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A Bit Disappointed with the G5X

Started Jan 11, 2016 | Discussions
Stephen Mifsud Contributing Member • Posts: 693
Re: A Bit Disappointed with the G5X

That was just a crop, this is the original (you can test yourself). When aperture is 4.0 or above, it will have less halo effect, but the noise is worrying. I bought camera from ebay.  Another use reported the same issue (but was not disatisfied with the noise on his images!), I had the setting jpg, large, superfine.

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rpm40
rpm40 Senior Member • Posts: 2,411
Re: A Bit Disappointed with the G5X

How small is this flower? It is a bit hard to tell without context but I am guessing it is very tiny, and you are as close as the camera's minimum focus will allow?

If that is the case, it is tough for most lenses to get the best results wide open for "macros", especially these large sensor compacts (and the rx100s struggle as well). That said, this is a particular weakness of the g5x/g7x lens. It tries to do a lot of things, and as a result it does not do wide open macros well, resulting in low contrast, halos, etc. I usually stop down to f2.8 for wide "macros", and f4 for tele "macros". The depth of field is usually pretty narrow and makes it tougher to nail focus anyway. To compound the issue, I have heard some people finding that when shooting these shallow macros, the camera will misfocus slightly to the rear, but I have heard that strangely enough, face detect autofocus helps this issue.

As for the noise- it does not look great. My thoughts on the sensor is that it is tuned to give good results at high isos, which often sacrifices some smoothness at base iso. Mine doesn't do a great job on smooth areas like sky and walls either, but looks better than this, I think. If you have a chance, maybe go to a store to shoot a similar shot with your camera and a display g5x/g7x to see how they compare- if they are much different, the sensor could be subpar. If that is not practical, try shooting a raw+jpeg to see if the raw looks substantially better, which would at least let you know if any jpeg settings are a problem. I set my noise reduction to "low" which is good for me, but you may want to play around with the options. The g7x ii also added much more control over sharpening, etc. which could help to get the results you want.

Stephen Mifsud Contributing Member • Posts: 693
Re: A Bit Disappointed with the G5X

When your image is scaled down, it looks nice, but when I  croped in and pixel-poke your image to check the noise level I saw the same noise as in mine. Seriously, are you happy with that?  For me it's too much noise!

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Stephen Mifsud Contributing Member • Posts: 693
Re: A Bit Disappointed with the G5X

The flower is about 6mm, in fact I was at it's closest possible in macro mode. I forgot if I applied some zoom. I have not yet check the NR settings in the camera, maybe they are set high, however the halo effect (also experienced by another user on tis forum) is a camera killer. Tomorrow I take same type of photo with G1x and g5x to compare and try some different settings.

Still,  when I bought a new camera, I always had that nice wow experience but not on the G5x , considering its is expensive

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 Stephen Mifsud's gear list:Stephen Mifsud's gear list
Canon PowerShot G1 X Canon EOS Rebel T6i Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Canon EF-S 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS STM
rpm40
rpm40 Senior Member • Posts: 2,411
Re: A Bit Disappointed with the G5X

Keep in mind you are also comparing the g5x with 20 megapixels with a g1x which has about a 3x larger sensor, with only 14 megapixels. At pixel level, it will be very hard for the g5x to keep up. If you are looking at both at 100%, the g5x will be a much larger image. To compare things evenly, you should view them at the same size, not the same zoom. Even better, print an image from each camera, both the same size, and compare. This may make you feel better as the image quality on the g5x should look better in comparison.

RazzmatazzBE Forum Member • Posts: 64
Re: A Bit Disappointed with the G5X

Stephen Mifsud wrote:

Seriously, are you happy with that?

Honestly, I don't find it to be a problem.. There is always some kind of noise to be found in all sample G5X/G7X photos and in all reviews if you look for it.

I set in-camera noise reduction to the minimum. If I could I would turn it off completely for JPG, but as I shoot jpg+raw I can try to get the most out of it in post processing. But I do believe there are worse in-camera jpg engines than canons.

What I'm not seeing in my image are the halos and glow as you have them though, but then again, this is only one image. I'll need to dive in the garden to further test and try.

