What's your favorite "older" PowerShot?

I had three different G10 cameras over a few years, taking them everywhere. They were compact, highly functional, rugged and gave terrific resolution for enlarging and full spread book printing. As time went by, they seemed slow in performance and noisier in IQ, in comparison with the competition.

G1...still have it and use it occasionally. Amazing camera for it's time.

The A650IS had far better handling and batterylife than its Contemporary the G9 , better image quality too due to less aggressive NR ...... the deep grip and swivelly screen were the killer features, AA batts powered it almost endlessely - all it lost was RAW which could be had via CHDK. this cam made the G9 look like overpriced bling, no doubt why the line of larger sensor A series cams stopped at this model, who`d want the less practical G series version .

The G10 had by far the best image quality of any G at low ISOs prior to the G1X arriving and still beats the current G15/16 at low ISOs now in RAW or JPG.. the sensor combined 14Mp with decent RAW DR , a weak low pass filter and a JPG engine not loaded with greasy noise reduction ..

Fave Ancient Powershot was the S30 . nikcnamed the Shirtpocket D30 because of its amazing for the time ISO800 performance in RAW . sharper and cleaner than the 4Mp cams (G2/3/S40/45) it was a great alrounder . I liked the S70 too . the S80 sucked big time

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** Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist **

Good morning Sueanne,

For sure the Pro1, 28-200mm (equiv) in a smallish package with great IQ in good light as long as your subject didn't move Before that my G2 produced IQ hugely better than the A40 I had prior; I have 12"x18" prints from it that are very good.

sueanne said:

is my favorite ole powershot

and before that, was the A80 (RIP)

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The G9 - great image quality (as long as the subject wasn't moving...or in the dark) and superb build quality (better than recent Gs imo).

870IS (may have been called something else in US) for ease of use.

But in some ways best of all of the early ones for me was the 800IS (again may have been called something else in US). Used it last year on the beach in good light and was amazed at the IQ - great punchy colours and sharpness. Handy little viewfinder in those conditions too.

Moved on to the S95 and S110 when not using a DSLR. Still have both - great cameras.

The only one of these I sold was the G9 - probably wouldn't use it now, but do sometimes wish I'd hung on to it - it always "felt right"!

My 1 & only PowerShot. Slow to focus and noisy by current standards, it's done a wonderful job taking beautiful pics for me - even in the uw housing while snorkeling.

BIJ001 said:

I had (actually still have) an A610, but after the 10,000 image counter's turning around several (5 or 6) times it developed a sticky shutter beyond economic repair. I liked it very much - it was a little gem. Had it not got defective, I would maybe still using it! I had not anticipated to how much extent I would love the fully articulating screen.

After some agonizing I picked up a slightly used second hand G11 as a replacement. I like it very much.

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Quite possible, the 610 was the BEST VALUE camera ever.

With CHDK it can do pretty much everything except HD video.

The Sensor was great, the Flipout screen the use of AA batteries, 60fps video, great lens, and able to shoot Raw with hacked firmware.

It had almost no weight without the batteries. It had good battery life.

Closest to the concept of the original Elph.

The SD1000 is a very nice camera and fun to handle and use.

Great responses everyone! I have learned about a number of cameras that I didn't know about, and also had my positive opinions of other cameras affirmed by a number of you. I've never shot an SD900, but with its larger sensor, it seems as though it would be a nice camera to use, and that it would yield nice results. Also, the A6xx cameras sound like nice ones to try. I've seen a lot of pics from an A650 and was always impressed by them.

Adam T.: Why no love for the S80?

Andy

I agree that some of the original 'IXUS' range were great. I had the original Digital IXUS back in late 2000 and it was a revelation, after many years of being lumbered with a Pentax 35mm SLR.

I still think the smaller, pocketable Powershots are some of the best photographic tools, as you can take them anywhere and capture pictures in an instant, unlike bigger, clunkier units.

The G10 was my favorite of all but I did not have all the ones mentioned here.

racollins said:

Adam T.: Why no love for the S80?

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They took the Excellent S60/70, then ruined the ergonomics and styling, introduced more plastic (a no no for an S series) and put in an inferior sensor .... also these cams are best in RAW and they took that away too (you need CHDK to get it, don`t bother, get an S70)

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** Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist **

Justme said:

That was my first pocketable fun Canon P&S. Liked the size and the great image quality. Even dedicated a gallery to the S400. http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/canon_s400_gallery&page=2

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Mine too - I replaced it with the 500 which was the same with 1 more MP . the Ixus-750 (SD550) was the best of this series of large sensor ixus models IMO . after that, the lenses became a very limiting factor until the range was replaced with the S90

A650 is still the camera I\m using most. I have been using it for 5-6 years now. G1X is much better for low-light photos but during the day I take the A650 with me.

Moris

I still have an S90 and love it, though I make the same mistakes I always did. How it is still working I don't know.

My favorite is still my G9. I have considered the S650, but it lacks the controls, and especially the hot shoe for flash. It's small (about the same size at G15), so I consider it my "small" camera. I also like the zoom range (35-210mm) for less distortion at wide end (compared to my G11 at 28mm), and longer reach. We also own the A620, which I used to like, but my wife now considers it her favorite. It still takes great photos in the right conditions, but the LCD is too small for me.

The G11 is also very good and can produce the best results at higher ISOs than the other two models, but it's also a little larger than my G9. I do like the swivel LCD most of the time, but still lean toward my G9. I started using a Clearviewer with it last year, and it now gives me a large "EVF" by using my LCD. They don't make a Clearviewer for the G11 due to the swivel LCD. The Clearviewer has improved my appreciation for the G9.



Dennis

my SD890 is still doing fine. I also have the SX50, but still use the 890 too.

The A710IS ranks high on my list. My wife uses one, and it's perfect for her. I recentlybought a used one in good shape for $25, and then found an A720IS in very good condition for $45 that lives in my car.

I really liked the S70. I did try the S80, but didn't like the location for the mode dial. Images were no better than the S70.

I used an S90 for four years, and just recently "up-graded" to an S95; which is fractionally better.

Other standout Powershots were the SD850IS and SD870IS, and the very nice SD950IS with the sensor and processor from the G9 and a voluptuous titanium shell.

Then there was the S3IS and S5IS. Really nice cameras, except for strong chromatic aberrations in high contrast situations. Sharp and fast lenses, minimal noise reduction, and crisp looking images.

Two more stood out for me. The remarkably sharp G5. It was noisy at ISO 400; but had an excellent f/2-f/3 lens, and really good dynamic range. I liked the G7 a lot; but it had a badly designed optical finder, so it took some learning time to use it well. The G9 was very similar; but added a 12 MP sensor, RAW, and a 3" LCD. Overall, I preferred the G7.

Finally, there's the Canon Pro 1. A great lens, an 8 MP, 2/3" sensor, great color, and terrific image quality - provided you had a later production model, as it was a work in progress with several improvements over it's lifetime. It had its faults, make no mistake, but in the right situation it was excellent.

G10 for me, without hesitation, a modern classic and in good light can produce fantastic image quality. I also have the G15 and think it may be spoken about in threads similar to this in a few years time, I love it also.