Hi again guys and gals. I really really appreciate your advice and your interest in my discussion. Well, Sunday I took the camera back to CC and got a complete refund. Do I know what to do now? NO!! Sheesh, I'm more confused. I'll tell you why.
I had nearly talked myself into getting an slr and even went to Wolf Camera and checked them out, with money in hand. However, there is a little part of me that just does not want to go this route. I don't want a bulky slr, I still want a digital camera.
Here is my delimma. I know for a fact that the slr will give me great pictures. But I got to thinking about all the advice you guys gave me and all of the discussion of self-editing my photos.(yes, I listened to you) If I buy a film camera, although the colors might be more accurate, I still am going to lose a lot more of my pictures for other reasons. I can't preview them and I have to leave them in the hands of a lab technician for tweaking. I was thinking about all the pictures I deleted from my digital because my daughter had her eyes closed or a weird expression on her face. Well, in film pictures, those will get developed and then be wasted. If a picture would have been good otherwise, but I accidentally got it a little underexposed or captured a background I didn't want, that will also be a throw away because I can't manipulate it on a computer.
I was planning on buying the photo editing software anyway and if I buy a compact flash reader for my computer, it wouldn't be that difficult or annoying to upload the pictures to my computer. The initial process of learning how to use the software and calibrating my monitor might take a while, but once I have a little practice, it shouldn't be a problem or take that long. Besides, I would probably want to upload all good pictures to my computer anyway, for putting backup copies on a disk.
In short, I miss the heck out of the G3. I've been looking and relooking at all the pictures. Yeah, the color green is horrible in sunlight and there is no doubt that I would have to manipulate it in Photoshop, but do all the other attributes of the camera outweigh that one flaw? I'm not sure yet but I can tell you there are a lot of things about the camera I love and miss. I love the size, the feel, the flip out lcd monitor, the crispness and clarity of the pictures, the bright onboard flash, the controls, the battery life, the zoom and heck, I already bought this really cool camera case that I can't return. LOL.
This thread was in no way meant to deter potential camera buyers from buying the G3. I know that for a lot of you, the benefits of the camera far outweight the camera's bad points and therefor it isn't an issue. With any camera you are going to be giving up something. However, I also believe that this is a real problem and should at least be mentioned for people that want unedited pictures from the camera. When I researched this camera and I looked at all the great reviews on color, I never thought that there are some people that never even see the pictures on print, but only on a monitor. And there are a lot of you that never see a picture that hasn't been through a good tweaking in Photoshop. So, just how many opinions and reviews are out there for unprocessed pictures, straight out of the camera? Not many. I was wondering, when Phil does his reviews and when you see the reviews at Imaging-Resource, do they actually print out the unprocessed pictures or do they only look on a monitor? Just a question, because I really have no idea and I never thought to ask. There can be a big difference between what is on a monitor and what is printed and of course, it also depends on where you get it printed.
The only time that I had problems with the color was in bright sunlight with the color green. Inside pictures looked great and even outdoor pictures in the shade were acceptable. It doesn't have to be completely accurate to be acceptable to me. Just not outrageously bright and yellowish.
I was looking through some digital picture sample prints at Wal-Mart. They don't carry Canon but several other brands and then put them side by side for comparison. The objects in the picture were a multi-colored throw blanket and a green pillow. I was absolutely shocked at the differences in color between the different cameras. It was so different that the green of the pillow ranged from a light pea green to a darker bluish green. I never saw the pillow in person, so I have no which camera was more accurate with the color. I think that camera manufacturers need to worry less about which color that looks the best and just worry about making a camera with the most accurate color.
I'm going to call CC today and see if the price of the camera has dropped. When I bought it the first time it was still almost regular price but I know that they are going on clearance. I may try another one if I can still get the 14 day return policy. I regret not listening to you guys and spending a little more time with the camera and I regret not posting you samples for more advice. If I go with another G3, I promise to upload you all some samples and then await your sound advice. It has its flaws but I believe it is still one of the best digital cameras out there. I'm just going to think long and hard about why I need a camera and what functions are more important to me. Everyone is different and only you can determine what is best.
