Canon G5x II vs G1x III for concert photography

Thanks for the feedback. Are you satisfied with the sharpness on your copy? Mine was better than the 15-45mm kit lens but far from a Ricoh GR at wide angle.

PowerMike G5 wrote:

larkhon wrote:

Thanks for the feedback. Are you satisfied with the sharpness on your copy? Mine was better than the 15-45mm kit lens but far from a Ricoh GR at wide angle.

Yeah, mine's is really sharp. I guess my copy is a good one. I haven't heard much about lots of variation of this camera though.

Same here Mike. Both of my copies have been tack sharp (1st was stolen, second is USA refurb, looked like completely new to me.)

Not sure I will ever have time to finally write that dang G1X3 review, but one thing's for sure, IQ blows all 1" cams out of the water (and if it didn't Canon would have to fire a few engineers LOL.) .

Chris 222 wrote:

PowerMike G5 wrote:

larkhon wrote:

Thanks for the feedback. Are you satisfied with the sharpness on your copy? Mine was better than the 15-45mm kit lens but far from a Ricoh GR at wide angle.

Yeah, mine's is really sharp. I guess my copy is a good one. I haven't heard much about lots of variation of this camera though.

Same here Mike. Both of my copies have been tack sharp (1st was stolen, second is USA refurb, looked like completely new to me.)

Not sure I will ever have time to finally write that dang G1X3 review, but one thing's for sure, IQ blows all 1" cams out of the water (and if it didn't Canon would have to fire a few engineers LOL.) .

Good to know. Maybe I had an average copy, at least at 24mm. But then again my G5x II is not at its best either until we reach 35mm.

It seems to be out of stock in many stores around here, it looks like price are going up again. Last black Friday there were some sales around 600€, shame I missed that...

I have not used G1X III for concert, but I used the other 1" cameras for concert photos esp longer zoom P&S's:

https://pbase.com/sc_20170/concerts

I used G1X III more for landscapes and a travel shots. I bought it as used camera after trying 3 LX100 II's (2 had soft corner and 1 used one had dust on the sensor)... The wider zoom of G1X III is sharper than the G5X II though both has big distortion correction on the wide end. G5X II will give you longer reach, esp good if you are not close. But then it missed af with moving kids in day light without the pdf af... G7X II was fine in concert in low light with slower concert photos so I assume G5X II should be fine. I was much closer to the stage when I used G7XII compared to Rx100 m6/ZS100/200 shots.... G7X II ISO 3200 - raw shot with noise reduction:

G5X II long end zoom at ISO 6400 - after sunset with struggled af:

G1X III sensors is bigger, so its dynamic range/higher ISO is better from my experience, but then you loose the advantage of bigger sensor by slower lens esp at the zoom end, so I try to use low ISO by extending the shutter speed for landscape shots that might not be useful for concerts. I had low light night street shots, but only posted one is at ISO 1250:

I have lately used GR IIIx for my walks, but still I like to have some longer zoom range and GR af sucks even in a foggy weather with contrast af. I still like to have a longer 75-90mm GR like Sigma did with the DP series, but P&S's are a dying breed....

larkhon wrote:

Hello,

I've used both cameras in concerts, but not in the same period. I've actually sold the G1x III for the G5x II as my copy wasn't really sharp enough for landscape compared to some mirrorless kits and thought more reach for concerts would be more useful.

Now, I find that even at f5.6 ISO 3200 some pictures from the G1x III capture the light and colours on the stage better than 1" sensored cameras (I also have the TZ200, and I had various Sony RXs) at much lower ISO. The very few times I manage to smuggle a GM1+35-100mm into a concert, there would also be a clear improvement, although the sensor is not that much bigger (the lens is very good too).

Did anyone have similar experience with 1" compact cameras and bigger cameras/sensors? I'm happy with the clean (thanks to the f1.8-2.8 lens) and sharp pictures, and the G1x III is probably the only fixed lens camera with a sensor that big and lens that long, so the question is should I buy it again?

Thanks for your inputs.

Serhan2 wrote:

I have not used G1X III for concert, but I used the other 1" cameras for concert photos esp longer zoom P&S's:

https://pbase.com/sc_20170/concerts

I used G1X III more for landscapes and a travel shots. I bought it as used camera after trying 3 LX100 II's (2 had soft corner and 1 used one had dust on the sensor)... The wider zoom of G1X III is sharper than the G5X II though both has big distortion correction on the wide end. G5X II will give you longer reach, esp good if you are not close. But then it missed af with moving kids in day light without the pdf af... G7X II was fine in concert in low light with slower concert photos so I assume G5X II should be fine. I was much closer to the stage when I used G7XII compared to Rx100 m6/ZS100/200 shots.... G7X II ISO 3200 - raw shot with noise reduction:

G5X II long end zoom at ISO 6400 - after sunset with struggled af:

G1X III sensors is bigger, so its dynamic range/higher ISO is better from my experience, but then you loose the advantage of bigger sensor by slower lens esp at the zoom end, so I try to use low ISO by extending the shutter speed for landscape shots that might not be useful for concerts. I had low light night street shots, but only posted one is at ISO 1250:

I have lately used GR IIIx for my walks, but still I like to have some longer zoom range and GR af sucks even in a foggy weather with contrast af. I still like to have a longer 75-90mm GR like Sigma did with the DP series, but P&S's are a dying breed....

larkhon wrote:

Hello,

I've used both cameras in concerts, but not in the same period. I've actually sold the G1x III for the G5x II as my copy wasn't really sharp enough for landscape compared to some mirrorless kits and thought more reach for concerts would be more useful.

Now, I find that even at f5.6 ISO 3200 some pictures from the G1x III capture the light and colours on the stage better than 1" sensored cameras (I also have the TZ200, and I had various Sony RXs) at much lower ISO. The very few times I manage to smuggle a GM1+35-100mm into a concert, there would also be a clear improvement, although the sensor is not that much bigger (the lens is very good too).

Did anyone have similar experience with 1" compact cameras and bigger cameras/sensors? I'm happy with the clean (thanks to the f1.8-2.8 lens) and sharp pictures, and the G1x III is probably the only fixed lens camera with a sensor that big and lens that long, so the question is should I buy it again?

Thanks for your inputs.

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, unfortunately P&S are a dying breed but judging from your shots and mine, if you know how to use them you can make great shots despite the technical limitations. I started with a Panasonic LF1 (stuck on Japanese language and I'm still amazed today by the amount of details I can recover in PP.  It is just a shame we won't see what a new generation of 1" sensors could do.

I think the Canon G1x III might be limited with its shorter range, so you can shoot live music in a pub or small venues, but the slower lens is not much of an issue to me. There usually is enough light on stage, but when there isn't (usually support acts don't get the spotlights the main act gets) I feel like the bigger sensor is making a better job. I never had both cameras to compare at the same venue though...

I guess I'll be waiting for a good price on an used model, so I can always resell it if I don't see much of an improvement or the range is too short.