G7 as Travel Camera

[EORI]

I recently traveled to the ancient Japanese city of Nara on an off day while on business travel. I left my usual DSLR travel kit (5D, 24-105L, 550ex speedlite, 28 f/1.8 ) at home, and embarked with just my newly-acquired G7. I wanted to see whether I would miss having my DSLR for future travels.

Conclusion: While I would still take my DSLR kit (plus a few extra lenses) for those once-in-a-lifetime travel destinations, the G7 served me well this time. Since I was traveling primarily on business, the reduced weight and bulk of the G7 was a major benefit. I was mostly pleased with the image quality, and only felt disadvantaged while shooting in dim light where the DSLR's higher usable ISO would have been welcome. The controls were very accessible to the point where I was working mostly in manual mode towards the end of my trip. The relatively bright LCD display (better in direct sunlight compared to the 5D) made up for the poor viewfinder, while the live histogram made getting the proper exposure dialed-in simple and fun. I wished the lens went wider than the standard 35mm, and would have been willing to give up some of the telephoto end (210mm) which I found really useful only on a few occassions. Since most of my travel shots are "still life", the shutter lag was inconsequential. All-in-all, the G7 was a surprisingly capable and convenient travel camera.

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[auroraboy]

I will be taking a 2 week "trip of a lifetime" with my wife to Japan in the fall. Nara is on the agenda. I have a Digital Rebel 300D, that my daughter has virtually hijacked while away at college for the last several years. I decided she could have the 300D, as she seems to love photography. I picked up a G7 several months ago and was going to use this as my only camera while in Japan. I even picked up a Raynox HD7000, in order to get the wide end down to about 24.5mm equivalent. It does however make the G7 about the size of a mini SLR and it certainly becomes unpocketable. Then last week, I picked up a used EF-S 10-22 for use with the SLR.

Now might thought process is to buy myself a 30D and take the 10-22, and perhaps my 50 1.8 and my 420EX flash, as my SLR kit, as there will be days when we are on tour, and also take the G7 (without Raynox) as a camera to take out at night, or for small side trips. I was thinking that wide capability would be much more desirable in a place like japan, versus long telephoto capability (which the G7 could handle most of). I will probably never use the Raynox now, so I was planning on selling it.

[Savas K]

Nice work. Photos look good.

[EORI]

Thanks for the compliment Savas.

Auroraboy: If this was indeed a "once-in-a-lifetime" trip, I would definitely have taken my DSLR kit. The slow lens on the G7 makes it difficult to control depth-of-field, and like all Sony sensor-based digital cameras, the G7 just doesn't perform well at high ISOs. The autofocus, while accurate most of the time, sometimes proved problematic (as you can see of the foreground in the Buddha image), and I hadn't yet mastered manual focus on this camera. I think you'll be happier with a DSLR for your upcoming trip.

As for the adapter lenses for the G7, although I initially considered it (and have the Lensmate adapter tube for use with a polarizer), I've decided that having numerous accessories for a compact camera defeats its design purpose since I'd much rather have my basic DSLR kit if I was going to carry a camera bag full of equipment.

[sharky]

I think a lot of people are coming around to the view that while the G7 can't replicate a DSLR's output, it's close enough that the weight advantage and portability make it a serious contender, especially for travel.

After putting nearly 2000 shots through it so far I've found that the only thing it does badly is work as a traditional point and shoot camera; you have to work at it a bit to get good results. For all its sophistication, Digic III seems like a pretty dumb program, and tends to produce either flat lifeless images or over-exposed ones when left to its own devices. However the beauty of the G7 is that it has a level of control approaching that of an DSLR, meaning that you can tweak the settings to get the shot you really want, as opposed to the one the camera thinks you wanted.

As an example, this is a shot I took last night using the G7 and a $5 tabletop tripod. The settings the camera recommended were rubbish, but choosing 6 seconds at f8 got me t he shot I was after. The only annoyance was the 35mm wide-angle, which meant that I couldn't get the top of the wheel without going INTO the river that was behind me.

So apart from the wide-angle thing, I think the G7 and a small tripod would make a killer travel combination.

[avwh]

that's a really cool shot, sharky.

[Prydain]

I missed a great sunset cloud shot because I had no DSLR at hand. I swore I wouldn't miss another picture opportunity again. The G7 is my 'take it everywhere, take it every day' camera. I will not miss a great shot opportunity again. Done, finee', over, that's it!

[sharky]

that's a really cool shot, sharky.

Thanks for that. I think it's a good sign that after 2000 images I still don't feel like I'm close to understanding what the camera is capable of. Last night I discovered the custom timer and the ability to customise the what the display info!

[sfaust]

It looks like the G7 served you well. I bought one for the same reasons, to keep with me for opportunistic shots when I don't want to carry a DSLR. So far, I'm really liking what I get out of the little camera.