G5X mark II owners - share your thoughts

I have an RX100iv, and recently got a G5X MII. I think this handles difficult lighting better, gives me nicer skies, and it's much better for close-ups of plants, which is something I like to photograph. And there's a bigger range from wide to zoom. I'm still learning my way around the camera, though.

Mostly I shoot landscapes, close-ups, and posed photos, so I don't expect to miss the speed of the auto-focus the Sony offers. (Although that did net me a couple of unexpectedly good shots.)

The three things I'm not wild about are

1) it's too large to pocket. It's small, but I preferred the size of the Sony. I guess time will tell how much that bothers me. I bought a neck strap, perhaps that will help. It does feel nice in the hand, but I bought a glue-on grip for the Sony, and was happy with it.

2) the battery life is short. I've ordered some spare batteries, which should help, but they all need to be charged and all that.

3) I was excited by the dedicated exposure compensation dial, but it's very stiff, and I find it a little hard to use due to that.

One thing I really appreciate after using the RX100iv is that it has a touchscreen. I spent a lot of time trying to get the camera to focus where I wanted it to with the Sony, this is much easier. Also, as a regular user of cell phones, I kept touching the screen EXPECTING it to do something.

PuzzleGal wrote:

...gives me nicer skies...

I wonder how much of that is because the polarizing filter I bought for this camera may be higher quality than the one I bought for the Sony, though.

PuzzleGal wrote:

PuzzleGal wrote:

...gives me nicer skies...

I wonder how much of that is because the polarizing filter I bought for this camera may be higher quality than the one I bought for the Sony, though.

It's the Canon colors (probably)... Although magical, at the same time not magic. I've looked at the RX100's ALOT over their history and almost bought one several times but the colors of online samples and handling in-store stop me every-time and cause me to reconsider.

A quality filter does make a big difference though over a cheap one, absolutely.

I'll be doing a deep dive on the IQ of the G5X II as that's one of the big questions in my book: after reviewing and even processing RAWs out there from the G5X II, it's close enough it could go either way for me; more samples are needed it's that close and hence I'm giving it a shot. Likewise, DIGIC8 should be a step forward over the DIGIC7 of the G1X III even though the G5X II lacks DPAF, the G1X III was a bit of a slug even with DPAF due to the sluggish processor (regarding autofocus).

Those are the biggies. Will single shot AF be good enough, and likewise will IQ be good enough? On the G1X III IQ certainly was stellar, but AF certainly wasn't (for my needs). Pocket-ability and reach were another hangup. G5X II solves those complaints of reach and pocket ability but potentially introduces enough reduction in IQ for me to blink. Single shot AF it just needs to "clear the bar", I don't expect it to compete with my M6 II or EOS R. I think it will on the latter but the former, the jury is out on... We'll see next week.

.

PS, since you're not a post-processor, the G5X II is going to "beat" the RX100 (all of them) every time simply because SOOC JPEGs are better, by a long shot and you're a SOOC shooter. If you're post processing RAWs, it gets much closer. But the amount of effort needed to make a Sony render like a Canon in color, is very high (I've tried) and takes all the fun out of it and doesn't give the same results, even if you can get them closer through post processing in my experience.

Hi there! Does the G5X II have any sport/action mode in auto or any of the scene modes?

I am buying this camera as an extra to have at home but also for my partner to use. She will most probably use the auto/scene modes.

I’ve had a look in the manual and there are many scene modes but none for action. I know that this camera isn’t the best for fast action but is there any auto or scene mode where the camera chooses faster shutter speeds?

I haven’t recieved the camera yet so checking here first.

(Sorry for writing in an oldish thread but there are so many G5X users already gathered here!)

pusselbite wrote:

Hi there! Does the G5X II have any sport/action mode in auto or any of the scene modes?

I am buying this camera as an extra to have at home but also for my partner to use. She will most probably use the auto/scene modes.

I’ve had a look in the manual and there are many scene modes but none for action. I know that this camera isn’t the best for fast action but is there any auto or scene mode where the camera chooses faster shutter speeds?

I haven’t recieved the camera yet so checking here first.

(Sorry for writing in an oldish thread but there are so many G5X users already gathered here!)

Not that I know of.

I had c1 setup as back button focus with ai servo, single shot on P, for this sort of need. It’s not a sports shooter with CDAF...

RLight wrote:

Not that I know of.

I had c1 setup as back button focus with ai servo, single shot on P, for this sort of need. It’s not a sports shooter with CDAF...

Hmm.. that’s too bad.

No, of course not, that CDAF is not going track anything (reliably).

But I was looking more for an auto mode that prioritises high shutter speed for those faster moments, so aperture wide open and iso high. I think most cameras lower the shutter speed before rasising iso, especially in lower light?

Separate question, now that you have mentioned CDAF - Is it possible, not just possible, can one get consistent results using this sort of camera and capturing photos of a moving child? I was thinking about using AF-S, single shot, 1-point-AF and half-pressing shutter for focus. So no tracking!

pusselbite wrote:

RLight wrote:

Not that I know of.

I had c1 setup as back button focus with ai servo, single shot on P, for this sort of need. It’s not a sports shooter with CDAF...

Hmm.. that’s too bad.

No, of course not, that CDAF is not going track anything (reliably).

But I was looking more for an auto mode that prioritises high shutter speed for those faster moments, so aperture wide open and iso high. I think most cameras lower the shutter speed before rasising iso, especially in lower light?

Separate question, now that you have mentioned CDAF - Is it possible, not just possible, can one get consistent results using this sort of camera and capturing photos of a moving child? I was thinking about using AF-S, single shot, 1-point-AF and half-pressing shutter for focus. So no tracking!

All three shot in Av, High Speed Continuous Drive with Face Tracking. f/1.8 deliberately used in the latter two for depth of field / low light, and f/4 used on the first shot for peak sharpness.

RLight wrote:

All three shot in Av, High Speed Continuous Drive with Face Tracking. f/1.8 deliberately used in the latter two for depth of field / low light, and f/4 used on the first shot for peak sharpness.

Great job, those are some nice shots. I do have a DSLR myself and have learned a lot about photography with it but I’m still very (very) new, both to photography and cameras. This is only my second camera purchase in my life, first being the DSLR.

The g5x has also just arrived so I will be trying it out a bit now.

And thanks for taking your time answering my questions!

RichieB1970 wrote:

PuzzleGal wrote:

PuzzleGal wrote:

...gives me nicer skies...

I wonder how much of that is because the polarizing filter I bought for this camera may be higher quality than the one I bought for the Sony, though.

I am considering the G5X mkII and was wondering how you attached your polarizer....

This is basically a four years old dead thread. It’s usually better to create a new one in such cases.

That said, I think your best bet is to use some kind of adhesive.