2
 
four months ago I was in the same predicament as you.....

I was all set with my research and recomendations, Just then the "crack" dillema started showing up on message boards. At that time, Canon had not said anything about the crack.

I went ahead a got the camera...

After finding out what a truly great camera I had and taking all kinds of photos. I still checked the area where the crack was supposed to form daily. But in the meantime, I was just enjoying my camera and figuring out what it could do.

30 days later, I got the crack...

You know what? It didnt phase me much, it was so miniscule and I was still able to take great pictures. You could hardly see it. Later, Canon came out to recognize the defect, and assured me of their support in repairing it. Now it doesnt bother me at all.

I haven't sent my camera in yet, I have decided that it isnt worth the time without my camera to repair this little crack. When/If it becomes a hole that will be time to send it in. When the next firmware comes out, I will send it in as I can get both things done at once. As of now, the crack doesn't bother me at all.

I think there are more important criteria to consider when buying a camera. I think CompactFlash and Microdrive are superior and cheaper than SmartMedia and Memorystick and that was my deciding factor.

Kemmmer
 
I have tried and/or owned most of the digicams in the prosumer level in the last 3 years and as much as I dislile Canon stuff (I am a fanatical Minolta AF and Nikon MF SLR user and simply hate the EOS system!), I have to admit that G2 is the most accomplished camera in this level in the market today!

Why? Because it is the camera that overall presents the lowest number of negative points even if most of the common faults of prosumer digicams are present - uncertain AF capability, dead pixels, hot pixels, shutter lag, etc.

I have tried Sony S85 and 707 and owned Minolta D7 and each of these cameras may perform better than G2 in some specific aspects. But on the other hand, each one has one or more major faults that in the end lead me to the decision of trading them for something better(although I must confess that I miss the manual zoom in D7 and the handling of 707).

If you want a "perfect" camera you have to go to the Digital SLR level and believe me that you will have to spend several times the cost of one G2 to obtain a significative improvement in real life photos (I have tried D60 and was very unimpressed).

The fact is that the current range of digicams still has a long way to go before it catches up with entry level 35 mm slr. Maybe in two or three generations time (two years, at the most), we will see prosumer level digicams that can focus as well as a medium range 35mm point and shoot and are capable of acceptable noise levels and shoot fast enough to let you take sharp pictures from your kids without having to repeat the pictures dozens of times in search of an acceptable focus.

But in the meantime we have to accept the current state of the art and for the time being we have to accept these shortcomings. The G2 is just the camera that works better within such technological limitations.

If the price to pay for this is the possibility of having a crack in the camera body, so be it! Maybe Zé das Couves should pay a visit to the Nikon and Sony forums and check what the 707 and CP 5000 have to say about their cameras and count how many problems they found in their Kit! I mean, those forums look like their users main concern is how to get their cameras to work, and that they simply dont have any time to take pictures at all!

That is why I will happily wait for the crack to appear in my G2!

João Salvador
 
Well, I for one, have a G2 with no problems. I replaced a G1, which was fine, but I wanted the black body and the higher res. because I use the camera along side my D1x for wedding work. I am finding myself using the G2 for about 90% of the shooting at a wedding, mainly because of the ease of handling and the fact that they need much less post processing in P/S afterward. I would not hesitate recomending this fine camera to anyone that ask, and I have on many occasions.

I think you will find, that with any model digital camera, there will be some that have problems, no matter the manufacture or price, and if you get a bad one, you get it replaced. In my humble estimation, I believe this camera to be one of the finest out there for the cost/features.
Mike D
 
Using the G2 for Wedding work is a pretty nice endorsement of its capabilities!

..... Jim
Mike Delaney said:
Well, I for one, have a G2 with no problems. I replaced a G1,
which was fine, but I wanted the black body and the higher res.
because I use the camera along side my D1x for wedding work. I am
finding myself using the G2 for about 90% of the shooting at a
wedding, mainly because of the ease of handling and the fact that
they need much less post processing in P/S afterward. I would not
hesitate recomending this fine camera to anyone that ask, and I
have on many occasions.
I think you will find, that with any model digital camera, there
will be some that have problems, no matter the manufacture or
price, and if you get a bad one, you get it replaced. In my humble
estimation, I believe this camera to be one of the finest out there
for the cost/features.
Mike D
Click to expand...
 
Jimmer said:
Using the G2 for Wedding work is a pretty nice endorsement of its
capabilities!

..... Jim
Click to expand...
Jim

I've been doing weddings for about 30 years now, digital for the past three, and, like I said, files from the G2 are great. I'll admit that opting for the black body may sound a bit off, but, looks account for credibility, and thats just the way it is. I used the G1 for most of the grab shots at receptions, and began using it more and more the longer I had it. The higher resolution and Genuine Fractals combine to produce a finished print that is every bit as good as the ones from the D1x, at least in my applications. I have the G2 on a stroboframe bracket, and the 420 flash mounted, and with the flash bounced, the results are great. No complaints so far.
Mike D
 
Joao:

You sound like an experienced photographic equipment collector. Allow, me, why do you "hate the EOS system"?

I am interested because I thought that among the major brands, their top lines were all very good. On may prefer one line over another, sure... but if you hate EOS you must have a good reason. Can you share?

Much obliged,

John
joao salvador said:
I have tried and/or owned most of the digicams in the prosumer
level in the last 3 years and as much as I dislile Canon stuff (I
am a fanatical Minolta AF and Nikon MF SLR user and simply hate the
EOS system!), I have to admit that G2 is the most accomplished
camera in this level in the market today!

Why? Because it is the camera that overall presents the lowest
number of negative points even if most of the common faults of
prosumer digicams are present - uncertain AF capability, dead
pixels, hot pixels, shutter lag, etc.

I have tried Sony S85 and 707 and owned Minolta D7 and each of
these cameras may perform better than G2 in some specific aspects.
But on the other hand, each one has one or more major faults that
in the end lead me to the decision of trading them for something
better(although I must confess that I miss the manual zoom in D7
and the handling of 707).

If you want a "perfect" camera you have to go to the Digital SLR
level and believe me that you will have to spend several times the
cost of one G2 to obtain a significative improvement in real life
photos (I have tried D60 and was very unimpressed).

The fact is that the current range of digicams still has a long way
to go before it catches up with entry level 35 mm slr. Maybe in two
or three generations time (two years, at the most), we will see
prosumer level digicams that can focus as well as a medium range
35mm point and shoot and are capable of acceptable noise levels and
shoot fast enough to let you take sharp pictures from your kids
without having to repeat the pictures dozens of times in search of
an acceptable focus.

But in the meantime we have to accept the current state of the art
and for the time being we have to accept these shortcomings. The G2
is just the camera that works better within such technological
limitations.

If the price to pay for this is the possibility of having a crack
in the camera body, so be it! Maybe Zé das Couves should pay a
visit to the Nikon and Sony forums and check what the 707 and CP
5000 have to say about their cameras and count how many problems
they found in their Kit! I mean, those forums look like their users
main concern is how to get their cameras to work, and that they
simply dont have any time to take pictures at all!

That is why I will happily wait for the crack to appear in my G2!

João Salvador
Click to expand...
 
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