Canon G9x- nice images, BUT...

I truly want to love this camera, and in some ways it's exactly what I wanted, but I'm still within the return window and still waffling- here's why...

Background:

Semi-pro photographer, several DSLRs, desperately seeking "purse-cam" for work commute when I have no secure place to store larger gear. Over the past several years I've bought (and then sold or returned) several four-thirds cameras & large-sensor compacts.

My priorities, roughly in order of importance, are:

#1 image quality (of course), RAW capture, image stabilization, full manual, flash, Wifi, small, decent battery life, at least some zoom capability, and I really, really wanted a viewfinder. PLUS, I cringe when the price inches over $5-600. (Yeah, yeah, I KNOW I'm dreaming... and I didn't say I WOULDN'T shell out, I'd just prefer not to spend $1000 for a purse-cam!)

The G9x doesn't have a viewfinder, but it's a perfect size at a lower-than-average price for this category of camera and it has the 1" sensor of its more expensive G-series cousins.

Pros:

IMAGE QUALITY. I'm an overly exacting pixel-peeper and I can live with the results, which is saying a lot. I'd have no problem at all printing enlargements from this sensor/camera, though I wouldn't try to shoot microstock or an event with it. Possibly a weekend backpacking trip, but NOT springtime in the Rockies, y'know?

IQ, part 2: In Auto mode, the camera does a pretty good job not blowing out my highlights. Minimal chromatic aberration, only in difficult conditions (out-of-focus pine needles at distance silhouetted against a bright blue sky), only visible at great magnification.

SIZE. Not super-mini, which honestly I find difficult to handle after 40+ years with SLRs & medium format cameras, but small enough for purse, back, or pocket, no problem.

TOUCH SCREEN. This wasn't a concern until I purchased my most recent DSLR, when I discovered how useful they are. Optional touch to focus and touch to shoot, and it makes reviewing photos an absolute breeze.

ERGONOMICS. I've seen complaints about the placement of the playback/image review button and the video record button making them easy to depress accidentally. I've had no issue with either. All the buttons are slightly depressed, as usual, and none touch-sensitive (capacitive). I appreciate both of those being one-touch function buttons. And....

PLAYBACK BUTTON: When the camera is off, pushing the playback button turns it on without opening/extending the lens

FLASH: This particular pop-up design seems much less frangible than the unfolding, robotic-looking extender brackets. I like the textured switch to release it, and don't care that it doesn't tip to bounce. Canon does a great job with exposure compensation and fill flashes on P&S cameras, anyway.

CANON'S TYPICALLY INTUITIVE MENUS: I may have opened the manual once. Maybe. Until the Wifi issue, anyway, at which point the manual didn't matter.

IN-CAMERA BATTERY CHARGING.

Minor Cons:

NO DELETE BUTTON. This will sound nit-picky, but I prefer the convenience of a physical delete button, press once to delete- press again to confirm. While a touch screen greatly simplifies photo review functions, deleting one photo still requires pressing the Quick Menu button, moving your hand to touch Delete onscreen, then move again & touch to confirm.

NOT GREAT BATTERY LIFE. Low end of this category camera, around 200 shots per charge. BUT- you can charge in-camera (using a common NON-proprietary micro USB cable) and aftermarket batteries are 20 bucks a pop.

Possible Durability ISSUE: The little door over the HDMI & USB ports doesn't seem like it will stand up to excessive wear.

Potential Deal Breakers:

LIMITED RAW FUNCTIONALITY: I can't shoot RAW in Auto modes???? Seriously, Canon? Why the hell not? Granted, I shoot manual about three-quarters of the time, but this is a P&S camera! Ease, convenience, speed! There's ZERO reason to block RAW capture in Auto modes. I'm pinning my hopes on someone at Canon coming to their senses and shooting out a firmware update before I'm forced to hack it myself.

WIFI: Canon Connect won't work with Lollipop 5, and apparently I'm not alone in this. I have a Nexus 6p, but I gather it's not limited to my phone. Read online reviews first to see if this will be an issue for you, too. If I can't get the camera to cooperate with the Nexus, my old HTC, or the Surface Pro 4, this will probably be what pushes me into a return, and returns me to my quest for the perfect purse-cam.

Incidentally, I'm seriously intrigued by the Lumix DMC-ZS100 coming out in March... if I return the G9X, I'll be ordering that.

