Just ordered a Canon G9

I just ordered a new digital camera. A Canon Powershot G9.

Why do I need another camera? Don’t I already own two? (A Sony P200 and an Olympus E-500 DSLR with an assortment of premium lenses).

Well, although I love a good photo, it turns out that I hate carrying a big SLR around, so I wind up using the Sony P200 a lot more often than the Olympus E-500. Yet, the P200 has a lot of flaws. I carefully compared sample pictures found at camera review sites (such as dpreview), and I see that the G9 definitely has superior image quality to the P200. It’s not just about having an extra 5 megapixels, but the P200 photos just have a sort of haziness about them, especially in the corners. Despite the P200 having a “Carl Zeiss” lens, I just don’t think the lens is all that great.

Furthermore, the G9 has an image stabilized lens, which means it can be hand held at lower shutter speeds. Also, the lens zooms out to the equivalent of 210mm. That’s twice the telephoto range of the P200. There is also stuff like aperture priority mode, and raw capture (which may or may not be worth the effort).

The question is, is the G9, which I just spent about $450 for, worth the price over a camera like the Panasonic TZ3 which Amazon.com is practically giving away for free? One can argue that the G9 is overpriced, but I just couldn’t resist it, given the buzz that the G9 has on the internet. The G9 is acclaimed as the ultimate small camera for people who don’t want to carry around a DSLR. One reviewer says that the G9 is better than a $5,500 Leica M8, and that it makes “medium format” quality prints. Wow!

(Phil Dunn doesn’t like it because he says there’s too much shutter lag and the optical viewfinder is “all but useless.” But who cares when the G9 takes fabulous pictures like the ones posted with Bill Lockhart’s review?)

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It should be pointed out that the G9 has a 1/1.7” sensor, which is approximately 90% larger than the 1/2.35” sensor found in the TZ3. That’s a pretty big difference, almost as big as the difference between a “full frame” DSLR such as the Canon 5D and an APS-C DSLR such as the Canon 40D.

Comments

[Ximun]

I had the same dillema and opted for TZ3 because of its 28 mm and 10x zoom. It's a solid camera and I haven't regretted my purchase with regards to image quality (though I have to admit I've seen better), but lack of manual options gets really annoying after some time. I bought it after realizing that most photos are taken without having the 10-15 seconds to fiddle with options. I would love to try G9 and compare them.

[Ranjan]

I bought a G9 for the same reasons as you. Its a convenient high quality and compact that produces outstanding results.