G15- Initial Thoughts

Like many, I dismissed the G15 off the bat because of a lack of articulated screen and/or an improved optical finder (like the X10 has). However, after some thought and cooling off, I began to think in a different way about the G15.

One golden rule I follow is never to dismiss or get overly excited about a camera until you have one in your hand. In the past I've written about cameras I love having initially written them off, and vice versa- and in the end ended up with an entirely different impression and conclusion about the product. So...

I started thinking about the bigger screen, the clean back panel layout, and simplified overall handling vs the G12. And I thought, I've absolutely loved many cameras with a fixed screen, the G15 should be no different. Then, I remembered that I've used the optical finder in plenty of G-Series cameras in the past and been plenty happy with it on those rare occassions. Sure, I'd like a bigger brighter finder like the X10 and do think Canon should have improved on it, however it's not a deal breaker for me in real life.

After I came to terms with those two conclusions emotionally, I then started looking at the benefits of the new items. The lens is exciting, the new sensor and processing better, about a 2 stop advantage through the entire focal range of the G12 when both are factored together and added up- and that realy got me thinking that I just might like the G15 quite a bit.

Now I'm not in the camp of big or small sensors solely, I think there plenty of advantages of larger and smaller sensor cameras and I appreciate them for those advantages- especially when the package is so good around the sensor. The G1X had great IQ but I felt the design overall was unbalanced, it was heavy and clunky to me for a camera of this type, its macro and auto focus performance was sub par to the G12. I preferred the G12 overall as a balanced product in the end to the G1X.

The G15 is also 2 ounces lighter than the G12, and a tad slimmer. When talking cameras this small thats a noticeable difference for a daily shooter. Add that to the cleaner overall exterior and better positioned EV dial, and I actually started getting excited a bit. In retrospect, I think its easy to get caught up in community talk - especially negative talk- and dismiss products too easily. No camera has ever been perfect by my standards, but the G series has always been a very consistently pleasing product, dare I say favorite of mine from Canon overall.

So that said, I requested a review unit to evaluate from Canon and its on the way. In the end I think this post serves as a sort of premonition that I may end up being surprised by the G15 when I use it in hand, vs. judging it solely on specification criteria alone.

Guess we'll find out tomorrow when I get it.

Cheers!

Carl

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