Neutral:

CONTROL RING: Sorta superfluous with the touch-screen, but I appreciate the tactile quality and like the looks. Some people don't want "clicky" rings, but I'm exactly the opposite. I've been using it because I'm used to a DSLR, but because the lens protrudes very little, using the control ring is slightly awkward. It's not vital or in the way, though, so if you don't like it, you can just forget about it.

Additional info:

Tamrac 3819 bag is too small.

Tamrac 3584 Express 4 is perfect size, spare battery fits in secure pocket.

Gallery of test shots here

NOTE: I'm not rating individual categories because I use it in very specific circumstances. It's the perfect size purse-cam, great for your kid's grade-school open house, going out for a few drinks with friends, a holiday shopping trip to Manhattan, or a robotics meet. I'd recommend it to every non-photographer I know, but I wouldn't personally shoot portraits or landscapes with it. I might try street photography, though....

WiFi works no problem with Lollipop. I've used my s120 and g7x on many many different phones. Have you tried on other WiFi networks. If not, what about camera access point mode? I generally prefer that mode anyways if transferring more than a couple pics.

I suspect you'll get used to using the display to delete. That must be a big change coming from DSLR.

No RAW in Auto. Just shoot Av or P when you need RAW. Those are more or less auto modes when you consider the auto ISO function.

The TZ100 is also interesting to me, so I can understand the conundrum.

For deleting a picture, you can just swipe the LCD with your finger, from top to bottom then to the left. It's pretty easy. I know this camera is intuitive to use, but I still recommand you read the manual; you'll be surprised at all functionalities available in this camera that you wouldn't otherwise know about.

You can also brighten the LCD by keeping the Info buttom pressed. No need to go through the menu. This will help on bright sunny days, but of course it can't beat an EVF.

And I agree, this is not a portrait camera. I've taken pictures of my kids and I've been very happy with the quality, but I can't get much bokeh with the G9X lense when zoomed up, the lens is just not bright enough. Nonetheless, very happy with the skin tones and details.

ISO 125 SOOC

ISO 1600 SOOC

I can't count the # of times I wish there were an onscreen method of deleting on G7X. I count this as a huge positive.

I'm curious, can you select multiple pictures to delete? Eg, tap tap tap tap and then delete all 4? Also, the swipe method, can that be like rapid swipes? Or need to wait for a second after the first swipe...

damian5000 wrote:

I can't count the # of times I wish there were an onscreen method of deleting on G7X. I count this as a huge positive.

I'm curious, can you select multiple pictures to delete? Eg, tap tap tap tap and then delete all 4? Also, the swipe method, can that be like rapid swipes? Or need to wait for a second after the first swipe...

It's rapid swipes. One continuous swipe from top to bottom then immediately to the left. You can custmoize this, though, and link it to a different menu item you'd like. Then there are swipes from top to bottom then to the right, and from bottom to top the to the right, and to the left, and they are all customizable.

You can not use the swipe method to delete multiple pictures at once, as far as I know. I think you'll have to go to the menu item for that.

I totally agree on Canon's skin tones- a Canon Powershot was the first digital I ever had, when my kids were small, and I still recommend them to newbs.

I also recommend people read their manuals! I've only had it for 3 or 4 days, but I just wanted to post a quick first impression since I didn't see many before I bought it

I'm still trying to work out the Wifi issue... I hope I can, because there is much to like about this camera. In other forums, I'm seeing Nexus and Samsung owner having trouble after the last Lollipop update, nothing before. Worse come to worst, I'm betting I can make it go with my HTC One, which doesn't have Lollipop.

You don't happen to remember how long your initial connection time was, do you? I gave up around the five minute mark every time!

mikan wrote:

For deleting a picture, you can just swipe the LCD with your finger, from top to bottom then to the left.

PS- AAAAAHHHHHH!!!! (screaming in glee after swipe-deleting)

THANK YOU!

Yes to multiple delete, makes it much faster.

And I just tried the swipe thing- much better than going through the menu. Swipe down brings up 2 options- "lean" left- like a backwards capital L- chooses Erase, then you touch confirm.

I love this forum- didn't even have to stop working on the Wifi issue to fix MY delete issue (vs a camera failing).

9and3quarters wrote:

I'm still trying to work out the Wifi issue... I hope I can, because there is much to like about this camera. In other forums, I'm seeing Nexus and Samsung owner having trouble after the last Lollipop update, nothing before. Worse come to worst, I'm betting I can make it go with my HTC One, which doesn't have Lollipop.