Regards,

 RazzmatazzBE's gear list:RazzmatazzBE's gear list
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Stephen Mifsud Contributing Member • Posts: 693
Re: A Bit Disappointed with the G5X

rpm40 wrote:

Keep in mind you are also comparing the g5x with 20 megapixels with a g1x which has about a 3x larger sensor, with only 14 megapixels. At pixel level, it will be very hard for the g5x to keep up. If you are looking at both at 100%, the g5x will be a much larger image. To compare things evenly, you should view them at the same size, not the same zoom. Even better, print an image from each camera, both the same size, and compare. This may make you feel better as the image quality on the g5x should look better in comparison.

I have not returned the camera yet but I need to decide in 3 days or so.  I don't know but IQ is killing me. I try your Megapixel:Megapixel comparsions but when I see something like this, my heart sinks

G1x: f 2.8, 1/250

G5x:  f 1.8, 1/800

I am going to use the camera for macro/closeups of wild life, usinb a 250D closeup lens with lensmate adapter.  In many ocassions, I crop the small flowers by 66%-80% to fill the image with flower detail and little backgroun.

I compare another shot f2.8 vs f2.8 but the noise is there

Full image from g5x

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 Stephen Mifsud's gear list:Stephen Mifsud's gear list
Canon PowerShot G1 X Canon EOS Rebel T6i Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Canon EF-S 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS STM
rpm40
rpm40 Senior Member • Posts: 2,411
Re: A Bit Disappointed with the G5X

Stephen Mifsud wrote:

rpm40 wrote:

Keep in mind you are also comparing the g5x with 20 megapixels with a g1x which has about a 3x larger sensor, with only 14 megapixels. At pixel level, it will be very hard for the g5x to keep up. If you are looking at both at 100%, the g5x will be a much larger image. To compare things evenly, you should view them at the same size, not the same zoom. Even better, print an image from each camera, both the same size, and compare. This may make you feel better as the image quality on the g5x should look better in comparison.

I have not returned the camera yet but I need to decide in 3 days or so. I don't know but IQ is killing me. I try your Megapixel:Megapixel comparsions but when I see something like this, my heart sinks

G1x: f 2.8, 1/250

G5x: f 1.8, 1/800

I am going to use the camera for macro/closeups of wild life, usinb a 250D closeup lens with lensmate adapter. In many ocassions, I crop the small flowers by 66%-80% to fill the image with flower detail and little backgroun.

I compare another shot f2.8 vs f2.8 but the noise is there

You really need to stop down when shooting closeups if you want the best results from this camera. The lens on these large sensor compacts is often a compromise, and they struggle with extreme settings like these, as you would see with the g7x, rx100, etc. as well. Wide open macro is very demanding. The g1x lens is larger and less compromised. If you don't mind having a larger camera, the g1x lens will probably do a better job for this specific task.

Honestly, if this is the type of shooting you will be doing the majority of the time, I would probably suggest looking for a different camera. Maybe someone here can suggest an alternative.

What is it about your G1X that you are unhappy with? Why do you feel you need an upgrade?

Stephen Mifsud Contributing Member • Posts: 693
Re: A Bit Disappointed with the G5X

Honestly, if this is the type of shooting you will be doing the majority of the time, I would probably suggest looking for a different camera. Maybe someone here can suggest an alternative.

What is it about your G1X that you are unhappy with? Why do you feel you need an upgrade?

YEs, what I don't like with my G1x is that I have to stack two 250D close up lenses to get proper macro (making an overall heavy and bulky camera), something more pocketable, and an overall upgrade from this 2+ year old camera, which however delivers well for my need.  80% of my photos are Closeups in the field - I have a canon 750d but most of the time stays home for being bulky.

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My Favourite Links:
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www.maltanaturetours.com
Wild Plants of Malta -
www.maltawildplants.com/WildPlants_Index.php
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 Stephen Mifsud's gear list:Stephen Mifsud's gear list
Canon PowerShot G1 X Canon EOS Rebel T6i Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Canon EF-S 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS STM
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