I found it on the Internet
SUE O''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''BRIEN wrote:
I've had a couple G12's and upgraded to the G15 but too many pictures were soft with the G15. I decided to buy another G12 and just read about the lens error and that the whole mechanism has to be replaced. There is actually a guy on EBay doing this for $35 and how I first heard about it and then researched the problem on the WEB. I didn't have any problem with mine or my G9 or G10. The mechanism has been changed on the G15 so it won't happen on that model. Any help will be appreciated.
This is what happens when we spend too much time trying to find faults with our gear. Did your original G12's ever give you any trouble? I'm guessing they didn't since you went out and bought a third one.
The fellow on eBay might be totally legit but as others have already suggested, based on forum chatter the G12 doesn't have a particular weakness as far as the lens is concerned. My main beater G10 did develop a lens error but I contribute the failure to too many bounces off pavement and concrete. I use LensMate adapters on my G10's now to at least protect the lens when it's extended and just added an adapter from Bower to my G15.
Sharpness with the G15 is more than decent, although it falls a bit short of what the G10 can deliver. I think CMOS sensors in general need a bit more in-camera sharpening or post processing to get the micro-contrast (real or perceived) of older CCD sensor cameras. That being said, I've just recently had some 12x18 prints done at Costco from the G15 and they look great. They were in-camera JPEG's with all of the settings zeroed out.
I've had some shots that were OOF with the G15, quite a bit more than my other P&S's from Canon. It might be a trade off due to the much faster focus. I'm on the fence about sending it to Canon for a check-up, mostly due to a horrible experience when they repaired my G10 last year. For now I'm keeping an eye on it and trying to get a feel for the when and why of the AF misses. Other than that the G15 is giving my G10's something to worry about.