You don't happen to remember how long your initial connection time was, do you? I gave up around the five minute mark every time!

Yea, 5 minutes is way too long. Just just be a matter of 10 seconds or so before the connection happens.

Have you tried another WiFi network? Have you tried camera access point mode? At what point is it getting stuck? Is the camera seeing the phone at all? Is the camera connecting to the network at all?

I've tried it a couple of ways so far. (Btw- I keep saying Lollipop- my old phone didn't get the last Lollipop update which some Nexus owners said crashes the Canon app, but my new Nexus 6p has Marshmallow)

1st METHOD

Menu settings on camera> wifi settings> touch to phone

&

Phone- Camera connect App on> touch to camera

Okay. Sounds like you've been quote thorough. I don't know about Marshmallow. Currently no phones with 6.0 build.

It has helped in the past when "stuck" to do the phone selection process again through the camera.

I, too, am curious why you feel G9X is not for landscpaing. Of course a larger sensor camera would take sharper pictures, but I find G9X quality great enough unless I pixel peep. My other camera is Sony A6000 (APS-C) and for landscaping, G9X is not far behind at all.

Vivid mode. SOOC

Vivid mode, SOOC

Slight level adjustment PP

Vivid mode, SOOC

Everything I shoot has the potential to be sold. I plan on trying, but I doubt the microstock sites will accept images from the G9x. I honestly think at this point it's just an automatic rejection process created by clueless administrators who type in a list of camera model names and numbers. A few years ago that might have been a reasonable approach to weeding out low-quality pics, but sensors and non-DSLR cameras have come a long way since then.

Don't tell anyone, but I'm considering faking the EXIF data as a test!

Additionally, though, my go-to landscape lens is a 10-24mm, and the G9x doesn't go that wide.

Surprisingly- to me- I'm completely happy with the camera's 28-84mm zoom range. I thought I'd miss the top end, especially since I'm a bird watcher and shoot a lot of reference (what the hell is that?) photos. The range is extremely flexible, though! I really can't wait to see what else this little camera can do.

Update-

Thanks to another forum reader, I learned an easy way to delete onscreen by swiping down and left!

9and3quarters wrote:

....LIMITED RAW FUNCTIONALITY: I can't shoot RAW in Auto modes???? Seriously, Canon? Why the hell not? Granted, I shoot manual about three-quarters of the time, but this is a P&S camera! Ease, convenience, speed! There's ZERO reason to block RAW capture in Auto modes. I'm pinning my hopes on someone at Canon coming to their senses and shooting out a firmware update before I'm forced to hack it myself....

Just curious as to what P&S cameras in the same genre as the PowerShots allow RAW in the Full Auto Mode?  My P&S experiences mainly limited to Canon and Panasonic -- neither allow RAW in full Auto.

Personally I avoid full Auto mainly due to the full Auto multi-AF areas; when multi AF areas shown as being used (which is a misnomer in itself) you do not know which frame being used.

IMHO P mode superior to full Auto mode in many ways, and for PowerShots with hot shoe not having TTL flash in Manual far more absurd than not being able to use RAW in full Auto mode.

Cheers,
Jon

Answer, I have no idea!

I shoot in Manual most of the time, my only issue with not having RAW in Auto- other than the fact that it's stupid- is that I let friends/family members shoot most of my cameras, and I'd like to be able to "save" anything the relative and the camera together can't figure out!

9and3quarters wrote:

Answer, I have no idea!

I shoot in Manual most of the time, my only issue with not having RAW in Auto- other than the fact that it's stupid-

Not really, as there's a good reason for it IMHO.

In "Full Auto" (aka brainless) mode, the full Auto will select the scene mode IT determines the best to be used. As with most OTHER digicams the majority of scene modes (HDR, Night Shot, etc.) are not supported with RAW. Hence to be able to use RAW in Full Auto Mode all the non-supported scene modes would have to be disabled and results would be very similar to using the P mode.

is that I let friends/family members shoot most of my cameras, and I'd like to be able to "save" anything the relative and the camera together can't figure out!

For these types they would not know the difference between Full Auto or P mode. The P mode provides more than enough auto exposure, AF, etc. to ensure good pics with RAW, and you can enable/ disable the various Auto settings in P mode to yourpreferences when others use the camera.